#ananya devarajan

[the-final-sentence]

In that moment, Arjun knew that the Universe had been on his side all along.

Ananya Devarajan, from Kismat Connection

[triviareads]

Releases on June 13th

Summary:

Madhuri Iyer doesn't believe in astrology. So when her mom reads her horoscope for the year and it predicts failure, she decides she will create a fake relationship on her own terms to disprove not only her prophecy, but also the Iyer family curse, where Iyer women always end up with the first man they get with. The guy she selects to fake-date her? Arjun Mehta, her best friend. Except, well, Arjun's been in love with her for years but she doesn't know that.

Some background:

Listen, I'm a pretty simple South Indian gal: if I see an author by the name of Ananya Devarajan, a heroine named Madhuri Iyer, and a cover with two dark-skinned Indian characters, I'm going to read that book pretty much regardless of the content. And when I found out this was Ananya's debut novel, and our cultural backgrounds were pretty similar, I knew I had to give this book a shot.

My review:

Before we get into the meat of the review, two language-related issues I want to note:

1. I have never heard Indian people refer to their elders by their last name. The book references Indian aunties by calling them "Auntie Iyer" or "Auntie Mehta", but that's not very accurate to the diaspora. We always use their first name, and then "auntie" or "uncle". So instead of "Auntie Iyer", the more accurate way to reference her would be "Kamala Auntie".

2. The Iyers are a Tamil family so I have no idea why Madhuri's mom is calling anyone "beta", which is a Hindi term of endearment, when the Tamil "kanna" exists.

Moving onto the review, this book has three plots: There is Madhuri and Arjun's "fake"-dating saga, Madhuri's struggle to accept her Indian side and the culture, and Arjun and his mother's estrangement. All of them were good individually, but it was a little difficult for me to follow along when the plots intertwined.

First, the fake dating plot. Madhuri creates a dating "contract" of sorts (or I guess, an experimental design) called the Kismat Experiment with the intent of breaking up with Arjun at the end of the school year on her own terms. Some things worked for me throughout the span of their relationship: It had its ups and downs, there was parental involvement which was pretty funny, and I did appreciate Arjun asking for time when Madhuri confesses her love for him at last, which he had every right to do. What worked less for me was the somewhat lacking chemistry between Madhuri and Arjun. It's tough because when it comes to friends-to-lovers as a trope, you have to navigate that slippery slope between not seeing your friend a viable love interest, and then suddenly seeing him as a love interest. Writing that transition in a believable way is hard to get right. Here, the author sort of leaned in on the familiar past when it came why Madhuri and Arjun liked each other (for example, Arjun affectionately remembers Madhuri as the girl who stole his heart when she stole a jalebi from him when they were six) but I couldn't really find much to read about what exactly changed for Madhuri when it came to how she viewed Arjun now, as a teenager.

A more minor note, but I think there could have been a *little* more physicality to Madhuri and Arjun's relationship, while still being within the bounds of how far YA typically goes. I liked him helping her put on her jhumka, so maybe more moments like that? That would have been great.

Apart from the relationship plot, a significant portion of the book was devoted to Madhuri's struggles with internalized racism. It's a product of the external racism that she faces in school and in her town, and I have to say, it was difficult to read such blatant hate spewing out of teenagers in our generation's mouths in 2023. But maybe that's just me speaking from a place of privilege, because as Madhuri herself points out, it would definitely have been easier for her if she was raised in a place like "Edison, New Jersey or Fremont, California" instead of her small mostly-white California town. A lot of this plot is shown through Madhuri's struggles with having to quit Bharatanatyam after getting bullied for it, and how she starts to enjoy it again, and eventually performs.

Something I'm glad the author points out is that our culture has become more "trendy" in recent years (especially when it comes to wellness) and it would be accurate to say certain parts of the culture are fetishized (she suggests Arjun is a victim of this) and appropriated, even as the diaspora continue to face racism.

The final portion of the plot was regarding Arjun's family situation. His mother is a divorcée, and Ananya definitely spoke to the cultural taboo that divorce continues to be within the Indian community. I'm not gonna lie, this aspect of the book was very difficult for me to read, especially because of how easily his mother neglected him and left him alone for long periods of time (like, months on end). I'm glad Arjun put boundaries for himself by the end of the book.

Overall:

I think this is a solid book, and very much on the sweet end of YA. My biggest critique is that I really wanted to read more about Arjun and Madhuri's relationship, and sometimes it felt like other side-plots got in the way of that (like, for example, the hospitalization plot).

That being said, this is another step forward for South Asian rep in literature, specifically South Indian rep, so I'm glad I got to read this book.

Thank you to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Kismat Connection | Author: Ananya Devarajan | Publisher: Inkyard Press (2023)

[bookaddict24-7]

New Young Adult Releases! (June 13th, 2023)

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Have I missed any new Young Adult releases? Have you added any of these books to your TBR? Let me know!

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New Standalones/First in a Series:

Wolfpack by Amelia Brunskill

Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler

Kismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan

Something Close to Magic by Emma Mills

What She Missed by Liara Tamani

Everyone Wants to Know by Kelly Loy Gilbert

The Faint of Heart by Kerilynn Wilson

Borrow My Heart by Kasie West

Fatima Tate Takes the Cake by Khadijah VanBrakle

You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard

Boundless: Twenty Voices Celebrating Multicultural and Multiracial Identities by Various

New Sequels: 

Legends & Liars (Echoes & Empires #2) by Morgan Rhodes

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Happy reading!

[richincolor]

New Releases 

New week, new books out tomorrow! Are any of these on your TBR pile?

Kismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan

Is it possible to change your fate? Madhuri Iyer is doomed. Doomed for her upcoming senior year to be a total failure, according to her astrology-obsessed mother, and doomed to a happily ever after with her first boyfriend, according to her family curse.

Determined to prove the existence of her free will, Madhuri devises an experimental relationship with the one boy she knows she’ll never fall for: her childhood best friend, Arjun Mehta. But Arjun’s feelings for her are a variable she didn’t account for. As Madhuri starts to fall for her experimental boyfriend, she’ll have to decide if charting her own destiny is worth breaking Arjun’s heart—and her own.

Boundless: Twenty Voices Celebrating Multicultural and Multiracial Identities edited by Ismée Amiel Williams and Rebecca Balcárcel When identities cross boundaries, with love that knows no bounds. From platonic and romantic love to grief and heartbreak, these stories explore navigating life at the intersection of identities, and what it means to grow up surrounded by a multitude of traditions, languages, cultures, and interpersonal dynamics. Returning to a father’s homeland. Trying to fit in at chaotic weddings and lavish birthday parties where not all are welcome. Processing grief at family gatherings. Figuring out how to share the news of a new relationship with loved ones. This collection celebrates multicultural and multiracial characters at the helm of their own narratives, as they approach life with a renewed sense of hope and acceptance.

Featuring original stories from: Adi Alsaid Rebecca Balcárcel Akemi Dawn Bowman Anika Fajardo Shannon Gibney I.W. Gregorio Veera Hiranandani Nasugraq Rainey Hopson Emiko Jean Erin Entrada Kelly Torrey Maldonado Mélina Mangal Goldy Moldavsky Randy Ribay Loriel Ryon Tara Sim Eric Smith Jasmine Warga Ismée Williams Karen Yin

What She Missed by Liara Tamani When Ebony and her parents move from Houston, Texas, to her grandmother’s house in a small lake town, Ebony is sure her life is doomed. And to make matters worse, the ghost of Ebony’s beloved grandmother—a strong swimmer who tragically drowned in the lake—is everywhere. Alula Lake does offer one perk: reconnecting Ebony with her childhood friend, Jalen. But as Ebony settles into life, she finds herself drifting away from Jalen and gravitating to his older sister, Lena. Lena is chaotic, disorderly, and rebellious, yet she offers a reprieve for the anger and sadness Ebony feels about losing so much.

An ode to nature, art, friendship, history, family, and love, this lyrical coming-of-age story explores one girl’s summer of self-discovery as she reimagines the world and her place in it. What She Missed is for fans of Sarah Dessen, Nina LaCour, and Nicola Yoon.

Everyone Wants to Know by Kelly Loy Gilbert This ripped-from-the-tabloids young adult drama by the critically acclaimed author Kelly Loy Gilbert about a girl’s famous-for-being-famous family fracturing from within as their dirty laundry gets exposed.

The Lo family sticks together. That’s what Honor has been told her whole life while growing up in the glare of the public eye on Lo and Behold , the reality show about her, her four siblings, and their parents. Their show may be off the air, but the Lo family members still live in the spotlight as influencers churning out podcasts, bestselling books, and brand partnerships. So when Honor’s father announces that he’s moving out of their northern California home to rent an apartment in Brooklyn, Honor’s personal upset becomes the internet’s trending B-list celebrity trainwreck—threatening the aspirational image the Los’ brand (and livelihood) depends on.

After one of her best friends leaks their private conversation to a gossip site, bruised and betrayed Honor pours all her energy into reuniting her family. With her parents 3,000 miles apart, her siblings torn into factions, and all of them under claustrophobic public scrutiny, this is easier said than done. Just when Honor feels at her lowest, a guarded yet vulnerable boy named Caden comes into her life and makes her want something beyond the tight Lo inner circle for the first time. But is it fair to open her heart to someone new when the people she loves are teetering on the edge of ruin?

As increasingly terrible secrets come to light about the people Honor thought she knew best in the world, she’s forced to choose between loyalty to her family and fighting for the life she wants.

[afropuffsstudios]

List of All my 2023 Reads

[ ] The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag

[ ] Penguins Love Color by Sarah Aspinall

[ ] The Bugabees: Friends With Food Allergies by Amy Recob

[ ] A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

[ ] Stop Monkeying Around by Christine Swift, et. al.

[ ] Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly, et. al.

[ ] The Potty Book for Girls by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, et. al.

[ ] Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss

[ ] Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds, et. al.

[ ] Creepy Pair of Underwear! Aaron Reynolds, et. al

[ ] Creepy Crayon! by Aaron Reynolds, et. al

[ ] Nickelodeon Blue's Clues & You Learning Series by Phidal Publishing

[ ] Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts by Rebecca Hall, et. al.

[ ] The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

[ ] A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

[ ] The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Anderson, et. al.

[ ] Stay Out of the Basement by R. L. Stine

[ ] Stuck on Murder by Lucy Lawrence

[ ] Barbie Dolls by Nathan Sommer

[ ] Welcome to Dead House by R. L. Stine

[ ] What Is The Constitution? by Patricia Brennan Demuth, et. al.

[ ] Barbie My First Pony by Mona Miller, et. al.

[ ] The Black Queen by Jumata Emill

[ ] The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

[ ] Stinetinglers by R. L. Stine

[ ] A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple, Mayflower, 1620 by Kathryn Lasky

[ ] Stuart Little by E. B. White

[ ] Monster Blood by R. L. Stine

[ ] Make a TikTok Every Day: 365 Prompts for Attention-Grabbing TikTok by Dave Jorgensen

[ ] Richard Scarry's Best Little Word Book Ever!

[ ] Obeying the Law by Kirsten Chang

[ ] Shrek! by William Steig

[ ] The Complete Tales and Poems of Winnie-the-Pooh (1-4) by A. A. Milne

[ ] Last But Not Leashed by Eileen Brady

[ ] Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

[ ] The House on Pooh Corner by A. A. Milne

[ ] Police Station by Amy McDonald

[ ] What a Desi Girl Wants by Sabina Khan

[ ] The Great Patty Caper by Erica David

[ ] The Amazing SpongeBobini by Steve Banks

[ ] What Were the Twin Towers? by Jim O'Connor

[ ] A Christmas Candy Killer by Christina Romeril

[ ] The Supermarket Mystery by Richard Scarry

[ ] Postman Pig and His Busy Neighbors by Richard Scarry

[ ] How to Catch a Witch by Alice Walstead

[ ] Monsters Unmasked! (Scooby-Doo) by Nicole Johnson

[ ] Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

[ ] The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

[ ] The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories by P.D.James

[ ] Hooked in Murder by Betty Hechtman

[ ] Here Comes the Body by Maria DiRico

[ ] The Banned Bookshop of Maggie Banks by Shauna Robinson

[ ] Gossip Girl (#1) by Cecily von Ziegesar

[ ] The Great Banned Books Bake Sale by Aya Khalil et al.

[ ] How to Catch Santa Claus by Alice Walstead

[ ] Indigo and Ida by Heather Murphy Capps

[ ] The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells

[ ] Killer Christmas by John Hall

[ ] Charlotte's Web by E. B. White

[ ] Queen Bee by Amalie Howard

[ ] The Between by Tananarive Due

[ ] James and Giant Peach by Roald Dahl et al

[ ] This Book is Banned by Raj Haldar

[ ] Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

[ ] The Nutcracker: The Original Holiday Classic by E. T. A. Hoffmann

[ ] The Christmas Murder Games by Alexandra Benedict

[ ] Kismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan

[ ] The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

[ ] The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

[ ] The Chocolate Sundae Mystery by Gertrude Chandler Warner

[ ] Finding My Dance by Ria Thundercloud et al

[ ] Halloween Cupckaes Murder by Carlene O' Connor et al

[ ] Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie et al.

[ ] Slime Doesn't Pay by R. L. Stine

[ ] Drive Thru by Erica David

[ ] The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict by Trenton Lee Stewart

[ ] Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard

[ ] What Was the Underground Railroad? by Yona Zeldis McDonough et al

[ ] Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

[ ] Peppa Loves to Bake by Eone

[ ] Where Do We Go From Here : Chaos or Community? by Martin Luther King Jr

[ ] The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

[ ] Halloween at Creepy Castle by Alison Inches et al

[ ] The Christmas Story: Experience the magic of the first Christmas by D. K. Publishing

[ ] ABCs of Kindness at Christmas by Patricia Hegarty et al

[ ] Apple and Pumpkin: The Battle for the Best Fall Treat Is On! by Jeffery Burton

[ ] Winter: A Solstice Story by Kelsey E. Gross et al

[ ] What was the Holocaust? by Gail Herman et al

[ ] Barbie in a Christmas Carol by Mary Man-Kong

[ ] Franklin's Christmas Gift by Paulette Bourgeois et al

[ ] Unicorn Christmas by Diana Murray et al

[ ] Dino-Christmas by Lisa Wheeler et al

[ ] NPR: The First Forty Years

[ ] A Nancy Drew Christmas by Carolyn Keene

[ ] The Christmas Swap by Talia Samuels

[ ] History Smashers: Christopher Columbus and the Taino People by Kate Messner et al

[ ] The Teacher March! by Sandra Neil Wallace

[ ] Christmas Is Here! by Charles M. Schulz

[ ] Mermaid Day by Diana Murray et al

[ ] Four Found Dead by Natalie D. Richards

[ ] Love In Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello

[ ] The Picture House Murders by Fiona Veitch Smith

[ ] Plankton's Christmas Surprise! by John Cabell et al

[ ] Dashing Through the Snow by Debbie Macomber

[ ] History Smashers: The Mayflower by Kate Messner

[ ] Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx

[ ] Miles and Miles of Reptiles by Tish Rabe et al

[ ] Christmas in Camelot by Mary Pope Osborne

[kourtneyreilly]

I love the cover on the novel Kismat Connection by the author Ananya Devarajan. I love the illustration and really love the girls outfit it's cute. The cover is what pulled me in. In this young adult novel Madhuri wants to prove that her star chart and family curse is wrong. She also wants to prove it is wrong and that everything happens to her own free will and she is in charge of what happens in her life. To prove this she goes into an experimental relationship with her childhood best friend Arjun Mehta. Arjun Mehta ends up having feelings for Madhuri. Eventually Madhuri develops feelings for them as well. I honestly didn't really enjoy this story it was not my "cup of tea." Nothing against the author it was just not for me personally. If you love romance novels I do recommend it.

[themoonphoenix]

Kismat Connection • Review

Author: Ananya Devarajan Title: Kismat Connection Saga: No Published: June 13, 2023 Genre: Contemporary Young Adult Stars: 3.5 Official Synopsis:  Is it possible to change your fate?. Madhuri Iyer is doomed. Doomed for her upcoming senior year to be a total failure, according to her astrology-obsessed mother, and doomed to a happily ever after with her first boyfriend, according to her…

[magicalrary]

new ig post for valentine's day!! <3

[lovelyloveday]

In this charming YA debut, a girl who’s determined to prove her star chart wrong ropes her longtime best friend into an experimental relationship—not knowing that he has been in love with her for years. Kismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan  https://bit.ly/3Hts2Qm