Published May 16, 2018
304 Pages
Winnie Mehta was never really convinced that Raj was her soulmate, but their love was written in the stars. Literally, a pandit predicted Winnie would find the love of her life before her 18th birthday, and Raj meets all of the qualifications. Which is why Winnie is shocked to return from her summer at film camp to find her boyfriend of three years hooking up with Jenny Dickens. Worse, Raj is crowned chair of the student film festival, a spot Winnie was counting on for her film school applications. As a self-proclaimed Bollywood expert, Winnie knows this is not how her perfect ending is scripted.
Then there’s Dev, a fellow film geek, and one of the few people Winnie can count on to help her reclaim control of her story. Dev is smart charming, and challenges Winnie to look beyond her horoscope to find someone she’d pick for herself. But does falling for Dev mean giving up on her prophecy, and her chance to live happily ever after? To get her Bollywood-like life on track, Winnie will need a little bit of help from fate, family, and of course, a Bollywood movie star. – Goodreads
I struggled with this book in the beginning. I have never seen a Bollywood movie. Have I seen clips and gifs? Yes, I sure have but I have never sat to watch an entire movie. Did I understand how deep it was for some people? Yes, I did but did I understand it was this deep? No, I did not.
My struggle with this book in the beginning was there was so many Bollywood references that I could not only keep up but because I have no idea what she is talking about I got lost. Around chapter 6 that changed and the pace of the novel picked up. And although there was still a lot of Bollywood references it wasn’t as bad.
I liked Winnie. She is a very independent thinker, she doesn’t allow anyone or even her emotions to change who she is. She is very secure with herself and that is pretty much rare in the YA world. Her passion for film as well as dramatics (because she is pretty dramatic) really make the book. You’re excited for or at least I was excited for her and did a lot of smiling throughout the book.
What surprised me was the love triangle or kind of the lack there of. See what begins as a love triangle, quickly turns into one of the best romances I have enjoyed recently. What I think is going to happen in regards to romance doesn’t and the author did a really good job of hiding that intent.
The book is slightly predictable. You know where it is going and I am not exactly sure if it’s a bad thing in this case. Seeing the route of the book, about half through, does not take away from the ending. Which is why I don’t consider this predictability a bad thing; its just there.
This isn’t a coming of age novel because Winnie isn’t really growing up per say, she is dealing with her mistakes and what she wants in life the best way she knows how. There isn’t really any growth to her. But I love her the way she is and hope if there is a second book, she still has the same fire.
Overall, I surprisingly enjoyed this book after a rough beginning. But what sold it was at the end of the book, there is a list of all the Bollywood references made in the book :D
4 Pickles
Motif by Tanya 