Winnie and Raj have been devoted to each other for three-and-a-half years, ever since starting high school together in Princeton, NJ. Because Winnie’s parents consulted a pandit who prophesied that she would find her soulmate before her eighteenth birthday and Raj seems to be the perfect match, Winnie sees her future planned out before her. Both she and Raj, who share an intense and mutual interest in Bollywood films and cinema in general, will graduate high school, attend NYU Film School and live happily ever after.
At the end of junior year, however, Raj announces he is switching to engineering and plans to attend school in Boston, expecting Winnie to follow him there. Suddenly Winnie starts to question the prophecy and tells Raj she wants to take a break from their relationship over the summer while she sorts out her feelings. When senior year starts up in the fall and Raj has a new girlfriend (but claims he still loves her), Winnie finds herself competing with him for power positions in the film club (needed to ramp up their college admission applications), and a new love interest shows up to make Winnie question whether she should “yield to destiny” or take matters into her own hands.
Readers who liked WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI will find this book very similar, especially for its depiction of Indian culture in the US. The characters are likable, and the story is well-written. The plot is somewhat predictable but there is mercifully an absence of overblown teenage angst and unhealthy coping behaviors that characterize a lot of YA fiction these days. The characters are unhappy at times, conflicted at times, but no one is suicidal or turns to substance abuse.
No sex. Some language (jackass, bullshit, dick, etc.).
Categories: Books We Recommend, Diversity, Indian-American Culture, Navigating through High School, Peer Relationships, Social Media, Theatre & Film
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