Where Arissa Gets Every Wish for a Minute

Saffron Dreams by Shaila M. Abdullah
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Maybe 3.5?

It took me ages to finish this, reading a little every few days. This isn't my usual fare, but I found it entertaining enough to keep going, if slowly. And there are things to admire.

I can't remember what connected me to this book originally; I think it was on a list of "read some of these books by South Asian authors" or something. And it is interesting. The main character comes from a wealthy family in Pakistan, but the family is not traditional. They aren't super religious, and they're kinda broken. Her mom has left and is only sometimes in her life. When she marries and moves to New York and gets pregnant, things look up, but then her husband dies on 9/11, and when her baby comes it has lots of special needs.

Told with in a back-and-forth way, with lots of revealing flashbacks, this is really the story of how Arissa longs for, obtains, and then loses an ideal life, eventually coming to terms with that. When, at the very end, her friend talks about how children complete their lives, she agrees reluctantly, adding, "Sometimes not in the way we imagined. Maybe it's wrong to see perfection as the key to bliss." I guess everybody goes through that reassessment.

Speaking as a white dude from Arizona, this novel has the added benefit of being told in the voice of a Pakistani immigrant woman, giving me access to the kind thoughts I wouldn't usually get to hear. It allows Arissa to become a unique voice in my head, differentiating her from generic South Asian Woman, whatever stereotype that has been for me. That education is probably the greatest benefit to me as a reader. Also, seeing her reaction as a both a Muslim and a victim of 9/11 was a useful corrective for many of the narratives emerging from that day.

The prose is fine--not too ornate, not an overabundance of figurative language--and I like the characters okay, especially her in-laws who come to take care of her after their son dies. But the plot is just "How will she get along now, raising a special needs son as a single mother in America?" It's pretty good. It's not my thing, usually. That's why 3 or 3.5 stars. I found it more interesting in a "hmmmm" kind of way than truly entertaining.

Still, it was worth reading for the other benefits, so I'm satisfied overall. Others may enjoy it much more than I did, and that's cool.

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A Desi Jane Austen

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Yeah, I liked it okay. I wouldn't have finished it if I really didn't. But it wasn't near as punchy as I hoped and not as fun.

I like the premise--a retelling of the Jane Austen novel, transplanted to modern America, with South Asian characters. And some of that really worked. Honestly, I liked the last 100 pages. And I liked the characters themselves.

But it took almost 300 pages to get going. We kept getting exposition, and I kept thinking the story would soon take off, but it was heavy with exposition all the way through. Every character had their story told by the narrator. Their story, their mother's story, everyone connected to them... Too much, for me.

It's also more of a straightforward romance than I expected, which is fine--my problem, not the author's. And romance readers might find the pacing more to their taste than I did. I dunno.

I've enjoyed other Austen-adjacent novels more, tbh. I might try another novel by this author, but not immediately. I would recommend it more for romance readers (at a guess) than traditional Austen fans. YMMV.

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