This is a really incredibly grim story, dressed up in a pretty colourful cover. The blurb obviously suggests how dark it is but… it really is dark.

Meena and Abdul were the heart of this story for me and I adored them so much. I wish we spent more time with them than with Smita.

While Smita and Mohan were both compelling characters, I struggled to believe there was any chemistry between them. I’m pretty sure this is because the author used Mohan so much as a surrogate for India, challenging Smita constantly about her mixed feelings towards her homeland.

I also felt like there were a few things that were left unfinished by the end, Smita lying to her dad and also WTF was going on with Nandini?! For a book with such sticky, heavy subject matter, I didn’t love that it basically ended with an airport run.

The writing style in the italicised Meena chapters is lovely. The Smita chapters are a lot more basic and matter of fact — presumably to reflect the fact that she’s a journalist, but I found it jarring to return to every time.

Overall I’m glad I read it, and I feel I definitely learnt a lot about a part of Indian culture that I know very little of.