Picked this up on a whim because of the title. Don’t know if I agree on it being so heavily P&P-esque as it is an enemies to lovers narrative. How they became lovers? That part still eludes me as I don’t feel the chemistry between them. It seemed more a relationship of convenience because that was where the book needed to go. But I certainly couldn’t tell you where the “aha moments” were for Trisha and DJ other than it being “oh shit I like [them].”

Working with surgeons, it pains me how terrible Trisha’s family is to her with a surgeon’s schedule. You don’t get to totally predict every time how long a surgery is going to take, or when an emergent case comes in. I know that is a pain point for families in real life, but especially with her dad also being a doctor, why are they not more proud of her??? (also, having gotten through the next two books at the time of this review, her grant just falls out of relevancy, like wtf that’s a huge deal!!!)

It was also hard to get me to like DJ because his “British English” was cringe and felt very disingenuous. Every time I heard “arse” I wanted to pull my hair out.

Also… can we talk about how Trisha can’t believe DJ would ever get racially profiled because, “This is California!” Girl please. Especially when you get to Yash’s book, I can’t believe she ever said something so ignorant. I genuinely laughed out loud.

I honestly wasn’t sure I was going to move on to the next books after this one because I was pretty meh after this one. The dash of spice we got at the end though was rather enticing, I’m not gonna lie. And I want to try whatever magical food DJ is cooking in real life. 

The repetition of “but she didn’t say that” after dialogue became annoying after the 20th time. This book is built on miscommunication so if that bothers you skip it. The main characters have little chemistry and spend most of their time fighting but not in a way that seems resolvable. It is resolved but given they are fighting about their outlooks on life it doesn’t seem like it should nearly as easy as it is. This book also veers into some really heavy topics somewhat suddenly. 

I didn't really get Pride & Prejudice vibes. The characters were so unlikeable and the writing was mediocre at best. Also way too long and painfully slow.

This was a really cute read. It inverts some of the plot of Austen‘s pride and prejudice. For example, the FMC Trisha is a neurosurgeon from a family with generational wealth and privilege, while the MMC DJ is a talented but struggling chef. Dev takes necessary liberties with Austen’s plot line to update it and make it work for these characters and the 21st century racial and class contexts of Silicon Valley. Even so, the book has all of the personality clashes, the pining, and the villainous characters of the source text. And it all works really well together. I think as long as you go into it expecting a remix rather than a faithful adaptation, you’ll enjoy it just fine.

Be sure to check your trigger warnings though. The scandals have been updated for the 21st century and some may find the material difficult. There are multiple instances of SA (all off page) as well as a scary encounter with the police, among other things. 

The secondary characters are well developed and a lot of fun. Not surprising given that this is the first book in a series about Trisha’s family. All of the books are based on Austen’s works.

There isn’t really any spice. And similar to Austen‘s narrative, this is a slow burn that really takes a while to heat up. Once it gets there, there are lots of great quotes and sweet moments. I give it two swoony hearts.💖💖

The novel has lots of racial and class diversity. Trisha is a first generation Indian American. Her mother was a Bollywood movie star and her father was royalty in the province that they come from in India. DJ and his sister Emma are part Indian, part English, and part Rwandan. There are very few white characters in the novel. So far there don’t seem to be any queer characters. But there are characters dealing with long-term illness and disability. Trisha is written in such a way that there are hints that she may be neurodivergent or maybe she just has some of those necessary characteristics of being a neurosurgeon. The ambiguity works.

Overall, I found this to be a fun and engaging read, and I really liked it. I will definitely read others in the series and look forward to how Sonali Dev adapts more of Austen‘s work. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 💖💖

This was a good book and could easily have been a four or five star read for me, but the problematic elements knocked it down several notches unfortunately. Spoilers ahead as well as a content warning for sexual assault and ableism:

Exploring male victims of sexual assault is a very important story to bring light to and deserves proper treatment. Choosing to have a teenage girl sexually assault and drug a grown man as a plot point is not doing that. The implications and optics of a rich powerful man being taken advantage of by a teenage girl casts doubt on victims and is irresponsible story telling. Especially when there were far better ways to adapt Whickham. They could have had her embezzling his campaign funds and stealing money or even had her be an older adult who took advantage of him as a political mentor when he was just starting at his career. Every time it was mentioned I felt sick at my stomach and the story would have been so much better if anything else was done.

There were also multiple parts that seemed to be an attempt to give disabled rep that felt very ableist. The way they handled their cousin with epilepsy. Them never leaving the attic felt really gross especially with the real world history of locking disabled people away.

I really want to give this book a higher rating. It’s a gender bent retelling of P&P with Indian-American culture. Trish Raje is a brilliant brain surgeon and she knows where her talents lie. She plays an excellent Darcy. DJ, in the Lizzie Bennet role, is a gifted chef giving the whole story a Indian foodie flavor. There is a truly wicked Wickham in the mix. What’s not to love? 

Unfortunately, the Raje family dynamics are toxic

blaming Trish for things out of her control

The HIPAA violations between Trish and her family are unforgivable.

The resolution between DJ and Trish at the end seemed rushed and lacking in true chemistry AND it was another medical ethical violation unless Trish turned Emma’s care over to another surgeon.

Other reviews mention the length of the book and the side plots. I really liked the author’s writing and I think they helped develop Trish’s character. 

I have two more issues. 
1. Trish seemed to be written as autistic-coded. The book already was ableist AF. (Full star deduction for that.) Limited special interests, difficulty making friends, intense loyalty, strong *personal* ethical code (not necessarily aligned with laws like HIPAA), hyperfocus to the point of excluding sleeping and eating…. The only marker not explicitly stated was stimming. So, DJ’s dislike of her is even more ableism in this book.
2.

Maybe this is because I am a physical therapist who has worked in hospitals, but there is no way a surgeon would be researching a program, facility or artist like in this book for a patient. A social worker would call a meeting and SW, OT or PT would probably suggest changing artistic mediums to an artist. Resources would be suggested for the patient and family to look up on their own. Patients get autonomy at all times including the choice to stay sick and die with the dignity of their own choice.

First off, bless you Storygraph for having a DNF option for book reviews.

I somewhat recently have been enjoying romcoms. I read nonfiction and scifi earlier in the day, when possible, but at night I want to read a book that's not going to make me think a lot. I want fun and funny and yes, romance. It was pretty clear I wasn't going to get it with this book, and I have no interest in continuing the book.

I can usually tell something is amiss if I have difficulty reading the first chapter. I actually turned back a few pages at times, as if I'd missed some clear transition from past to present and then back to past again. But I gave it a try for another chapter, and the feeling in my stomach only deepened. In the past I've pressed on to continue the book, but you know, life's too short to read books I know I won't "enjoy" or learn from.

I started looking at reviews to see if it would get better. I don't have to love the main character, but I probably shouldn't dislike her as much as I do in the first few chapters. Which is weird, because I also felt as though I didn't really understand her in the first few chapters. What I did understand, when I'd gotten as far as I did, was that she's an elitist jerk. Apparently her sister and brother got the conversational genes, or whatever. But it's another sure sign I don't want to get invested in this person. The male lead, what little I saw of him, was also not super impressive. I can't imagine what I'd think of them together.

To be completely fair, one of the reasons I'm not finishing this book, and why I might not pick up another of this author's books, is the writing style. It's jarring and just not fun to read. I don't really like her character portrayals. The other reason, the main reason I'm stopping now, is the spoilers I've read. And I've read about them in multiple reviews.

Apparently Trisha (main character) had a friend named Julia who drugged and raped Trisha's older brother, recorded the event, and then threatened to tell everyone that he'd raped her (she was also a minor at the time). This is all apparently Trisha's fault, as far as the family is concerned, and so she is pretty removed from her family as a result. And the reason her brother doesn't want to come out with the story now that he's running for governor? Well it'll torpedo his chances of winning, and I believe it. But also apparently it'll destroy the #MeToo movement and all the progress we've made? That sort of anti-feminist trash is not something I want to read. I also, personally, just don't want to read about all this trauma in one of my romcom books. There is also apparently some stuff concerning Trisha going out with a patient's brother and telling him details about his sister, which is a pretty decent example of a HIPAA violation.

So, there we are.

I tried. I really tried. I love a good retelling and I love Pride and Prejudice.

I hated all of the characters. I hated the unnecessary exposition. But I stopped after Trisha started talking about her patient to everybody and was getting mad because she was considering not having surgery. I don’t expect medical accuracy but this was so painful to read that I wasn’t enjoying the book at all.