Type of read: Commuter read.

What made me pick it up: I don't even remember how I stumbled upon 'Dirty Laundry.' I think I was looking at a list of top-rated or new debut books from AAPI authors.

Overall rating: I'm going to be honest, I don't understand what Bose was trying to accomplish. 'Dirty Laundry' felt unfinished, jumbled, and very simplistic with the writing. There were certain parts of the book where it just didn't make sense what the characters were saying. I feel like Bose fell into the issue many emerging writers find themselves in - telling us every single action, word, and feeling instead of writing in a way that makes us as readers feel the emotion and actions of the characters. I hate being told what the characters are doing, I want to experience what the characters are doing. On top of that, there's a lot of timeline jumping, character perspective jumping, and just plain mushiness when we start looking at who is who and what they mean to the storyline. I didn't hate 'Dirty Laundry' but it wasn't one of the more enjoyable books I've read lately. At this point, I wouldn't recommend it, but I wouldn't be opposed to trying something from Bose in the future after they have had a chance to find themselves a bit more as a writer.

Reader's Note: For any audiobook readers, if you have issues with noises, specifically mouth noises and the clicks, smacks, and breaths that can often come with audio recordings, there are portions of this book (at least in the version I read narrated by Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan) that are incredibly triggering. I nearly DNF'ed about a third of the way through because the tiny soft smacks drove me up a wall. It does get better as the book goes on, but definitely something to be aware of if you're reading this in audio. It's also quite bad near the last 60 minutes of the audio recording.