After giving The Henna Artist five stars and it ending up in my top ten books of 2022, it comes as no surprise at all that this book also gets five stars. I'm also exponentially more excited for the Perfumist of Paris now than I was before reading this one. Malik was such a great little character in The Henna Artist, and I'm so, so glad that Alka Joshi decided to give him his own story. He deserves it. It was fun getting to see him as an adult and, of course, seeing where the years took Lakshmi, Radha, and the families of Jaipur as well. Just as she did in the first installment, Joshi did an amazing job writing a highly entertaining story while also showing the history and culture of India in such a beautiful and intriguing way!