A review by piabo
A House for Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi

  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A Bay Area / Hyderabad book! Two Minerva cities in one go and with such an interesting topic of surrogacy.

I always joke that I one day want to be a surrogate because it apparently pays around 30,000 USD in the US, which would cover my college debts, but I never thought about it much more.
This book does not just confront the money transactional part and the likely financial difference between the two parties involved, but also the two different countries and cultural conceptions.

I loved both Priya and Asha and understood both of their reasoning. I found most of the writing good, but sometimes saw a lot more potential for some scenes. The online forum posts at the end of Priya's chapters were also a cool addition to the book.

It was great that conflicts were not immediately (or finally) solved, although I do think it could have been a little less happy sometimes.
Definitely an interesting read, and I am happy I learned more about this topic.