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Mishchinny
, February 13, 2022
(view all comments by Mishchinny)
Nina, a British Indian woman, finds herself in absolute despair on her 30th birthday - she spends the night alone in jail, she's recently called off an engagement with her "perfect-on-paper" fiancé, her brother is clinically depressed, and her mother thinks Nina is on the path headed nowhere.
During her night in jail, she comes across a book that sets her off on a year-long journey to find 30 things to love about herself. It proves quite difficult for Nina as she's accused of being a racist on national TV, is on suicide watch for her brother, Kal, and is constantly never living up to her mother's expectations (including who she dates).
What I loved: Nina's self-reflection and the ability to recognize when she was wrong; the Mistry family relationship; Nina's mother, Rupa; the idea that you need to learn to love yourself before loving anyone else; tackling real-life issues such as racism, mental health, cultural appropriation.
What I didn't love as much: the plot seemed a bit farfetched and the dialogue was borderline cheesy at times.
Would you be able to list 30 things you love about yourself? Before reading this novel, I honestly couldn't (and maybe still can't) but really loved following Nina's path to self-love and discovery. Time for me to start that list!
TW: suicide, depression, mental illness
Thank you Berkley for my gifted copy in advance for an honest review.
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