DNF 35%

I was not able to connect with the character. It was a bit too young for me and I think that if I would have read it a couple of years ago I would have probably gotten more out of it. I would recommend to others who like diverse books, if you are a novice reader. But not for me.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

great representation -as far as i can tell - and cute overall book with great topic but it feels very rushed and underdeveloped as whole.

This book is so cute! This book is such a quick read, I read it under 2 hours and really, really liked it. I love Nisha as the main character, i liked that she had a blog and was into creative writing. I like reading about Tamli culture,i felt that it was very educational and allowed us to see what teen in the culture have to deal with. I also liked how we see her develop in the book considering how short it is. Todd was such a sweet character and i instantly fell in love with him. I liked how caring and humble he is and how he does what he believes is right.

i gave this book 4 stars as it was so cute and fluffy and i wished it was longer.

Nisha has always been a good Tamil daughter. She tries to keep her grades up so she can meet her parents' high expectations of her. They want her to become a doctor or an engineer, and of course she is not allowed to be in a romantic relationship while she is still a teenager. Nisha has discovered that what she really loves to do is write. As she devotes more of her time and attention to her creative writing class, she also finds that who she really loves is her classmate Todd. How can Nisha get her parents to understand that she needs to live her own life? And when she has to choose between her dreams of life on her own terms and being with Todd, how can Nisha decide where her true feelings lie?



Follow Your Heart follows a similar pattern to Samira Ahmed's Love, Hate & Other Filters; it's a light-hearted, easy-to-read book, about coming of age, teenage love and interracial relationships.  It features a girl from an underrepresented group in YA (in this case a Sri Lankan girl living in Canada), with a creative passion, and a very cute romance with a genuinely sweet guy. It beautifully represents Sri Lankan culture, the nuances and complexities of growing up as a brown girl in Canada, and the hardships of dealing with parental expectations as a teenager. 

It is not, however, a very memorable book. It may be because I read it at the airport, or because it is just over 180 pages, but I feel like I will soon forget about it. It's a light, fun read, one that I could go through really quickly, but just because it was so short, I felt like there was no room for the characters to fully develop, so they ended up feeling a bit one-dimensional. There was also a lot going on, and again, because of how short the book was, everything was resolved unrealistically quickly. For all of Nisha's fears and worries, everything seemed to be resolved way too quickly, especially everything concerning her parents. Overall, a sweet, but not quite memorable book. 



**An ARC was provided in exchange for an honest review.**

I decided to read this book because as an Indian-American person myself living in the Bay Area, I connect with the main character. The author paints an accurate representation of the lives of some Indian-Americans in the U.S. While my family wasn't really like the character's, I knew many people going through some of the same struggles. The author managed to relay a realistic Indian-American life to the public, a feat that has not been successfully accomplished by many. While that is something that the book has going for it, I would say it doesn't have much else. The book was mostly very bland and lacked real depth or exciting moments. You could feel how the author wanted to excite emotion in the readers, but she failed to do so. The characters were all bland and one-dimensional and while her life – her family, friends, school – are pretty accurate in terms of what being an Indian-American person is like, the main character herself really didn't have much else going for her except for her apparent skill in writing and her heritage.

I feel like this book really could have explored the idea of an interracial relationship much deeper by involving interesting and truly unique characters, but was largely unsatsifying.

Boring. Could not get past the first few pages. I hate not finishing a book but did not feel bad about not finishing this one as I could not even get started.

So I love this publisher, everything I have read from them has been fantastic. This book is no exception. My main issue with the book is it doesn’t go far enough.

The major plot is Nisha feels stifled by her parents. They control everything down to what classes she takes and what colleges she is applying for. So she starts to rebel. However, for how controlling her parents are they give in to her immediately. The conflict lasted seconds. I felt like that parents that have that much control wouldn’t give it up that easily especially from what I have seen in Indian families towards the daughters.

The dating was pretty tame too. I didn’t feel the connection. Both Todd and Nisha say they were into each other but too nervous to do anything about it. The issue I have is that Nisha immediately jumps into the relationship, barely knowing Todd. His race is barely addressed either. He is a white kid and her parents are vehemently against her dating, especially outside of her race. When her mother finds out about the relationship, she denies that they are anything but friends. Then a few pages later they are in a relationship and kissing in public. There is no real resolution to that plot line.

The story reads quickly and is really fun. I love how the topics that the smart main character writes about are actually things that a smart girl would write about. It felt more authentic than just saying she was smart (though the plot around what she writes about also feels unfinished).

So if you want to just read something fluffy and fun, this book is great. If you want plots that feel completely airtight, then I would steer clear. I was in the mood for fluff so I enjoyed the book and I can see myself reading it again.

This YA novel provided insight into challenges faced by a South Asian immigrant children, as they navigate cultures of origin in new countries, while exploring their sense of independence.

It is so rare to see novels with South Asian MCs. Even rarer to find one with a Tamil MC. And this was a novel that resonated with me in a few ways.

I am a South Asian who grew up away from South Asia myself, so I understood the parental and societal pressures Nisha was facing in the novel. A number of her conversations with her parents struck a chord with me. Being told no dating and the double standards of the society are things I have experienced firsthand.

However, there are many instances where the novel seemed very unrealistic to me. For a teenager who claims that her parents believe in spanking and slapping if she put a toe out of line, there was a lack of actual punishment - be it just in the form of grounding - in regards to her yelling at her parents. The plot was rushed, and there was a lot of telling and less showing.

There was zero actual consequences for her actions towards her parents. No South Asian family would let backtalk like that go, and definitely no strict family would simply just accept their child dating outside of the culture. For all Nisha’s fears, there was no actual consequence. Like I said, a lot of telling in Nisha’s exposition, and not much if any showing.

I had high hopes about this novel, especially as the ratings were pretty good. However, not only were the points above working against it, there was something about the writing that did not mesh with me.

The fact that it was a quick read worked for it, though, and I’m pretty sure it would help to drag someone out of a reading slump. If you are not a part of the culture being portrayed, it is a decent enough view into some parts of the society.

Rating: 4/5
*This book was received for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Follow Your Heart is a relatively quick read, I started reading this last night and finished it in around 4 hours. There were some predictable elements to this book but I don’t feel that took away from the story itself, that said there was also a point that I thought I knew what was happening but I didn’t so it does keep you on your toes. The plot itself was educational and empowering, I was routing for the main character Nisha right from the beginning. The book see’s Nisha grow and develop her own sense of the world whilst bringing attention to the double standards often experienced by women. It was refreshing to read about the Tamil culture, a culture I admittingly don’t know much about but after reading this I will be doing some research of my own. All in all, this is an enjoyable book, it’s a quick read so if you’re struggling to get back into reading this one’s for you.

DNF

Review: I loved the book! The book starts off with showing how much of a double standard there is especially in the Asian/desi world. Many parts in Follow Your Heart had me saying "so true!" "GIRL YES!" "🙌🏼". I really do recommend reading the book! Also they referenced books in a book! Who else loves that? ✨
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Full review on: thebookierookieblog.wordpress.com

I'm not sure there was anything original about this book. Honestly, most YA contemporaries aren't original--that's why there is a trope for every sort of love story. But I read them for the characters, for the writing, and for the oft included humor. I love seeing friendships and families and, of course, the guy. But for me to care, they have to be interesting and dynamic characters. And Nisha and Todd and co. weren't.

Review copy kindly provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I could not stop reading this book! I finished it in less than a day. Great if you’re in a reading slump! This will definitely pull you out. I wasn’t ready for it to end at all.
This is a uniquely & well-crafted YA contemporary read, & the first book I’ve read on this topic. I have never heard about the Tamil ethnic group, but this book educated me a lot and I’ve started doing some research because this book was so interesting. It was so refreshing to see a teenager combat prejudice, and sexism, she was a great protagonist with an attitude that should be instilled in more YA protagonists! I really enjoyed the headlines that you get with the start of each chapter; they fit into the story quite perfectly. This is a sweet love story that incorporates the conflicts of Tamil kids. I recommend to anyone interested in the struggles of Tamil teenagers growing up in a Western country. Cons: the romance felt rushed, & the story wasn’t long enough. I enjoyed this book so much, & I really would’ve loved it even more if it had been a full length novel.

was just okay for me. not bad or anything, I was just always expecting the characters to make me care and that never came. would read from author again though

This YA novel provided insight into challenges faced by a South Asian immigrant children, as they navigate cultures of origin in new countries, while exploring their sense of independence.