I came into this book with super high expectations, but unfortunately the book fell short of those expectations.

Say it louder for the people in the back: Don't come in looking for a romcom, come in prepared for a story about self-discovery and self love.

I wish I had that mindset while going into the story, because I found the main character Raina to be kind of egocentric and all over the place. And while it brings depth to her character, as a reader I unfortunately couldn't sympathize. THE MATCHMAKER'S LIST follows the story of a half-white, half-Indian girl who's being pressured by her loving family (especially her grandmother) to marry a suitable Indian bachelor that they have lined up for her - thus the title "Matchmaker's List." Raina is in a position in life where she's a bit lonely and just aimlessly strolling through it. It feels like that for most of the book because it really just follows her everyday activities with interactions with family and friends - a lot of them focused on her family trying to get her to marry someone. There was lovely development with familial dynamics, but Raina herself had some attitude problems that didn't endear me to her character.

- For example, I thought Raina was way too dramatic with the "potential husbands" she wrote off, after going on dates with them. There was a point where I thought she really exhibited a double standard, and in general her negativity throughout the whole process really set an unpleasant mood for a good part of the book.

- I was really uncomfortable about the fact that Raina pretended to be gay in front of her grandmother to get her to stop trying to make matches. I always side-eye that trope, especially because it shows Raina's privilege and how she uses this aspect that other people may struggle to deal with as a superficial excuse for her own, heterosexual needs. I'm not here for that.

- I didn't like the love interest. Like I said, romcom this is not.

Overall, I do appreciate the book for what it is (thus a 2.5 stars though rounded down). But it really wasn't what I was expecting when I picked it up, as it was a lot more intense and character-centric than a light, fluffy romcom. That's my own fault though, and I can only hope other readers who pick up this book will also get the note. That way, they can appreciate Raina's story to its full capacity.

Thank you Berkley for the review copy!

In order to make her beloved grandmother happy, Raina agrees to a series of increasingly awkward blind dates.
While I enjoyed the glimpse into Raina's family life and the complexities of her Indian community, I despised her and her "take the easy way out and worry about the consequences later" mentality, her unending obsession with the man who was always meant to get away, and her irritating, whiny nature. Even when she was "redeemed", it still felt that she had learned nothing.

This book is exactly what I thought it would be - light and fluffy but with a peek into a culture I know nothing about. Raina Anand is a likeable character who is more or less ready to get married but is not ready to be pushed into it by her family. Her Nani has a list of potential suitors ready for her but Raina tells a lie (to help a friend) that changes everything.
While the book isn't perfect (dragged in a few places and was a little uncomfortable in others), I will try to re-read this book before my ARC expires.

Four stars
This book comes out February 5
ARC kindly provided by publisher and NetGalley

This book was not what I expected. I had a hard time liking Raina, the main character, and I really didn't agree with a lot of her decisions, which made it hard for me to enjoy the book. I think that what the author was trying to do, though, so I'm undecided on how much I actually liked this.

I really wanted to love this book and there were moments that I did love. I loved the family dynamic and the imperfect characters but overall the story felt disjointed to me. I felt like there were whole scenes where the main character acted totally different than what I expected and it was hard to get into her story for that reason.

Pleasantly surprised but wishing for more. It was quite refreshing reading about an Indo-Canadian, being from Canada myself. The differences between generation to generation were insightful and interesting. That being said, I wish there was more development with the relationship, their banter was awesome and I wanted more! All in all it was a great read and I will definitely be recommending it!

The Matchmaker’s List was a fantastic debut novel by Sonya Lalli. By the cover and the blurb, I was expecting this to be a cutesy and fun rom-com. While it was that, it was also much more angsty and emotional than I thought it would be.

Raina is almost thirty. Raina’s grandmother is from India and holds their traditions to heart. She wants Raina married and settled down, and it seems all Raina wants to do is work. After having her heart broken years ago, Raina just isn’t in the dating game right now. But her grandma isn’t having that. Grandmother plays matchmaker much to Raina’s dismay.

Raina goes on some awful dates an meets some questionable characters, all per her grandma's picking. Nothing feels right. Raina is desperate to get her grandmother off her back and ends up getting herself in a bit of a pickle. It’s one of those lies that seems harmless at the time then gets completely out of control. Trying to navigate life, she is at a crossroads. Coming clean could mean hurting a lot of people she loves but she can’t keep on as she’s keeping on. Raina will have to decide what she wants in life and what is most important- her own self love and happiness.

I really did enjoy The Matchmaker’s List. It was part romance, part chick-lit, and it had a lot of heart. I loved the family ties, the friendship, and the self acceptance. This was a coming of age story of sorts, and I loved being along for Raina’s journey. Raina who never felt good enough finally got that validation she needed, but more importantly, she felt it herself.

If you’re looking for a heartwarming story of self discovery, family, friendship, and love- pick this one up! It was highly entertaining and a lot of fun to read.

Such a nice surprise, I devour it in one sitting.The plot was good and I loved the heroine.I like the writing, and I hope we can see more from this author.

I loved most of it, I just didn't liked the ending a lot and this is why I give it 4 stars.However, it was a great story.


The Matchmaker's List is sweet, intense and heartwarming.

I was surprised that this wasn't a fluffy rom-com but instead something much deeper. I want to say this was marketed to me as a rom-com, which was why I was surprised--but I honestly don't remember if I stumbled onto this directly on Netgalley or if I saw a post about it on Instagram first. Wait, Netgalley has this at the very top of the blurb:

One devoted modern girl + a meddlesome, traditional grandmother = a heartwarming multicultural romantic comedy about finding love where you least expect it

So yeah. It's not a romantic comedy! Do not pick this up thinking that's what you'll get because you will be disappointed if you don't go in eyes-open. I was expecting one thing and got another. If you want an exploration of the complexities of identity, family, tradition, community, religion, self-confidence, and the pressure to be the perfect "good girl" then you should pick this up. But be warned that there are some romance novel shenanigans that may detract from your enjoyment if you're expecting more straightforward literature.

For me I have to give it a solid 3 stars. There wasn't enough romance to keep me interested from a romance novel perspective, and there was too much shenanigans to keep me focused from a literature perspective. Trying to cover both bases is a very tough line to walk, and I feel like the elements needed to be blended better.

But the biggest obstacle for me reading this: at one point the main character Raina makes a huge error in judgement that negatively impacts her family, her relationships, and her whole community--and she spends months not trying to correct this error, spiraling everything out of her control. The resolution to this was unrealistic. I felt like there was so much more potential to tackle the points the author wanted to hit without taking away from the realistic portrait she was trying to paint of the struggles a modern Canadian of Indian heritage trying to balance her ideas of love and marriage with what her family and community's traditions might want for her instead.

All that said, I really did love all the explorations of Raina's culture and struggles straddling both Canadian and Indian traditions and expectations. I will read more from Sonya Lalli--I just hope her publisher does her a solid and markets her book a little differently to avoid reader confusion. Berkley, you don't have to be a rom-com to sell! Just tell us what you've got and we'll read it!

This was a really good book, with one huge problem. The entire pretending to be gay plotline was a bad idea, and the fallout/criticism of the character in-text never really approached how seriously messed up of a thing it was.

It was really good! I loved the heroine in this novel. the only part that was hard to read at times was the relationship she and her best friend hard to read at times, but it not only explained the main character's background but also choices that she makes throughout the book more than her relationship with her mother.
overall I'm looking forward to reading more books by this author.

This book was not what I was expecting. I enjoyed the read though but it was not really what I would call a romance. In my opinion this is more of a fiction or a women's lit book. Without giving away spoilers, I will say that this book deals with issues that are important but it does not always go about it in the way I thought was appropriate.

It's a great read for what it is but it's not a light fluffy romance.

spoilers!

so. i went into this expecting a romance. this is not a romance - at least, not what a romance reader expects when they pick up a book. yes, she goes on dates and there's a HEAish but if you are reading this expecting a romance, even a light/clean one, you'll be disappointed.

it read more just like normal 'women's fiction' which there is absolutely nothing wrong with, i just had a hard time adjusting my expectations. i could have dealt with that and enjoyed it regardless, i don't need all my books to be steamy romances, but unfortunately this book had other things that didn't work for me.

for one, the main character is pretty unlikable - she pretends to be gay to get her grandmother off her back about dating, which... okay. not okay. but what makes it really not okay is that she keeps it going for a really long time and i really had a problem with that, especially with how she deals with it and the people it impacts. in general she just seemed very unaware of how her actions or words hurt other people and she treated some people really abominably.

on top of that, the guy she's in love with is an ex who treated her poorly and when he comes back he's a complete douche and while i understand she doesn't end up with him, he's unlikable from the get go so the reader is more than likely thinking 'get your shit together girl and move the hell on'. it's annoying that it takes raina so long to figure her shit out, especially because it's so clear to the reader that there is nothing decent about this guy.

as for the other guys, the random guys she goes on dates with, they were all very 'romantic comedy montage of bad first dates with cliche one dimensional characters' and those just seem pointless to read through. this is another point that didn't work for me because i was expecting more of a romance, less of a finding yourself book - i wanted her to develop a relationship with the guy she supposedly ends up with, but we get barely any development there and then all of a sudden she's falling in love while asking him out to coffee. it just moved a bit too fast and i would have preferred more development in their relationship rather than the random dates that didn't really help the book. again, this is because i was expecting more of a romance and i was disappointed in the lack of romance/love story. and perhaps people who pick this up expecting more of a womens fiction book will be annoyed about the romance in it - you can't please everyone.

anyway. this really just did not work for me and i am super bummed. i struggled with my rating - i liked the writing, i know it sounds like i didn't, but i did. if the main character was a bit different and this was more of a romance or not tagged as one in the first place, i think i would have liked it more. but as it was, i had a lot of trouble with the main character in general and pretending to be gay thing.

so, sorry. not for me.

Sonya Lilli is a Canadian writer of Indian heritage. She has written an insightful story of a 29 yr. old woman, Raina, whose Nani has made a list of eligible men for her to meet so she may select a husband and marry before she is 30. It is a tale of lies, deceit, anguish, uncertainty, old boy friend, new boy friend, work, wedding [her friend, Shay], pleasing Nani, cultural expectations. So much is interwoven in this story....read and ponder.

So this book was nothing like what I thought I was getting. This is a good thing and a bad. It's bad if you're looking for a light hearted romance to read. Because that's not what this is. It's an intense story about love, friendship and trauma. The themes in this book were important and well written but this is not what I thought I was getting. I loved that The Matchmaker's List was diverse and tackled important issues. It's a really great read, if you're not expecting a fluffy romance.

I was so excited to get an opportunity to read this book. When I need a break from all the heavy stuff I look for a rom-com and what better than a diverse one?

Raina, is 30 something and her Nani thinks she should be married by now! So Nani becomes the traditional matchmaker. What Nani doesn't know is that Raina is still in love with her ex, Dev. When Dev re-enters her life she hides this from everyone because no one thinks he is as in love with her as she was with him. Well , Dev comes back but does that mean they will end up together or will another match be made that steals her heart ?

I have mixed feelings about this book. I loved Nani, liked Raina, was annoyed by her friends, but I did like the way it all turned out. Reminded me a bit of Dimple met Rishi which was a YA. I actually felt Raina acted more like a 20 something and this book would be more enjoyed by younger adults . Therefore I'd recommend it to younger women rather than middle age.
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read.

Raina has finally caved to letting her beloved grandmother set her up on dates to find "the one". But with all the blind dates (not to mention no chemistry whatsoever with any said dates) Raina begins to wonder if this was such a good idea; even if she agreed to it just to appease her grandmother. It when Raina truly finds love for herself that pretty soon the rest of her messy life begins to fall into place.
This book wasn't as cute and adorable as I originally anticipated; it had more meat in the story and to be honest I liked it for that reason. Lalli really dives into Raina's idea of love, how to love and what is love exactly...and the book was more for it.

I went into this title, really wanting to like it, but I found the main character to be really problematic. Immature, fairly incompetent on the job, handles social situations and dealings with other people poorly, self-esteem and regulation issues...in general she was really unsympathetic. Given the cringe-worthy situations she continually puts herself in, maybe she's supposed to be? Maybe we're supposed to see growth? I did not see as much as I would have liked for a woman of her age. The handling of the relationship with the LGTBQ+ character was really bothersome as well.

Raina is nearing 30 and her grandmother wants to see her married. To help her meet "appropriate" men, Noni has concocted a list of eligible bachelors for Raina to date. Raina goes along with the plan just to keep peace in the family, but she is not really interested in the idea. Many amusing moments.

Take your typical chit-lit read and give it depth. That's what The Matchmaker's List is - a book refreshingly full of depth and introspection. Combine cross cultural dating, a not-so-typical Indian grandmother, and you've got a fun, and full of surprises book.