I love books about family dynamics. this is about two sister and the tensions arise in their lives because of their skin colors. One lighter than the other. an excellent take on beauty standards and the of complexion. Reminded me of My Sister, The Serial Killer.

This book asks a lot of big life questions, and really explores what it means to be beautiful. A poignant read that will stay with you.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this enlightening book! My review may contain spoilers!

I chose to read The Desirable Sister based on the concept: two Indian sisters, one light-skinned and one dark-skinned, navigate life as children of immigrants. As an Indo-Canadian immigrant herself, the author does an amazing job of exploring the nuances of identity for the two women. While Serena struggles to overcome the colorism that renders her less desirable, Gia fights to even be recognized as Indian through her art. I loved getting to know more about the nuances of Indian culture, rather than just the surface-level stereotypes. This book really reveals how Indian culture isn't a monolith, but actually really multi-faceted, something white Westerners often fail to recognize.

Unfortunately, this book fell short for me as far as the writing itself. I loved the lengthy descriptions of locations, outfits, and food. The narration allowed me to connect with Serena and Gia toward a better understanding of what they experienced. On the other hand, the dialogue felt incredibly stilted. The characters spoke with a pronounced lack of contractions in a way that I've never heard people speak in real life, making them seem like actors on a stage rather than real people. I tried to keep giving the book a chance to change my mind, but the dialogue passages consistently threw me out of the story itself.

Considering this is a smaller publication I want to give it a pass—particularly due to how impactful this type of story can be as far as developing an understanding of different cultural experiences. That being said, the writing did affect my ability to connect with the story and its characters. Additionally *spoiler alert* I felt that some of the plot points were by turns unaddressed and forced. Early in the story, Gia is raped by a man that her sister has a crush on, and this creates a rift in the sisters' relationship when Gia fails to tell her sister she was raped. It bothered me that this rift is constantly brought up and never repaired, that Gia's affected by this experience but never tells her sister the truth. I wanted that to come out later in the story, but in the end, Serena is shot by her abusive husband. Which brings me to another problem I had with the story: how heavy-handed the ending felt. Why did Serena, the darker sister, have to die at the hands of her traditional Indian husband? I wanted a redemption arc for this character that I never received.

Ultimately, while I enjoyed getting to learn about the experience of colorism within Indian culture, this book left me wanting in a lot of places, from the writing to the storytelling itself. This book held a lot of potential, so I'd be interested to read more from this author in the future.

This book painted a very realistic story and highlighted some ingrained issues relating to racism and sibling rivalry. It showed the struggles and how sometimes it doesn't matter what you do as it's who you are, according to society standards. Really beautifully written and captivating throughout.

Two sisters caught up in issues of race, skin tone and sibling rivalry dominate this storyline. An arranged marriage also comes between them when the groom chooses the other sister for his bride. Their lives ultimately take different paths as they grown up as immigrants in Vancouver.. Your loyalties move between both sisters as the stories develop but love underlies the relationship uniting them..

Thanks to Netgalley the author and publishers for an ARC of this book.

An absolutely gutwrenching story that deals with colorism within communities of color in a way that is sophisticated, easy to understand, and heartbreaking. I truly felt for these sisters and how society's "unseen" standards of what is closer to beauty and what isn't pressures and almost cracks their relationship as sisters. This book features solid and substantive social discussions, as well as an interesting look at a relationship between sisters.

I was conflicted on how to rate this book because I generally enjoyed it. It kept me engage with its new and changing developments. This book follows two Indo-Canadian sisters, Serena and Gia. Gia has fair skin while Serena has darker skin, and their lives are seemingly shaped by this. This book takes us on a journey across continents, decades, starting with the lives of their parents, and tackles what seems like every social issue. While this was good in keeping me engaged, it was a lot.

Nearly every experience the sisters faced, were either directly or indirectly related to the color of their skin. I wish the author had delve into this beyond the surface level approach. I wish the author have provided some more depth into the experiences of their mother, who like Serena had darker skin, and whose sister had lighter skin. There were obvious parallels between the two relationships. I saw no reason to start the book with the parents, but mostly the mother’s experience if she were not going to play a larger role in the book. They appear and disappear with mentions throughout the book, as do a lot of characters. It seemed like the appearance, disappearance and reappearance of characters were to drive the shift in story line.

I think the author was trying to accomplish a lot with this book. This book went to places I didn’t not at all expect or anticipate. It was quite ambitious and it felt like there was still so much more to explore, but overall, a good read.

The Desirable Sister wouldn’t be describe as an “enjoyable” read, but it is a compelling read. The Desirable sisters is about two sisters and the way beauty standards can impact a relationship. Serena, the younger sister, looks Indian and her older sister Gia looks white living in Canada. Their appearance has massive impacts their perception of self, their sense of cultural identity, and their relationship with each other. Taslim Burkowicz is a good writer but view points outside of the two sisters hindered the story. The secondary view points became formulaic, I quickly noticed that their appearance meant a life-altering event was around the corner for one or both of the sisters. Secondary view points added nothing to the story and could’ve left out or reworked into the sisters’ own voice. The ending and the events leading up to it were a bit overdone and affected the overall reading experience. This could have been a five star read.

This was a tough read...

As it says in the title, it is a sensory rich book. You really feel as though you are in the story and a part of the characters' lives.

Racism is a serious topic and in this book, Taslim has hit it head on and in a different and unique way.

What an interesting premise that turned into a really good, thought provoking book. Nature vs nurture. How can two people being raised the same way have different lives. In this case I don't think it was the nature vs nurture premise, but how people view other people, people different than them. It's about sisters, sibling rivalry and a lot of heartbreak. The writing was good and kept me invested in the characters. Overall a really good book that stays with you long after reading it.

Amazing read. This book explores the theme of colour which I believe Taslim Burkowicz did justice to. There are two sisters: one "white", the other, "dark" and this apparent difference leads to differences in the way of life and approach.
This theme thoroughly sheds light on the issues people of colour face today and everyone needs to read this book. Taslim pinpoints the fact that we are still humans despite how we look and first humans, before we are people of where we are from.

This was such an amazing read that I couldn’t put it down. It went everywhere with me. To the doctors office, the dentist, the eye doctor. IT WENT ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE. I was so sad when it ended that I immediately went and bought more books from this author!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a sneek peak at this wonderful story! The Desirable Sister offers a look at the way prejudice plays out even within a particular race and across society as a whole. Never over done, Taslim Burkowicz's realistic look at the antagonistic relationship between two sisters shows all too well how shades of color impact every area of our lives, even without us realizing it.

Gia and Serena were so well written, that I felt sisterly towards them both and at times wanted to shake each one to knock some sense into her! The story begins with echoes of what is to come when it introduces us to Gulshan and Zeenat (Gia and Serena's mother) who are also quite opposite in coloring and temperament.

The novel examines the ways in which we are seen by others affecting the changes we make within ourselves in order to meet or defy the expectations of our appearance. What I think is the saddest part of the story is that within these families the women withhold their secrets from one another. A lack of communication truly separates us as much skin color and classist hierarchies.

Burkowicz's writing is engaging and vivid, painting details of cultures I've never been witness to in India, Africa, and Canada.
This novel should be savored as an exploration of identity, sisterhood, and heritage. 4 stars

I was looking forward to reading this book, but I was left disappointed. Although, the storyline is good, I had trouble relating to the characters. The dialogue felt forced and awkward at times and I struggled to finish it.

A book about sisters, their rivalry, jealousy and love. Born in Canada, but OF Indian background, Gia and Serena are close in age but different in personalities. Much of it is attributed to Gia’s whiteness as being valued more than Serena’s dark skin and the acceptances or rejections that stem from color. An incident visiting their aunt in India changes Gia, and with those misunderstood changes, Serena and Gia losE the closeness they had as young children. The book was well written, and the themes of the story well formed. Recommended for those who like stories about different cultures. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Ah, this book sounded so promising - almost exactly like an Indian-Canadian version of one of my favorite books of the year, Mrs. Everything. It started out strong, and was not bad up until the traumatic climax for one of the sisters, after which things really go off the rails.

Gia and Serena lose their identities and don’t feel like individuals - and there is hardly any focus on characters other than the two sisters. You get flashes of each sister’s life spaced out every few years, but you don’t get to know them or understand them well enough to like or even empathize with their actions. I was left wanting more with every single chapter.

The dialogue - oh boy - was the biggest reason struggled to finish this book. Everything is so stilted and unnatural - it sounded like Google Translate trying to emulate a human conversation. The book is supposed to be about relationships - both between the sisters and the sisters’ relationships with other people - but the dialogue makes it impossible to believe in or like any of these relationships.

Overall, the concept of this book is great - the discrimination between light- and dark-skinned Indian woman is prominent and creates vast inequality. The generational differences in immigrant experiences and assimilation, as well as the struggles to fit into a culture in which you always feel like an outsider, are compelling topics that are touched upon in this book. But still, the execution was not good.

In recent years, scientists have begun to research the role sibling relationships play on in shaping individual personalities, positing that the sibling relationship may be as strong, if not stronger, than the parental relationship in shaping who we are and how we behave. At the heart of Taslim Burkowicz’ novel The Desirable Sister, is the complicated and intricate connection between the Pirji sisters - Gia and Serena - and how that connection, both consciously and unconsciously, catalyzes the thoughts and actions of the sisters throughout their lives.

From the time of their births, the die is cast – Gia, the oldest by less than a year, is fair skinned, the shining example of beauty for any Indian girl, while Serena is dark with a head of unruly curly hair, the mirror of her mother who suffered under her own self-conscious comparisons to her fair-skinned sister. The book follows the lives of the sisters through childhood to adulthood to a rather heartbreaking denouement. Gia is the free-spirited artist who spends a great deal of her adulthood meandering like a somnambulist through several iterations of men and art, and Serena is the reactionary hot-head who finds herself locked in a prison of her own making. I think Burkowicz did a wonderful job in creating the inner worlds of both Gia and Serena. Equally, I think her the writing and the story was strongest when the sisters interacting with one another and/reacting to one another. I found a lot of truth in the way the Gia and Serena walked that fine line between wanting to show their best selves to one another and wanting to lay bare the darkest parts of their souls to one another. The deepest sadness of the book was that neither sister could ever be wholly true and open with one another and reveal the violence and heartbreak they had endured. I think this can be very true for many siblings. And, it points to the essential problem between Gia and Serena – they didn’t define themselves based on one another; rather they defined themselves based on what they perceived one another to be.

As a whole, I thought the novel bit off a bit more than it could chew. There were a lot of characters that came in and out the story that I couldn’t determine the real value of their presence. I also felt a lot of threads that could have been interwoven throughout the story were just given up or lost, namely the relationship to their mother (and their identity as first generation immigrant children), and the relationship to the aunt living in Africa whom they visited as children (a visit that included one of the most important events of the book) and never heard from again. Finally, I am not entirely sure how I feel about the ending. It felt a little melodramatic upon first read, but also led to a touching conclusion. Again, it felt a little too big for the story as a whole.

At the end of the day, I found myself wanting to pick up the book and touch base with Gia and Serena. I wanted to see where their lives were going. And, that is the essence of story telling – wanting more. I look forward to what this author does in the future.

The book is very different from its description. It actually entails a story more advanced than what the blurb reads.

A story about the lives of two Indo-Canadian sisters set worlds apart due to colourism, which produces sibling rivalry.

The plotline developed very unpredictably, even up until the climax, which will throw you off course. I feel the story digressed from the main plot quite a bit. Overall, it is a good book and a fast read.

The Desirable Sister is beautifully written.

Two sisters from one family with one difference; the colour of their skin. This story follows Gia and Serena's journey through life each with their own struggles.

Gia, the white sister who is considered more beautiful struggles to relate to her own family and desperately clutches to her heritage to prove her Indian background. Serena, who is brown, desperately lives in the shadow of Gia who, in her own eyes, she considers more beautiful, and is envious of her sisters ability to fit into white Canadian culture.

Not having a sister I found this a frustrating read - why can't they sit down to talk, acknowledge, understand and embrace their differences? But knowing family is never that simple keeps this read interesting.

Gia and Serena Pirji are sisters, but as the first-generation born in Canada to immigrant parents, their lives play out in different ways because of their skin tone. Gia's fair skin grants her membership to cliques of white kids as a teen, while Serena's dark skin means she is labelled as Indian and treated as inferior. This superficial difference, imposed by a society obsessed with skin colour and hierarchy, sets the sisters into a dynamic that plays out throughout their lives. In a world where white skin is preferable, the sisters are pitted against each other through acts of revenge and competition as they experience adultery, ruined friendships, domestic abuse, infertility and motherhood.

This book had so much potential. Two sisters bonded by blood and yet alienated by the colour of their skin. I was very curious to see how the story would pan out for the two sisters.
The book starts with the girls' parents and a little peek into how their father chose his dark-skinned wife despite having come to see her elder fair-skinned sister. I instantly liked how the book started and was immediately invested in the story until I wasn't which did not take that long, unfortunately. I kept waiting for something more, something deeper, something different to happen but it did not. The story continued with the same theme of skin colour of the two girls however as characters they did not seem to evolve despite all that happens to them. That was disappointing.

Apart from that, there were loopholes where certain characters who randomly appear only to not be heard from again including the girls' parents and extended family.

The synopsis of the book promises way more than what the book delivers.
I wish this could have been a better read for me. Maybe it will work for others.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.