The Knockout tells the story of seventeen year old Kareena Thakkar, an Indian-American girl, struggling to break the stereotypes within and outside of her Indian community in Texas. She is smart, funny, and very protective of her family and her identity as a Muay Thai fighter. It's a typical teen fiction with broken friendships, budding romance, and financial hardships. But what makes it great is the sport angle of Muay Thai fighting and the author's perspective of Indian culture. Kareena is definitely a character worth rooting for, she will knock you out!

Now posted on my goodreads account too
2.5/5

I rarely read the blurb of a book before starting it but I don't know why with this one I did and it was exactly what drew me in, I'd never read a book where the main character did martial arts, Muay Thai in this case and it seemed like an original story.

I always say this but I love when novels have author's notes explaining the how and the why of the story so I was pleased to find one at the beginning of this one, it helped me easy into the story.

Unfortunately if the first 20% was easy and enjoyable, after that the story got gradually more boring and repetitive (especially the drama between the mc and the li), I often found myself reading without reading, I would literally start thinking about something else and realize after 4/5 pages.
And this was mostly because the narration wasn't engaging enough: yes, the mc was training for a big competition, her father had some health issues and she was starting to catch feelings for this boy but was in denial; what kept me from enjoying fully the story was that all these elements were like items on a grocery list, listed and alternated over and over again in a kind of emotionless and unenthusiastic way and this leads to my second problem with the novel: the characterization, the characters were sadly one-dimensional, most of their actions didn't feel natural but forced, like puppets on a string, they didn't really come to life.

Now let's talk about the characters in particular: the main character Kareena is a Muay Thai fighter who's very unsure about her Indian identity and has a weird fetish about her Filipina best friend's natural hair (which.. no), the main problem with her was that she was the embodiment of the expression "ahah just kidding.. unless?", she was constantly repeating how she didn't care what people thought or said about her, didn't care that they judged her because she was a girl who did Muay Thai, didn't care other Indians didn't consider her Indian enough, except she did, her thoughts focused only on others' perception of her, she was always worrying about that and nothing else and it got kind of annoying after a while.
What I liked about her: she was independent and mature when it came to her family problems, she always tried to help and didn't want to be kept in the dark.
The love interest Amit was just as poorly characterized, he was only there to start "drama"with Kareena and not even the good kind, instead of being his own character he was only there because of her, to support her story.
Kareena's parents were the only characters I actually liked: they felt more realistic, I like that they weren't too traditionalist and I found their relationship with their daughter refreshing.

The romance was okay, a bit tepid, it was well-paced but again, there was a lot of repetitive back and forth between Kareena and Amit and I think it could've been avoided.

The story had great potential, I really wanted to enjoy it and it's a pity I did not.

This is it. This is the best, cutest, most powerful story you will read all year. Look no further, because Sajni Patel has written a stunning young adult novel after hitting it out of the park with her debut adult romance, The Trouble with Hating You.

This book is just amazing. Kareena is a Muay Thai fighter, and she's good at what she does. Good enough that she could make it to the US Open. If she can produce the money to enter and get there. Her parents are supportive, but her father is sick, and most of their money goes towards his treatments.

At school, Kareena is asked to tutor Amit in coding, but she quickly learns that he's a genius but has his own reasons for falling behind in class. The two of them spend more and more time together and Kareena can see herself falling in love, even though it's the last thing she has time for. Both of them have a lot going on in their lives, but they try to balance it out with the time they spend together.

I really enjoyed the romance because they were both such sweethearts and they were both always so kind with each other's hearts. I loved how they were there for each other and tried to support one another. I loved how Amit never blinked at the things Kareena did that weren't considered "typically Indian" and how he loved those things about her. They were just so great and perfect together. I loved their relationship to no end.

I really loved the support Kareena gets from the other girl athletes at her school and how they rally behind her to help her get to the competition. That was amazing and I loved the sisterhood. I also adored Kareena's best friend Lily and how sweet she was. I loved how she could see Kareena and Amit falling for each other and how she was totally shipping it from the start.

This was just a really incredible young adult novel that blended Indian culture with girl sports with women in STEM with sisterhood with positive family support with the cutest romance I have ever gushed over. This book just had it all and I loved every second of it <3

Wow! That story was very compelling, I’m not gonna lie. The main character has a very distinct voice which I loved! At no point did it come across as boring or slow. Indian-American Muay Thai fighter teen, Kareena Thakkar experiences an extraordinary coming of age through friendship, cultural experiences, family, romance, and fighting. She struggles against sexism and questioning the appropriateness women to partake in such a sport. Not only that, but she also has to overcome identity struggles. Readers need more inspiring, diverse books like this one.

Even with all the positive things there are to say about this book, there are also some criticism I have about for it. There was needless backstory dumping and excuses as to why things were to satisfy the reader. We can live without knowing the smallest of unnecessary details that’ll take up paragraphs and we don’t need excuses.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves sports-related MG/YA or Manga/Graphic Novels.

**Thank you Netgalley, Sajni Patel, and North Star Editions for the opportunity to read digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.**

Netgalley let me read this book early and I'm grateful for that. I mean, look at that cover! It's gorgeous!

The Knockout is about Kareena Thakaar, a seventeen-year-old Indian American who does't quite fit the mould of perfect Indian daughter. She fights Muay Thai and is making a name for herself in the sport. If she can raise enough money, she can fight in the US championships. And if she does well there, she might even make the Olympic team.

She needs to focus and she needs to train. But it's not easy. Her father is sick and she's all too aware of how much his continual medical treatments and hospitalizations cost. And then there's Amit, the super-smart perfect Indian valedictorian who inexplicably needs tutoring in computer science. Amit, who makes her feel all kinds of things she's never felt before.

Kareena has always considered herself not Indian enough. Indian girls don't fight, yet fighting is what she's good at. Indian girls are involved with the Indian community and go to the mandir. Yet Kareena's family don't go to mandir and her mother is too busy working two jobs to join the other aunties in their gossip and matchmaking.

As Kareena struggles to balance the things important to her, she also struggles to figure out who she is.

There was a lot to like about this book, but it fell flat for me. I wanted to really root for Kareena, but she never really became a fully formed character for me and her constant negativity about herself was draining. She only needs to look around at the friends and family who support her to see that she isn't actually lacking in any of the ways she seems to think she was.

It was also difficult to believe Amit's character, especially the high-level programming job he has. The kid is seventeen. He's not going to be given access to patient's medical records, even in the line of duty. And who hires their seventeen-year-old nephew to do something this high-level anyway? Not to mention he's just too nice, especially when Kareena is anything but toward him.

The writing wasn't fantastic either, which is perhaps why the characters fell flat for me.

So overall, while I loved the premise and the Muay Thai fighting, this one just isn't as good as it could have been.

When I tell you that this was a good book! I could not put it down once I got started. This is definitely a YA story. Not only are the situations relatable, but the lessons learned are applicable to all sorts of struggles in life. This book made me laugh. It made me feel giddy. It made me feel empowered. It even made me say “Aw”. This book is definitely different from others with its relatable struggle with feeling accepted in your own culture when you are into something uncommon. Kareen’s internal and external struggles made me as a reader want to continue to see how everything play out. With the descriptions of her life as a Desi girl that feels she isn’t Indian enough can definitely be relatable to not only Westernized Indians, but people of other cultures who may feel that through lack of practice, they aren’t cultured enough. I am so happy I had the chance to read this book because it was such a great read. I definitely will be recommending this book to friends and family.

I was genuinely excited to read this book but the pacing was soooo slow I found myself opting to read absolutely anything else in its stead. I got bored often, found the characterisation of Kareena to be a little too back and forth to label it as well rounded and a multi faceted personality. While the friends and parents were endearing, they didn’t seem to exist beyond their relationship to Kareena. I was sorely disappointed at how dry this turned out.

The Knockout is a spunky, quick hitting novel that explores the universal adolescent themes of insecurity, pressure, and anxiety from a female, Indian culture perspective. Representation matters and I am always on the look out for books that shout the differences and similarities of individuals in different cultural groups. I think Patel does a fine job of balancing Kameera being 'just like any other teen girl' with her break with the stereotypic cultural expectations of her. She's blessed to have a mother who doesn't bow to convention and it is great to see a portrayal of healthy and supportive family units.
I thought this was an easy, enjoyable read and look forward to ordering it for our library.

Having read nothing like this in all my years, I was engaged from page one. Kareena's overwhelming sets of problems create a number of compelling roadblocks for her to overcome, both internally and externally. I do wish there had been more to see in terms of her training/fighting and interactions with the Indian community to gain a deeper understanding of where the issues came from. Overall, it was a compelling read and one I'm grateful will grace bookshelves soon.

The book centers around the protagonist Kareena Thakkar, an Indian-American high school student who lives and breathes Muay Thai, a type of martial art that's kind of similar to boxing. While juggling a large extracurricular commitment like that, she's also still got school - and in her computer science class, the dude that's most likely to be valedictorian is slacking and falling asleep in class. As a result, she's forced to tutor the genius Amit Shah.

Kareena and Amit grow closer, which is great for her since her close friends Saanvi and Rayna ditched her last year, leaving her with one friend.

On top of it all, her dad is sick, paying the bills is becoming harder and harder for her mom, and she's eligible to compete in a national tournament for Muay Thai - unfortunately, it costs money which is a problem when money is tight.

I personally think this book does a great job with the romance aspects, avoiding the typical stereotypical brown-girl-falls-for-white-boy-and-rejects-her-culture. Amit is a great love interest and I think he really represents us as the nerdy AP gang. Yeah, he's smart but he has a personality outside of his academic excellence.

And sure, Kareena has been isolated from her local Hindu community for years, but for good reason! They treated her mother like crap and who wants to go back to that? Saanvi is the perfect example of that one girl that will likely grow up to be a typical gossipy auntie. A budding mini-auntie.

I like that the book didn't conclude with Kareena simply going back to her old friends. Sometimes, you end your friendship with someone because it really didn't work out, and you don't need to go back to that. Kareena finds herself a great new friend circle and support group, and I respect that she doesn't try to go back to people that were awful to her.

Oh my gosh, I have so many thoughts about this book! First off, I just want to say, I love and appreciate Indian-American representation in young adult novels. Growing up I didn't get a lot of that so it makes me so happy to be able to read about characters who come from similar backgrounds as myself. Now, let me start with all the the things I loved about this book. I loved having a kickass, strong, independent, and goal-driven character. I found a lot of characteristics in Kareena that I see in myself. My favorite part of this book was seeing the struggles that Indian-Americans go through when it comes to identity. It's difficult at time to be Indian, but raised in America. Sometimes you don't feel like you belong in either. People label you as "Not Indian Enough" or "Too Westernized." The manner in which this book addressed that issue really hit close to home. I could understand why she kept Muay Thai a secret from so many people. I really appreciated that Kareena grew as a character and learned to accept her culture even though many people or the "community" might not accept her. Another aspect I thoroughly appreciated was the amount of girl-love and support seen and given from the side female characters. I really appreciated Lily and her talks she gave to Kareena in which she always hyped Kareena up and supported her dreams. She was a great best friend and always said the honest, and right things to push Kareena's insecurities away. Along with this, the amount of support and pure love that her parents gave to her and she reciprocated also hit close to home. My parents have always supported me and my dreams even in poor financial circumstance. They never made it feel like I couldn't achieve or pursue something I wanted. I see a lot of strict Indian parent tropes (which is also feasible, my family can be strict as well/I've met many strict aunties/uncles) which good, but I'm glad to have seen this fresh perspective. There was a lot to love about this, and I'm really glad I got the chance to read it. When it comes to Amit and the relationship that forms between him and Kareena, I appreciated it at times, and not so much at other times. I did enjoy Amit's character for the most part. He was quirky and a nice guy, although there were times that I questioned his actions. It's difficult to be held to a high standard by one's parents, especially when it's expected of you. I think this was also a good issue to address and done well. 


This leads me into some of the quirks of this book that I just didn't love too much. When I first began this book, about 15-20 percent of the way in I was finding it slightly boring and the setting of high school seemed a little too naive for me. Kareena's character was a lot to handle and it took me a while for her to grow on me. One thing in particular that seemed a bit strange was hot she used to fall asleep in class and how no one noticed that..I feel like teachers would notice if a student fell asleep? Yes, she did have a lot on her plate as well which made sense under her circumstances, but occasionally that didn't add up either. There are only so many hours in the day, but somehow she managed to go jogging, train, cook, clean, and do well in all of her classes? I'm not saying it's impossible and I'm sure there are students who do these things, but it just didn't seem very realistic to me personally. Another thing that was difficult for me to wrap my head around in the beginning was how close-minded Kareena was to everyone in the Desi-community. I understand that with her family's background and her fear of judgement she never felt welcome, but it didn't make her a better person for judging everyone in the community on what she assumes they might say about her and her passion for a "boy's/physical" sport. There was this particular point in which she was talking to Amit and they were comparing their problems. Like? Yes her life is extremely difficult and it might not seem like anyone else's could be worse, but she doesn't have the right to just dismiss other peoples' problems just because they're not as big as hers. There's this quote that goes, it doesn't matter if someone's drowning in 10 feet water or 5 feet water, they're both still drowning. No one should feel less than just because they feel like their problems are relevant and make them feel a certain way too. Finally, without spoiling anything, I didn't appreciate how certain medical issues were handled towards the end. When it comes to information, HIPPA is extremely important and they don't give out that information very easily to people, especially kids in high school. Decisions in regard to finances and medicine is a really tricky subject and being as I want to be a doctor and have been exposed to the health care field, this portion of the book seemed a little out there. I'm not saying that decisions like this don't have to be made because that's how donors are decided (put on a list), but the process in which a board looks through applications and recipients is something left restricted for health care workers to discuss. Basically there were just parts here and there that just made me question the story and why it was written a certain way. 


Overall, I highly recommend this book to you all! I love supporting Own Voices authors because it broadens my reading horizons. I cannot wait to hear all of your thoughts on it come January!




Writing: 6/10
Characters: 7/10
Plot: 8/10
Ending: 7/10
Originality: 9/10
Overall: 37/50
Cover: 9/10

I really liked this book. It is not just about Muy Thai or Indian-culture. It is about acceptance, friendships, family, trauma, overcoming obstacles, and young love.

We meet seventeen-year-old Kareena Thakkar who has been taking Muy Thai classes for ever and is living on the fringes of her Indian community. She has the opportunity to the US Muay Thai Open, which could lead to a spot on the first-ever Olympic team. This is a great honor but she has kept this part of her life secret from everyone except her parents and some close friends.

Not only that but she is going through a family crisis and needs money, her father is sick, she is falling for the a boy who she considers the "worlds most perfect Indian", and has some mean girl, friendship drama. .

I believe this author dealt with all these issues really well, even though i'm not Indian-American i could see myself in Kareena's shoes. I am also the child of Immigrants and i've been told i'm not American enough of Latin enough.

Go Read This Book

Rating : 3.5/5

It was superb! The concept of martial arts and high school also about female fighter are well-written. Hearing the word fight or martial art probably leads to something heavy or epic but I feel much cozy when I was reading this.

There were a lot of different conflict about schools, friends, boys and even Muay Thai itself. I really impressed by the way they all tangled and resolve together.

Personally, I do like Kareena. She's a good representative of a female fighter and an Indian herself. Although she lives in America, the culture doesn't sink. I also admire Indian culture throughout the story. It feels more realistic.

I think it would do a good job for a one-sitting-read. It's like watching a TV series and you just want to marathon it to the end.

My expectations from this book were slightly different.I wanted it be more in the face girl power but the Tarka of romance and culture commentary takes aways from the story .I couldn't connect to characters or story .May be its just me.

*ARC given through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

When I first came across The Knockout, I thought it would be just another sports or Indian-culture themed book but I got so much more than I hoped for. It was a book about self-love, friendship, family, support and of course, Muay Thai.

The story follows Kareena Thakkar, an Indian girl who just got the opportunity of a lifetime to compete in the US Muay Thai Open which could result in her getting onto the first ever Muay Thai Olympic team! If only her sport wasn’t seen as too rough for girls and something she should be afraid to share with people outside her family. With debts rising and Kareena struggling to afford her competition entry, Kareena starts feeling as if she’s not “Indian enough” with Muay Thai only making it worse. On top of Kareena’s training she starts tutoring the “perfect Indian boy” Amit Patel, the boy that Kareena refuses to fall in love with.

I honestly loved everything about this book. I felt like I could relate to the character’s struggles and how the author, S.A Patel particularly focused on Kareena’s self-doubt and struggles fitting in with other girls especially who share her culture. Kareena was portrayed as a strong character however you could definitely see her layers underneath that façade as the book progressed. I truly started to respect her character even more for her bravery and courage which was displayed throughout the novel.

There was another character, Amit who was seen the “smart kid” or “soon-to-be-valedictorian” type of guy. His struggles also unfolded in a way that was completely surprising and unexpected (in a good way). For someone so clever as him he definitely had a lot of struggles living up to those expectations put on him and I think the dynamic between him and Kareena really helped him with those issues. There were times at which I absolutely fell in love with Amit and could definitely see why Kareena was falling in love with him. He was sweet, caring and kind but there were times when I felt like he might’ve been too much which definitely changed my perception of him over the duration of the novel.

Characters aside, there was a major spotlight towards friendships both healthy and toxic and it was explored in a way that I enjoyed reading about. The book starts off with Kareena having one main friend she talks to at school however as the book progresses, she comes out of her shell more and meets all sorts of people like her who are accepting and supportive of her and her accomplishments. But on the other hand, Kareena experiences bullying and the toxic nature of another student at her school. The way the author wrote about that character dynamic was done so well and I could feel both pity and hatred towards that character because she had a lot of character development much like Kareena and Amit.

All in all, I definitely loved this book with all its depictions of Muay Thai, friendships, culture and self-esteem. Throughout the whole novel I easily fell in love with all the characters and even more so with how they developed from start to finish.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.5 STARS

Review will be availiable on my blog-7/4/2020

Disclaimer: I recieved an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion. 

TW: Renal Disease, Hospitalization, Blood, Girl-To-Girl Hate, Minor slut-shaming, bullying
Rep: Desi MC, Desi Love Interest, Desi Family, Flipina Side character

"You're going to fall many times, but if you don't try at least one more time, then you won't know how it feels to stand."

I didn't know where to start with this book. I've been trying to write a review for this book for days ever since I finished it, but all I got was that this book is good. That's it. It's always so rare for a book such as The Knockout to leave me speechless. With almost all books, I always had something to say-but this book, I'm kinda still drawing blanks.

I don't know where to start. This book was so brutally honest and it made me cry. I don't cry over books especially not like this one. I didn't even know I wanted a story like this, but it was so brutally honest and everything that I could relate too.

I'm not Desi, so I'm probably not going to go into that. I have studied Indian culture and India in general so I actually know a little bit about Muay Thai, Holi and a little bit of the language. I'm not an expert, but this book was so brutally honest that I'm still speechless about it.

Karenna is a Muay Thai fighter. She doesn't fit in with what people refer to as "Indian" or "American" enough. She's in sport that is heavily dominated by males, and I loved that she had to deal with that stigma. It was so well explored on how Karenna tries to not let it hurt her since she's really disconnected from her heritage.

I think I cried in a lot of places especially Karenna has a lot on her plate; from being good enough that she has a chance of of going to USMTO (United States Muay Thai Open), and possibly high enough that she could go to the Olympics, along her with her dad being critically ill along with tutoring Amit, the "perfect-Indian".

This book really hit home with her dad being critically ill and going through the days thinking that her dad will relapse; I'm afraid that my grandpa will relapse. I can't lose him; he means so much and he was always there for me. October is going to be 2 years since he had cancer, and we're going through the days wondering if he will get cancer. Kareena's fear was so relatable and it made me cry. 

Can we talk about how supporting some of the characters were especially school wise? I felt like that was a nice touch, because being a girl in male-generated sport can be hard at times. I love how supportive girl athletes were to Kareena, and I feel like we need to have more of that in fiction instead of girl-girl hate.

It was so special and honestly, I kinda do believe that some schools can set up fundraisers to help a student. It's totally plausible and how the school seemed to really care for Kareena. It almost reminds of me of my school (when it's not being problematic)

It's still so weird that it's been a few days since I've read and I'm unable to come up with words.  I really liked the romance that happened with this book. I do have some issues with how it really seemed insta-love and some of Amit's behaviors at times. Those behaviors really seemed to be stalkerish and it creeped me out quite a bit.

The romance was special and I liked it quite a bit especially towards the end. Amit really turned out to be a good, supporting character in it came with Kareena and Muay Thai competition.

The writing was really good! I wasn't sure whether I was going to like, because there were quite a bit of spots where it felt really melodramatic at times when it came to some of Kareena's behavior. It was also quite predictable-from the second chapter, I guessed the ending which wasn't surprising. It was also quite good though and the descriptions of Muay Thai was awesome 😍.

The Knockout by S.A. Patel is the story of seventeen year old Kareena Thakkar , a young Indian - American girl who feels disconnected from her culture and heritage because of her love for Muay Thai . She does not just love to fight, she excels at it , so much so that she wins a spot at a prestigious national competition that could lead to a place on the US National Team and possibly even a chance to represent her country at the Olympics. Despite the wholehearted support of her parents, she struggles to believe that the rest of the Indian community will be as accepting of a girl being so unfeminine as to fight , and from the reactions of some of her schoolmates she may not be right,. When she is asked to tutor Amit Patel , who might just be the world's most perfect Indian boy, the last thing she wants is for him to find out, but when she starts to fall for him she realises that keeping secrets will only come between them.
There are lots of things to like about this book most notably the positive messages it gives about girls being involved in sports of all kinds. Not only does the author stress how much balance training and competing gives to Kareena , she also shows other girls being supportive of each other when it comes to sports, cheering each other on , fundraising and welcoming new people into their group. I also really loved Kareena's relationship with her parents and how supportive and accepting of her they are. While I eventually grew to appreciate her growing relationship with Amit, I found it a little off- putting at first.
While there is a strong emphasis on the sports aspect of the story as well as the romance, Kareena's character also undergoes a lot of personal growth and development, learning to accept herself and feel at home in her own skin as well as learning that not all friendships are meant to last for ever and sometimes it is better to let the toxic influences go. Now I have to admit that at times that growth was frustratingly slow, as Kareena made the same mistakes and assumptions over and over, but in the end there was definitely a real sense of satisfaction.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Thank you so much to the author and #netgalley for the ARC.

This was an absolutely beautiful written book. It was an absolute please to experience Kareena's journey as she trained for the US Muay Thai Open, along with accepting her dads illness and her struggles to find her place in her Indian community. She was a strong character and had a supporting family and even in her first relationship had a great support system. This was a great book and really takes you in the world of the indian culture.

DNF. I really tried to like this book as it was something different but I at the end of the day I couldn't get into it. I was so bored and felt like I was forcing myself to read it and honestly there are so many other books out there.

The cover sends such a strong message that I'm a little heartbroken to give its content just an "okay" rating. A 17-year-old Indian girl excelling in the male-dominated arena of Muay Thai, with a little side of romance? How promising! It did deliver on some important parts, such as in the cultural aspect and the "am I American/Indian enough" narrative—plus there's a mention of Filipino food culture (lol Pinoy pride), but something about the characters didn't feel quite right. It's not their fault, though. This book and I may just simply be a mismatch.