Synopsis: This novel follows Rani, an Indian American girl who has a passion of photography and dreams of being a doctor, and Oliver, a painter that she falls for and ends up dating. They meet at an art exhibit and immediately have so much chemistry. This novel follows the complexities interracial relationships with such honesty and force (tw: fetishing, microaggressions). This book is more than just a love story in my opinion, as we watch Rani grow as a character. I felt drawn to Rani's character, since there were so many similarities between us—her love for her family, her passion for art, her dreams of being in the health field, her strong voice. I really appreciated how Rani's family was characterized with intentional nuance, since I could tell this was written from a place of love.

Reflection: I’m filing this one under “books that I desperately I needed when I was 14." This book is for the nourished my soul and healed the younger me. So much that I share a dedication to this book in a loose free write format.

Dedication: The younger Krithi who struggled with experiencing her love for art and her dreams to be in health/ Who was told that being "too multifaceted" was overwhelming/ Who was told art is a hobby, but not a career/ Who couldn’t name micro aggressions from yt high school boys/ Who couldn't quite understand what was wrong about being told that your bushy eyebrows and hairy thighs were incredibly sexy because they were "so Indian" at the age of 16/ Who couldn't quite say no/ Who had crushes on yt boys really interested in your art only to mansplain art to you/ Who had crushes on yt boys only to make a mockery of your culture/ Who had crushes on yt boys only to pressure you into thinking your culture was wrong and evil/ Who struggled with functioning in PWIs/ Who loved her culture but hated the way people fetishized it/ Who fiercely loved her family but was tired of explaining to people why their truths and values were the way the way they/ Who couldn't quite balance two cultures/ Who trusted too many Olivers/ Who wanted to protect all the Ranis out there/ Who wanted to protect herself & wanted to be seen more than anything

I was so excited to read this book but I’m utterly disappointed. This was such a stereotypical ABCD story (American Born Confused Desi) and most new things added to the formulaic plot are kinda boring or worse, problematic. I am South Asian, fully, and grew up in South Asia but I also live in the States. This book treats its white characters horribly and is set on perpetuating all the negative stereotypes about white people that many Asian people have. I’m also not impressed with the way the book handles drug abuse. It seems like even though the author is *saying* that we should not ostracize people who fall into addiction, the way she wrote about all the characters who take drugs was very demonizing. Not that I’m saying drug abuse is okay or that we should be coddling addicts, but it just makes so sense why this subplot was even added to the story if it wasn’t to show “all the bad things about American culture.” Even Rani’s best friend, who apparently everyone adores, is still framed as a stereotypical promiscuous American teenager.

Overall, this felt less like a book that celebrates or sheds light on second/third generation South Asian immigrants and more like one that follows the outdated and concerning plots that go “immigrant children are ruined by American culture.”

I thought this would be a cute contemporary novel but I didn't end up liking it as much as I had hoped. I did like Rani, her family, and her best friend, Kate. The cultural differences and sex positivity were portrayed well. It also sheds light on racism, sexism, and taboos.

The love interest Oliver was such a bad character. He had a ton of red flags, fetishes Rani constantly, and completely naive. He becomes highly manipulative. gas lights, belittles, and also, extremely weird. I know that it was the point of the character but I really couldn't stand him. Rani also becomes annoyingly obsessed with him and struggles to stand up for herself. Later on she does begin to find herself and her identity but until then, I found her so frustrating.

Some of the dialogue felt stilted and the writing was choppy. The pacing just kind of stops and slows down before picking up again towards the 60% mark. I appreciate the diverse read of an Indian American girl character and everything was wrapped up well in the end but I just think this one is a little forgettable.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

What is culture? Scholars over decades have come to a conclusion that it is nothing but a way of life that may or may not be compatible with those of other cultures. This is why the big conflict of 'liveability' comes into show. People of a particular group are scared to associate themselves with those of others.

'American Betiya' is the story of Rani, a teenage star-child, belonging to a family of strict desi parents, and she falls in love with a person her parents would never approve of.

This can be considered as a mix between Never Have I Ever and Ice Princess. While the beginning of the story was way too cringey and not relatable at all, I got really hooked towards the middle and like any other high school teenage drama story, the story progressed and gave a satisfactory ending.

One thing that really disturbed me was the typical angry stereotypical desi mom being portrayed time and again in stories like these. The thing is that it definitely makes out the Indian moms to be the villains of every single teenage drama story, and I expected it to be different in this one too.

When Rani meets Oliver there are immediate sparks and as they share their love of art their relationships grows and becomes all encompassing. Rani’s parents hold traditional Indian views however so she and Oliver can not be together openly. What begins as microaggressions quickly becomes much more as they struggle to make this relationship work. In light of the incidents in the news about the fetishizing of Asian woman this book becomes and even more important read. In its dealings with racism, microaggressions and the fetishism of Indian woman the author reminds us to be mindful of how we treat and see others but also how we treat and see ourselves. Rani is a strong character who is also female and Indian and who young girls everywhere could, and should, see themselves in.

This book deals with a toxic relationship, how Asian women across all ages are fetishized and called exotic, and made to defend their own existence as a human being fully separate from the expectations of a white person - it was very beautifully written even if it was tough to read at times. I appreciated how the author wrote Rani’s journey of standing up for herself and finding out what is important to her, living her life fully and chasing her dreams. This is definitely one of the very impactful YA contemporaries I’ve read in a while and I can’t recommend it enough.

High school me needed more books like this.
American Betiya deals with a lot of issues in an honest way that a YA audience (and adults for that matter) can relate to. The generational and cultural divides explored allowed me to feel seen and also see others; to be understood and to understand. However, since the novel did tackle so many issues I felt that Rani was not as well developed as I would have liked. The world that surrounded Rani was full of strong sensory details, but I wanted to know more about her thinking and what was going on in her head.
(Source: eARC from NetGalley)

This is the story of Rani Kelkar, an American born and raised desi teenager. She is the daughter all parents dream of. She has never lied to her parents until she meets Oliver, an American teenager. The qualities that attracts him towards her is what makes him her mother’s worst nightmare. In fact, the story starts with “He’s my mother’s worst nightmare.”

I could relate to the story at various points. I love Kate and Rani’s friendship. I need friends like that. The desi rep and the struggle of being an American-Indian was on point.

The story was going fine until Oliver started acting different. Rani ignored Oliver’s racist comments about her culture at first but I’m glad that she stood up for herself at the end. I was so angry at Oliver after all that he did, especially at the end when he still did not acknowledge his mistake and acted as if it was her parents fault that they were not together anymore.

Usually, stories end with the desi girl falling in love with american boy and ending up married/together. But this is different. Rani chose her family and culture over her boyfriend and that is what I loved about the book. The ending was perfect.

A heartfelt story that beautifully explores culture, family dynamics, and finding one's own voice in the midst of so much other noise. The mc was relatable to me in so many ways, and it was so special to see myself in a story like this. I appreciate the representation so much, and can only hope for more South-Asian and desi stories. It means a lot to readers and I'm happy to see it done so well in a very well written story.

I have mixed feelings about this book.

I absolutely loved the way the complexity of relationships in an Indian family is portrayed in this book. It was real, relatable and also, so comforting! Rani loves and respects her parents and does not want to hurt them. But she also likes Oliver and wants to explore having a relationship with him. Its like her two worlds have collided once she starts dating Oliver and that was all too relatable and beautifully portrayed.

I loved Rani's relationship with her grandparents. Her Aaji and Aajoba are such sweethearts, and they encourage Rani to chase her dreams and do better.

Kate and Shalini are simply amazing! We need ladies like these two in our girl gang!

The story makes a very important point. If there is any topic or situation that makes them uncomfortable, Indian parents and elders always sweep it under the rug and treat is as a taboo. This was hard hitting. But I am so happy that this was highlighted in the story. It is necessary to discussing topics even if they make us uncomfortable. Ignoring the problem never helps.

There were things that I did not like in this book. The pacing falls off in the middle of the book. There is a lot of Telling rather than Showing and I am not a fan of this narrative.

There is a part in the book where Rani visits India. She is writing a letter to Kate and one of the reasons she is writing a hand written note and not communicating via Internet is because she says that the WiFi is so bad, she cannot even send one email. Now this could be true if we were in rural parts of India. But Rani is in Pune and Pune is a big metropolitan city. Rani not finding good WiFi in Pune is so ridiculous!!

In her letter to Kate, Rani also mentions that she spotted an elephant roaming around the streets in Pune. Again, this part was so ridiculous! You will see cows and stray dogs and cats in the streets in India all the time. But elephant?! Really?!

Western countries have always had this incorrect notion about Indian; that it's underdeveloped and lacking. The above two points just strength those notions.

While on one hand, the story is trying to shed light over microaggressions and racism faced by brown people in US, on other hand, it is strengthening the prejudices against India via the above two points.

These are minor things in terms of the plot and the overall story, but they still affected me.

I would still like to recommend this book to people, because this book sheds light on important issues like racial discrimination and finding one's identity.

This is a YA novel about an Indian American teenager who experiences her first love but love isn’t always easy. I was kind of expecting this to be a story about interracial forbidden love but it was so much more than that.

American Betiya touches on so many important subjects, like fetishization of Indian culture, racism, toxic relationships, and grief. I really enjoyed this book. It did start out a little slow but once it picked up I just couldn’t put it down.

The writing was fantastic and I felt that the author did a great job showing us what it’s like a to be a South Asian teen in America.

I recommend this book to high school aged teens and adults.

"Others can get a piercing and it's self-expression. But I get one, and I'm the incarnation of some Indian deity."

Where do I even start with this YA banger? As a little kid, I always wanted to experience life in an American high-school, what with One Tree Hill and A Cinderella Story. While this desire sustained with To All The Boys and Never Have I Ever, the complications of 'Culture Shock' never occurred to me. The ideas of prom, unhindered PDA, having my lover over for dinner and having full freedom to live my life used to smite me, leading me to take my culture for granted. Even though I'm still not very enthusiastic about some elements of my culture, I am learning to embrace it and no longer feel the need to run away from it or take on a fake identity.

In her debut novel American Betiya, Anuradha D. Rajurkar pits Rani (a girl from an immigrant, conservative Indian family) in a romantic relationship with Oliver (an emo-punk artist with family issues) who though charming at first, starts showing some serious racist red flags which inhabit him unconsciously. Oliver is described as Rani's mother's worst nightmare in the book's first line itself. But after the first five chapters, Oliver not only smites Rani but the readers as well. Even though their relationship moved way too fast for me to start shipping them, I found Oliver to be an acceptable boyfriend. I gave him a pass, though I saw the impending doom very well.

And then the red flags. What starts with the cute and cliched 'Princess Jasmine' nickname, transitions into something very, very horrendous in chapter thirty-one. I will never be able to get that scene out of my head. Not only was this scene a witty description of racist fetishes but also a mark of toxic relationships where people try to replace the absence of actual intimacy with sexual favors for a short-term happiness. 'This is something I can give him.' The fact that Oliver accepted Rani's cultural background only so far as it heeded to his needs and wants, without actually comprehending their spiritual and sacred depth pressed my buttons and left my eyes wide and jaw dropped. I'll have to give it to Anuradha's fearless and witty writing here, because this scene was a masterstroke. A bit traumatic and extreme yes, but it sort of made up for the slow-paced, honeymoon-phased first part of the book. Couple this with Oliver's mural in chapter thirty-eight and holy fuck! My heart really reached out to Rani. What I felt at that point cannot be put into words, because with these two scenes as the late climaxes of the book, it just hits you all at once like a revelation when you just want to look into the author's eyes and shout, "OH MY GOD, I FREAKING GET YOU!"

Okay, that felt good to take off my chest. Now, about other things in the book, both good and not-good. The title and Indian rep idea had me sold and I can't thank Hear Our Voices Tours and Netgalley enough for the ARC. Rani's forbidden love struggles hit perfectly home and had me missing my first lover so so much that I even broke down a couple of times. The Indian food descriptions were a cherry on top. But one thing that irked me was the extremity of conservativeness portrayed. Not allowed to have lovers or indulge in physical intimacies is understandable, but not even having a boy as a friend, that too in America, felt a bit too much. But I guess, that was somehow balanced by Rani's easy sneakouts and her feminist af bestie Kate, who was a delight. Rani's and Kate's friendship was indispensable and a huge plus for the book. The posthumous backstory of Rani's cousin Nilesh also successfully supported the major themes in the book. As for things not-good, I fell asleep twice in the first half lol. The book could use some uniformity in pace. While I read the first half in 3 days, I finished the second half in one go where the two banger scenes I mentioned above take place. This factor also leads to the author not being able to explore some latter developments in the book as deeply as readers would have liked.

Nevertheless, the book was a statement and a memorable read for me, highlighting how deconstructing prejudices - which exist in all of us, sometimes unknowingly - is not an easy and comfortable process. To Rani, Oliver symbolizes liberation from a culture which imprisons her. But how can he free her from something he doesn't even understand? In the epilogue - which was another one of my favorite scenes - Oliver exclaims that they could have worked it out, had it not been for Rani's parents and intolerance when it was actually the other way around. Real relationships don't put the blame on external circumstances. No matter how hard Rani tried, her efforts were never enough for Oliver because the idea of forbidden love seemed idiotic to him. He never tried to understand where Rani was coming from.

I can't seem to get my head around how a non own-voices reader will perceive this book, but for an own-voices reader it was quite revolutionary, like nothing I've ever read about. Exploration of relationship dynamics (both mental and sexual), family and friendship drama, interracial complexities, good character arcs and powerful and seamless writing - for the third time in a review - American Betiya was a hindsight banger!

This book is absolutely beautiful. It touches on so many important subjects, like healthy friendships, fetishization of Indian culture, toxic relationships, grief, parent-child relationships, etc. Oliver was insufferable to read about, but that was kind of the point, and it helps that Rani doesn't end up with him. I really liked exploring Rani's relationship with her mother, and that hit pretty close to home for me. I also really liked that Rani was able to pursue a future in both STEM and art, as YA protagonists usually only pick one. The characters were great, I loved the writing, highly recommend.

Score: 3 / 5

The book had wonderful and harrowing aspects that I'll never forget and stepping into Rani's world was a enlightening experience. It have a slow start despite the fast pacing and Rani's insta love with Oliver was too much for me, she fell for him fast and hard and yes maybe that happens but it just affected my enjoyment rate of my reading.

The cultural fetishization and micro aggressions were phenomenally brilliant. Truly if I could rate these two separately they would get a knock out five stars. How Rani's complex Indian culture is withered down to stereotypical gimmicks and objectification of the worst kind was so shattering. And honestly quite triggering.

Do I recommend?If you want a book that presents cultural fetishization so well this book is a great outlook into that.

I'm gonna start with saying that the Desi rep in this book was the most authentic I've ever read. Even though I'm Pakistani myself, Indian culture and our culture have alot in common, and so I connected with this book on a deeper level. All the identity struggles Rani has, even though she loved her culture and religion, are struggles I've had myself.

This book takes a very different take on racism than most books do. At first, Oliver seemed to be a good guy, but over time his racist comments seemed to get a little out of hand. Oliver claimed to be "progressive" but his microaggressions seemed to say otherwise.

Kate is Rani's bff, and they both love each other. They have each other's back no matter what. And the relationship Rani had with her parents was something that I could personally relate to alot. She didn't agree with everything they said or did, but she loved them unconditionally.

If you still aren't convinced to read this book, I'll give you a final reason: the culture. The family celebrating diwali together, their cultural clothing, having meals together and talking about random ass things. Just wholesome. And don't get me started on the mentions of all that mouthwatering foods: samosas, parathas, kaju wali barfi ahhh 🤤

The only thing I didn't like was a little bit of the 'info dumb' situation at the end. But overall, I can't recommend this enough.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5

P.S. this is a bit of a spoiler, but I've seen alot of Desi people complain about how all the brown girl stories just end with her choosing the white boy. But if you wanna see a brown girl actually choose her culture for once, read this!

American Betiya is a poignant story that explores family, culture, relationships, navigating adolescence, friendships and more that will resonate in the hearts of readers. As an Asian and survivor of abuse myself, Rani's story resonated with me and I wholeheartedly felt for her and rooted for her growth. For fans of Sandhya Menon, S.K. Ali, and Samira Ahmed.

American Betiya is the story of Rani,an american-indian who has never in her life looked beyond her books and prepares to become a good paedtrician is suddenly lying to her parents with the entry of the boy named Oliver,an American boy who doesn't understand how she will never eat meat.
.
This is where the values factor and the culture of growing up with brown parents in USA that brings confusion,rage, frustration, desire in Rani's life something she had never dreamed of happening with her.
.
Rani goes back and forth with her identity and grappling with the questions thrown at her and the alienation of an ethnicity where majority of white people reside.
.
The book majorly focuses on Rani's struggle with being an American who's origins lies in India.
.
Rani wishes to live a life like her friends and bring a boy to her home and make him meet her parents which she can't because she is not allowed to date.
.
The book talks about an important topic which needs to be looked at from both the sides.
.
One cannot say that the indian way of living is right and the other way is wrong or vice versa.
.
This is a reality of many indians who live in the United States and the writer addresses it through a theme of Rani's desire of dating.
.
I felt the book dragged a little towards the end and could have been cut short.
.
While I was reading this book I was thinking about something my aunt (khala) said to me that the desire of the brown parents to raise their children exactly the way they would have done in India is something that is hard on the children. But that's the reality of my cousins. Rani's reality is completely different and something you should definitely check out.

Okay wow, I am speechless. After a long time. I am clueless as to where should I begin from. Like in a lot of ways this book was so welcoming to me, right from the page one. I would read some reference to Indian culture, think how overrated it was, and then right that instant something would happen and I would be like okay, not so overrated lol. Omgg, it was sooo amazing to read a book presenting and ownvoice representation of Indian culture!

Rani is belongs to an Indian family. Of course it doesn't define her, but living at a place which is not India with the guide book Indian family is no joke. Her parents are against her dating anyone, and push her towards the one and only goal of her. And incoming Oliver, who brings in colors with him that Rani didn't expect to experience and change her. And I mean figurative and actual colors both. How will Rani and Oliver play out together with Rani's parent being against her dating anyone, let alone a person who ticks all the negative boxes, and Oliver's life being more messed up than what Rani thought.

I will be honest, it is your romance book that you crave a lot to read. It is filled with Indian culture, lots of art, big families, good food (I was sold for this book when samosa was mentioned) and loads more! The starting for me felt a little to fast but at the same time slow... if that makes sense. But there were so many scenes where I would stop, text my friend about the reference and then resume reading. I literally have SO many pages bookmarked at the moment, it was nearly every page. I am very curious to see how people react to this book who aren't Indian. But coming back to the book, it was very pleasant and beautiful to read. The ending was beautiful to a next level, I loved it soo much! There were many instances in this book where I tried not to cry. At the end, I guess I would be willing to read it once again.
(Also there is a lot more I want to add about this book, I am going to sit again in the morning and make notes of all the notes I have made about this book!)

"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙨 𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙬-𝙧𝙤𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙚,” 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨, “𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙙, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙. 𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮—𝙬𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙭 𝙛𝙡𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧.”
.
.
Rani Kelkar has never lied to her parents, until she meets Oliver. The same qualities that draw her in--his tattoos, his charisma, his passion for art--make him her mother's worst nightmare. They begin dating in secret, but when Oliver's troubled home life unravels, he starts to ask more of Rani than she knows how to give, desperately trying to fit into her world, no matter how high the cost. When a twist of fate leads Rani from Evanston, Illinois to Pune, India for a summer, she has a reckoning with herself--and what's really brewing beneath the surface of her first love.
.
.
American Betiyan was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. It has portrayed a desi representative really well. It has all the elements that have been described with utmost care and details to bring out the true essence of India and it's culture. The author made sure to not lose the charm of India's ethnicity even if the book is set in America for most of it's parts. The relationship between Rani and Oliver is all things spicy. You'll like reading it as it gets really steamy at times. 🤭

All in all, if you're looking for an easy read with a desi rep, this one it is!!
.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for approving me for the arc. I just finished and am completely in love with this book. I felt anger,sadness, and love reading this book. The writing just pulled me in. I definitely would recommend this to a friend.