Mini wants to give her sister the best Indian wedding that she can get. Only 17, but she is determined to be both a sister and a mother (after losing their mother seven years ago). Still, with so many relatives giving their own advice, catching the eye of a mysterious cutie & trying to forgive her aunt, things are wild.

I wanted to be in love with this book so much, but it fell flat for me.
Although very thoughtful with showing grieving in different family members and how even years later it can still affect you and the great insight to the culture and the traditions of many through marriage. Alas, after that, I couldn't really get into the story; it seemed to drag out longer than necessary and THEN hit after hit at the end with the storm and the wedding.

Great diversity, and I highly recommended others to read and get their own feel for the book.

The book has represented a desi family perfectly in an American setting. The complexity of relationships in a family has been displayed thoroughly by the author. It's rare that a book captures the sisterhood so well and this book has done a pretty decent job in that arena. From the various Indian rituals to the Bollywood vibe, the book covers it all. The writing is easy to follow and you can get into the course of action very easily.
A special mention to the cover art as it's absolutely gorgeous and deserves all the appreciation in the world. 🌻
All in all, more books need to come up with the same desi representation as this one. Totally recommended!! 💗

This book was super cute - just what I'd expect for a young adult rom-com! Mini is a seventeen year old girl from Boston, getting ready for her big sister's wedding. The twist is that she's the one doing all the planning. With her dad busy with work, and her sister working through a medical residency, Mini is the only person who can plan the traditional Indian wedding in time. What I most liked about this book was learning all about Indian culture and weddings. I looked up a lot of the clothes, like the lehenga that Vinnie wears for the ceremony, and learned about the mehendi ceremony. Bajpai did a fantastic job describing all of the rich colours and textures, which works well with Mini's affinity for fashion and design.

The characters, especially Mini, were fun and clever, with great character development and humour. The relationship that develops between Mini and Vir was lovely, and I actually liked that it wasn't the absolute center of the story. Mini's relationships with her dad, sister, and aunt are just as important, and reinforces the value of family in Indian culture.

Thank you so much to Little, Brown Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute book! The concept, as the title suggests, was an interesting one and I enjoyed the story for the most part. I definitely think that this book is geared towards more younger Young Adult readers or even upper Middle Grade readers. While I loved the Punjabi and Tamil representation, I think the story/conflict was quite drawn out, so overall I’d have to give this book 3 stars!

Sister of the Bollywood Bride follows 17-year-old Mini Kapoor, whose older sister Vinnie is getting married over the summer. Mini & Vinnie’s mother passed away seven years ago and between their father’s new start-up and Vinnie's medical residency, there's no one but Mini to plan the wedding. With the help of her mysterious new boy in town, Vir Mirchandani, Mini promises to plan the wedding that their mother would've planned and make it the best day for Vinnie.

Indian weddings are such a magical series of events and I truly enjoyed watching Mini plan out every single detail of Vinnie’s big day. From the lehengas, to the mehndi, to the decorations, to even the religious aspects of the event, I really enjoyed immersing myself into the wedding planning process, having not been to a proper Indian wedding in years. I also liked the discussion about being an atheist in the Indian community versus being more in tune with practicing your family’s religion, a topic that I think a lot of second-generation Indian-Americans can relate to.

That being said, because the entire premise of this book was about planning Vinnie’s wedding, the story felt a bit drawn out and at one point I felt like I was reading about unnecessary details that were added to the story simply to fill up the plot. I also think the characters’ dialogue was often written in a childish manner or a little too over-enthusiastic (there was an exclamation point after almost every line that the characters delivered) and I found it difficult to relate to Mini as a rising senior in high-school. I was a 17-year-old Indian-American myself a few years ago, and it felt like Mini’s attitude about a lot of the things that were happening around her and the way she interacted with other people seemed unrealistic for teenagers in today’s age. This book was written several years ago (in 2013, I believe?), so that could be the reason for why I felt like Mini’s portrayal was unrealistic.

Overall though, I’d recommend this book for younger readers who are looking for a cute story about family relationships, a sweet romance, and great representation for Indian cultures and traditions!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. This book was kind of just ok. I really liked the cultural elements, and seeing what goes into planning a big Indian wedding. I liked the family dynamics, although I did struggle a bit with suspending disbelief. Planning a wedding is a lot to put on a teenage girl without the cultural significance, and with it? I didn’t fully buy it. And I didn’t care for the romance, especially as it fell back on the miscommunication trope for the sake of drama.

Sister of the Bollywood Bride was a fun romp, reminiscent of a Bollywood film! Padmini is a teen, planning her med school student sister's wedding on a tight budget and an even tighter timeline. Throw in a cute DJ and a hurricane and you get a heck of a party! The novel has heart though. It touches on grief--Padmini's mother died several years early and family tension is discussed and ultimately, resolved. I loved the how prominent the cultural details are--especially surrounding the wedding ceremony, the clothing and the food. This is a fun read and the cover is perfect! I booktalked this for Asian American month at my library and I think many of my teens will enjoy it!

2.5/5 stars

This book felt utterly flat on me? It's so strange because I've read and loved the author's other books but there were many things off with this one. A lot of the dialogues and actions of the characters felt so childish and unrealistic. The plot was good in theory but there really wasn't a lot going on about it in writing. The romance was okay but the miscommunication trope being used for two of the main relationships in this story seemed like poor writing to me. It really had me rolling my eyes.

I loved the idea of this book but the execution disappointed me. I did love the whole description of the wedding and the traditions and everything but that's the only thing this book had going on for me.

A cute story with dozens of characters and a protagonist who is trying to juggle everything and everyone. It is a fun romp through Indian-American culture, with strong, likable characters and lots of local flavors.
I wasn't sucked into the book, and while certain parts of it were very enjoyable, others fell flat for me.
The romance was also quite okay. I liked the beginning of it - there was a meet-cute and a slowly building friendship as they learned each other's interest and soon started going out. However, there seemed to be unnecessary drama added after all that. I also didn't particularly care for how it was resolved.
There was too much going on towards the ending, and I found a lot of it was not needed.
Overall, the book started off well and had a lot of potentials but a lot of things just didn't work for me and while it was enjoyable in a lot of parts and is surely something a lot of people would enjoy if they like some extra drama, it just wasn't for me.

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of Sister of the Bollywood Bride by Nandini Bajpai from Netgalley and Little, Brown Books.

In this YA book, Mini is a senior in high school, whose older sister has recently gotten engaged. Vinnie is in med school, so she doesn’t have a lot of time to plan a Punjabi wedding, and her dad is not interested in helping, but Mini’s deceased mother would have wanted a vibrant, at least somewhat traditional wedding for her daughters. So, Mini puts the task of planning the wedding on herself. Of course, between working part time, college applications, and a mysterious, attractive new neighbor, she’s setting herself up for some very hectic months.

One of the sweetest parts of this book is watching Mini deal with the absence of her mother. The book starts with Mini retrieving the wedding jewelry that her mother set aside and made for the sisters before her death. This is later revealed to not a be a one-off event: apparently, her mother has set aside gifts for particular times in the past. In addition, Mini has some minor trust issues surrounding the loss of her mother. She’s not angsty or standoffish by any means, but she certainly believes she can only really rely on her immediate family, which is clearly related to her dad choosing to isolate and focus on the girls after the mom passed. One of my pet peeves with these kinds of stories is when characters aren’t held accountable for things they did in the past. Bajpai avoids this well. Mini believes at the start of the story that her aunt blew her off after her mom’s death. Later in the story, this is explained well, with most of the problem being that sometimes adults don’t tell grieving preteens things that might upset them. All the choices were fairly reasonable and not overblown or angsty.

This is a perfect book for an easy-going reading experience. There is very little drama, and nothing overly bad happens. There are plenty of hiccups with the wedding planning, but at every step of the way, it’s clear that Vinnie is going to get a lovely wedding day. Mini is passionate about design, so there are lots of descriptions of clothing, especially the beautiful, Punjabi wedding clothes. The romance between Mini and Vir definitely takes a couple of hits from Mini’s aforementioned trust issues, but again, everything works out for the best. Vir is a steady love interest, one who follows the Kristoff “my love is not fragile” model of love interests. This works nicely to keep the romance from upstaging Mini’s focus on her family and the wedding.

Sister of the Bollywood Bride centers Mini (aka Padmini) who's sister Vinnie is getting married. Vinnie is in med school and has no time to have a proper wedding, much less organize a whole wedding, but Mini believes this to be unacceptable and offers to take care of the whole plan.

Mini takes her dog, Yogi, on his regularly scheduled walk, maybe even hoping to run into the cute boy that she saw the first time she walked her dog. Fortunately for her, she does, unfortunately, she makes a fool of herself in front of him. And then she loses her car keys too. Luck isn't exactly on her side.

After she runs into the cute boy again at a car show, she ends up with his number in her phone and suddenly, Vir-with-the-British-accent is helping her with the wedding.

Overall, there were things I didn't like about this book, like the small stereotypes I saw thrown at South Indians, and I felt like the ending quarter of the book was too heavily wedding centric to the point where I didn't care what was happening anymore. 3/5.

Weddings are a HUGE deal (full disclosure I have assisted in planning the weddings of two sisters and a cousin) it's work. Mini (Padmini) Kapoor is taking on the task of helping her busy sister plan her wedding. Away at her medical school and getting ready to go into her residency her sister Vinnie has no time to plan her own wedding, their dad is also busy trying to get his startup established and their mom who would have been the person to oversee the wedding having passed away several years before it's up to Mini to get things together. Between sending photos of venues to the bride to be, getting the caterers on board, helping get the bridal gown from her very busy designer aunt, SAT's and a dog that needs walkies she really has no time for the very cute guy (with an accent) she keeps bumping into when she walks her dog. Okay so I really loved this story. Mini is truly, truly a saint for going through the trials that she did to make sure that her sister got a lovely wedding. As a person who has helped when the bride when the bride had some of the burden I know it's so much work and Mini took on the entire job when her sister couldn't she's truly, truly a wonderful sister. I loved her relationship with her sister, her relationship with her dad and I loved Yogi, really he's a good boy. I also like Vir (cute boy with accent) he's adorable, and his presence was lovely and my advice to Mini hold on to that boy if he can put up with you in the midst of wedding planning madness and not run away screaming it's mean to be.

I have quite contradictory feelings about this book, because while it is technically well written and plotted, I just felt like there was something missing. I wasn't sucked into the book and while certain parts of it were very enjoyable, others fell flat for me.

The main character, Mini's elder sister is getting married soon but having just started her residency, she doesn't have the time to plan out her wedding. Mini's father also has no free time since he just launched a start up and is always working. So, she decides to take it on herself to plan her sister the best wedding she can.

I liked how much Mini loved her sister and everything she does for her. Their interactions were quite interesting and fun to read and always out a smile on my face. However, Mini's friends very not very well fleshed out. She wasn't able to spend much time with them as she was busy planning the wedding but when she did, it was usually short and cut out so we didn't get to know much about them!

The romance was also quite okay. I liked the beginning of it - there was a meet cute and a slowly building friendship as they learnt each other's interest and soon started going out. However, there seemed to be unnecessary drama added after all that. I also didn't particularly care for how it was resolved.

There was too much going on towards the ending, and I found a lot of it was not needed. It just made me feel annoyed rather than excited to know how everything would work out.

Overall, the book started off well and had a lot of potential but a lot of things just didn't work for me and while it was enjoyable in a lot of parts and is surely something a lot of people would enjoy if they like some extra drama, it just wasn't for me.

Sister of the Bollywood Bride is adorable and earnest, in the best way.  Its clear-voiced protagonist reminded me of the recently-departed Beverly Cleary’s heroines in a way, and the whole book is beautiful and easy to sink into.  It’s sure to please teenagers and/or sophisticated middle graders, though a couple of dents mean the book misses out on a full-on A.

Eighteen-year-old Mini Kapoor stands on the precipice of her sister Vinny’s nuptials, and she knows she’s the only woman who can get the ball rolling on planning her sister the best ever wedding. Vinny says she wants a simple ceremony, but Mini knows their late mom - who passed away after a long, arduous battle with cancer when Mini was ten – would want only the best for her eldest daughter.

Using the suite of jewelry their designer mother designed and created as inspiration, Mini goes about planning the ceremony.  With her father buried in working on his new technology start-up and Vinny herself is in the middle of an energy-draining medical residency all the way in Chicago, Mini knows she must rely upon herself.

Thus does the usually very technically astute, math-minded Mini devote herself to flowers and dresses and dancing to make it all just right for Vinny and her second year medical student fiancé, Manish.

Unfortunately, things quickly begin to spin out of control. Manish wants a large wedding while Vinny wants a simpler ceremony.  When Mini’s planning leans toward Punjabi traditions, Vinny objects and tries to include more of Manish’s Tamil traditions in the ceremony.  Mini has a 10,000 dollar budget and she must scrimp and save to combine opulence with elegance and please everyone.

Leaning on friends and a network of local aunties, Mini allows nothing –,  nor her energy-draining college plans, worries about her SAT scores, her desire to attend design school against her father’s wishes or time spent tutoring small kids in math while taking care of the family’s beloved dog Yogi – to get between herself and her plans..

With a hurricane threatening the eastern seaboard on the very day of the outdoor wedding, Mini is going to have to stay brave and true to make sure the whole ceremony comes off without a hitch. And as for Vir Mirchandani - a handsome Brit with whom she connects with over art and eventually hires to DJ the wedding reception – well, as hard as he flirts with her she’s not going to open her scarred heart to him.  Or will she?

Sister of the Bollywood Bride has so many wonderful things going for it.  Mini is an incredibly relatable heroine, and her extremely busy life is kind of breathtaking.  All the people in her life are very well-drawn, but I especially enjoyed Vinny, who is an entirely different kind of woman from her sister and pops to life beautifully.  The whole book burns and bustles with Mini’s general energy, which makes it a breezy read.

Bajpai’s ability to tell a story is phenomenal, and the way she portrays the culture clash inherent in the plot – the difference between growing up Punjabi or Tamil – is touching and easy to grasp for young readers.  I live near the upper-class parts of Boston where this book takes place, and  could mark off the landmarks and attitudes of the people involved with ease. The romance between Mini and Vir is handled sweetly, and the two of them bonding over art is a wonderful twist.

My only real problem with the novel is the way Vinny handles Mini’s planning choices by the midpoint of the book.  While she obviously has the right to protest some of the choices Mini has made, on the other hand, she has basically abdicated the process to her barely-adult sister, so I was eventually irritated by some of her qualms.

Also, I had a very weak grasp on Mini and Vinny’s dad for most of the book; he feels very much like an in-the-background cipher, which was a problem for the majority of the male characters in the book.  I didn’t really mind this, and actively enjoyed the parts he was featured in, but I felt he should have had a bigger presence in the narrative by the time the book ended.

These issues, though, aren’t enough to stop me from recommending Sister of the Bollywood Bride to young readers.

NOTE: this book was previously published in a slightly different form in 2013 as Red Turban White Horse: My Sister’s Hurricane Wedding by Scholastic India.

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A whole wedding to plan for her sister and a cute stranger to throw in the mix and now Padmini “Mini” has her hands full. Mini is planning her big sister Vinnie’s wedding since Vinnie and her fiancee are both extremely busy with their medical residency. With their mom gone and their dad working on his new start up, its up to Mini to put this together. Mini only has two months to pull of this wedding and with the distraction of a very cute, mysterious, and persistent boy named Vir Mirchandani, she’s got her hands full. Between working her jobs, running an etsy store, planning a wedding, and maybe even finding love, Mini’s in for a wild wedding planning journey. Throw in some family drama, romance drama, and a monster hurricane heading for Boston, how is Mini ever going to pull this wedding off?

A super sweet and fun read. I loved getting to know Mini and her life. She’s a hardworking, caring, and fun. She tries so hard and might struggle with jumping to conclusions, but overall she’s a great character. The story was an easy read and if you love wedding shenanigans and finding romance along the way, then this is a book for you!

*Thanks Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This is a fun and heartfelt book that I would be happy to suggest to my teen/new adult customers. As a woman who planned her sister's wedding at a young age, I could relate to Mini and the struggles she faced. Though others probably won't relate to this struggle, they will definitely find connections through Mini's family struggles, coming of age decisions (college?!), and relationships to those around her. There are touching moments, a little bit of sadness, but plenty of laughs to provide a beautifully balanced book. Though some may find Mini's romance to be the focal point, I found myself drawn in more by Mini's relationship with her family. This book was great and I can't wait to hand it out to library customers.

Disclaimer : I got this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Full review will be up on my blog!

This book is perfect for Morgan Matson’s Save the Date fans!! I absolutely loved this book Mini’s sister, Vinnie is getting married. It’s up to Mini to plan the wedding because their mom died and their dad is busy with his company. This book has all the Bollywood feels and I really enjoyed it. I will be gushing about this in my review closer to the pub date!!!

3.5 stars

This is an enjoyable YA romance featuring Mini, who is the titular sister of the Bollywood Bride. Mini is a pretty great individual. In light of her mother's death several years earlier and her father's general disinterest - not to mention her sister's wild med school schedule - she has taken on the entire responsibility of her sister's wedding. She's also in school, works two part-time jobs (sort of), and is managing her own romantic life. Mini is busy, but you can bank on one thing; she is always - apparently - dressed to the nines.

I really enjoyed the characters in this, and while I appreciate the novel overall, the pacing and follow through felt clunky at times. There are A LOT of wedding-related details. This may seem obvious, but I was hoping for more character development. I got this early on, but that went by the wayside later. The relationship between Mini and her love interest has some bizarre features, too. When a person says, "Don't Google me," is this not a sign to IMMEDIATELY GOOGLE THEM?! For a person willing not to follow the path most often tread in that scenario, Mini seems weirdly quick to judge once some information comes to light. There are a few situations like this where I found myself thinking, "Hmmm. Really?" in reference to choices and/or outcomes and/or plot points that just kind of get dropped or quietly fade away. There's nothing egregious, but I would have liked to see some tighter editing at times.

Overall, this is an entertaining read. If you love wedding-related details, you will be extra appreciative; there are many to be found here.