Cover Image: Serena Singh Flips the Script

Serena Singh Flips the Script

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Member Reviews

A story of friendship, family, and finding yourself when you’ve lost your way. The book centers on Serena Singh, who is an intelligent and career-focused Indian woman in her early 30s. Serena is independent, determined, and wants to be happy. Her sister has always been her best friend, but as her sister gets married and settles into her new life, Serena feels lonely.

I liked that Serena decided to take charge of her life and find friendships that fulfill her. It was clear that Serena often feels pressure to be a good Indian girl, and she flips the script in more ways than one. She’s a character that readers can’t help but love and admire. She lives her life in a way that makes her happy, even if she is often searching for what happiness means to her.

When Serena befriends a woman at work named Ainsley, she’s surprised by their closeness. Friendships can transform so many aspects of our lives. When they are good, friendships not only offer love and support, but they can open us up to new possibilities. Serena and Ainsley’s friendship is a catalyst for Serena, pushing her to reconnect with her parents whom she hasn’t always had the best relationship with. The theme of family is strong throughout the book. Serena and her mother are different, but their relationship was one of the sweetest parts of the story.

This is not a story about romance. Friendship and family are front and center and the most important takeaways of this book. Serena is not a character who is seeking a romantic relationship, or at least doesn’t find it necessary for her to find happiness. I responded the most to Serena herself. She is an imperfect character, but her flaws made her more relatable and someone I was cheering for.

A light and complex story that had a wonderful mix of funny, heartwarming, and touching moments. This book will have you wanting to connect with your own friends and family, and to become the best version of yourself, whoever that is!

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I originally thought this book was a romance novel but I feel it is more of a coming of age older adult edition lol. It goes back and forth between Serena and her mom which was a new perspective for me. There was a lot of cultural aspects in the book which I loved.

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Another one that I couldn’t put down—the girl boss vibes were strong here and I was super invested in how Serena’s work and personal relationships played out. She was so relatable and I couldn’t help but cheer her on and she tried to find herself and what she deserves.

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As featured in the 2020-21 Modern Mrs Darcy Winter Book Preview and live unboxing event. This story about a woman finally reasserting herself to pursue what SHE really wants instead of what everyone around her prioritizes really struck a chord—and a fun and funny chord at that! While strong friendships are always a topic I enjoy on the page, I also appreciated the D.C. setting and workplace conversations.

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Super cute read! I loved the focus and attention on female friendships and familial relationships rather than on just romantic love. We need more books like this with powerful strong grown women as the heroine! I loved the representation and learning a bit more about another culture. Serena is strong and independent and I love that about her. This book is about self discovery and about second chances. Really enjoyed! Not life changing but definitely a solid read.

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Serena is a strong, smart, caring, and independent woman. She brings so much to the table, yet all her parents want for her is marriage and children. This is totally contradictory to Serena's desire to remain independent and childless so she can focus her attention on her career. This is more womens fiction than it is romance. While there is a tad bit of romance, we spend most of the time following Serena as she navigates finding friendships in her 30s and navigating her life as the daughter of immigrants.
The second half of the book fell flat for me as I didn't like the incident that occurred with her family. It felt like it came out of nowhere and blindsided me. Furthermore, as we got deeper into the book, I didn't understand Serena's choices. I felt like I spent so much time getting to know her, and then her personality totally changed on me.

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I thought this was a cute book. It starts off really strong, and then starts to drag towards the end. I wasn’t a huge fan of the romance in this book. It didn’t feel natural to me. Overall, it’s a cute book and I would recommend checking it out.

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This was an interesting read. I appreciated vastly the aspect of Serena knowing that she didn't want her life to look like the traditional setting.

The friendships presented were so strong. I quite enjoyed that. I struggled with the timelines a bit.

Overall, this was a sweet story that brought on some good feels.

Trigger warning. There is essence of domestic violence.

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I love a good book about female friendship! There just aren't enough books that feature friendships between women! Serena grows and develops as a character and I found myself rooting for her through this entire book. Beautifully told story!

Serena Singh is tired of everyone telling her what she should want--and she is ready to prove to her mother, her sister, and the aunties in her community that a woman does not need domestic bliss to have a happy life.

Things are going according to plan for Serena. She’s smart, confident, and just got a kick-ass new job at a top advertising firm in Washington, D.C. Even before her younger sister gets married in a big, traditional wedding, Serena knows her own dreams don’t include marriage or children. But with her mother constantly encouraging her to be more like her sister, Serena can’t understand why her parents refuse to recognize that she and her sister want completely different experiences out of life.

A new friendship with her co-worker, Ainsley, comes as a breath of fresh air, challenging Serena’s long-held beliefs about the importance of self-reliance. She’s been so focused on career success that she’s let all of her hobbies and close friendships fall by the wayside. As Serena reconnects with her family and friends--including her ex-boyfriend--she learns letting people in can make her happier than standing all on her own.

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A solid book from Lalli, though not necessarily my favorite of hers so far. I was hoping for more light-hearted romantic comedy but this story is more about Serena than about love-which was still great to read! Just not what I had hoped for from this story.

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I wanted to love this book but I just could not connect with the characters. The story started off strong but it just dragged in the middle. Serena, however, was a very strong woman and I liked that aspect.

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I loved this book a lot! Really enjoy reading about female friendships and not just romance. The pop culture references were also very apt and entertaining. This is such a good, fun/easy read for the summer!

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Serena Singh seems to be perfectly happy in the life she has created for herself. Even if everyone around her thinks she should be living it differently. Her sister just got married, she has her own apartment and a new job, she even might have a new romantic fling she met at her sisters wedding. But one thing she wants more of is friends. She goes on a journey of self-discovery trying to meet new people while balancing a new relationship and a new friendship with someone at work.

This was a sweet story but not at all what I expected. But I wasn't dissapointed because the story was so sweet. There were a few things out of left field that came off as stuck in there, <spoilers> her fathers abuse of her mother for example </spoilers> but in the end it all came together nicely. The real thing this highlighted for me was the willingness to ignore red flags in people especially if their family. Everyone caters to Serena's younger sister when in the long run she is not a very nice person and is extremely self-centered. I would have liked a better resolution to that rather than "sometimes you give more than you get in a realtionship".

The timeline of the story also threw me off, you really didn't see the passage of time clearly and months were supposidly going by when it felt like days. It was also strange when a random chapter was from Serena's mother's perspective, I didn't feel like it really added to the story and I was hoping to flesh the mom as a character out more but it didn't really do that. Overall it was a good read that I would suggest to other looking for a simple chick lit story about self-discovery.

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Thank you to Berkley Publishing my copy of Serena Singh Flips the Script in exchange for my honest review.

This was my first book by Sonya Lalli and I will definitely be checking out her backlist. This book was not what I was expecting, but in a good way.

I loved how Serena knew what she wanted, even if was not the normal for thirty-something woman. I found the focus on friendship to be refreshing. The book started out strong for me and I was really interested in the characters and where it was all going. But about halfway through, it did start to drag for me the pacing was not as good. Overall, I enjoyed the book, I just wished it had kept me as interested the whole way through.

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I love the multiculturalism displayed in this novel. That aside to its core this book is so fun and sexy I’ve been recommending it to all of my friends.

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A great addition to the rom-com genre. While I did feel that the ending was a bit predictable, I really enjoyed this book and how independent Serena was. Having the flashbacks into her mother's life was eye-opening and the female friendship between Serena and Ainsley was a real highlight for me.

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I quite enjoyed this book! Serena's story of how she has worked so hard to make her own person is so inspiring, but her realization that, in doing so, she has isolated herself if very relatable. The story touches on how difficult it is to find friends and connect with family at an older age, but how past experiences make you more understanding of others lives. The relationships between Serena and her family are wonderfully explored, as she has different memories and ties with her mother, her father, and her sister; as she moves through her own life, she begins to understand how these relationships have formed, and how they have ended up where they are now. I will definitely be revisiting this book in the future, as the relationships between characters can be seen from different perspectives.

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This was my first read by @sonya_lalli and it will definitely not be my last! Where are all of my backlist titles at? Oh yes, they are already on my Kindle just waiting for me.

I LOVED all of the characters in this novel and how everything played out! I could see that one relationship coming from word go (let's be friends 🤦‍♀️ ya okay)

From friendships, romances, and family life... there were just so many relationships that had developed over the span of 340 pages and they all just stole my heart.

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I would read a grocery list by this author. This book was fantastic and I'm loving seeing it all over bookstagram.

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I loved this story! I had thought it was more of a romance going into it, but I was super pleasantly surprised by the fact that this was more of a coming-of-age later in life story. Serena was such a lovable character to me - not perfect, but incredibly real to me. I just LOVED the dynamic between Ainsley and Serena - the end?? SO CUTE. The emphasis on friendship, the fact that Lalli gave equal (if not more) weight to the value of friendship as opposed to romantic relationships was something I really appreciated and connected with.
I just in general really appreciated the nuance to the relationships in the story. Serena's relationships with her parents and sister were complicated - even when she loved them, she didn't always like them. It was such a real depiction of familiar relationships. The romance was definitely super sweet and contributed to Serena's character growth, but definitely isn't the thing I will remember most about the story. I can't wait to pick up more from Sonya Lalli!

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