I interviewed the writer for Desi Books. The link is provided below. In this conversation, we talked about the challenges of creating older women protagonists, writing a debut novel filled with many themes and characters, how her journalism work helped her write this novel—and much more.

This is an incredible premise for a book - a billionaire philanthropist and matriarch gathers her family to her private island home over the Christmas holiday to tell them she has terminal brain cancer. Things however don't quite go as she planned as long hidden secrets are revealed.

Dava Shastri's philanthropic legacy is more than important to her, it is the driving force of her life and has shaped every decision she has made since she was a young woman. It has also greatly affected the lives of her children in very unexpected ways.

I really enjoyed this character driven multicultural novel about family, legacy, love, loss, the choices that we make that have a profound effect on our lives and the ones we love. This is a wonderful debut novel about a very complex, strong and determined woman who I'm not sure if the reader every fully gets to know but I'm sure will never forget.

Thank you Grand Central Publishing @grandcentralpub for my advanced copy of this memorable book. Happy Pub Day!

The premise alone was enough to intrigue me--a powerful matriarch from a multicultural family who isolates her relatives at her giant private island residence for the holidays and fakes her own death? Count me in!--and the execution certainly delivers. Ramisetti's writing reminds me a bit of Taylor Jenkins' (specifically, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo). She's great at establishing family drama and intrigue while ensuring that her characters are still relatable and have depth and development. While Dava isn't a likeable character (and I cringed at some of her attributes), Ramisetti establishes enough sympathy for her that I was invested in her and her family.

This is a strong debut and well worth your time, especially if you enjoyed The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.

When I started reading this book I was concerned that it was going to be a cliche book about a woman watching the world react to her death. Instead it was a solid family drama as her children not only come to grips with their mother's imminent death but also with lots and lots of family secrets. No one is really what they first seem to be in the family and the news of her passing brings everything to the surface. I enjoyed the diversity of characters in the story and getting to read their various points of view. I felt for the grandkids who were stuck in the house while all this drama was going on and hope Dava's will provided for therapy. All in all, the characters felt real, even though I question whether the situation could ever successfully happen.

Dava Shastri is a dying billionaire with a brain cancer diagnosis and arranges for the news of her death to be announced before she passes so that she can read the obituaries. She calls her four children to a private island to spend her last days with her. But when news of her “death” releases there are devastating secrets that become revealed.

I was so excited to read this because the synopsis gave me major Evelyn Hugo vibes with a family drama twist to it. However, I found it hard to root for the main character. Also there were a lot of characters and it’s told over multiple POVs over different time frames, which was overwhelming at times to keep track of. I think this book had a promising premise. But it fell flat for me even though I wanted to love it. I’d still read future books by this author.

Thank you Net Galley and Grand Central Publishing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Many thanks to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing and Hachette Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the debut novel by Kirthana Ramisetti, beautifully narrated by Soneela Nankani (with a surprise recording at the end!) - 4 stars.

Dava Shastri has assembled her 4 children and their families to her remote island. Unbeknownst to them, she has a terminal illness and has decided to end her life on her own terms with her family present - and so that she can be alive to read her obituaries. She is a self-made billionaire philanthropist and expects to read glowing reports of all her many accomplishments. But word of her death is leaked to the media early and she must now tell her children as well as deal with some of the press fallout, which deals with secrets Dava wanted to take to her grave.

This is a multi-generational family saga with each of the 4 children having an assigned role in their family and the family business with varying degrees of success and fulfillment. It's the story of family secrets and how they are almost impossible to keep quiet. But it's ultimately a love story on lots of different levels, with all its inherent complications.

The premise of this story had shades of Evelyn Hugo but whereas I cared about Evelyn I found that I didn't care For Dava. She had odd rules and stipulations for those coming to her house, there was a lot of privilege happening in the story and overall it had a superficial material obsessed feel to it

3.5/5

Too many characters. Majority of them unlikable.
Hard to root for the main character even though I think we are meant to.
Full of heart and humanity.
Diverse.
Vivid writing.
Shifting viewpoints was fun.

There was a lot to like with this book. The premise is terrific- a billionaire has received a terminal diagnosis and brings her family to her sprawling family home to spend a couple of days together and end things on her terms. She has the news of her death break early, so she gets the chance to pour over her accomplishments one last time. Unfortunately, in doing so, she unlocks secrets she's spent her whole life trying to hide. I liked how the story was about her, but it was not- it was mostly about her children, their families, and how they each were affected. Unfortunately, I felt like too much was going on, and I never really sunk into the story. It also felt too long and that the stakes were too low. I thought Dava was unlikable, but I kind of liked that because I feel like a lot of billionaires probably are unlikable. Interesting story, but not one that is likely to stick with me long-term.

The synopsis sounded intriguing. I required a humorous yet profound novel at this time in my life. What I did get was a varied and politically correct cast of characters, a complicated and sometimes convoluted story with an abundance of information on music and musicians that I had never heard of. I'm still not sure if all of the bands she mentions are real or not! All this music talk just bored me. I can see that it was the crux of many of Dava's relationships...but it just didn't work to keep me engaged.

The idea of a terminal cancer patient bringing her family together on her private island for one last time was an interesting one. But, of course, knowing that she (Dava) was a multi-billionaire added a little something to the mix, and then finding out that this book was set in 2044 during what seems to be the height of climate change was the cherry on the cake.

Unfortunately, as I said, the music issue was a non-starter for me(perhaps because of my age); the characters were all shallow, the lies were hard to take, the deaths by cancer were just brutal, and the book just never seemed to end.

I did manage to finish this simply because I wanted to see how it ended and if Dava's family overcame all of their issues. But, unfortunately, I did have to do a lot of skimming.

*ARC provided by the publisher, the author, and NetGalley.

I really thought I would enjoy this book however I could not get into it. The main character is a billionaire and puts out a press release saying she died before she really did to see what people would say about her. I felt I really didn’t know the characters well enough after the first 20% of the book. Unfortunately it was a DNF for me.

A wonderful, character driven novel about life, love, death, and family. The story is told from multiple points of view over a few different time frames but is so well written that it never gets confusing or convoluted. With great characters and an engaging plot, this story will stick with me a long time. Highly recommended.

The book opens with Dava Shastri, billionaire philanthropist, laughing over her own obituary. It’s followed shortly after by her adult children, who have gathered for the holidays, quite rightly demanding to know why the news is announcing their mother’s death. Dava has recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and in addition to bringing her family together to break the news, she has arranged for the press to announce her death early so that she can read the things they say about her life and legacy. But the narrative swiftly moves out of Dava’s control as secrets long buried begin to surface.

The POV switches between various members of the Shastri-Persson family. Interspersed throughout are bits of press coverage and other writings that offer little glimpses into Dava’s life. The result is that we get a rounded, all-angles view of a very complex character: we know how her various family members think of her, we know how the world sees her, and we know the innermost thoughts of Dava herself – about her life, her family, and her legacy. The various relationships between members of the family are complex, compelling, and sometimes heartbreaking. If you love books about complicated family dynamics, this is a good one for you.

Representation: People of color as main characters, gay couple as main characters, polyamorous main character

CW: cancer, assisted suicide, infidelity

I was drawn into this story of Dava Shastri and her family. Dava is a wealthy philanthropist who leaks the news of her death before she actually dies. She is obsessed with her legacy and determined that her children continue her work. When incidents from her past become the narrative, it shakes her and her children.

3.5 stars
I loved the concept of this book so much when I read the description, I mean who wouldn’t want to know what people would say about you after you’re gone. I was so excited to read it and while I did enjoy it well enough I didn’t love it the way I expected to.
Coming into this book I was ready to be affected emotionally by it, by the surely hard and complicated time this family would have to go through; that this woman would go through with her death around the corner and her long hidden secrets popping up like the boogeyman.

However, I didn’t really get the emotions that I expected, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Instead of the sadness and angst I expected from a family learning their mother is dying there was just a lot of anger, which is understandable, but it felt like there was nothing but anger on the part of the children, and it also felt like Dava didn’t care for her four children, besides making sure her legacy survived which just made me kind of not like her and not care about her at all.
I didn’t really love any of the characters, they were all insufferable in their own ways, but I did feel sympathy for her children. They have big life altering news thrown at them multiple times and they’re just expected to deal with it.
I liked the time jumps, I love when I get to see first hand how events led up to certain things, but I did feel like the time jumps were awkwardly written at some points.
I think this was a good book, but these things kept them from being a great book in my opinion. If you want a story where you’ll fall in love the characters, this is not it, but if you want a story about family drama with some old hidden secrets in the mix then this is definitely for you.
Thank you netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I really was interested in the premise of this book, it seemed kind of like Succession to me. However, it didn’t end up being what I expect and it ended up being a DNF for me.

There is a lot going on in this story, and that's the main thing you need to know if you are going to read Dava Shastri's Last Day. There are a ton of characters, a lot of emotions, and a lot of separate storylines. Overall, I do believe I liked the book. It was fairly heavy, and if you've dealt with the loss of a loved one to a terminal illness, then it might feel even heavier. All that said, even though the book is set in 2044 and is centered around a billionaire philanthropist, it feels like a very realistic story. It focuses a lot on family dynamics, legacies, and secrets coming out. Recommended for you if you are a fan of family dramas, enjoyed the way books like The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and The Final Revival of Opal & Nev are written, or if you like to read things that make you reflective of your own life.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the e-ARC.

I like the premise and the near future setting in 2044 , but the characters were underdeveloped. The excerpts from journals and articles were interesting. The time jumps back in forth was a big disjointed to the overall flow of the book.

What a brilliant debut by Kirthana Ramisetti! A breathtaking family drama that engaged me from the very first page, I absolutely loved this novel. Alternating between flashbacks in the past and the current day as well as multiple characters, this story simultaneously feels like a coming of age and an ending to a legacy. The author poignantly explores the effect our families and upbringing have on our past, present and futures as well as themes of secrets, generational expectations, unconditional love, power, forgiveness and ambition. This story is well written with a beautiful intricate plot, vibrant descriptions and complex, authentic and endearing characters.

Was looking forward to this one based on cover and blurb. However, I immediately disliked the main character and found the first few chapters to be confusing. Ultimately, DNFed this one.