I apologize, but I could not get into the book. It was full of cliches and for some reason the narrator's voice was a huge turn-off for me.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I wasn't able to listen to The Rules of Arrangement before the title was archived.

I wish this one had been better. A romantic comedy featuring a 26-year-old arranged marriage prospect. It had great potential and I remember a lot of people being excited about this one. However, it flopped so hard. The fat phobia was a total turn off. After seeing others post about wishing they had DNF'd I decided not to waste my time.

Wow this book was disappointing. It was full of fatphobia and also has transphobia, misogyny and colorism. None of it is portrayed as bad. Would not recommend.

I really wanted to like this one. I love a chance to dive into a story from a cultural perspective that I am unfamiliar with. I also love a story of a young woman trying to take ownership of her place in the world. That said, I just had a hard time fully committing to this. I found the characters, particularly the protagonist, difficult to sympathize with at times.

I wanted to love this. I honestly did. It's the story of Zoya, a 26 year old Indian woman who is a little overweight, her skin is a little too dark and she's little too old to be single in Mumbai. While she may not fit the Indian ideal for beauty, she and her family hold out hope. But, her family is really putting the pressure on her to get married and the matchmaking starts...

I just never felt fully engaged in this story of attempting a marriage arrangement. It fell flat for me somehow. I typically love stories set in India so this seemed like a perfect fit for me. While I was hoping it would be a story where Zoya rose above her weight and showed she didn't need to fit into societal norms, the narrative just seemed riddled with fat phobia.

Honestly I don’t have an interest in reading this book anymore and I want to be more selective with what I request.

I had a lot of problems with this book. The fat phobia woven into the writing was terrible. It seemed like the biggest focus os the story was the size of the characters. The culture woven into the story was interesting to read about but sadly, the actual story ruins everything about it.


I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

Zoya is a young Indian woman suffering from a multitude of sins the worse of course being that she is 26 and single. Much to the disappointment of her mother and favorite meddling auntie but they are determined to see her married because 26 is far too close to 30 and of course once you hit 30 all hope is lost. So matchmaking auntie to the rescue and arranged marriage here we come... And just when Zoya might have found a suitable husband she also has the opportunity of a lifetime with her career so what should she do? Does she pick the man of the job? After a lifetime of pressure and family obligation and tradition and culture making a choice isn’t easy because marriage is the most important thing right? More important than dreams because dreams aren’t going to keep you warm at night or give you children are they?

Having read quite a few Indian romance type of books I feel like I’m not as surprised or offended as some people who have read this book. The book is from Zoya’s perspective in Zoya’s culture it’s how things are in her world. The thing that bothered me most about Zoya was how oblivious she was. I understand why she was so indecisive and barely knew her own mind and would talk herself in and out of being mad... she was just trying so hard to be who everyone else needed her to be that she kept trying to convince herself that certain things were true when they clearly weren’t. There were a lot of funny moments with her and her family especially her Sheila bua but there was also sadness too with how woman in their society have to shrink themselves and change and accept things because other people want them to.

I liked it looking forward to seeing what the author comes out with next. The narrator did a great job.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review. I really enjoyed this book! It was a fun, quick beach read (listen).

This story is about an Indian woman named Zoya. Zoya is somewhat non traditional in a very traditional culture. I loved being inside Zoya's mind, so I'm glad the story was written in the first person.

Zoya is a successful young woman of 26 who has yet to be married. Her family sets her up in an arranged marriage and just as she gets engaged, she's offered an opportunity of a lifetime. A prestigious US company has offered her a job in NYC, thousands of miles away from her home of Mambai.

The characters in this story were believable and relatable, despite the cultural differences. I am not really familiar with Indian culture, but I enjoyed the way this story was written and it felt authentic to me.

The narrator is PERFECT. She was Zoya. I loved her accent and manner of speaking. All in all, a great 4.25 star story.

Such a great story and great audiobook. I connected with the characters from the start and the narrator brought the authors story to life for me. Can’t wait to read more by this author.

The Rules of Arrangement was written by Anisha Bhatia and wonderfully narrated by Shazia Nicholls. It’s a poignant, humorous, sweet, and thoughtful novel about a young Punjabi Indian woman’s journey to following her dreams in defiance of family expectations and Punjabi tradition. Introspective, insightful, and written from first-person POV, the heroine Zoya describes the interactions between her family and community members, centering around women and their societal value, which primarily depends upon their marital prospects/status and devotion to home and family. Zoya’s personal observations and accounts of attending family weddings, preparing for meeting with potential grooms and their families, and interacting with her handsome and grumpy boss are self-effacing, hilarious, romantic, infuriating, and sometimes heartbreaking. Bhatia’s characters are complex, relatable, and deftly developed. Her vivid and detailed descriptions offer a first-hand view of Punjabi life, culture, and traditions in Mumbai that draw you into each moment and scene, making you care about Zoya’s journey.

Although Zoya Sahni loves her job, has an excellent education, and a loving, if crazy-making, family, she struggles with being the perfect Indian girl. She is 26, unmarried, and the complete opposite of the fair, slim, and obedient prized Indian girl. In fact, she is overweight, dark-skinned, knows her own mind, and doesn’t hesitate to say what she thinks and how she feels. So, it comes as no surprise to Zoya that her matchmaking aunties decide it’s past time to arrange her marriage. However, their timing couldn’t be worse because Zoya also gets promoted and has the chance at her dream job in New York City. Does an Indian girl living in Mumbai have the courage to reach for her dreams, flaunting societal and familial expectations she’s been confined by her whole life?

Nicholl’s narration brilliantly brings The Rules of Arrangement from the written page to life for our listening pleasure. She perfectly captures each scene by adapting her voice for each character with subtle nuances for mood, personality, and quirks. Our heroine’s voice rings with love, snark, frustration, cynicism, humor, joy, and anger from moment to moment – flawlessly. Zoya’s reminisces of her childhood and spending time with her Matchmaker aunt Sheila Bua – a pivotal person in Zoya’s life – are filled with nostalgia, awe, love, and touches of sadness. As Zoya learns more about her boss Arnav-the Dragon-Bajaj, his gruff, stiff tones shift, and his voice changes to suit the Arnav she discovers behind the façade.

A beautifully written exploration of the tension between selfhood and family love, The Rules of Arrangement is a snarky, hilarious, sweet, romantic, and introspective novel made for an audiobook that I couldn’t imagine being narrated by anyone other than Nicholls.

How do you make your marriage obsessed family happy when you are a career woman who has a shot at the job of her dreams? That is what Zoya needs to figure out. Her family has turned their sights on her as they move through the daughters for arranged marriages and Zoya is not your typical bride. She loves her job in advertising and is really good at it as well as not being a skinny health conscious girl. She agrees to let them do their best to find a match and when they do what are her options.
This book is full of quirky characters who are all lovable in their own way while being highly flawed. As a white woman in America I am not very familiar with the Indian culture or the practice of arranged marriages but Zoya is this modern day Indian woman whose goal in life is not to be a mother and wife but wants to be independent and find her own path, even if that means moving out on her own. At the same time she is a good Indian daughter so now she needs to find the right balance in her life. I really enjoyed this story and would recommend it.

The Rules of Arrangement is a quirky novel that tells of a Punjabi girl who is way past marrying age in her culture and how her parents want her to find a husband. She does end up getting in an arranged marriage and has an inner battle about the duty to her parents/culture and what she wants for her life. The main character likes her career and she knows with marriage, the expectation to become a stay at home wife (and soon mom) is to be followed, but what if she does not want to give up her career? An office romance and a pretty terrible fiance has the main character questioning if an arranged marriage is really what she wants out of life.

This novel is pretty funny and at times I was laughing out loud. The narrator is perfect! I enjoyed the subject matter as this culture is not one I'm too familiar with. Overall, it was very cute!

When I first saw the cover of this book and read the synopsis, I was so excited to read the book. Unfortunately, the book didn't quite hit all the marks that I had hoped. I did love the setting of this story and a few of the characters. This book just had way too much going on, a lot of plot elements could have been left out and still had a decent book. I didn't dislike this book, but it didn't live up to the expectation I had!

Thank you NetGalley, author Anisha Bhatia, and Alcove Press publishing for giving me a free arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
3 stars
I loved the premise of this book! The main character Zoya was such a compelling character. I loved her brains and heart. Throughout this book, she was fighting between her desire to hold to her family traditions to find the right man to marry and the career promotion that will allow her to achieve her dreams of living in America. Shazia Nicholls’s narration gives life to Zoya's character, her family, and daily family life. He accent was beautiful while still being clear and easy to understand, which made the story more authentic. I felt sorry for Zoya's body image issues that she faced from the people that should be the most accepting, her family. I would have liked for them just to support her as she was. Overall, this book was an interesting insight into the Indian culture. I would be interested in reading more books by this author in the future!

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. It was so entertaining and I loved the dynamics between the main character and her family members. The romance was predictable but I still enjoyed it. Very easy and quick listen that kept me entertained from start to finish.

Zoya Sahni has a great job and a loving family, but she is not the things desired in the marriage world: dark-skinned rather than light, spunky instead of submissive, and overweight rather than skinny. Zoya is overjoyed when she receives a promotion at work, along with the news of being a possible candidate for a job in New York City. However, that very night, her family has arranged for her to meet a possible candidate for an arranged marriage. As she gets closer to her dream job in New York, she also meets the perfect ideal of a husband for an arranged marriage. When she is forced to choose between the two, what choice will she make?

I would almost classify this book more as a women's fiction than a romance novel. The real growth takes place in Zoya learning what she wants for herself and looking at her family in a different light. I do like Zoya's boss, Arnav, and wish we could have seen more of him. The narrator did a good job with the audiobook.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me an audio ARC of this book.

Thank you Dreamscape media for the audiobook. I received the audiobook through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed this book. I feel that some of the themes are relatable regardless of culture. Many of us have to decide between family obligations and our obligations to ourselves to follow our own path, tradition vs independence, societies standards of beauty vs our own self worth, and the idea of lack of worth if we are alone.

Content warning: there are many negative descriptions of characters who are deemed fat in the book including the main character. There are also many references to food and comfort/stress eating. To me these descriptions were an example of how women internalize societies expectations of beauty and they come out as insults to others or ourselves. By the end of the book the main character seems to be working towards body neutrality. I think some readers were disappointed that it didn’t repent for the insults or aim towards body positivity, but I also found this relatable. Body positivity is great but after years of listening to society, family, and you telling yourself you’re not good enough, you don’t measure up, and that you are worth less sometimes neutrality is a huge improvement and achievement.

For me the best parts of the book are the interaction between the main character and her family. I also enjoyed the characters journey to find her voice.

it could have been great if not for the fatphobia and internalized misogyny. i want to think it’s a sarcastic play on not living your life according to the standards of society, but there’s no real attack on the body shaming or slut shaming that would ground readers in how problematic these ideas are. instead we are left with live your life how you want but still try to lose weight and be perfect and not “sleep around” and don’t wear too much black. *sigh*

really the premise is around challenging the idea that a woman is only valuable in marriage, and i was rooting for Zoya (the main character) to find her voice and the courage to follow her own dreams. i enjoyed that aspect of the story.

thank you to @netgalley and @alcovepress for the ARC!