Zoya is a successful woman with her dream job, but she has a huge flaw according to her family: she's single. In a culture where arrange marriages are still common, Zoya's family embark in a quest to find her a husband while she tries to figure out what is it that she really wants in life.

This book is from an Own Voices author which makesnit even more easy to relate, the audiobook barrator also had an indian accent which made it more immersive.

It was hard to read this book due to the cultural shock, the anoint of inner racism, inner fatphobia, misogyny and patriarchy was so frustrating, although in a way it makes you realize what is that Indian women are going through. It was really eye opening and for that I'm grateful.

I did enjoy learning more about India, their customs and the characters were likeable. Zoya had a nice growth arc that helped her accept herself exactly as she is and so did her family.

Overall I recomnend this book, it was a cute light read and it was refreshing to read about a different country and culture.

A young woman, whose life is planned for her by societal norms and family pressures, is unsure about her upcoming nuptials but not ready to disappoint her family by becoming an independent woman.

I read the audiobook from NetGalley. The narrator is so compatible with Bhatia's writing that they must be related. I strongly recommend the audiobook (although I have not read ebook or physical so can't speak on that experience).

The aunt is hilarious. She is judgmental and domineering but her sharp tongue makes her a more palatable character. Zoya is "not like other girls." She is darker-skinned, full-figured, and reluctant to marry.

At first glance, this sounds like yet another book about an Indian girl being forced to marry. Before you reject this one and look for another read, I encourage you to pick it up. Bhatia's writing reads like stand-up comedy from an experienced comedian. You will be entertained even if the narrative is predictable.

The themes are pressures of being a single woman, standing up to your elder relatives, finding yourself while others try to tell you who your are. The plus-size rep is not as satisfying but the story is so good that I'm not complaining about it.

The discussions about single women and prejudices people have about them were interesting. The plus-size mentions felt pretentious and more like an announcement than a narrative. Zoya mostly kept stating that she was plus-size. Some of the other characters would make offensive statements about her weight that she did not have the confidence to correct.

This is a coming of age story about a young woman deciding whether to marry when she hasn't had life experience or embark on a career that could bring her the kind of satisfaction that being married would stifle. I loved this book and would recommend it.

I absolutely love the influx of fiction set in India or about Indian culture. This book was amazing. I think I definitely would've enjoyed it more if I was reading it as a physical copy but this book still had me laughing and sometimes wanting to cry. I need more from Anisha Bhatia. End of story.

I received an ARC of this audiobook to listen to through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. The Rules of Arrangement by Anisha Bhatia is a Women’s Fiction audiobook with romantic elements.
Zoya Sahni wants to be a good daughter, but fulfilling the dreams her parents have for her may mean letting go of her own dreams. At age 27, Zoya is close to being on the shelf, and her parents are getting desperate for her to get married. On the marriage mart, Zoya is considered to be too fat, too dark, and too old, but amazingly enough, Lalit Khurana asks her to marry him, and everyone appears to be happy except Zoya because she has dreams of working for a large advertising agency in New York, dreams that are not out of reach because her boss Arnav Bajaj has recommended her for a position and it’s just up to her to ace that interview. I enjoyed listening to this audiobook tremendously, and it had the perfect balance of humour and angst, a heroine who had you cheering for her, with a narrator that did an excellent job of bringing her to life, and wonderful secondary characters who added much to the story. I highly recommend this audiobook. Steam Level: Kissing Only Publishing Date: July 13, 2021. #TheRulesOfArrangement #AnishaBhatia #NetGalley #AlcovePress #WomensFictionNovel #ContemporaryWomensFiction #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #WomensFictionAudioBook

A great debut in the vein of Bridget Jones's Diary about Zoya, a 26 year old dark-skinned, overweight modern Indian woman struggling with family and societal expectations. Zoya has a successful career, loves the TV show Friends and occasionally indulging in pot brownies. She also has a family that has decided it's time for Zoya to get married and not wanting to rock the boat, Zoya agrees to enter an arranged marriage. The problem is the more Zoya tries to please her family, the less happy she becomes, especially when a chance to move to New York City for work arises and a secret admirer increasingly makes apparent just how ill-matched she and her new fiancé truly are. I loved being immersed into modern day Indian culture and the ways that traditions still play a big role in Indian women's lives. Zoya is an easy to love main character to cheer for and I would love another book about what happens in her life after this book leaves off. Great on audio and highly recommend for fans of diverse cultural stories. Thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for my ALC.

DNF at 30%.

I went into this thinking that it was going to be a fun contemporary romance filled with complicated familial relationships and highlighting Desi culture.

Instead, I got a book that is chock full of fatphobia (there's literally fatphobic comments made each chapter without unpacking how dangerous it is), colorism (the MC's dark skin is a constant point of scrutiny and yes, skin bleaching is recommended), misogyny, and transphobia (several HP references as well as blatant transphobic passages on page).

I honestly don't know how anyone can make it through this without just feeling awful. This was a huge miss, and in good conscience, I literally can't recommend this book to anyone.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for providing a review copy through NetGalley. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.