TJ Powar is a "pretty" Indian, with perfect eyebrows, shaved arms, and the grades to back up her looks. Her cousin, however; sticks with her guns and refuses to conform like that. When her cousin and her are compared and turned into memes at school, TJ decides enough is enough and takes a stand.

This is a perfect desi romcom featuring unapologetic brown girls, academic rivals to lovers, debate kids, and a Punjabi Sikh main character. The book centers TJ's debate world, with her taking a stand as the background for the rivals to lovers romance to blossom!

This was a really great read! I loved the writing and the characters. I really thought the message of accepting yourself and the way you look was important. This is a book that will mean a lot to teenage girls.

Every young adult reader needs this book. TJ is the friend we all needed growing up. Heartwarming and empowering, this is the book I wish I had had to cling to so I could've channeled TJ's strength and tenacity when I was struggling with self image and self love growing up. This book is a love letter to young adults while being heart warming, funny, important and tender.

“That feeling when you realize there are worse things to be than ugly”

This book has a wonderful take on beauty and self love. Body hair is a topic I rarely ever see in books or tv. It’s something that’s seen as taboo especially for young girls.
I completely related to the MC. I’m not Indian but I am Mexican and body hair is something I’ve always been insecure about. This is a novel I wish I had growing up, I’m happy teens have this today.

I also loved that the ending focused on body neutrality rather than body positivity. It’s something that I never really thought of but I completely agree with.

I have to add, I cannot believe this is a debut! This was so beautifully written.
I look forward to more wonderful stories.

This book was incredibly adorable while empowering. I think many women have had insecurities with different body hair so I liked that such a young protagonist was fighting back. She was definitely over defensive to people that were her friends but I understand where she was coming from. I loved the romance, it felt very sweet.

I love this book for its take on beauty and self-love. I love that this book has a lot of fun topics to discuss in a book club. Reminds me a little of Karma Khullar's Mustache but less Judy Blume and more Mindy Kaling.

This book is amazing! It focuses on a very important topic, and I'm very glad at how the book handled it. TJ explores femininity and what it means to be a woman, especially when you don't conform to social rules or the norms of society. This novel is very inspiring and it will leave you thinking about the world and how we can make it a more accepting place!

TJ was such a fun, witty, stubborn character and I fell in love with her immediately. Not only was she an Indian main chatacter who was popular but she was also smart and fun. I loved that the solution wasn't magically body positivity but neutrality to show a more realistic approach

I'm so grateful to Penguin Teen for sending me an eARC of this one! Since I'm writing my review super late, I can confidently say this was one of my favorites of 2022. I read this in one day and there are so many aspects I want to squeal over with someone. The friendships, the debate tournaments, the crush on her academic rival, all of it was perfection. TJ was such a fun, witty, stubborn character (yay for an Indian MC who shows that you can be brainy and popular).

I also loved that the ending focused on body neutrality rather than body positivity, which fat activists have generally agreed is a healthier and more realistic goal to strive for given the toxic expectations of the society we live in. Reading all of the other reviews from girls who felt seen by these book made me tear up; the specific experience of being hairy and desi doesn't resonate with me, but I'm so glad that this books exists for readers of all ages who do fall in those categories. And I have felt the pressure of Eurocentric beauty standards throughout my life in countless other ways, so the central themes of the book still ring true.

I can't believe this is a debut novel; here's hoping that Deo is already working on her next one!

I love trying out debut novels. TJ Powar Has Something To Prove by Jasmeen Kaur Deo is such an excellent debut novel -- melding themes ripe for discussion along with an engaging storyline. This audiobook was really a much better listen than I had anticipated. TJ Poward Has Something To Prove is about the main character, TJ Powar, who is a popular senior on the debate and soccer team. One day, a phone of her and her cousin Simran goes viral - comparing TJ as beautiful and Simran as undesirable. This really pisses TJ off and so she makes the decision to stop removing her body hair and posits that she is still beautiful with it. Unfortunately, there are issues along the way. But, even more important, she just might find true friends and true love in the end.

As stated, I really liked TJ Powar Has Something To Prove. I thought that the debate team aspect of it was so interesting. Also, this book is set in Canada which is different from what I normally read. TJ has so much character growth. She is also a genuinely good person -- even when she has to learn some lessons the hard way. The audiobook is narrated by Mayuri Bhandari. It is 11 hours and 6 minutes long. I loved my time with this audiobook. I definitely would recommend.

This was such a cute contemporary! I loved the romance and the characters. The story had its quirkiness but I absolutely love quirky! I look forward to reading more by the author.

I really loved this premise, and enjoyed it for the most part, as someone who deals with body hair biases. However, TJ was so unlikable for the majority of the book that it hindered my enjoyment for awhile.

"What's really a disease and what's just diversity? Who gets to decide?"

TJ Powar Has Something To Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo is a coming-of-age standalone novel with Netflix's Never Have I Ever vibes and raises voice about one thing I always wanted someone to shed light on- body hair positivity!

I can't tell how much I've related to this book!! Breaking the stereotype of shaving body hair is tough, especially in an Indian society where it's so much frowned upon. The constant stare and weird faces you get from strangers(and sometimes from people you know too) when they see your natural "hairy" limbs make you question whether you have taken the right decision or not. Yet there's something in you that feels liberating and that overpowers everything!
Coming back to the book, the story had a very realistic background. The enemies-to-lovers trope is seamlessly fitted into the plot and important topics like genome editing and inner beauty which are talked about through debates sparkedup my grey cells! The desi-ness of TJ, Simran and Rajan were on complete different levels which made it even more natural! This book is totally worth of 5 stars and a re-read!!🤩

Thank you @penguinteen and @coloredpagesblogtours for the free book!

We follow the TJ, a high school student, through a time in her life where she decides to stop any sort of hair removal, including tweezing, shaving, or waxing. This is a very pertinent topic for South Asian, and specifically for those of us who grew up being Sikh. In our religion, people do not cut their hair and in some cases people do not do any sort of hair removal. I believe that this is where the premise of this novel is from and I understood this since I grew up in this culture. However, this context is not added for the vast majority of readers who are not Sikh and who do not have this cultural understanding of where this relationship with hair removal comes from.

I appreciated the social commentary on the western construct of beauty and the hair removal culture; however, I thought that this book focused way too heavily on this one aspect of the main character.

I was not the right age demographic for this novel, but I could understand how this would be a very important and impactful novel for young adults, especially Sikh women. Overall, I would only recommend this one to teenagers or young adults.

I’m absolutely obsessed with this book because of how much it reminded me of one of my favorite shows, Never Have I Ever on Netflix! TJ is such a relatable character and I feel like her character growth throughout the book really called me out and reflected my own journey of self acceptance and my own understanding of beauty standards. I thought this book had an amazing balance of funny scenes and serious conversations, and the reason for that is that TJ’s personality absolutely shone through the pages. Once I started this book, I couldn’t put it down. If you’re looking for an exploration of beauty standards, desi culture, and what it’s like to face your insecurities once and for all, I highly recommend this book!

If you liked Netflix's "Never Have I Ever" you'll love TJ Powar! This coming-of-age young adult romance is full of friendship and tension, apathy and anger, and authentic voices portraying real issues teens face today. Just from the blurb I knew that the basic plot was going to be amazing. For Jasmeen Kaur Deo to wrap it all up perfectly in several realistic, modern scenarios and genuine dialogue... it was a fun read.

I loved everything about this! Body positivity representation is great for teenagers! I'll definitely be buying a copy for my Little Free Library.

I wasn't too sure about this book at the beginning but it ended up being SO good! TJ was such a loveable and relatable MC. It was really nice to see a MC who was so passionate about academics and debate. Awesome representation, some of my favorite tropes, and great relationship building. I appreciated the attention to not only the main academic rivals to lovers relationship, but also the development of her friendships. Everything they go through is so raw and real. Overall, I think this was a very important story and perspective and I think a lot of young women will read this and relate. 1 star off because I wish it was written in first person and was a little annoyed by TJ at the beginning but you quickly learn to love her.

I’m moderating a panel with Jesmeen for the BookTalk convention. I’m really excited especially since this book was so good- it’s perfect for fans of Never Have I Ever!!

TJ Powar is quite a relatable character, although she is not as likable at first. Her second-guessing herself is realistic as she questions her resolve yet sticks to it steadfastly. Her journey to self-discovery. How it impacts her relationships – with her boyfriend, her closest friends, her cousin, and her mother. It is not as much about supporting her cousin’s choice but proving that she herself is much more than her appearance.

Set against a debating tournament, the debut novel is a light read with an important message. The rivals-to-lovers romance is a bit predictable but not cheesy. The book is well-paced. The banter is enjoyable and the debates make for an interesting read.

The book is much more than a rom-com. It is about beauty standards and social prejudices. About the pressure on teen girls to fit into the specific boxes. About bullying faced by those who don’t adhere to the “rules”. About self-worth that isn’t (and shouldn’t) be measured by outward appearance.

All in all, I enjoyed reading the book and would recommend it to all the teens out there struggling with body image. And to the grown-ups too.