Member Reviews
As a first-time writer Remma Patel has written an interesting story set in the heart of Mumbai. We are giving an inside view of life on the streets from Rakihi, a young girl who runs away from home after the death of both her parents. She ends up living with a small gang and is forced to navigate life on the streets until there is a life-changing accident.
Her life takes an unexpected turn when she has an encounter with a famous human rights lawyer. In a sense, she is given a second chance at life and is given a job, responsibility, and working with the lawyers' organization that is dedicated to helping the underserved in India. Without giving the plot completely away, the story develops very slowly, and in a fairly predictable way. It drags at points, and only when we are close to the end does it pick up speed and the conclusion is not revelatory. There was a lot of potential here, and I think the story needed more help to get the reader through.
**received a copy for review.**
This book had a lot of potential. The author has a beautiful way with words but the story got mired in language and the dynamic character from the beginning lost her spark.
High praise for Reema Patel’s debut novel, Such Big Dreams. Patel is a gifted storyteller, bringing to life the streets of India and what it must be like to claw your way out of poverty, crime and unimaginable circumstances. The fact that the main character, Rakhi, still allows herself to dream after facing such challenges is a testament to humanity, proving that we are all the same, no matter where we live, no matter our trials and tribulations... we all just want the very best life we can possibly have and people in our corner to share our lives with.
This book was so beautifully written and the characters stay with you long after you finish it. My first book to read by this amazing author but cannot wait to read more! Highly recommend!
Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Rakhi has not had the easiest of childhoods. She currently works at a human rights organization. The organization is making many changes that Rakhi is unsure about. It will take all her strength to determine who she can trust. This was an emotional read.
Such Big Dreams was a real departure for me. I had not read a book about growing up in India. This is a beautiful story about a girl who grows up on the streets due to circumstances she could not control. She is plucked from an orphanage by a woman who runs a not-for-profit law firm and sees the potential in this young woman. A job is not the answer to all of her problems as she grapples with her past and the self-imposed and socially structured limitations of her future. It is a well told story, and a close look at growing up in the social system of India.
High 4 stars for this gritty and moving novel about a former street urchin in Mumbai, India. Rakhi is an office assistant at a human rights law office, the main premise of the novel is focused on her work with an office intern from Canada who encourages her to start thinking about her future, and the mess that ensues and her past and her present converge.
Over the course of the novel, Rakhi's past is revealed in flashback chapters, showing her to be an incredibly impressive character. Strong and smart and consistently underestimated by those around her. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Rakhi and seeing her grow in her confidence by the end of the novel.
As I mentioned before the climax of the novel is the predicament Rakhi finds herself in when her past and present choices meet. This ending could have gone in multiple directions, and I must say I was very pleased with the path Rakhi made for herself.
This novel is for readers who enjoy being immersed in a new place and a way of life they wouldn't normally glimpse. I highly recommend checking it out.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the electronic ARC copy of this novel for review.
I loved this poignant story of a savvy young Indian woman who lived on the streets in Mumbai since orphaned at seven. When sent to a girls home at twelve, she meets an attorney, fighting for the rights of India's poor who hires her as a servant in her office where she is paid a wage barely enough to enable her to eat and live independently in one of the slums in Mombai.
As she matures, she comes to understand that the class divides and corruption in Indian society are almost impossible to overcome and that she can trust no one but herself to look out for her interests.
First, thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this pre-release bin. I enjoyed the story. The Indian culture was different but interesting. The poverty was so awful, yet the people that lived that way seemed okay with it, in their own way. Good character development.
This novel started out very interesting, promising. Rakhi lost her parents at a young age and was forced to tend for herself on the streets of India. She makes friends with other street children and manages for years until after an incident she is sent to a girl’s home and school. When she gets out, she starts working for Justice for All, a human rights organization. He boss takes her under her wings, gives her a lowly job as an office aid, getting food for the staff, making copies, etc. She makes friends with one of the Western interns, Alex. Alex wants to see the real India and promises Rakhi to help her get into college in exchange of her showing him around. I felt, the story started falling apart half way, and got somewhat boring. It was next to impossible to look up all the Hindu expressions, foods, etc. This significantly took away from the enjoyment of this novel. At the minimum, there should have been a glossary at the end.I can only give three stars for this novel
Thanks NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the advanced copy.
Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for this advanced reading copy!
Such Big Dreams follows the life of Rakhi, a women that was a street child with a traumatic past that now works at a law office in Mumbai as an office assistant.
Overall, I enjoyed this! At first I had a really hard time getting into this story. There is A LOT of slang and language used that I did not understand. I googled + used context clues and eventually found myself getting the gist. I did learn a lot about Indian culture which was amazing!
Rahki’s character is very honest and deep. I really liked her and found myself rooting for her from the start! The point of view her character offers is very eye opening and I kept on reading to see how things ended up for her. I was really surprised at about 90% at the direction the story went.
I also have a new outlook on celebrities and their “dedication” to causes. Very interesting POV. This book has a lot of insightful points that Rahki offers, and it really made me stop a few times and think.
Patel does an excellent job developing the scenes to help you visualize what is going on. I felt like I could really picture India based on her writing, especially when she was describing the food + the train.
It is another book that can be on the heavy side, I would recommend looking up some content warnings!
Fantastically descriptive, honest, and gritty, but with a lot of heart - I really enjoyed this debut novel. At times, I wished the main character Rakhi had been less naive, but I understand it was necessary to give her character room to grow. I also felt the moral / takeaways of the story felt a bit heavy-handed or too obviously stated at times, but overall, this is a skillfully written debut that really transported me into Rakhi's world beautifully.
Such Big Dreams is the story of Rakhi, on orphan in Mumbai who went from street child to office assistant thanks to a series of events precipitated by her friend, a fellow street child. At her office job, she meets Alex, a Canadian intern who helps her see what she is capable of and encourages her to dream bigger. I was expecting a depressing, Slumdog Millionaire type book, but instead the book focused on Rakhi's spirit, grit, humor, and intelligence. Although Rakhi's life in the slums is not easy, she makes a way for herself in the world and doesn't feel sorry for herself. I enjoyed learning about Indian culture, customs and foods throughout the story and could almost smell and see the city of Mumbai thanks to the author's vivid descriptions. Despite some poor choices on her part, I was rooting for Rakhi the whole time and enjoyed seeing her develop throughout the book. Overall, it was a well-written and inspiring book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advanced copy of this book.
*3.5
Beautifully written, I enjoyed the lush and vivid descriptions that truly made me feel like I was elsewhere. It took quite a bit to hook me, nevertheless, I still appreciated the uplifting themes of perseverance and resilience. A solid debut.
Full review to come and rating may change!
Loved this beautifully written book. I felt like I was literally walking down the streets of India with the wonderfully depicted scenes and descriptions.
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
Hi All,
It is a Book Date Monday! I am so excited to share that I received early access to this one.
Author: Reema Patel
Summary:
A savvy former street child working at a law office in Mumbai fights for redemption and a chance to live life on her own terms in this fresh, propulsive debut novel about fortune and survival.
Rakhi is a twenty-three-year-old haunted by the grisly aftermath of an incident that led to the loss of her best friend eleven years ago. Constantly reminded she doesn’t belong, Rakhi lives alone in a Mumbai slum, working as a lowly office assistant at Justice For All, a struggling human-rights law organization headed by the renowned lawyer who gave her a fresh start.
Fiercely intelligent and in possession of a sharp wit and an even sharper tongue, Rakhi is nobody’s fool, even if she is underestimated by everyone around her. Rakhi’s life isn’t much, but she’s managing. That is, until Rubina Mansoor, a fading former Bollywood starlet, tries to edge her way back into the spotlight by becoming a celebrity ambassador for Justice For All. Steering the organization into uncharted territories, she demands an internship for Alex, a young family friend from Canada and Harvard-bound graduate student. Ambitious, persistent, and naïve, Alex persuades Rakhi to show him “the real” India. In exchange, he’ll do something to further Rakhi’s dreams in a transaction that seems harmless, at first.
As old guilt and new aspirations collide, everything Rakhi once knew to be true is set ablaze. And as the stakes mount, she will come face-to-face with the difficult choices and moral compromises that people make in order to survive, no matter the cost. Reema Patel’s transportive debut novel offers a moving, smart, and arrestingly clever look at the cost of ambition and power in reclaiming one’s story.
Personal Review:
I enjoyed this one! If you want a book that will keep you reading, then this is the book for you. I appreciated that there was much consideration for all aspects of the life and outcomes. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review. Thank you!
After her parents died, young Bansari lived with her aunt and uncle. Her uncle became angry one day, and fearing a beating, she ran away. At the age of 7 Bansari is living on the streets of Mumbai. She changes her name to Rakhi and joins with others her age as they look out after each other. They beg for food and money from the foreigners and struggle to live. At the age of 12, a prank goes wrong and she and a friend severely injure a street vendor. They are captured and sent to juvenile detention. After finishing high school, Rakhi gets a job at Justice For All as an office helper. She lives in the slum. With such a hard life, can she survive?
Reema Patel has written a story about the difficulties of street life in India and the resilience of one girl. Rakhi has endured so much more more than the average girl living in Mumbai. With no true guidance, she is fortunate to have a job and a hut. As she watches the lives of others, she wants more in life. At the encouragement of one of the legal interns, she begins to dream of a bright future. That dream is snatched away and those she thought she could trust fail her. Will the latest setback bring her down? No, this is a story of resilience, perseverance, and reinvention and that’s exactly what Rakhi does.
This uplifting book will raise the spirits of any general fiction or women’s fiction fan.
Quickly grabs you and takes you to India, but I struggled to keep my attention on it. I had a hard time wanting to hang out in the book and will have to come back to it when I don’t have other books vying for my attention.
Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!
Life in India as a poor woman would not be a life that I ever wanted to live. Rakhi survived the streets but is still not free to live the life she wants to live. She is working as an assistant at Justice For All, a human rights Organization, but she owes everything to her boss, One day a new assistant from Canada joins the office and Rakhi begins to see the possibilities of a new life ahead of her. However life in India is far from simple.
I really enjoyed this novel. I feel like I learned so much about India and the culture. I also was drawn to Rakhi and her struggles. The book alternated from present day to what her life was like as a child. The writing was engaging and was vivid enough to transport me to India. A great debut book by this author and I will definitely read more of her books in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine/Random House Books and Morgan Hoit for this advance copy.