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Such Big Dreams

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I really enjoyed this book. I realized how few books I have read that take place in India. I happened to finish this book at the same time as a book called Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. Such Big Dreams is fiction, the other isn't. But so many themes and experiences overlapped that it felt like Such Big Dreams could have been a work on nonfiction. I would bet many people have experienced different events from the book in their real lives.

I enjoyed the author's writing style and the main character Rakhi. It was easy to feel sympathy for her and understand the reason to the choices that she made in the book. Without giving details, I liked how the book wrapped up and felt satisfied with the story. I would be interested in reading more from this author.

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Thank you netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

This was a quick and absorbing read. For someone who has not been to India, the descriptions of the streets, the food, the smells, the train station, etc were fascinating. The story of the main character, who goes by Rakhi through most of the book, pulled me in and had me rooting for her. Other characters revolved around her and were exposed as the selfish beings they were.

This is a story of one person's reckoning with her own life.

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I was pleasantly surprised by Such Big Dreams. I hadn't heard much buzz about it and almost didn't grab it from my Netgalley shelf, but the first couple of pages drew me in right away so I decided to stick with it. I'm glad I did, because I LOVED Rakhi and enjoyed every minute I got to spend with her inside her brain and her story. I don't know anything about living in a slum in India, or about children forced to live in the streets in India, or about NGOs' effects on every day people in India, or so many other things the book covers, but I feel like Patel gave me such a compelling look into this part of the world. The book was that slice of life type read that I'm always interested in - getting to know a tiny piece of a different part of the world - and it was so enjoyable to read. Of course the book deals with some really heavy, difficult themes - extreme poverty, death, abuse, and more - but it never felt TOO bogged-down in the hard stuff, mostly because of Rakhi's incredible personality and sunny demeanor. Even when she didn't seem to be thinking positively, there was a thread of perseverance running through everything she said, did, and even thought - she was always fighting for herself, and even when she was the most discouraged, something told her she was worth fighting for. This book is one that will stick with me for quite some time.

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What a powerful great novel that portrays Bombay/Mumbai so well. The characters are very well developed. It was not my "typical" read, but it kept me engaged thoroughly. Rakhi lived on the streets since age 9, and tells her tale unabashedly. I found myself getting emotional at times. Very powerful debut!
Thankful for this ARC !

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Such Big Dreams
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Literary Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 5/10/22
Author: Reema Patel
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 336
Goodreads Rating: 4.00

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: 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. 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. 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.

My Thoughts: The narrator was Rakhi, told in her perspective in a dual timeline of the past and present, which I loved. The author sets in India and the author provides such descriptive insight to India, that you feel like you are there with Rakhi on her journey. The characters are well developed and showed depth, complexity, creativeness, and worked well for this story. The only drawback for me was the use of Hindi words with no point of reference, I think if the meanings were in the author’s note with the other references, it would have made a more powerful impact debut novel. The author’s writing was authentic and creative. Overall, I enjoyed this story and would read other novels by this author.

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I don’t really have much to say about this one sadly. The story was good but the way it was written didn’t engage me into it as much as I felt like it should have..

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

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This was such a good read for a debut novel. I enjoyed following the journey of Rhaki and to see her develop throughout the novel. Despite everything she had to endure she still had the strength to push forward without loosing herself in the process. You will learn so much about India in this book and enjoyed learning more about it's culture. I will definitely be looking out for the next book from this author. I highly recommend this book.

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Haunted by her best friend's death eleven years ago, Rakhi ekes out a living in the Mumbai slum working for the human rights law organization Justice For All. Fading Bollywood starlet Rubina Mansoor becomes the organization's ambassador in a bid to remain in the limelight and demands an internship for Alex, a family friend from Toronto that is Harvard bound. He asks Rakhi to show him the "real" India, which seems harmless enough until it doesn't.

We meet Rakhi in the slums and see what it's like to live in Mumbai without a famous name or much more than a secretary's income. It's crowded, potentially dangerous at every turn, and she's not too far from her past as a pickpocket and beggar on the streets. Alex, part Indian, has no idea what life is like, and his wealthy family protects him from the people with Rakhi's background. He wants to help others with the naiveté of a graduate student who hasn't seen injustice for himself. He pushes her to apply for college and want more, essentially believing that a secretary isn't good enough and that she should want bigger and better dreams than the life she's currently living.

Rakhi's different selves are held separate from each other, and it does remind me of growing up in New York City. People who have different groups of friends or associates tend to code switch, which she does effortlessly. Of course, Alex has no idea about this, because he grew up in a different city and economic class, and his aunties keep him in the affluent areas of this city. He doesn't see or know about lower classes and understand their struggles. Seeing it doesn't mean he understands, either, and hearing Rakhi's story (which we see bits and pieces of with each chapter) doesn't mean he truly knows what the experience actually was like. When it all comes to a head, I didn't expect the level of devastation. At the same time, I'm almost not surprised, either. All along, Rakhi was telling Alex about the level of corruption and how much the poor lose when the rich get their way. All along, we see her boss fight for justice and not get it. Rakhi's future is best when it's one she decides for herself, not what others decide for her. I was pleased to see what her own dream looked like and that she settled into herself at the end.

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Such Big Dreams by Reema Patel was a great debut novel. I really enjoyed Rhaki's character. I admit, I cried and cringed a few times too! Rhaki had a super tough and gritty upbringing and she dreams of a better life. She eventually lands a decent job and it able to make it on her own. This was a very enjoyable book and I am so glad I was able to read it.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballentine Books for the e-book of Such Big Dreams.

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Such Big Dreams takes place in India where we learn about Rakhi's life being a street kid to working at justice for all. I loved learning about India and the culture. I can't imagine having to fight that hard just to survive.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this digital arc. All opinions are my own.

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This was a pretty good read for me, despite the fact that I didn't understand all the terms used in this story. Normally, that would bug me, and I would look for a glossary that would help me understand the words, but for the most part, it just added flavor to the story without taking me away from what was happening. The main character is Bansari/Rakhi, a girl on the streets of Mumbai/Bombay, who is placed in a home for orphan girls after she and her best friend on the streets are caught setting a fire. While you don't know the details until later in the book, you do know that she ended up with an office job in a place called Justice for All, a non-profit legal organization that helps fight for the rights of the poor.

Rakhi is not the most likable of characters, and yet, I felt drawn to her and invested in her journey. Along the way, you learn quite a bit about the area and the people, both the residents and the rich firanghi (foreigners). Alex is one of these firanghi who comes to do an internship with Justice for All and he says he wants to see the "real India" but Rakhi is not so sure. He makes a deal with her--if she shows him the "real India", he'll help her go to realize her dreams and go to college to have a "real job". As she shows him around and gets glimpses of his real life, and she sees some of the things that her boss at Justice for All does to help their organization, she starts to question what she knows, what she believes, and what her real dreams are. She also realizes that no matter what one's intentions might be, money can corrupt even the most well-intentioned people, and that ultimately, she needs to decide where her own lines are. The ending gave me a little hope for her and I also appreciated the author's note, which talked about the inspiration for this novel.

What would have really helped for me would be if the author had included a glossary of all the Hindi terms she used. Some of them I was able to look up, but I couldn't find the definition of others. That definitely would have helped and I hope that later editions include such a thing.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

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“You’re not born only once, on the day your mother gives birth to you. Life forces you to give birth to yourself over and over again”

Review: Such Big Dreams by Reema Patel
★★★★☆

Reema’s debut novel is a memorable and heartbreaking story about the resilience of a former street child working in a law office in Mumbai fighting to live her life on her own terms while showcasing all the cards at play when fighting for justice.

Rakhi is 23 but has experienced more hardships than most could ever bare.
She is constantly reminded how she is ‘an other’ due to her upbringing in the streets and now her living alone in the slums in Mumbai.

Reema’s storytelling allows you to feel the hardships the characters experience without getting to graphic and leaves you reflecting on the necessary dialogue around socio-political issues in India but in overall developing countries such as ‘do we find we find ways to shape public policy and law from inside government? Or do we come up with more entrepreneurial fixes?’

We meet an array of characters through Rakhi which all teach us a lesson in humanity which we learn doesn’t always mean a happy ending when people have to navigate creating the life they want when they feel unseen or unheard.

Prepare to feel transported directly to India with the vivid descriptions surrounding the culture, landscape, and language. I saw some critics about having to google a lot of Hindu terms since there isn’t a translation included but I didn’t have a problem with that at all. It felt authentic to how conversations are had which I appreciated.

The author’s inspiration for the book was based on true events that happened in India which I won’t reveal since it could be considered a spoiler but it was an interesting exploration at attempting to find out answers.

Overall, would recommend this page-turner that will have you reflecting on what is necessary when survival is on the line and what dreams and people accompany it.

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Such Big Dreams is an interesting portrayal of a woman who grew up on the Mumbai streets and her attempts to make a successful life of her own.

I learned a lot about Mumbai culture from this book and some of the negative impacts of outsiders who come in trying to help. It took me a while to get into it, but it was a quick read once I did. There were a lot of Indian words in it that I didn't understand. Some, I could try to suss out using context clues, but most went over my head. I loved the protagonist and was rooting for her throughout the whole book. Her story is well worth reading.

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I enjoyed this story. This is a new author for me which I look forward to seeing what is next for them. This is a well written story about the cost of ambition and the past and present colliding. This is a fast paced story that is enaging and was hard to put down. A story that pulled at your heart strings in parts and guessing what would happen next in others. I enjoyed how the characters are relateable and had great growth throughout the story. This is an entertaining story that you dont want to miss. The characters really bring the story to life and truly made the story for me. I highly recommend reading this book.

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Let me start by saying this was great. Thank you for publishing it! Maybe it's my own limited reading experience but I don't think I've ever read a book about someone who lives in a slum in India with a job like this one with such dimension to their character. I loved that there wasn't a huge stereotyping of Rakhi to make her an aspiring doctor or foreign exchange student; instead meeting her where she is. Her hurt and shame were palpable but so was her hope and perseverance!

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With its clear-eyed depiction of life in the "Behind the Beautiful Forevers" world of Mumbai, Such Big Dreams finds a place on my favorites shelf. Reema Patel herself a lawyer in Canada spent time in a nonprofit law office there, and her experiences there gave her the basis for how such an organization works in India. Each of the characters is so well drawn that it's possible to imagine they were drawn from life. At the center is Rakhi, who narrates her history with unsentimental clarity. Having lived on the streets since she was nine, she's nobody's fool, and faces up to each challenge, harboring her very human guilts and channeling them into strengths. A very strong debut.

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Such Big Dreams by Reena Patel is a story of modern-day India and it is crushingly realistic. It is about a young woman called Rahki, which is not her real name but rather one given her by the leader of her childhood gang of orphans. She ran from her uncle's house after her hit her, which to many people did not seem like a good enough reason. She lived on the streets with her gang until they were caught. Her friend, Babloo, who was more hardened and older, was sent to prison (for children) but she was redeemable and so was sent to a convent school for girls where she met one of the board of directors Gauri Verma, who came when Rahki was 18 and set her up with a job, English classes, a place to live (such as it was) and generally watched out for her. Guari Ma'am was a lawyer and ran a human rights law firm where other lawyers worked and generally had interns from across the world, wanted to do something good. This "idyllic" life did not last forever and eventually she pushed to hard and had to find her own way. She became a tour guide, which suited her, and made her enough money to take care of herself and the child she had taken when her friend had died.

It was a heart-breaking story and yet, one of resilience. I have heard lots of stories about India and what life is like there if you are not wealthy. It seemed to track with the picture Patel drew. If nothing else, it makes me grateful for my life, which is nothing more than an accident of birth. It was well-written and well-told and I recommend it as a step away from the ordinary.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Such Big Dreams by Ballantine Books, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #ballantine #reemapatel #suchbigdreams

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Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

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A young woman struggling to survive is offered an opportunity to start fresh. As she navigates what such an offer might mean, she deals with office politics and the utter ignorance many people have about her station in life. Debut author Reema Patel gives readers a story lush with details but slightly sluggish in plot in her book Such Big Dreams.

At the age of 23, Rakhi has absolutely no delusions about what she does for a living. Her lawyer boss, Gauri Verma—Gauri Ma’am to her—keeps calling her an office assistant, but Rakhi knows she’s just a gopher. Whether it’s clipping articles that quote Gauri Ma’am or making tea for everyone in the office, Rakhi does it all.

For the most part, Rakhi doesn’t mind. True, she lives in one of the slums in Bombay, but she has her own home and a decent salary. Gauri Ma’am gave her a cell phone and pays the bill; in fact, Gauri Ma’am is responsible for Rakhi being in Bombay and working at Justice for All, the charitable organization that campaigns for human rights. Rakhi knows the office does good work. She’s the poster child for it, an example of how Justice for All gives poor people a hand up and not a handout.

Still, Rakhi chafes under the rules Gauri Ma’am sets for her. Before coming to work for the lawyer, Rakhi arrived on a train in Bombay all alone at the age of seven and lived on the streets. She managed to survive for several years with a group of other kids until a terrible incident separated them and the government sent Rakhi to a group home. Gauri Ma’am rescued Rakhi from the home with promises of a stable job and a better life, and now her boss believes she can dictate what Rakhi does.

Rakhi tries to ignore the things she doesn’t like about Gauri Ma’am and focuses on the lawyers and interns in the office. When a new intern, Alex, arrives from Canada, all eyes are on him but he seems interested in Rakhi. Despite being half Indian himself, Alex knows nothing about his cultural roots and enlists Rakhi as his guide. In return, he says, he’ll help her figure out how to apply for college.

Alex’s internship coincides with the arrival of an aging Bollywood star looking to revive her career. She promises to get her real estate developer husband to invest in Justice for All, which has been struggling for funding. Gauri Ma’am is starstruck at first but realizes having a celebrity in the office could also mean trouble. If she’d asked Rakhi’s opinion, Rakhi could have told her but Gauri Ma’am doesn’t look to Rakhi for opinions. She looks to her for office supplies.

As the movie star begins to assert more of her influence, Rakhi finds herself more at odds with the whole situation. A surprise meeting with someone from her past throws Rakhi’s entire worldview off kilter. Now she doesn’t know if she should follow the path Gauri Ma’am set for her, the one Alex is encouraging, or something different altogether.

Author Reema Patel shares Mumbai in all of its glorious details; the book pays tribute to the city and hits several different corners of it. Readers will find themselves touring Mumbai as if they were really there. Patel makes the city one of the stars of her book, and the specificity in her descriptions will draw readers in right away.

Rakhi’s life, too, will fascinate those unfamiliar with slum dwellers and how this subset of society survives and supports itself. Patel shares in an author’s note that she lived in Mumbai for a short time, and her exposure to the people and the city shine in the book’s authenticity. For anyone who has never visited India, this book serves as a primer.

The novel doesn’t quite do Rakhi and her story justice, however. The scenes, at times, feel more like a series of journal entries rather than a cohesive narrative that has a defined beginning, middle, and end. Rakhi, too, can come off as slightly passive. While this may be directly related to her station in life and society’s dictates that she stay in her place, when she does assert herself it’s a refreshing change. Readers may wish she did more of it, if only to see how she emerges from the defined outline that Gauri has set for her.

Those readers who have never visited India would do well to read this book for a slice-of-life experience of the country. Readers who enjoy underdog stories will like this one.

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Transport yourself to a law office in Mumbai. Rhaki is the main character, a young woman, in her 20's who has grown up in the slums of Mumbai, a very street smart kid with big dreams of changing her life and others. The office is called Justice for All. An inspiring but yet sad, depressing look at the obstacles that must be crossed.. The book gave me a real taste of life in Mumbai.

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