Such Big Dreams by Reema Patel is the fascinating story of Rakhi, a young woman living on her own in Bombay. As a seven year old run away Rakhi joins a group of discarded children living on the streets and survives alongside them for many years. A terrible crime leads Rakhi to a girls rehabilitation home where she lives for about five years and is discovered by a woman that is looking for a girl to "make over". This woman, a successful lawyer, hires Rakhi as her assistant at her justice fighting law firm and helps her live a responsible life. It is Rakhi's character and the conflicts she faces that make Such Big Dreams so thought provoking. Rakhi lives in a slum, but works in an important office. She is well paid, but is treated poorly by her boss. Rakhi agrees to be a pseudo tour guide for a Canadian intern in her office and she is taken in by the kindness he shows her. Can Rakhi trust this man who advises her to follow her dreams?
Rakhi is an unforgettable character and Such Big Dreams provides important lessons for us all.
Thank you to Ballantine Books for the ARC of this novel.

I have never read a book that was written from the point of view of a "street person" in India. I think it's an interesting perspective to view the society in India, and ith3lps to understand their class system in a way. I also find it interesting that the author actually wrote the story based on her experiences in Mumbai, and the things she witnessed.
This book follows a young lady, Rakhi, who is a "street person" turned law office worker. She is basically the girl at the office who does everything, yet rarely gets credit for anything, and is treated as less then by pretty much everyone. She begins to befriend a Canadian intern, who tells her she should figure out what she wants for her future, and make moves toward what she wants.
Rakhi, who is so used to being put down and treated as if she will amount to nothing else besides an office helper, at first pushes back on the idea of becoming more until she realizes that she is better than everyone treats her.
It takes multiple disappointments, including loosing a friend in death and loosing some people she thought were true friends, for her to realize she needs to do something with herself and she needs to get there by herself. She develops confidence to move forward on her own, and she is destined for great things.
This book made me think a lot about class division in our society, as well as in others like India. It's horrible how we treat others, and we need to do better!

I really wanted to like this book much more than I did and I think the only thing holding me back was our protagonist, Rakhi. She is a very unlikeable protagonist and I just couldn't connect with her regardless of how much I wanted to root for her. The book paints a vivid image of India and the vast difference between the have and have nots, which I enjoyed. But, Rakhi was so petulant and judgy that I simply couldn't get behind her. The other small issue I had was the use of all the Hindu words without including something for me to refer to for translations. While I was able to get through the story, it would have been nice to learn the words instead of just guessing. It was nice that Alex wasn't the western hero coming in to save the girl and the portrayal of the westerner coming in and not realising they're making things worse was something I found pretty realistic.

I have, in the past, loved books on India - I love learning about the country and its amazing people and the cultural that surrounds everything and everybody there. This book seemed like it was just going to add to my knowledge of the country in an area that I haven't read much about [the slums of Mumbai]. Unfortunately, that was not what happened.

I wanted to like this book so much, but that was not meant to be. What should have been a book about a girl who rises from the homelessness and street-life to live a "normal" life [all while still living in one of the cities biggest slums and barely making it] turns out to be an extremely slow-moving read filled with dislikable characters [even the main character is unlikeable until the end, and even then, I found her to be puzzling and uninteresting] that you either have no interest in because they are just so horrible or just roll your eyes at, very little discussion about the slum life that two of the characters struggle with [I was hoping that it was going to be more about the MC's time there, trying to make a living, but alas, no] and a LOT of Hindi. Now, that is great if one actually SPEAKS Hindi, but I [and many others I assume] do not. No english translations either [I know how that sounds, but if a book is going to published to the masses, even a simple index of basic Hindi words would be helpful. I looked for a translator and could not find one that was able to translate what I was reading] so one has to muddle along and just try to figure out what they may or may not be saying. It became very frustrating. Add in that it was about 50 pages too long and it has a very unsatisfactory ending, this was just not the read for me. I was hoping for so much more and was just disappointed all the way around.

Thank you to NetGalley, Reema Patel, and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine Books for inviting me to read and providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a stunning debut novel telling the story of an orphaned young girl who overcomes seemingly endless adversity to have a better life. On the way, she comes to learn the hypocrisy of the very people who claim to be helping. This work of fiction felt very real. Thank you to Ballantine and PRH for the copy via NetGalley.

Thank you @randomhouse @netgalley for my review copy!

📖Rakhi is a young woman, living in a Mumbai slum and working as an office assistant for a human rights organization. As a child, she lived on the streets until an incident separated her and her best friend. When her past and present collide, Rakhi must decide what her future will look like.

💭This was a very interesting read set in India. It touched on topics such as classism and social injustice. I definitely felt transported when reading which was one of the things I liked best about this book. I was rooting for Rakhi and I couldn’t help but be invested in her story.

📚Read this if you enjoy books with political/social injustice themes, if you want to be transported to another place, or if you enjoy books with characters you want to root for.

Such Big Dreams is the story of Rakhi, a 23 year old haunted by an incident that killed her best friend 11 years ago., who is figuring out who she is and how to find her way. Rhaki was so lovable and the book overall was really enjoyable - it was so rich with Indian culture and gave the reader a perspective on a different kind of life. The book tackles life in the Bombay slums, NGOs and internships, and what dreaming of a great life can really mean.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC - Such Big Dreams is out now. Everyone should pick this one up!

I had a really hard time getting in to this book. Unfortunately, after about 100 pages, I just couldn't finish it. I thought the writing was good albeit a little haphazard, but ultimately I had a hard time connecting with the story.

Such Big Dreams by Reema Patel follows the story of Rakhi, alternating between her life as a child homeless in the streets of Bombay to her current life working in a law office. The story drew you in and was difficult to put down.

Author: Reema Patel
Available now

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Rakhi is a young woman working as an assistant in a Mumbai office that fights for housing rights in India. She lives in a nearby slum. The high powered woman who runs Justice For All saved her from an orphanage and gave her this job. The story bounces between now and back when Rakhi grew up on the streets with her fellow orphan friend, Babaloo.

This book will have the reader feeling all sorts of emotions from beginning to end. You will love some characters and hate others. You will love some at one point and hate them the next. I think these rich characters would lend itself perfectly to a book club discussion. The book also delves into Indian culture, class and housing.

One thing I think this book could’ve benefitted from was a glossary of all the Indian terms. Patel uses some frequently and I did get the gist of what they meant just by their usage, but I would’ve been interested in an actual definition. I know other books that have done this and it works well.

Read this insightful novel of current India from the perspective of an Bansari child [7 yr old] then as a yound adult {Rakhi]. Her name is changed to Rakhi by Babloo an 8 yr old who finds her at the train station in Bombay. She joins in with his three friends which forms a family. They all live 'on the street'.
When Babloo and Rakhi are 13 & 12 yrs old, they are caught and sent to separate places. Rahki tries to escape to find Babloo but is unsuccessful. She is discovered at the the girls retention home by Gauri Ma'am who said to Rakhi to do her lessons, learn English. Then she will give her a job with Justice for All.
Rahki does and at 18 joins this firm as an 'office body' -- running errands, making tea, and so forth. One day a new intern from Canada arrives. Rakhi is his informal guide as he is wanting to learn all that he is able in the two months he is with the firm.
Adventure abounds for Rakhi in these months which change the course of her life. Read and learn.

4.5, rounded up. This book went more slowly for me because I wanted to savor all the cutting remarks from Rakhi. It's an impressive satire of India's corruption and how the country is viewed so differently by foreigners, non-resident Indians, and even those with different levels of wealth within India. Rakhi's experience of living on the streets and being poor in India is glamorized in a problematic way, even more so than those who brush off her concerns. It's this insidiousness that permeates the novel and makes it a particularly engaging read.

Strength in the face of overwhelming odds. Mumbai today!

This is a BIG gutsy story. The real world behind slum Dog Millionaire is whatI kept thinking. We follow aspects of the life of a street kid in Mumbai, from the moments she arrives there as a child of seven, until she finds her voice.
Colorful, honest, and often confusing, Rakhi’s (Bansari) story moves from simple humor in the small things, to outrage and compliance when forced, but never to acceptance. Rakhi never loses sight of who she is despite the many things that happen.
I was absolutely engaged with her story, her friends, her living accommodations, the Farangis she comes into contact with and their ridiculous double standards (the reality of India seen through a hazy screen of misunderstanding and arrogance).
Little by little Rakhi’s life is explained. We first meet her undergoing treatment as part of her rescue by Gautier Verma (Gauri Ma’am) head of the NGO Justice for All. An organisation dedicated to helping those from the slums. For those coming from these lower echelons of society that assistance can be a huge step up on the ladder towards self determination, but Rakhi finds this life has its own set of burdens, it’s own double standards.
Patel loosely based this book on real life happenings in the “Behrampada slum, over seven acres in the middle of Mumbai.”
A strong story with an engaging heroine, easy to relate to. I cheered for Rakhi. I grieved for her.
She is so much more than a fictional character. Rakhi a real person facing real challenges, the enormity of which, we as privileged persons find hard to comprehend, and yet through Patel’s words we are given insights.

A Random House - Ballantine ARC via NetGalley
Please note: Quotes taken from an advanced reading copy maybe subject to change

living in the world of her parents while trying to develop into who she is meant to be. So many people trying to break out of the old ways. A great way to build success.

This was a powerful novel and I'm really glad I got the chance to read it. It definitely tackles some tough and relatable topics but sometimes books just stick with you and this was one of those for me. I think a lot of people would really enjoy reading this book and should do themselves a favor and pick up a copy. Thank you so much for letting me read and review this book - I look forward to reading the author's next one!

India is such a diverse country and while growing up in India, I have only seen from the outskirts the struggle, poverty and hardships of the kids living on streets.

Rakhi is one such girl who post her parents death is left to grow up in the streets to avoid her cruel uncle. She faces so many challenges, difficulties but the courage and perseverance to survive the harsh reality and come through it is wonderful,y captured by the author Reema Patel!

This was a quick read for me and I enjoyed this heart warming and heart wrenching story of our main hero Rakhi!

Thank you Penguin Random-house and NetGalley for the gifted galley which is available for purchase since May 10!

A beautiful and heart wrenching debut novel about Rakhi, a girl who grew up in the slums of Bombay alone after her parents died. She became an office assistant at a civil rights nonprofit, Justice for All, when an intern, Alex joins the company one summer and latches onto Rakhi.

I do not know much about the slums of India or much about India in general so this was very eye-opening. This seemed to be a very realistic portrait of life there and I was so shocked that the author based one of the major plot lines on something she actually observed happened. I really liked how the author wrote the character of Rakhi; she was flawed but you are rooting for her the entire time. There were so many heartbreaking things that happened in this book and it really showcased the resilience of humans. I was hooked from the first page but it was a slow-burn (although very enjoyable) until the last 10% when a lot happened. And then it wrapped up almost a little too neatly.

This book was a great look at culture and social issues and it will stay with me for a while. An excellent debut and I look forward to what the author writes next.

Reema Patel, a Canadian attorney with human rights experience in Mumbai, has written a page-turner of a sociological novel set in a Mumbai human rights NGO. A former street kid, central character Rakhi has been working at Justice for All the past five years. Her boss and Justice for All director, known as “Gauri Ma’am,” found her a home in a Mumbai slum, gave her a job, and is attempting to help her recover from childhood trauma that still causes nightmares and behavior issues.

An office assistant, Rakhi seems largely tasked with making tea and taking care of the foreign interns. Her low salary offers no chance of getting out of the slum. Similarly, a cut in Justice for All’s funding forces the closing of auxiliary offices in other cities and threatens the organization’s very survival.

A new Canadian intern named Alex Lalwani-Diamond has arrived at an abnormal time--two months after the other two interns. While Saski and Merel, Dutch graduate students, are more interested in entertaining themselves outside the office, wealthy Alex quickly takes an interest in Rakhi and her slum life. After Rubina Mansoor, a former Bollywood star, shows up at Justice for all, readers eventually learn the story behind Alex’s rather mysterious appearance.

Rakhi’s story shifts back and forth between the present and the past, as Patel fills in her background, which makes a friendship with Alex dangerous. Readers come to know Rakhi’s friend Tazim, a neighbor in the Behrampada slum, who works as a maid. They also come to understand Rakhi’s troubled life and her traumatic separation from Babloo, the street boy who had helped her when she first arrived in Mumbai.

Almost a character in itself, the Behrampada slum is a crowded “island city” within crowded Mumbai, hut after hut “with too many people with too-big dreams.” Now a sign has gone up about a luxury hotel to be built in the area.

Will Rakhi be able to fulfill her dreams? Will Justice for All find the desperately needed funding? What will become of future Harvard graduate student Alex’s interest in Rakhi? What will become of Rubina Mansoor’s interest in Justice for All? Don’t expect easy answers and happily ever after. This is not a Rom-Com.
Reema Patel knows Mumbai where poverty and dreams collide with power and greed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine/Random House for an advance reader copy of Reema Patel’s highly recommended debut novel.

Review posted on BN.

Such Big Dreams is not a book I normally read. Reema Patel does a great job showing how a lot of people in India struggle to survive. Rakhi lives in the Mumbai slums after living on the streets for years. She is smart but doesn't have confidence in herself that she is smart. The story tells the life of Rakhi how she became to be on the streets, how she was given a chance to make a living and how she tries to better herself. It's about determination, friendship, dreams, struggles and what the people in Mumbai go through who live in the slums. It's a wonderful story and everyone should read.

Such Big Dreams was a little slow for me. Perhaps because I didn’t really love any characters? Rhaki came off as a shell of a person. Street kids in India have a terrible life and getting off the streets to only live in a shack isn’t much better. I would have preferred learning more about her life and less about the office politics.