Main character Rakhi ran away from abusive relatives after her parents died, and ended up living on the streets for years before being taken in by nuns. Then, she's hired by the head of an NGO dealing with legal problems of the poor in Mumbhai.

Rakhi watches as the head of the NGO struggles with the mountain of apathy and difficulties of dealing with the legal system, but at the same time the woman hectors and abuses Rakhi, constantly reminding the young woman that she had lived as a thief previously.

Then, a young Indian Canadian man joins the NGO at his actor aunt's behest, and takes Rakhi on as a rehab project. His aunt, meanwhile, inserts herself into the NGO, coopting its marketing and fundraising plans.

There is so much condescension occurring throughout this book, with everyone claiming to care about the poor's welfare, but really mired in their own biases and agendas, with the poor they are claiming to help getting lost in company infighting, one-upmanship and patronizing attitudes. Biting, ironic, and wonderfully satirical, Reema Patel brilliantly shatters the myths of people living in poverty, and the intentions of some of those purportedly working to alleviate poverty. I liked this book and particularly liked Rakhi, consummate survivor and vastly more intelligent than everyone around her imagines.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC in exchange for my review.

A moving debut story about a former street child living in modern day Mumbai. Rakhi was rescued from a girl's home by a human rights' lawyer and now works as her office assistant. When Alex, a new intern from Canada arrives he befriends Rakhi and encourages her that she could do more with her life if only she has the courage to dream. Inspired by true events, this story also looks at the housing crisis in India and the many slums. In this story Rakhi's neighborhood suffers from a fire and many people's homes burn down with not everyone surviving. Well written with memorable characters, this book reminded me a lot of Slumdog millionaire and is perfect for fans of Shilpi Somaya Gowda. Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance review copy.

I really enjoyed this debut novel from Reema Patel. She does a really great job building a view of the streets of Bombay and the slum that she lives in while also developing this deep and meaningful character of Rakhi. Perhaps the part I was most impressed with was her ability to make the stereotypical "good guys" into morally grey characters. No one is all good or all bad, we are all somewhere in between and a lot of the characters who were helping Rakhi through her life and her story were not in fact helping her in a way that was actually helpful. I really enjoyed this dynamic.

An unfortunate DNF for me. I pushed as far as I could but I’m more than 60% in and really cannot find anything to keep me going to the end. Just too slow of a pace. Characters are dull and not given depth. Story is drawn out and hidden. Just not for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley, publisher and author for this advance digital copy.

If you love stories about India, and an unflinching look at the role of Western influence in India, this read is for you!

Rakhi, a twenty-something former street child, is just trying to make her way - working diligently at Justice For All (a human rights law office), surviving the busy life of Bombay, trying to be a good friend and understanding what she wants from her life. Two major events form the narrative of this read, one of which involves the arrival of Alex, a Canadian intern who floats his way through his internship, enlisting Rakhi to help him get an "authentic Indian experience". I mention this storyline specifically because it impacted me the most (more below).

This book was the perfect length and the character development was the right depth (in my opinion!) There were a few different story lines, but I felt all of them pointed back to the influence of Western culture on the definition of happiness, wellness, success and lifestyle globally. Alex's storyline ended abruptly, I had to flip back and make sure I hadn't missed something - I felt this was intentional to strike a comment about how Canadians, Americans, so often go into foreign places with a savior complex, but ultimately can cause more damage than we intend.

I really enjoyed this one - Rakhi is a prickly character with so many redeeming qualities with a desire to question everything.

Rakhi's journey was insightful and powerful. Navigating the ebbs and flows of money and corruption co-mingling, dealing decisions on morals and ethics, defining a path for herself despite setbacks, was heartbreaking yet harmonious to follow along with. Really enjoyed getting to know this character.