Lies and Other Love Languages by Sonali Dev
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

#FirstLine ~ Ever since her daughter was born twenty-seven years ago, Vandy Guru’s greatest fear had been losing her.

Lies and Other Love Languages is a touching and thought-provoking novel that reminds us of the importance of truth, forgiveness, and the transformative power of love. Sonali Dev's storytelling prowess shines brightly in this captivating tale, making it a must-read for fans of contemporary romance and heartfelt family dramas.

I've loved Sonali Dev's previous books, and this one did not disappoint. It started a bit slow, because there was a lot of character building to do. But once we knew Mallika and her mother, Vanda, and Vandy's best friend, Rani, the story took off. A beautiful portrait of motherhood, love and friendship.

As always, Dev addresses complicated family issues with humor, wit, and lots and lots of love. In this case, she dives into the very painful topic of reproductive challenges with exceptional compassion. As much as this is a story of a mother and daughter, this is also a story of best friends. What could make a pair of women as close as sisters become estranged? What can make a daughter cut off all communication with her tightly attached mother? The answers are heart-wrenching in a number of ways, but Dev's characteristic positivity brings us to a healthy, happy resolution.

There were some incredible parts of this book, but it was definitely a tougher emotional read than I expected or was honestly in the mood for. The characters and their relationships were great, their experiences together and apart were (written in different perspectives and timelines) was done flawlessly. I was never confused and always aware of what was going on. That being said, the topics of miscarriage, death and grievance, lies and friendship.

When Vandy’s adult daughter disappears at the same time her estranged best friend Rani appears, she is forced to face long hidden secrets. Together these 3 women travel around and are forced to confront one another and their shared past.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced reader copy.

What an amazing story of three different women. The story is told of different timelines and with different POVs. Excellent character development. So well written. I loved the story.

4.5 stars

Vandy, a successful advice columnist, outwardly puts on a show of poise and strength while inwardly grieving the recent loss of her husband. When her beloved daughter Mallika suddenly disappears without warning, Vandy is desperate to find answers. The more Vandy searches the more she is forced to confront the ghosts of her past, including her estranged best friend Rani. Lies and Other Love Languages is a story that unfolds in a series of flashbacks from 3 POVS. Vandy, Rani, and Mallika are 3 women bound by a secret that has been well guarded for many decades.

From the blurb and the first few chapters of the book you can already predict how the story will go. Yet getting to the ending, or should I say beginning, is an incredibly emotional and fraught journey. While I may not agree with all the choices made by the characters, I can understand the motivation behind them. Vandy is single minded in her goal to becoming a mother while Rani is determined to protect the family she has made at all costs.

Sonali Dev does such a wonderful job with multigenerational stories. What I love most about Dev's work is that she captures the longings, desires, and needs of women through all ages. Too often we relegate women of middle age to very austere matronly roles, devoid of any past life or youthful whimsy. This has been especially true in the South Asian community. We box them in to these roles that prevent them from being anything other than “pure and perfect.” Dev forces us to strip the women in our lives of the labels society has placed on them and to see them for who they truly are: beautifully flawed humans who are still works in progress.

Throughout the book Dev compares different mother-daughter relationships and the cycles we inadvertently create. One of the lines that resonated with me the most is:

“How did mothers go from being rocks you relied on to being the rocks you had to climb over to make your own way?”

But above all this is a story of friendship and the sacrifices we make and the lies we bear for the ones we love. The relationship between Vandy and Rani is the thread that weaves through the entire book. “A friend that loves you like this is rare. No gift is larger than that.”

My only critique is that the ending felt rushed and a few of the resolutions and conversations I was hoping to see happens off page in the last chapter. I know there will be criticism of Mallika and the privilege she holds. In fact the entire Mehta clan is immensely privileged and I am sure there is nepotism at play. But to me, Mallika represents the luxury of time and money that is afforded to children of successful and well connected first gen parents. And while I believe both she and Vandy need a little more self awareness of that power and privilege, it is something that is very prevalent in our communities. It would have been nice to get a little more insight into Vir’s background and how he landed in California but ultimately this is not his story.

Fans of Dev's The Vibrant Years may find Lies and Other Love Languages a bit jarring as this book deals with heavier topics that may not be comfortable for everyone.

TW: infertility, miscarriage, trauma, SA

Thank you to Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

This story jumps between time periods and the different POV of three different Indian American women--Vandy, her daughter Mallika, and childhood best friend Rani. Though I had a good idea of where the story was going from the start, it was still a good story exploring friendship, motherhood, and the truth of where you come from. The story stretched from LA to Mumbai as Mallika searches to find the truth of who she really is. This book was good enough to keep me interested but I disliked the characters, especially Mallika with her negative attitude.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What is the ultimate price you would be willing to pay in order to get the one thing you want more than anything?

Bestselling advice columnist Vandy Guru has a career built on teaching others how to live honestly and courageously. She is famous for her Agony Auntie column as well as the self-help books that she writes,. This past year, she has been living in a fog of grief over the loss of her husband,

Aspiring choreographer Mallika Guru is tired of failure. When another audition ends in rejection, she signs up for a genetic study to find out why she’s so different from everyone else in her highly successful family. But when she gets the results, she discovers that her whole life has been a lie.

.Rani Parekh first met Vandy when they were young, and Rani had run away from home. They became best friends, and were inseparable ever since. Rani sacrificed everything for Vandy once, and then she had to walk away and hasn't seen Vandy since.

This book is told in the alternating voices of Vandy, Mallika, and Rani, and goes back and forth between past and present, so you not only get the story from all three perspectives, but you are slowly given the backstory of how Vandy and Rani met, Vandy meeting her husband, the multiple miscarriages Vandy went through with Rani right by her side, and then the ultimate sacrifice Rani made. This story was heartbreaking, and the subject matter is a delicate one that could be a trigger for some, but this author handled it with such a heartfelt grace. This is not a light, easy read. This is a gritty, soul-searching one, that would spark a lot of great book club conversations. I loved this book, and I think you will too.

Sonali Dev remains an excellent and reliable author. She writes female characters and relationships so well, adding the right amount of complicated and layered. I always enjoy reading her books and this was no exception.

I will say, I think the blurb ruined the story a bit. Many of the things in the blurb either happened immediately or took over half of the story to happen, so as a reader you were left on the edge, waiting for a plot point that ultimately ended up being introduced in a much calmer way than led to believe.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

After reading a novella by Sonali Dev, I absolutely fell in love with her writing and needed to read books by her and was very happy to be able to read this.

Lies and Other Love Languages is everything I love about family dramas. The secrets are messy, there’s lots of love, and loyalty adds to the dysfunction.

With three different POVs and timelines, I had a slow start to this book. Once I got familiar with the characters and timelines, I didn’t want to put it down. After getting to know these complex, flawed, and relatable women, I really felt for Vandy, Mallika, and Rani.

Lies and Other Love Languages is a moving story that focuses on secrets, family, motherhood, friendship, love, finding yourself, and selflessness.

One of my top list authors has a new novel out day. @sonalidev , congrats on the publishing of Lies and Other Love Languages. As always, Sonali crafts a beautiful family drama, rich in Indian culture. And if you have #kindleunlimited, it's free to read. Thanks so much to @amazonpublishing for the ARC.

Lies and Other Love Languages by Sonali Dev leads readers to ask thought-provoking questions: Is it ever okay to lie or keep a secret? Is withholding information a form of lying? What circumstances would it take to share a long-hidden truth? How far would a person go to make a loved one happy?
Lies and Other Love Languages is my first novel by Sonali Dev. It is a story of friendship, romantic love, grief, motherhood, and the expectations, influence and support of family. Told through multiple POVs of an American family of Indian descent, readers will get a peek inside Indian culture, customs, and family values as they deal with universal issues.
The story includes a lovable cast of supporting characters, but it revolves around three women: Vandy Guru, her daughter Mallika, and Vandy's friend Rani Parekh. Starting in the present, Vandy is panicked because her daughter is missing. Vandy, an advice columnist and public speaker, is struggling with the grief of losing her husband, and now this! Mallika is a young adult trying to make a name for herself through her unique mix of traditional Indian and modern dance styles. Feeling dejected after an audition, she joins a genetic study. She wants to know why she doesn't fit in with her accomplished family. The DNA results turn her world upside down. Her mother's friend, Rani Parekh, may be the only one with the answers she seeks. Problem? The two friends haven't spoken in many years.
The story takes readers from the United States to Mumbai, India and from the 1970s to today. I especially enjoyed learning the backstory of Vandy and Rani. As girls, they meet at age 12 when Rani has just arrived in the U.S. to live with her aunt after her mother's death. She is eating French fries off the concrete in front of a fast-food restaurant when Vandy and her mother, also of Indian descent, recognize her need. Vandy's family wrap Rani in love, treating her like family. The two girls become the best of friends, like sisters. Their friendship takes them into adulthood until something came between them 27 years ago.
Although avid readers will guess the secret in advance, the author takes us on an interesting journey through the past to show how the characters get to that point. It's more about the journey than the secret.
Before reading Lies and Other Love Languages, be aware it has these possible triggers: infertility, pregnancy loss, infidelity, and loss of a spouse.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC of this book. The opinions are my own.

Written through several timelines, this book takes a look at honesty, family (found and created, fostered and blood), and how history and grief impact the kind of person one becomes.
"Perfect" mom, advice columnist and life guru Vandy Guru has made a living from showing off her perfect life with her husband and daughter, giving advice for others to feel as happy in their lives as she is in hers. Nearly a year after her husband passed from an aggressive cancer, her daughter goes missing and in her search, finds that no history stays buried for long.
Shared from Millenka's perspective from a week prior, Vandy's current perspective, and Rani's perspective from growing up with Vandy starting approximately age 12, the overlap demonstrates love, family, sacrifice, honesty, and strength.

It was a great book- Sonali Dev's books always are, but this one was deeper than usual but just as enlightening, entertaining, and enjoyable.

#arc
#netgalley
#liesandotherlovelanguages

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆
They have always had the closest relationship, but when Vandy Guru returns from a work trip, 27 year old Mallika has disappeared. She’s not at her apartment and none of her family knows where she can be. It’s been Vandy’s greatest fear to lose her only daughter. But Mallika has discovered that the parents she adores hold secrets about her that she’s never had a clue about. In a home where they professed to never lie, it seems that Mallika’s very existence is a lie.

𝗠𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
I had read quite of a few of Sonali Dev’s previous stories but this one felt like it knocked the previous out of the park with its content. Best friends meetings under unusual circumstances, a DNA test that throws everything into question and ties that bind long after they are severed. It would be useful to heed the content warnings on this one, there is delving into infertility, surrogacy, child abuse in the past, but after finishing reading, I feel like the story will be sticking in my emotions for a while. A highly recommended read ❤️

Read an eARC copy courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher
My rating 4.5/5 - ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 💫
Pub Date 26 Sep 2023

Lies and Other Love Languages by Sonali Dev is an emotional story of three women who are connected to each other. But this connection is hidden underneath layers of secrets and pain.

Set in LA, Mallika has a loving family, but she feels that she doesn't belong in her high achieving family. Vandana is a successful columnist but is always anxious for her daughter. And who is the other woman, Rani?

This book explores friendships, belonging, motherhood, and the cultural expectations of a family. It is very emotional, but at the same time, a story of selflessness.

Thank you, Lake Union Publishing, for this book.

CW: Infertility, miscarriages, anxiety, childhood trauma

It took me quite awhile to get through this one, I may just not have been in the right mindset. (I swore at one point it must be a 500 pager - it’s not, it’s 350). It just felt like it dragged on for too long, and I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters. Obviously others might feel differently (that’s what’s so great about books!) - so if the summary sounds good to you, then read it! For me, it’s just not my favorite.

“If a lie caused no harm, how could it be worse than a truth that did?”

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and the author for the advanced digital copy of this book. All opinions below are my own.

Lies and Other Love Languages is a well-written, thought-provoking family drama with more layers than a crepe cake. Sonali Dev adeptly weaves through multiple POVs and timelines as we attempt to solve a mystery surrounding three interconnected women, caught in a tangled web of secrets. The novel explores various themes such as class, race, loyalty and grief.

Is honesty really the best policy? Under which circumstances are lies acceptable? Can deceit ever be a kindness? Where do we draw the line between altruism and narcissism? How far are we willing to go in pursuit of perfection or for the love of another? Can tragedy propel you forward towards a better life or clarified sense of self? I found myself pondering these questions through the very end.

While I found the mystery element predictable, I enjoyed the journey through time getting to know these women as they became a found family. Each character felt authentic and had their own unique flaws. They may not have always been likable but I was rooting for a positive outcome for all of them nonetheless. It was also interesting to get a glimpse into Indian culture.

I would like to note a few trigger warnings concerning infertility, pregnancy loss and infidelity. If these topics are sensitive ones for you, I would avoid or proceed with caution. Otherwise, I wholly recommend this for an intriguing story about female friendship and platonic devotion.

A lovely story about, yes, lies, and family. It unfolds like an onion-layer by layer- until the reader understands Mallika, Rani and Vandy, all of whom tell their stories. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

🦇 Lies and Other Love Languages Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

❝ How did mothers go from being rocks you relied on to being the rocks you had to climb over to make your own way? ❞

❓ #QOTD What traits have you picked up from the women around you? ❓

🦇 When Vandy Guru's daughter Mallika suddenly disappears, she becomes frantic to find her, unaware that Mallika doesn't WANT to be found. Tired of failure and life as the family black sheep, Mallika signs up for a genetic study (run by the man she not-so-secretly loves), only for the results to unravel her life. Rewind the clock and we meet Rani; a woman with a troubled past who becomes far more than Vandy's best friend. In Vandy's journey to find Mallika, and Mallika's quest to find answers, both are forced to confront the secrets of Vandy's past. Separately, these three women journey from LA to Mumbai to discover who they truly are.

❝ All my life I had defined myself as one person. Then I thought I didn’t even know who I was. Now I don’t want to define myself. I don’t want to label what I can and cannot do and be. I just want to do and be. ❞

💜 Sonali Dev is a MASTER at weaving three related timelines and POVs into one seamless, heartfelt story. This story blurs the lines between friends and family in a tale of love, sacrifice, and secrets. As with her previous novel, The Vibrant Years, this story creates a tangled web between three generations of women before guiding readers on a journey of revelation. There's a distinct artistry in Dev's prose that draws you in and keeps you enamored page after page, but truly, it's the heart infused throughout her stories that captivates. I've read 80 books so far this year, but this is the first to trigger tears.

🦇 Maybe it's because I've read Dev's previous works (she's an auto-buy for me, so if you haven't already, I totally recommend The Rages Series), but I anticipated the reveals sooner than I liked. Both the name mix-up and Vandy's secret weren't big surprises. The little breadcrumbs are perfectly laid out, but I'm sure avid readers can recognize where the story is going with just a taste. Really, it's the last few chapters that kept me from awarding this five stars. Without getting into spoilers, I feel that Rani's secret was misplaced. Her actions in one of the story's last chapters felt out of character. It wasn't a surprise reveal so much as a disappointment.

🦇 Recommended to anyone who loves powerful stories about family, female friendship, finding your purpose, and love. If you haven't read any of Sonali Dev's books yet, I recommend adding them to your TBR ASAP. They're not to be missed.

✨ The Vibes ✨
💜 Family Drama
💜 Twists and Turns
💜 Female Relationships
💜 Self-Discovery
💜 Multiple POVs/Timelines
💜 Contemporary Fiction

🦇 Major thanks to the author @sonali.dev and publisher @amazonpublishing for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #LiesandOtherLoveLanguages #SonaliDev