Thank you to Arushi Avachat, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for an ARC of this debut novel!

This was a super sweet YA story, and a fantastic debut! Avachat really captured the high school experience and drama of young adulthood, as well as beautifully showing off Desi culture and wedding traditions. I definitely learned a lot, and went down a fun rabbit hole exploring wedding attire, practices, and foods after I read.

I gave this four stars instead of five because I feel like there could have been some plot points that were more fleshed out, and others that should have been less of a focus/non-existent. For example, I wish we had seen a little bit more of a reason/cause/explanation behind Arya's mother's implied depression - I spent most of the book waiting for more of a dive into it, and was disappointed that we didn't get it. I feel like an exploration of this would have helped her mom seem less cold/unfeeling toward her children, and would have helped to develop the character.

I also think that the conflict with Lisa could have been omitted entirely. While having falling outs/big fights with friends is entirely a part of the high school experience, there was so much other conflict going on that it just seemed like an unnecessary focus. I would have preferred more of the dynamic with Dean and Arya, or Arya and Alina/her family, and less of the side drama with Lisa.

However, this was still a really wonderful first novel, and I am excited to read more from this author in the future! If you enjoy books by Nisha Sharma, Helen Huang, and Mazey Eddings, you'll enjoy this debut!

This book has: high school MCs, Desi wedding, sisterhood, first love, student government, family drama, personal growth.

Fun high school romance that brought me right back to familiar situations, albeit with an Indian flair! Arya's sister Alina is home planning her shaadi (wedding celebrations) and Arya is happy to have her around although she's stifling the resentment that she feels towards her sister. Three years before, Alina left the family after a fight with her mother, leaving Arya to feel abandoned with her mother's sadness. As Arya's senior year starts, her best friends break up. Arya struggles to stay neutral and remain friends with both. Then Dean, her student council nemesis-turned-president is just everywhere - bothering Arya with his ideas and hishandsome smile. Sometimes the only place that Arya can find peace is at the book store Belle's where she has worked since freshman year.
I loved reading about Arya's growth over the course of her senior year leading up to the wedding. I didn't know all of the Indian terms and foods mentioned but it didn't hamper my enjoyment of the story. This story is supposedly structured like a Bollywood film which really just made me determined to see one!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in return for my honest review.

This book was fun to read, the culture, and planning for her older sister’s wedding was so exciting. Arya has to deal with high school, her friends, her own family issues, which is a lot for a kid. I loved her blossoming romance with Dean, this book was all around adorable, aside from it falling a little flat in the middle, and I started to lose interest, there is familial trauma in here that also felt off, I wanted more from this book, but as a YA read, I would still recommend the book.

In my opinion, this book was super fun and entertaining, I read it in one sitting and it never got boring. The characters in this story are loveable, especially Arya and Dean. There was just enough drama to make it entertaining and not hard to follow. One of the many minor details that I loved about this book was that it was structured in acts. This made the book feel more authentic and like a Bollywood film. Another minor detail that I loved was how at the end of the book the author matched an Indian song to each character in the book. In this story, Arya's mother is detached and generally upset but I do wish that the author had incorporated more scenes with Arya's mother. I also thought that the beginning of this book was a bit slow and could have been shortened.

Thoughts:
Loved the portrayal of the messy complicated family dynamics woven with the undercurrent of love in this very realistic portrayal of what Desi families can be like. It's paired perfectly in balance with the plot about friendships, falling in love, and self-healing. A wonderful debut novel. The scene in the car on their first date, wow, Dean is very mature and observant!!

Summary:
Arya's sister Alina is finally home as they prepare for her wedding. While Arya tries to be the "good sister/daughter" she can't stop the bubbling resentment towards Alina for leaving and having to be the to bear the responsibility of "good daughter" to her mother. All the while she is juggling being at the center of a fallout between her best friends' breakup and maintaining her rivalry with the very frustratingly handsome Dean Merriweather. Arya tries really hard to keep the peace at home and school, And when it becomes too much like everything is falling apart, she finds solace in the least expected place.

Thank you to NetGalley eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Not what I expected, but not impressed with what I read.

The storyline was choppy, with the chapters feeling episodic. The emotions were lost on me. While I tried to sympathize with Arya's decisions, reactions, and behaviors, I was drawn back to the fact that she's in high school, and her decisions are of a youth, not a mature adult.

This isn't a novel I'd outright recommend to someone to read unless they have a lot of time to kill and are indifferent towards the reading material. This book wasn't for me, which is unfortunate because I was looking forward to another Desi romance novel.

Arya Khanna's Bollywood Moment was such a sweet YA Contemporary novel. It pairs well with movies such as Polite Society and the show Never Have I Ever. Although the three are from different genres with different premises, all are recent and delightful feel-good stories about brown girls coming of age in the West. Like those two, Avachat's debut is funny, incredibly relatable and deeply heartwarming.

I loved how complicated first-generation family dynamics were explored without being this story's central form of conflict. It was interesting to read about Arya making sense of her parents' marriage and cultural expectations surrounding love without those things being a stressor or burden on her own romantic life. The messiness emanating from her familial relationships is one component of her life like the complications in her friendships or her relationship with Dean; these are all things she seeks to healthily manage as she goes through Senior Year.

The setting of this story was incredibly atmospheric, making this an ideal novel for Fall. I have since seen Arya's small town described somewhere as being Gilmore Girls-like. Whether or not this was intentional on the part of the author, it was effectively executed because this is exactly what I envisioned while reading. All the mentioned cafés and quaint town traditions were adorable and sounded like something straight from Stars Hollow. This book will give you all the small town Senior Year vibes!

Ultimately, this was a lovely read. I am always appreciative of narratives featuring first-generation immigrant South Asian girls and women navigating life in diaspora. I think I also personally love seeing stories where cultural issues are meaningfully explored but don't formulate the main conflict of the story as an obstacle to the main character...sometimes it's fun and chill to just encounter brown girls living life! This book had exactly that, in my opinion.

This book as so cute. I loved to setting and the culture of the book. The romance was so good. And the writing was very well done.

I was all set to love this book, but it’s a DNF for me. I love the representation of various races, religions, and sexualities, however the characters and story fell a little flat. There wasn’t a character I felt compelled by or was rooting for, which is a sign that the book isn’t going to work for me

ARYA KHANNA’S BOLLYWOOD MOMENT was one of my favorite reads of the year! I literally cannot wait for it to come out so that I can persuade (force) all of my friends to read it. This book is marketed as being like Netflix’s NEVER HAVE I EVER which is one of my all time favorite series. You are looking at a girl who continues to read every crumb of BENVI fanfiction lol! Arya and Dean and literally so BENVI coded it’s ridiculous! It gives academic rivals to lovers! It gives “he always liked her/ never hated her”! These books are my bread and butter and I will devour them every time.

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review!

This book had everything - funny, family drama, friendship and love which leads up to a big Bollywood wedding. I enjoyed the reading this.

This book was such a delight to read! The infusion of Indian culture and all of the intricate components of an Indian wedding added such a rich layer to the narrative. Truly, such a special novel and memorable debut!

There characters were so authentic, and the plot line was so realistic, which is everything you'd want in a contemporary novel. The romance was so charming with the perfect amount of enemies-to-lovers banter. I do wish some of the dates were fleshed out a tad more--some of them ended a bit abruptly. For example, I wish there was more at the pumpkin patch! Such an incredibly cute idea, and I wanted more!

Arya's familial relationships were complex and well-written. The themes of family and friendship, and navigating the uncertainty of the future with big life decisions (college apps are no joke!) were expertly crafted.
Arya's character development over the course of the novel is also so fulfilling. Overall, this is a gem of a book with exceptional diversity and much-need BIPOC representation, excellent writing, and endearing relationships. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

So. I signed up for Netgalley which... this does not spell good things for my TBR but oh well?

I honestly thoroughly enjoyed this, not only because of all of the wedding aspects (to be honest, this kind of stung a little due to the fact that I will be missing my first cousin's wedding for a little thing known as college), or the punjabi-specific representation, as much as I was happy to see that, but the fact that this book genuinely read like it was written by someone who understand what it is to grow Indian-American right now (which made sense to me after learning that the author is a current college student). This was visible throughout the story, from the fact that the characters were targeting colleges other than the same five schools that everyone seems to assume high schoolers end up at (despite never showing them doing actual work), to the aspects of the book that, in my mind, were most significant, which highlighted Arya's relationship with her family.
A lot of the time relationships in books are essentially described as "oh abc is xyz" "well you should move on/create your own life/do what YOU want to do." While all of this is true, it ignores the fact that things aren't always so simple, and particularly in Arya's case, she took on a lot of the responsibility that her sister left behind when she decided that she wanted something different, almost leading her to adopt some elder-sibling-like traits in the process.
Overall, I thought that this was a fun read, and it had enough depth that it didn't feel like complete fluff the entire time.
I will be honest though, I don't love the title.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Some of my favorite books are the ones I pick up, knowing I’ll at least mildly enjoy, but then once I read, I fall completely in love with it. That was the case with this book. Oh my goodness, what a treat! This book did it all for me: it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me incredibly hungry (the food descriptions are top notch!) and it made me kick my heels at the romantic moments. I loved Arya so much. In all her messiness, I loved that she acknowledged when she was the problem or the one who made the mistake and then made it right. She also wasn’t afraid to call people out when they were in the wrong. I loved seeing her relationship with her sister and also with her friend Lisa. I thought those were done so well. I really loved the complicated family dynamics and seeing how they affected each member. There were so many events in this book, I felt like there was always something happening and that kept the pace pretty steady throughout. And, of course, Dean. What a prince. I really enjoyed him. I just can’t say enough good things about this book. Highly recommend and now I’m off to preorder because I need a physical copy the minute it’s released.


Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read this book.
Unfortunately this was a DNF for me :( I really wanted to get into it because of the reviews but I just couldn't. I normally love YA and was thrilled to get to read this one once I saw all of the great reviews it is getting. However, once I was reading it seemed too YA for me. I still appreciate the copy given to me and give it two stars since I'm sure younger audiences would enjoy it more but the story/characters weren't for an older YA reader.

Thank you again to the author/publisher/Netgalley.

I'm such a sucker for any YA that explores other cultures (and teaches me in the process). Arya & Dean embody the classic enemies to lovers trope where their forced proximity leads to more.

The entire Bollywood theme coupled with modern day high school romance makes for a quick, cute read. The characters are both believable and likable. The quick pace easily sweeps the reader along and is just a heartwarming story.

Overall: 5 stars

I'll tell my students about: language, sex, alcohol

**Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books for the free ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.**

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

I will happily leave a review for this when the racist remarks by one of their employees is addressed. I want to support the author, but also want to know they don’t support this behavior.

Arya Khanna’s Bollywood Moment is a compelling and delightful coming-of-age story and romance. Arya Khanna has to balance college applications, her sister’s wedding/family drama, and coming in second to her arch-nemesis rival. Dean is the president of the student body and they constantly battle for the upper hand. When Dean and Arya are forced to work together for the good of the school, they discover a potential friendship. Arya must also try and help her sister Alina get ready for the wedding and hopes to mend the broken bond between her mother and sister. As Arya works to balance her many responsibilities, what will she do when her friendship with Dean turns into a romance?

Arya is such a likable and relatable heroine. I really enjoyed her adventures in friendship, family, and romance. Arya has many obstacles along the way, including a tumultuous relationship with her older sister Alina. Alina is getting married, but the sisters have been separated for years. This leads to difficult conversations between them, but I loved the character growth from both sisters. Dean is a very sweet and charming love interest, who at first doesn’t quite know what to do with Arya when they aren’t fighting. Readers who enjoy powerful coming-of-age stories, rivals in love, and compelling characters will love this book. This is the perfect book for readers who love the tv show: Never Have I Ever. I’m looking forward to what Arushi Avachat writes next!

Thank you to Arushi Avachat, Wednesday Books, and Netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For publisher: My review will be posted on Instagram, Goodreads, Amazon, Storygraph, and Barnes & Noble etc

I love a book with indian/brown girl representation. And the fact that it’s multicultural just makes it so much better. I loved everything about this book from the minute i started it and i was so sad when i reached the end. I found myself connecting with Arya and loved seeing her get her moments.

So much fun! I loved this sweet, charming romance, all with an Indian-American protagonist after my own heart.