pretty well-written story about the immigrant experience and identity. 5 stars. tysm for the arc. would recommend.

This was an engaging examination of self-discovery.

Durga was promoted with her first major job. It took her from an overcrowded, noisy family home where it was warm in Calcutta to a place that was totally different. Cork, south of Dublin, was quiet with cold winds. She looked different than everyone else and had no idea how to drive.

Her family wanted her to return to India where she belonged. Her mother was following traditions with arranged marriages and Durga was soon to be on her list. From her faraway place, this made her nervous as she didn’t want to disappoint her Ma and Baba with a man she was dating – for the fear they wouldn’t approve.

Durga’s close family ties in India energized the story along with her roommate in Ireland whom she adored. The author used her own life experiences living in both of these places to give readers a clear vision of the changes. With her gift of writing, she was able to transport readers into a world where there were strong cultural differences.

The story came with an unexpected turn a third of the way which made me curious how it would evolve. I learned more about family values in India. I’m not sure I liked the ending but I know the characters will stay with me for some time.

My thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of May 6, 2025.

Very easy, read in a day kind of book.
Durga has left her loud, sometimes claustrophobic Indian family to find herself in Cork, Ireland. Unfortunately, it is much harder than she hoped to reinvent herself. She may be a long way from her Indian upbringing but her families prejudices and opinions still dictate her decisions. The style of writing is light so no deep dive into family dynamics and the culture of the Indian family and immigrants assimilation into their new home. However, this was a great read and I was routing for Joy and Durga to find peace and happiness.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC

As a person whose family has lived in the same neighborhood of New York City for five generations, the identity issues faced by those who choose to live in places other than where they were raised are foreign to me, but are central to “I Will Blossom Anyway”. I learned a lot.

Durga moves from India to England to escape the restrictions she feels from her home culture. Yet, her new found freedom doesn’t feel right either.
Her confusion, as she bounces between the two societies, is palpable, often exemplified by the men she chooses. Through her well-drawn narrative, Ms. Bose describes Durga’s growing ambivalences so slowly and subtly that, by the end, you are surprised by the deeper and more emotional understanding and appreciation you have of the immigrant experience.

While there are aspects of romantic comedy in the book (not a genre I usually read), I found it so enjoyable that I may rethink my normal aversion. But only if it is written as well as this is.

A young woman from India takes up residence in Ireland, falls in love with a man she is afraid her parents won’t approve of, though she lives with his sister….there is a lot of emotional turmoil in her life! I am not even disclosing all of it! While it could very much be a messy way of life for some young immigrants, it was an unhappy life to read into. I very much liked her visit back to India after two years, and her interactions with her siblings and parents. I just wasn’t happy reading about her life or her life choices while she was in Ireland. I was left feeling that everything was going to improve, but it took the final pages to get there.

A quick contemporary read that blends coming-of-age vibes with culture clash, family expectations and learning to own your choices. Bonus points for all the delicious food descriptions and the dive into Indian weddings and mythology. Overall, I liked Durga and her journey even if it was a bit bumpy!

Great cover!

This was an easy to read book about a woman stuck between her life in India with her family and her independence living in Ireland. She wants to be a modern woman but when she visited home for her sister's wedding, she questioned if leaving home was the right thing to do. Her parents want to set her up on dates with "acceptable" men, but she want to marry for love, if she marries at all. She is enjoying her life but doesn't want to disappoint her family.

This was a good "filler" book for me, not too heavy, and interesting enough to keep me reading. The descriptions of the sights and smells of India reminded me of my short time there.

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

Durga is a 20-something who was more than ready to spread her wings, with her metaphorical nest being an apartment in Calcutta shared with her boisterous and sometimes overbearing family. She takes a job transfer to Ireland, where after some months of loneliness and trying to figure out how to fit in (not to mention how to adult in general), she creates a life for herself that involves her own routines and relationships - including one with charismatic Jacob, who she thinks her family won't accept - always feeling a bit at odds with the expectations of her family (and their attempts at matchmaking) and her nostalgia for home. The cover gives "contemporary romance", but it's definitely in the genre of coming-of-adulthood, with romantic relationships/entanglements as one portion of that. Actually it was more about mourning a lost relationship than engaging in one - in this way it reminded me quite a bit of Someday, Maybe, for this relationship loss aspect and also the aspect of coming into one's own when there are cultural tensions at play, from family expectations and from living/working in places outside of the protagonist's family culture. I also thought it had vibes of millennial coming-of-age/self-discovery books like Queenie or Really Good, Actually - though a bit less edgy or snarky than those. The character development in Durga doesn't stand out to me as much as the characters in those books, and I thought the tone was a bit inconsistent (feeling kind of sad-girl, but then random bursts of bantery rom-com) but if this micro-genre is in your wheelhouse, pick this one up.

Pretty good coming of age book about a young woman finding her place in life. I liked the underlying narrative about a young woman’s beliefs about what her parents might think and how different those may be from reality.

Thank you for the review copy. This is very romantic. I love a good coming of age story. The main characters are great.

This was a solid 3 read. While categorized as a coming of age story, it isn’t. Coming of age refers to the teen (and sometimes preteen) years in which kids navigate their way through the world on the way to adulthood. Durga, in her mid-twenties is already an adult – albeit a naïve one. It is more accurately a story of finding oneself while navigating through different cultural expectations. And unless you count the budding relationship between Joy and Maeve, it wasn’t a romance either. There was no romance between Durga and Luke. They only used each other for sex. Because of the title I expected significant growth on Durga’s part. But her growth was minimal in my opinion. Still, I did enjoy the story and getting to know more about the Indian culture and expectations and how they affected Durga. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The realities of loving, leaving and being your own person in a world that wants to keep you in a box...This was told in way that keeps you cheering for everyone (even those you don't like) and helped me realize that we are all struggling in this way. It was such a relief to read such a real heartbreaking and loving story, that felt like mine and others lives while always keeping us hopeful and excited for what comes next.

A sweet novel about a twenty something coming into her own away from her family. A transplant in England, Durga is struggling to find her way & true self. The novel is about a transformative year for her & her family. A well-written book where you care about the characters and hope they figure it all out. Can't wait to read more by this author.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Complicated love story about redemption and moving on.

Title: I will Blossom Anyway
Author: Disha Bose
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine/Ballantine Books
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Pub Date: May 6, 2025
My Rating: 3 Stars
Pages 288

Durga is named after the Bengali goddess, pure of heart, filled with goodness. But the goddess has an alter-ego, fearless Kali, of fire and crackling with energy.

The third of four children born to a middle-class Calcutta family, quiet Durga is surprisingly the first to leave the nest of her loving, overbearing family.

Story is listed as a romance and with Valentine’s Day coming up, this looked like it might be a good one. I read a lot of thrillers and was ready for a sweet romance.

The story wasn’t what I had hoped – doesn’t mean it isn’t good.
In fact, I did like the ending.

Want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine/Ballantine Books
for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for April 6, 2025.

“I Will Blossom Anyway” is by Disha Bose. From the cover, I expected this book to be different as the cover gave me romance vibes, but I found this book to really be a coming of age book instead. The main character, Durga, is from India but took a job in Ireland. She partially did this to escape her family (although she loves them) and try to be a bit more independent. At work, Durga meets Jacob and they start dating, breaking up when Durga decides to not invite him to her sister’s wedding back in India because Durga’s afraid that her family won’t accept bi-racial Jacob. Complicating things a bit, Durga’s flatmate is Joy, Jacob’s sister, who knows that deep down even after the break-up, both still want to be together and love each other. Durga goes home for the wedding - and over two weeks a lot happens. Part of what happens is that Durga realizes that while she in very many ways yearns for her life in India, she also appreciates her independence from her family in Ireland. I think that’s a safe description. While there is some romance, I found the scenes with Jacob to be the more softer ones, but that relationship (mostly off page) had a longer time to develop. I really have mixed feelings about this book - on one hand, returning to India made Durga realize that she could break from her family, be more independent, and really all was okay (that’s the coming of age storyline), but at the same time Durga seemed to be stuck not wanting to move in any direction, which was frustrating. I did find Jacob’s parents’ storyline a bit odd at the beginning, but I did like that they were accepting of Durga with Jacob and Joy. Overall, a 3.5 read for me - the pacing at times was slow, I didn’t always like Durga’s choices and endless rumination about said choices, and I was hoping to see more of her alter-ego Kali make an appearance in this book.

While I liked this book at times, I wasn’t blown away by it. I liked Durga, but at times I didn’t connect with her. I do appreciate the advanced copy.

A very uplifting book that follows the main character through the end of one relationship and into a new relationship. This book demonstrates tremendous personal growth of the main character and is very insightful and inspiring. The book was also very interesting because it is based on Indian culture and traditions. I enjoyed this book immensely. Many thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing me an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Calcutta born Durga leaves her family for a job in Ireland where she meets Joy, her new BFF and Joy's brother, Jacob, with whom she falls in love. Enjoying the freedom of an independent life, she also recognizes her role in her family and how her new life would be viewed by them. Because she fears her family will not accept Jacob, she hesitates telling her family about him. When she doesn’t invite him to her sister’s wedding in India, they break up. The nostalgia of returning home for the wedding entices her back to that culture, but is it enough to give up her new life in Ireland?

A fast contemporary read with flowing prose, this coming of age novel touches on so many themes. There is the struggle between finding your own way and obligations to your family, living a cross culture life, taking control of your life, and the misunderstandings that can occur when we prejudge our family’s dynamics. I enjoyed learning more about the Indian culture, particularly the traditions surrounding a wedding and Hindu myths…and all the references to food. I liked the woman Durga became.

This book was an ultra-slow starter
I just really didn't care about the characters
Sorry but not my fave