Thank you NetGalley for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I DNFed this book at 8 percent. Here's why:
I had several issues with this book, I wasn't really vibing with the authors writing. The main character of this novel had a very narrow idea about what India should look like and sounded quite pretentious about describing her surroundings. Also, the way that some things are described in this book did not sit right with me. Additionally, the beginnings of the relationship were just being presented and I knew that it wasn't going to be a well developed romance. The characters in general aren't all that likable, and that could really make or break a book for me.

Although I did not like this book, it did have one good thing, which was a good concept. That is what drew me in. I wanted a sapphic romance in India between two Indians, but I was not rooting for the main character, nor did I like the main character. In conclusion, this book let me down.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974
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If you are a fan of the film Fire, you will love this book and see many similarities. Their love is forbidden and being unable to be her free self, Rimli is negative and harsh. Follow their journey towards love.

The novel wasn't horrible but it wasn't great either. I didn't buy the love and relationship. It felt more like a revenge affair or just simple infatuation. Rimli was extremely unlikable, especially how she treated servants and her uppity fake behavior. Bindi just making excuse after excuse for her behavior annoyed me. What I found strange is that Rimli's and Dhona's parents weren't at all part of the story. One would think they have to say something about the divorce.

I hate writing bad reviews but I was not feeling this book. The MC Bindi is so negative and throughout the book there is barely any personal growth. Same for all the other characters. I did not feel the chemistry between the two leads and sometimes it even felt like they didn't even like each other. I struggled through reading this and it became a real task to finish it.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found this one disappointing, unfortunately. I hadn’t realized this wasn’t a full-sized book when I picked it up, but pacing problems were not the only issue: with things happening with little time to process them or build up to them, the story feels rushed; and there was little time spent in fleshing out other characters, which didn’t add depth at all.

While I am more than happy to see more books being published that tell queer stories about women of colour, this one wasn’t the one for me.

Bindi's music career is only just beginning in England when she takes a vacation visiting her cousin and his wife in India. She finds it hard to ignore her attraction to her cousin's wife Rimli amongst the pressure of family, homophobia, and her career taking off. Not long after Rimli travels to England to study for several years, closing the physical gap between Rimli and Bindi and making their attraction all the harder to ignore. Does their love have a place in their very different worlds?

Although this was an interesting concept, the book just didn't land for me. I found the characters unlikeable and negative which made it hard to keep reading because I didn't care for them. This was a short book which wasn't helped by the lack of character development and the speed at which their relationship evolved from barely exchanging a few words to sleeping together. I really wanted to enjoy this but it was a struggle.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Bindi is about to set out on a European music tour but is convinced by her mom to make a quick trip to India to visit her cousin Dhona and his wife Rimli. Raised in England, Bindi is surprised and shocked at the changes since her family trips as a child. Her cousin and his wife lead a lavish lifestyle while surrounded by poverty. The sarees her mother has packed for her have been replaced by the little black dress. Her cousin Dhona is a blatant womanizer and his wife Rimli is rude to her servants and to Bindi. Despite this rudeness, Bindi is attracted to Rimli.

The blurb caught my attention and I chose to read this book hoping I would get a peek at modern day India in addition to the life of soon to be famous singer, Bindi. Told from Bindi’s perspective, we see the expected domineering mother, Bindi’s own struggle with her sexuality, its possible impact on her career aspirations as a singer and yes, a lot of infidelity. It’s listed as a trigger warning so this is not a spoiler. The story has a soap opera feel to it with scenes shifting quickly to squeeze in as much drama as possible in 130 pages. The characters are larger than life, almost to caricature levels and this overshadows the relationship between Bindi and Rimli. This wasn’t the read for me.

2.5 stars

A copy of this book was received with thanks from the publisher via NetGalley for review.

There are plenty of theories about parallel universes. But what if parallel worlds exist in our own universe? Not in the scientific sense, but in the societal.

This concept is an interesting element of Mayapee Chowdhury's latest novel, Parallel Paradise. Although the idea is fascinating, the execution unfortunately falls flat, leaving the reader with a lightning-fast read that doesn't really flesh anything out.

The main character Bindi is a budding pop star about to go on tour. Before that, though, she's visiting her cousin in India, due to familial pressure. Her cousin is a playboy alcoholic and his wife Rimli is stern and traditional. That's how she appears at first, anyway. After a party on Bindi's first night in India, the two women sleep together in a nonsexual way. Soon enough, though, they're having a full-blown affair.

Now, I love a good queer yearning romantic story. This story has all of the elements: Conservative families/culture, an unwanted husband, and someone unsure about her sexuality. And yet, Parallel Paradise barely feels like a romance at all. Bindi and Rimli begin a sexual relationship days after meeting. There's no real hesitation, fear, or confusion. The relationship itself is shallow, and Bindi constantly complains about Rimli being too clingy. Readers are constantly told that this is true love.

Events throughout the novel are sporadic and barely described. Bindi goes on a tour and becomes quite famous, despite being barely known when the story begins, not that we see much of it. We get a few scenes with her and Rimli having drama behind the scenes. Their relationship apparently deepens as some amount of time passes (how much is unclear), but they have absolutely zero growth. There aren't very many characters, so the parallel worlds idea of Bindi and Rimli having a wonderful relationship while hiding from their community isn't really shown at all. Even the climax of the story, where Rimli's husband refuses her divorce and threatens to out them both, doesn't really feel like a problem, partially because it too is sped through like a video on 2x speed.

The novel ends with a one year time jump, where everyone is fine and accepted(sort of...Bindi's mom isn't happy but also does interviews with drag queens, which confused me). Bindi mentions that the LGBTQ community has been welcoming, and that's about it. There's not a single scene to back that up.

I wish this story were better written. I love reading about queer relationships from other cultures. Heck, I love reading about queer relationships in general. They don't need to be full of homophobia and conflict at all, and I don't want to come off as someone who doesn't believe in queer happy endings. The lack of proper pacing and character depth just ruins this book for me. If someone wrote another story with a similar concept, I'd love to read it. Hopefully it would be better than this.

Final rating: ⭐⭐

This story had a good skeleton of an outline, but there was a lack of depth in characters which may be partially due to the plot seeming to be accelerated/rushed.

I did not enjoy the book as I had hoped. The plot was great, but it just didn't come together for me.

I received an ARC from the publisher Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley.

Thank you Net Galley and Bold Strokes Books for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Before reading this book, I thought it would be a good, enjoyable read, but unfortunately it wasn’t. The characters were very 2-dimensional and had no depth or complexities to them. Not only that, the characters didn’t feel that realistic and they weren’t that lovable either. The writing at times felt forced, and there was too much milking of how much Bindi disliked India and it just didn’t seem believable. There is a shortage of queer POC and I was hoping this would be an inspiration to others and I really wanted to like it. I hate writing negative reviews because writers, editors and publishers put in so much time, love and effort, but this novel was just not it. Sometimes it felt unedited and others I was just so bored. In no way is this book a reflection of the author (I just want to remind everyone).

Loved the Indian setting and the way the main character navigated the assumption of heteronormativity. The first person narrative gave an edgy feel to the story and I liked the fast pace of the writing. But the two leads moved way too quickly from hello grumpy wife of my cousin to I’m in love with you and we should sleep together. I know there’s only so much time in the world, or in this case a set number of pages, but some build up would have really helped the book.

This is an awful book. It was not worth the trouble in reading it. Characters were one dimensional and shallow. Storyline was unbelievable

I’m so disappointed in this book. I was really excited to receive the ARC as a former law student of South East Asian descent who has also dropped law for more creative endeavours, I thought I’d be able to relate and see some aspects of my life on these pages.

I was expecting rich imagery of Indian, and instead the depictions of India seemed to come from the authors own internalised racism??? As a POC, I think it’s so important to highlight the beauty of our cultures, backgrounds, race, and ethnicities. It’s also important to point out any outdated ideas within a country, such as sexism and homophobia. However, this novel just seemed to hate on India? And any progressive ideas were overshadowed by lack of depth and poor writing.

The main character, Bindi, whilst in India would complain about the people there, and even pointed out how they can look down on others less fortunate… all while also looking down on India.

The characters were lack lustre with no real personality or development. The romance wasn’t believable and the dialogue was stunted, inauthentic, cheesy and amateurish.

This could have been an amazing story about queer love in the South East Asian community and breaking taboos and social norms. Instead, we are met with a corny “romance”, badly written characters and horrific descriptions of India and its people.

Maybe this one should have stayed in the drafts folder…

This ended up being a dnf for me about 50% in. I thought the characters were poorly developed. Without being given a chance to understand character motivations, the romance was flat to me as well. Did not enjoy the way cultural aspects were discussed.

The description sounded really promising, but I was disappointed with the end result. I don't know cultural aspects of India, so I can't comment on that. The book was supposed to show us the love between Bindi and Rimli. I read the book and couldn't figure out at all where it was. It was so rushed, so sudden, mostly carnal, didn't give us an explanation. Their actions were poor, it all felt flat to me. It was a lot more talk than show. Maybe if there was some depth it could've been a better book, because the plot is interesting.

This was a horribly rushed, probably racist, and poorly developed book. The main character is constantly making deriding, stereotypical comments about India and Indian culture. The main relationship is never developed, and frequently confusing. The characters have no characterization and felt very surface level. A lot of the novella was spent on side tangents that contributed nothing to the plot. The narration style was inconsistent. Overall, there was nothing about this book that I enjoyed, even though the premise seemed very promising.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a short and simple book.

I was hoping for more depth from the characters and their relationship, but we see a small peak into Bindi's life. We follow Bindi as her music career takes off and she struggles with her feelings for her cousins wife. As their whirlwind romance happens we follow its ups and downs and what it means for their experiences.

I think if the book had been longer we would get a better feel for everyone, but overall not a bad read.

Bindi travels to India to visit her family, including her cousin, Dhona, and his wife, Rimli. Bindi soon learns that Dhona is a womaniser who constantly cheats on Rimli; when his behaviour gets too much, Rimli seeks comfort in Bindi's arms.

I didn't like how Bindi didn't have one single positive thing to say about India, her family's country. I understand her critiquing aspects of it such as the huge inequality, but this felt really over done.

None of the characters felt like real people, as there's no real characterisation, we never get to actually know any of these people. Therefore the whole romance fell flat, can't root for a romance if you don't get to know the people.

This reads like a rough draft of a book that could have been something with more time, padding and editing.

I assume the Author of the book is completely unaware of the current happenings of India. The story is supposed to showcase two women getting into a relationship and the hurdles they have to cross mainly because of the culture they come from. However, there is not even a single incident to concretely cement as to why the women love each other - it is portrayed in such a way that they jump into action the moment they are left in a room. On top of that the Author has made some crude remarks on Indian law and culture - like drunk and drive , PDA or creating chaos will not be a problem in India, I wonder if she has ever visited India. I find this is half baked and absolutely do not give you any insight on the hardships faced by LGBTQ community. I wished she has researched more before writing this book.