Synopsis (From Goodreads)
When a British Indian woman’s life hits rock bottom, she decides to change her stars by falling in love…with herself–a hilarious, heartfelt story from outrageously funny novelist Radhika Sanghani.
Nina didn’t plan to spend her thirtieth birthday in jail, yet here she is in her pajamas, locked in a holding cell. There’s no Wi-Fi, no wine, no carbs–and no one to celebrate with.
Unfortunately, it gives Nina plenty of time to reflect on how screwed up her life is. She’s just broken up with her fiancé, and now has to move back into her childhood home to live with her depressed older brother and their uptight, traditional Indian mother. Her career as a freelance journalist isn’t going in the direction she wants, and all her friends are too busy being successful to hang out with her.
Just as Nina falls into despair, a book lands in her cell: How to Fix Your Shitty Life by Loving Yourself. It must be destiny. With literally nothing left to lose, Nina makes a life-changing decision to embark on a self-love journey. By her next birthday, she’s going to find thirty things she loves about herself.
My Review
3 out of 5 stars
This was an easy and light read about a 30 year old Indian woman, Nina, learning to love herself. After a breakup with her fiancé, she has to move back in with her mother. Her older brother is clinically depressed and also lives with the mother. Nina is close with her family but it’s not without her mom being nitpicky about her lifestyle and choices. I thought the relationship Nina had with her family was very realistic. The story loops in Nina helping her family with their problems– supporting her brother’s mental health, and encouraging her mother to start dating again after years from their father’s passing. Nina also spends a lot of time with friends– meeting new people as well as dealing with some issues of old friends.
There really isn’t much romance in this book. It does have a strong message of loving yourself, so perhaps a strong romantic plot or subplot would take away from that. There’s a lot of drama in Nina’s family and friend life though, so you can certainly be kept interested throughout the whole story. I do think the point of this book is that life isn’t always perfect, but you can learn to love yourself through all it’s ups and downs. In the end, this isn’t a book I’d normally pick up, but it was pretty enjoyable. I’d recommend if you typically enjoy contemporary women’s fiction, and/or you would like one with no focus on romance.
Thank you to the publisher for providing a free eARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
See this review on Goodreads and on Storygraph.
Mad Scibrarian 