A review by dorhastings
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

Did not finish book. Stopped at 13%.
First off, bless you Storygraph for having a DNF option for book reviews.

I somewhat recently have been enjoying romcoms. I read nonfiction and scifi earlier in the day, when possible, but at night I want to read a book that's not going to make me think a lot. I want fun and funny and yes, romance. It was pretty clear I wasn't going to get it with this book, and I have no interest in continuing the book.

I can usually tell something is amiss if I have difficulty reading the first chapter. I actually turned back a few pages at times, as if I'd missed some clear transition from past to present and then back to past again. But I gave it a try for another chapter, and the feeling in my stomach only deepened. In the past I've pressed on to continue the book, but you know, life's too short to read books I know I won't "enjoy" or learn from.

I started looking at reviews to see if it would get better. I don't have to love the main character, but I probably shouldn't dislike her as much as I do in the first few chapters. Which is weird, because I also felt as though I didn't really understand her in the first few chapters. What I did understand, when I'd gotten as far as I did, was that she's an elitist jerk. Apparently her sister and brother got the conversational genes, or whatever. But it's another sure sign I don't want to get invested in this person. The male lead, what little I saw of him, was also not super impressive. I can't imagine what I'd think of them together.

To be completely fair, one of the reasons I'm not finishing this book, and why I might not pick up another of this author's books, is the writing style. It's jarring and just not fun to read. I don't really like her character portrayals. The other reason, the main reason I'm stopping now, is the spoilers I've read. And I've read about them in multiple reviews.
Apparently Trisha (main character) had a friend named Julia who drugged and raped Trisha's older brother, recorded the event, and then threatened to tell everyone that he'd raped her (she was also a minor at the time). This is all apparently Trisha's fault, as far as the family is concerned, and so she is pretty removed from her family as a result. And the reason her brother doesn't want to come out with the story now that he's running for governor? Well it'll torpedo his chances of winning, and I believe it. But also apparently it'll destroy the #MeToo movement and all the progress we've made? That sort of anti-feminist trash is not something I want to read. I also, personally, just don't want to read about all this trauma in one of my romcom books. There is also apparently some stuff concerning Trisha going out with a patient's brother and telling him details about his sister, which is a pretty decent example of a HIPAA violation.


So, there we are.
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