I really wish there was a way to get this off my NetGalley list without leaving a negative review. I really wanted to escape to a destination wedding, but unfortunately, I couldn't even make it out of the lounge at JFK. I DNF'd at 5%; I just couldn't connect with either the main character or her best friend.

Being a basic white girl who has never left the states, the glimpses of India and Indian culture from Tina, a second generation Indian American, were quite fun to experience and kept me going through this book. I also loved the positive representation of divorce; Tina's parents divorced several years prior and seem to get along beautifully. Seeing divorced couples not only treat each other civilly, but also with care and friendship is really heartwarming.
What I found odd was how little of the actual wedding and wedding activities we saw in a book with "wedding" in the title. Tina seemed to barely attend any of the wedding shenanigans and was always off doing her own thing.
Destination: Avoid the Wedding.
*cue rimshot*
I'm hilarious, I know.
So anyway, like I said, the culture and view of India kept me going through this, because TINA sure as heck did not. Tina confused the hell out of me. For a mid-late thirty-year-old woman, Tina and her best friend came across more like teenagers or early twenties. Neither seemed to have their shit together or a clue what they were doing and neither were particularly likable. I was also confused as hell because Tina, a longtime resident of Brooklyn , seemed to lose every drop of her city skills and street smarts once she was dropped down in India. She couldn't figure out how to cross a road, appeared to have never seen poverty or homeless people and thus had zero clue how to act around them, and got sucked in by some half-baked hustlers.
The most difficult aspect of this book was the POV. With no transition, we get throw into other people's heads. And not just in a cycle of main characters (we regularly get POVs from her Dad, Mom, or friend. We also get thrown into the heads of random people with no rhyme or reason; Tina's taxi driver, the hustler, some rando leaning against a car maybe? It was very, very confusing and took a lot of adjusting to.
This seemed less like a novel with plot and direction and more like a collection of snapshots of the perspectives from Tina and the people surrounding her. Which was unique, but kind of strange.

This book was not great for me. It was a lot of little things, like almost exclusively unlikeable characters, several of them only ever referred to as Mr. or Mrs. (Last name). I thought the writing style was boring and lacked description, and the plot took too long to develop.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. The overall idea is fantastic and so much fun. The last quarter or so finally began to live up to my expectations and introduced some really interesting concepts, but most of the book needed a stronger editor. I do hope this author continues writing, as I mentioned, the ideas were strong, but they would be better served with more structure.

I’m obsessed with Destination Wedding. It’s a wonderful read for wedding season. I knew very little about Indian weddings but now I’m dying to be invited to one! They sound like so much fun!⁣ This book takes place in India, but the main character is American born. This could be a light, beach read, but instead it’s more.

The author touches on racism, and what it means to be an American born child to parents who are from India. ⁣The feeling of not being at home in either location is explored in a way that I found very relevant to today. I actually highlighted a few lines because they were eye-opening to me.⁣ It’s a summer read that has heart. 4 stars

I really like the premise and the author but I honestly had a really hard time getting though this book which is very unusual for me. I picked it up read some and could just never get into it. I like the characters, settings and situations that are in the book so I do not know why I couldn't finish it! I am obviously one of very few who didn't love the book and that honestly makes me glad but I am sure that I will enjoy what Basu is writing next!

Enjoyable book about the Das family traveling to India for a family wedding. Tina is traveling with her best friend, her divorced parents, and her mom’s boyfriend. This was a character driven book with some funny moments thrown in. I had to finish the story to find out what happened with Tina and especially Mr. Das. I loved Mr. Das and Rajesh characters the most and found myself more interested in what was happening with their stories than anyone else in the book.

While it added to some funny moments, I felt the side-stories of minor characters were unnecessary. I didn’t need to hear why the flight attendant was going on vacation or what the bus driver's wife was doing and so on.

Overall, I liked it and think this book would make a great movie and would love to see it on the big screen.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this eARC!

I could not get into this book...the beginning seemed all over the place. May try again another time.

I really wanted to love this, since it had everything in a book I love. But it fell flat. I found the main characters to be quite annoying and there to be unnecessary details when there didn't need to be.

Diksha Basu's The Windfall had just the right amount of quirkiness so Destination Wedding was high on my TBR list. That same quirkiness that shone through in The Windfall makes an appearance again in Destination Wedding, but where Basu mostly focused on a small cast of characters previous work, she does the opposite in her latest.

There were almost too many characters to keep up with, which made it difficult for me to initially keep them straight and/or care about their story line. At times, it felt like the story lines were meandering and characters who could have made the overall book more enjoyable were relegated to minor roles (e.g., the bride and groom).

It's also interesting to note the gratuitous white characters who were included in a story that centered Indian protagonists. I honestly can't say that the presence of either of them added much to the story and have to wonder if their addition was meant to broaden the writer's audience.

‘Destination Wedding’ by Diksha Basu follows Tina, her best friend Marianne, her divorced parents and mom’s new boyfriend from New York to a fancy expensive family wedding in New Delhi. The author’s strengths come through when she allows even minor characters a short vignette, giving readers a wide breadth of personal experiences. The novel becomes lush and expansive with the range of lives even momentarily exposed to the audience. The problems I had with the novel are largely my own. I thought when I picked the book up that it was a romance, but that’s not the case. It’s about a family determining what home looks like, how to create or recreate it, and what personal happiness can be defined by.

A character in this story says “But a grand extravaganza of a show about elaborate Indian weddings is exactly the need of the hour.” and she is right. This sweetly funny book is a welcome toddy to imbibe during this worrisome time of being cooped up at home. It is an armchair trip to an exotic land and anyone who has seen photos of the lavish and over the top Indian weddings most likely would enjoy an invitation to one. Destination Wedding hands you your ticket and virtual invite and I enjoyed it.

I found this book to be a fun read. I enjoyed exploring the real India with Tina and all of the Indian food sounded amazing! I was first drawn to this book based on the cover it is gorgeous, I also really liked the setting of the book. When I first finished the book I wished there were more details about the wedding hence it being in the title. After letting it sit in I realized the wedding was only a minor part of the book, meaning yes they are at a wedding but it wasn't the point of being in India. The book was about Tina finding herself and that made me really like this book. I am really happy I got to read this little gem.

This story explores not quite fitting in the two worlds she inhabits and is a fun read. The idea of being stuck between worlds was really interesting to me. Tina was a character I enjoyed spending time with, although the plot was a bit slow and her growth was very slow. Marianne was a less fully developed character and could have been expanded but because I was enjoying the ride with Tina, it mattered less. Tina's parents and the people in their lives were really nice additions and added a nice touch about what it means to date again after divorce at an older age and interracial dating, I enjoyed those scenes more. There was a strong sense of place in this book, including some really delightful snippets of people in the background of scenes Tina was in (like a fruit seller in the market). Overall I give this one 3.5 stars (rounding up) because while the premise was great, I didn't always feel it was so compelling. I didn't want to pick it up and find out what happened next or read these characters again, but I enjoyed reading it while I did.

In this pandemic, it is hard to imagine a big, elaborate wedding -- so this book is the perfect escape! Tina is not happy with her life, personally or professionally, so when she travels to Delhi for her cousin's extremely elaborate, over-the-top traditional wedding, she has high hopes of having a chance to reflect, recharge, and get a new perspective on life. As you might imagine, things are not that simple, but her love life definitely takes a turn for the better in this fun romance.

This was a fun read about an unconventional Indian-American family who travels together to India for a lavish destination wedding. The novel was more character-driven, as the story seems to take place over just a week, but I enjoyed learning everyone's backstories and how they dealt with issues in their pasts. My favorite characters had to be Mr. Das and Rajesh, who were colorful in their own ways.

I was absolutely obsessed with The Windfall and have been anxiously awaiting her follow up book. This story did not disappoint. Something about her writing just really works for me...her characters are so full and relatable. Basu finds the humor (or makes us see the humor) in everyday family and relationship drama and issues. In both her books, her father characters particularly grabbed my heard (I will now forever laugh at the mention of a Fitbit). Her books are the perfect summer reads that provide a great, humorous escape while still saying a lot about every day life.

I really enjoyed The Windfall, so I went into this read with high hopes... and I was not disappointed. I thought this piece was absolutely adorable. It’s a light and quirky book that is also relatable.

I loved the relationship dynamics that were showcased in all of the older couples. The writing style flowed beautifully- it’s definitely different, but so easy to fall into.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book!

The set-up here is pretty compelling--Tina, a non-resident Indian, travels to India with her family for an elaborate, multi-day wedding. Diksha Basu tries hard to create a "Crazy Rich Asians" plotline with similar vibes, but it fell flat for me because I found Tina to be dull and unlikable. I was much more invested in the other characters, particularly her parents (Radha and Neel), and found myself sighing when the book went back to focusing on Tina.

I also appreciated Diksha Basu's dry sense of humor--this especially comes through when she inserts little vignettes of the minor characters, which is one of my favorite plot devices.

Destination Wedding begins with a flight from the U.S. to India for Tina Das, her friend Marianne, Tina's mother (with her boyfriend), and Tina's father. Upon arrival, everyone spends their days going in different directions, meeting up occasionally over several days for different parts of a very posh wedding ceremony. You see peaks of drama, fun, and self-discovery as the days pass.

If you engaged Diksha's previous book (The Windfall), and like fictional family adventures and drama, this is a great summer read. It has some similar dimensions to Crazy Rich Asians in terms of privileged lifestyles and challenging relationships, and sheds some light also on the contrast in India. I also enjoyed seeing the relationship between Tina's parents, Neel and Radha, and how their romantic lives changed over time.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Ballentine Books for the ARC. All opinions are my own.
#DestinationWedding #NetGalley #travelfiction #weddingfiction #familydramedy