This light-hearted tale takes us to India for a wedding and I found that setting intriguing. There’s an eclectic mix of characters, Tina – who is struggling to decide where she belongs -- in the U.S. or India? Her parents, now divorced, are along the for the trip and add to the character mix. Tina’s mother has brought along her American boyfriend and her father is starting to date again. Tina has brought her best friend as well and she’s looking for love too, although she has a great boyfriend at home.

Tina’s cousin is the one getting married and we get a bit of insight into all the work that goes into an Indian wedding. The wedding planner was a great comic character and I can picture her bustling about the scene! There are broad themes of belonging, identity, romantic happiness, and a bit on the divide of the wealthy and poor in India.

Overall, I enjoyed a bit of Indian culture and I was curious to find out how each character would ideally find some measure of happiness by the end of the book.

Looking for a charming feel good book? This is it. It's just a great story about families and choices and of course the wedding. Pick up this charming book and prepare to be dazzled. Deserves a top spot on your TBR stack. Happy reading!

Thank you Netgalley for sending me an early copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Destination Wedding tells the story of Tina and her divorced parents as they try to navigate the balance of dating and being there for family during Tina's cousins' wedding.
I wanted to read this as I don't often see Indian culture represented in fiction, as someone who has also gone through a wedding for a family member recently I wanted to read this and see the similarities of Indian weddings here in the Unites starets and Indian weddings taking place in India. so for that, I did enjoy this book. But I found Tina to be kind of two-dimensional, as someone who felt as if her place in New York no longer felt authentic Tina made no effort to immerse herself in everyday life in India, her character though saw the socioeconomic disparities for people's lives I felt as if the book was trying to make India palatable for non-desi people, the including of this plotline felt as if the book was trying to make a point as to say yes, what you see in of India as a third world country is true. Many times throughout the novel I kept having to remind myself that Tina is a grown woman as her vernacular didn't feel like it matched her age, I also hated Marianne as I saw her character as a gold digger rather than a best friend. The only people who's story I enjoyed was Tina's two parents as they showed the personality traits of actually being adults and trying to navigate dating around each other, their friendship was endearing.
As someone who doesn't see her culture represented too often in fiction, I expected more from this novel, while it was fun I found the overall majority of the character's to be unlikeable and the story to be confusing as Tina ultimately still doesn't know what she wants, which to me was jarring as her trip to India was supposed to be clarifying

There were things I really enjoyed about this book and a couple that I struggled with. Overall, I enjoyed the book.

I enjoyed the descriptions of India and Indian culture; it was fascinating to learn about this unfamiliar culture. Plus, you can experience India through the big cast of characters, from Tina's best friend Marianne to her divorced parents and her mom's boyfriend, to the widow her dad meets through an Indian matchmaking organization. Tina’s father was definitely my favorite of the bunch. Some moments were lighthearted and funny, and other moments that felt so relevant to what is going on in the world today. While the story focuses on a lavish Indian wedding, the author incorporates concerns around privilege and prejudices to make this book so much more.

I struggled with the fact that seems a little bogged down in details in a long book. It took a little bit to get used to the style. I was surprised that this book is, in essence, a coming of age tale for several characters that are over thirty. Putting these minor drawbacks aside, Destination Wedding is an enjoyable book.

Destination Wedding is a meandering work of contemporary fiction that takes place over the course of a weeklong wedding celebration in Delhi, India. Above all, this felt to me like an exploration of Delhi, the characters who act as narrators, and the varied relationships they have with India. The descriptive imagery throughout the entire narrative was extremely detailed and characterized the writing and the entirety of the novel for me.

There are a lot of players who make up this storyline. Tina and Marianne lead the narrative, at least at the beginning. Tina’s cousin is getting married, and she brings along her best friend Marianne with her, both traveling from Manhattan. Tina’ divorced parents come along as well as her mom’s boyfriend. I did not like Tina and Marianne. Both seemed very entitled to me, and Marianne’s fixation with dating men of different races and cultures felt problematic. I think she was constructed that way on purpose, but I’d wished Tina had addressed it. While in Delhi, Tina’s dad, Mr. Das, is set up with a woman who has been widowed. Their storyline was my favorite. The budding romance is not traditionally the type that’s written about, given their age, and it was heartwarming to see their renewed faith in love. I also really appreciated Mr. Das’s relationship with his ex-wife and their ability to support each other despite their divorce.

I’m a very plot-oriented reader, and as such, I struggled with this book. The descriptive language is fantastic, I felt like I could see, smell and hear Delhi through Basu’s wonderful prose, but it was a bit rambly. The asides from various, seemingly inconsequential characters, also threw me for a loop. It felt disjointed to me to suddenly have a bit of insight from someone who was not a main character, but in hindsight, it added to the overall atmospheric element of the novel. As an exploration of Delhi, and different inhabitant’s thoughts about the city, this worked well and gave a well rounded view of the city. If you are looking for a fast paced, plot driven narrative, this one may not be your cup of tea.

Reviews to be posted 6/30/20 and links added then

Destination Wedding seemed to be all over the place. The POV seemed to constantly change within chapters, making it difficult to keep track of whose story was being told. It didn't flow well for me, and so much felt like rambling.

Tina, her parents Radha and Neel, her mother's boyfriend David, and her friend Marianne all go to Delhi for a wedding- and lots of complications ensue. All of the characters are dealing with issues of identity and the future. Tina, an Indian who lives in Ohio, is 32 years old and struggling with work. She's never felt fully American but she's not feeling fully Indian either. Radha and Neel are divorced but friends. Marianne keeps picking and ditching romantic partners. The wedding is the catalyst everyone needs to rethink what they want to do going forward. There's some wonderful atmospherics (this is a high end wedding). While it's very much character driven, the plot does skip along. I liked the older characters more than Tina and Marianne (she got on my nerves!) Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This was a good light pandemic read (takes your mind off things) that would be perfect for the beach (if we were doing that) or the garden (if you've got one) or just the couch.

Destination Wedding seemed like the perfect read for me. I mean everything about destination weddings are always amazing. Unfortunately, this fell super flat for me. There were parts I enjoyed and others I didn’t. The narration was a bit confusing how it switches up so quickly. Some may love this one but it just didn’t work for me.

Thank you in advance to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy for my honest review.

Multicultural literary fiction at its best.

With an engaging writing style, Destination Wedding is rich with realistic relational drama and well-developed characters.

Highly recommended for readers interested in #OwnVoices literary fiction.

I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley, and would like to thank the author and publisher for the opportunity to read and review this.

In the beginning, Tina, her best friend, her divorced parents, and her mom’s boyfriend fly to India to attend a family wedding. The bride and groom have decided not to follow the traditional Indian wedding format, leaving the guests lots of time to pursue outside activities.

I enjoyed this book, but it took me a lot longer than usual to read. The plot felt a little disjointed to me, with characters (a BIG cast of characters) coming and going in all directions, sometimes meeting up, sometimes not. The chapter headings didn’t have anything to do with what was in the chapters, and some of the characters seemed simply there to hold space, as we never heard much about them again. There did not seem to be much resolution for some of the characters, and other storylines seemed like their arcs were rushed to a conclusion. I really expected to like this one more than I did, but I never felt like I wouldn’t finish it.

Tina, born and raised in America by her now-divorced Indian parents, travels with her family to India for her cousin’s wedding. This book has no distinguishable plot other than to capture the love lives of all of those encountered for the week of the wedding. While it’s a romantic book, it feels like more of a coming-of-age tale than a romance, despite all of the characters being over thirty. Each character is attempting to find out what makes them happy, whether that’s marriage, a lack of marriage, a new city, a new partner, or something else. The writing is unique, and switches perspectives often, capturing the thoughts of everyone from Tina and her family to their driver and the wedding planner. The amount of detail and way the stories are woven together into one book is truly fascinating, though the length makes it a bit of a slog, especially given the slightly stilted way things are phrased (I believe it’s a British English dialect, as opposed to American). Overall, the story is simply *interesting* to no end and if you hate one character there’s a dozen more to root for, making it a sure-fire enjoyable read. And don't forget to read the chapter titles...

For a cute, quick read, Destination Wedding does not disappoint. Tina attends her cousins large, lavish wedding, with her divorced parents, and entire family. Does she find what she is looking for?

Thank you Random House for sending me this copy.
As many have already pointed out, Destination Wedding is a story about a family and their friends going to India to attend a lavish wedding ceremony. We meet our main character Tina a 30 something single woman who, along with her bestie and divorced parents, must also contend with her extended family and potential love interests.

I found the highlights of the book were her parents and their inner thoughts. They are interesting and it is rare we see older characters involved in romantic plot lines to this extent. We see hints of their past relationship but both have moved on and it was refreshing to see their interactions as they acknowledged their history.

I also loved the humor of this story, with moments that had me laughing out loud. Indeed there are quite a lot of quirky characters and we are privy to many of their inner thoughts which keeps the story fresh. The dialogue is quick witted, my favorite type. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention the setting and the wonderful descriptions, especially the food and clothing.

Readers should be aware that there are multiple points of view and sometimes it was a bit confusing as it could change from paragraph to paragraph within a chapter. I also found Tina made some questionable choices during the trip that confused me and made me not relate to her as much as I thought I would.

I would recommend for readers who want a quick read with a large quirky group that will give you moments that make you smile within a culture that is still rarely featured.

I first fell in love with this book the way you are not supposed to...from the cover. It drew me into India, with colors swirling. Then with wit and charm, it's story told me of family, career and everything in between.

3.5 stars

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Destination Wedding caught my attention thanks to the colorful cover, and the blurb sounded interesting as well. And while I have mixed feelings on it, I still feel like it’s a pretty solid book.

The writing is compelling and even funny at times, making this a fun, quick read that was easy to get into and kept me turning pages. I also felt India as a setting was well drawn, especially when the characters were talking about the changes occurring around them.

However, there’s a lot of emphasis put on the relationships between these different characters attending the extravagant Indian wedding, and I found some of their drama a little petty, particularly Tina’s indolent approach to her work and Marianne’s gold digging tendencies. The only redeemable characters were Tina’s divorced parents, because of their enduring friendship and sort-of partnership.

If anything, this book is full of desi family drama, so I think it’s worth taking the good with the bad. If that sounds like your sort of thing, then I recommend picking this one up.

Unsurprisingly, I really, really loved this. I loved reading about all the characters. I loved the internal struggles. The dialogue and relationships between the characters felt natural and not forced at all. One of my favorite aspects of this book is the setting; I am a complete sucker for wedding planning/weddings/and the fall outs from weddings. This book was exactly what I was looking for!

I tried to read this one but ended up DNF’ing this. The main character, Tina, is so cringeworthy. It seems like the author is trying too hard for this to be a Crazy Rich Asians type of book, but failed miserably. I loved her first book, The Windfall. This one has an interesting premise, but I’m not fond of the writing style at all. There’s way too much description. What bothers me the most is the micro aggressive behaviors that the characters exhibit.

Since I didn’t finish the book, I feel it’s unfair to leave a review on outlets as I don’t want to lower the rating.

This is a very interesting premise and I enjoyed following the characters but the writing style was really not for me. The book definitely dragged a lot, and felt much longer than it needed to be. However I appreciated learning about Indian culture and traditions.

Full review is on the blog, www.acourtofbooksandbrews.com

⭐⭐💫

Overall, while there were bits and parts of the book I enjoyed, it fell flat for me. I found the chapters to be too lengthy and the characters more under than over developed. I love that the Indian culture and rituals were incorporated in the book, because it felt more authentic. I honestly think this would probably have been better as a movie instead of a book.

Many thanks to netgalley and Ballantine Books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

“David Smith. Very American. I imagine he loves grilled cheese sandwiches. I personally don’t understand how anybody over the age of eight can stand those.”
I was really excited to dive into a novel about an NRI (Non-Resident Indian) going to India for a wedding, something that most of us desis can relate to. The plot itself was relatively interesting, if extremely predictable. I also loved the little chapter headings, which were hilarious!
However, the language felt like it was for middle schoolers, which was a bummer since the main character is nearly forty (“It was hot in the lounge so her Guess fur vest was hanging off the chair behind her,”).
Also, can someone explain to me why this cover looks like it was designed in MS paint?
This book tried really hard to be a Crazy Rich Asians, but the main issue is that Tina is just so annoying. I suppose this could have felt fresh and exciting for someone who isn’t an Indian-American, but to me, it just felt awfully stale. Tina’s repeated insistence that she doesn’t fit in anywhere just sounds like adolescent whining. She’s constantly using her immigrant status to separate herself when the truth is that she just doesn’t want to fit in. Her insecurity and complaining got very old, very fast. This immigrant sob story is nothing new, and it’s so individual to every second generation immigrant that it’s impossible for this to feel authentic. For example, Tina’s insistence that she can move to India is … unrelatable. There are genuinely a lot of Indian people in America, Tina! They will be way more likely to understand you! There’s nothing wrong with moving to India, but her keeping it as a backup is wrong, because she knows nothing about the place and would definitely feel even more isolated there. Also, Tina, if you can’t even cross the street or stay away from street food, you are definitely not cut out for life in India.
This novel also ignored the sentiment of most NRIs: a love for the culture and people of India, but a deep distrust of the entrenched systems in India. This is unavoidable, and to skim over it is a blatant erasure of the immigrant life.
The story flows along as a sort of ensemble drama, where we hear about Tina, her parents, and her best friend’s struggles. But honestly, none of them were actually that interesting. None of the subplots were developed well enough and everything was either predictable or unbelievable. I wish we had gotten to hear more about Shefali (the bride); she’s snarky, rich, and lowkey panicking about her wedding. She seemed like the most interesting character and her few scenes made me laugh.
I was really hoping for a sweet light hearted story that explored the duality of being a second generation immigrant, but all I got was a hodge podge novel that stuck to the shallowest themes possible.