1950s sexism is not my thing, no matter how many fascinating cultural elements are included. also, I don't like books with no clear ending. If reading a second book is required to finish the story, the publisher should indicate that in marketing.

Being of Indian heritage myself, I was eager to delve into this book and see 'my' culture represented. Sadly, while that was the case in the wedding customs and such, the characterization was off track, it had me scratching my head repeatedly. What had me most troubled is that this is supposed to be a modern story, what with mentions of Sheetal being in college and coffee shops selling iced Americano costing hundreds of rupees a glass. But the mindset seemed to be stuck in the 50s-60s-70s of India. A modern young woman who's grown up in India is not this clueless about arranged marriages, poverty v/s money, that love means you can live off water and stale bread and all will be rainbows and butterflies. Sheetal was just so clueless that she read like a Westerner and not an Indian woman. Every Indian girl knows about the importance of marrying 'well', family honor, that duty to family always wins over love. She acted like she didn't know a thing, and there's so many countless movies and soaps showing the stifled and stilted life inside an in-laws' house that she should've known better. Again, this read like a story that should be set in the 50s or 60s, not post-2000 in modern India

Gorgeous cover! But, a weird mashup of Indian cultural desperation and retro-alpha male chauvinism. And when I say retro-alpha I don’t mean like Kristen Ashley’s swoon worthy hero’s but the ‘70’s kind with not enough groveling. Also, if you plan to read this I recommend waiting for the sequel (if there is one?) to read this as there is no form of ending.

Thank you Net Galley for a copy of this book. I did not enjoy this book as well as I could have. I found it sad and hopeless.

I really enjoyed a number of things about this book. I love India and the culture, and this was really in-depth and gorgeously described in a lot of ways. I liked the snippets about why they did certain rituals and what was expected of people within their culture.
Aaaand that's sort of the end of my 'likes' about the book. I was genuinely engaged in the saga of Sheetal and Rakesh, and often kind of horrified and hopeful about it, but the drama of their marriage seemed rather uneven. I never quite knew if this was about to go from an abusive scenario to one of redemption. If this was going to be a story with a romance later (seriously, where did Arvind go? Is he okay? Did he just... poof?) or if Rakesh, who spends a lot of time being wildly awful one moment and then nice the next, was who I should root for? I felt a little bad that there were many instances where I didn't like Sheetal, like I wanted her to grow up and be less entitled but as the book went on, those traits just got more pronounced.
There appears to be a second book wherein we might delve more deeply into the messed up business of Rakesh, which honestly is why I'm offering it a three-star rating, because despite not really enjoying anyone's story in this first book, I am actually interested in seeing what happens next.
Also, some pretty big trigger warnings of rape and abuse.
I received a copy of Duty and Desire in advance with Netgalley in return for a review.

Duty and Desire provides details about the extravagance of India's upper class from wedding preparations to everyday life. There seems to be no middle ground for families seeking advantageous marriages. The book is at times heartbreaking, maddening, and hopeful. I enjoyed a peek inside the unfamiliar customs and felt great satisfaction when Rakesh's little sister showed more backbone than any of the main characters. I'm curious to see how the second book plays out.

I don't want to be unkind and discourage authors but I'm not sure what to say about this book.
There is lots of detail about the wedding preparations and the customs of the ceremony which is interesting to someone who is not of that culture.
The story is a bit of a mess.
Before anything I will point out it doesn't really have an end. Is it continuing? Was that it? There is no information and if that was the end I don't get it.
All the characters are obsessed with wealth, brands of shows the Heroine wearing, how much all the jewelry is worth even the heroine.
At first I found her shallow but the author I think was trying to convey the alternative to marrying wealthy was to be poor with issues with water etc which was an interesting concept but I didn't think the way it was written worked.
There may be possible triggers of rape, not huge detail of intimacy but some.