4.5/5 Stars

I am not sure what I was expecting when I picked up American Betiya, but I am so grateful that I did. The novel follows Indian-American teenager Rani as she meets and dates (in secret) a white boy named Oliver.

The novel is very character-driven (my favorite!) and so to some might come across as slow. However, the character development is so strong. Rani is such an incredibly complex character, a girl who has to learn who she is and who she wants to be even when it feels like her relationship is all-consuming. I was groaning and shaking my fist at Rani as she made mistakes because I only wanted her to know how much she belongs to herself, and cheering for her when she stood up for herself.

Anuradha D. Rajurkar is an outstanding writer, and her powerful YA debut is one that every teenager (and adult) should read. American Betiya is a breathtaking and moving account of identity, family, first love, and racism.

CW: sex, ambiguous sexual consent (character consents, but does not appear comfortable), racism, fetishization of women of color

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book did not disappoint!! I knew I had to get my hands on it with that title ‘American Betiya’. Please,please,please if any educators read my review - have this as required reading for your students in high school! The story is modern and so relatable with society today in 2021. It has themes of teenage relationships, self discovery, family drama - absent father, abusive parents, fetishization, addiction, guilt, racism, etc. This book will make a great open ended discussion amongst students. The main character Rani, is SO smart and sassy! I was rooting for her as early as chapter 1. And if publisher of Ms. Rajurkar is reading this review, please hire and promote more diverse Indian authors like this one. Thank you!

I was excited to read American Betiya, a story with an Indian American teenager grappling with family, culture, and identity. I could deeply relate to Rani's struggle with feeling torn between her cultures, and duty to family versus her own developing identity. There were parts of this book that really shone for me—I loved the closeness Rani has with her family, the exploration of family relationships (especially with Aaji and Aajoba), the strong friendships, and the importance of connecting to one's roots. It also addresses important issues like finding your place as someone with multiple cultures, exploring your identity independently of your family/parents, cultural appropriation, the fetishization of Asian (specifically Indian in this story) women, and toxic relationships. Unfortunately, I found Rani difficult to connect with beyond that. While the concept of the book was promising, Rajurkar's execution left something to be desired. I felt that with many of the serious subjects that were addressed, the book didn't always deal them appropriately, such as with drug addiction and some of the stereotypes that were included. I also could not stand Oliver and did not like the romance aspect of the book at all. I know this was an important part of the story with Rani dealing with a toxic relationship, but it made it difficult for me to enjoy the book. Not only was the romance too rushed, and insta-love for my tastes, but the pacing of the rest of it was off. I felt like there wasn't enough depth, or that it was too rushed in a way, too allow me to form an emotional connection or feel much of an emotional reaction during a lot of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Young Children's/Knopf Books for Young Readers for providing an eARC to review.

After 150 pages into the book, I didn't get any vibes of reading it anymore. Wasn't able to connect with the characters or storyline. I dnf-ed it. Maybe, this wasn't the right time to read it. It felt like I was just dragging myself to complete it but wasn't able to. Will try again in future.

I finished this in a day. I struggled to put it down. Rajurkar does an amazing job telling this story of first love, of othering, of the things we overlook when we're in love. This could have been some typical story of a brown girl falling for a white guy but it was told with so much nuance.. I am obsessed. Highly recommend!

Finally I got into reading YA and I am so glad that it was with this book which is so closer to home and the asian american experience.

American Betiya follows Rani, an Indian-American teen who meets a white boy named Oliver and begins dating him in secret. However, as the two continue to spend more and more time together, Oliver starts fetishing Rani and her culture, which creates complications in their relationship.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. The characters spoke to me. Rani — an Indian American girl negotiating two cultures and forbidden love is the highlight here. She is spunky and smart and sometimes makes questionable choices as most teenagers do which makes her more real.

I did feel that the writing was bland and uninteresting at times. It could have been more reflective of people's feelings and opinions rather than being judgemental in some cases. Other than that, the book definitely tackles a very tough subject - racism against the South Asian community in a neo-liberal city where the prejudice often takes place in the form of micro-aggressions. And how the world views Asians and their culture as something exotic and not natural like the western culture.

I thank Netgalley and Random House Childrens publishers for the ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Speaking of characters, I highly highly appreciated the fact that the author made them as real as possible, each one of them had a role to play in the protagonist's life which inevitably shaped her life and of course her outlook on her choices. I also loved the author brought out the colourful and vibrant cheerful Indian culture through the whole book, from being pampered by the relatives to laughing out loud without any hesitation and let's not forget the tantalizing delicacies, gosh! There were so many and every time there was a mention of Indian cuisine, I could imagine the aroma and flavor.
The plot was captivating right from the beginning. The story was immersive and while I loved the second half of the book more than the first, however, it doesn't diminish or discount the storyline and my love for this wonderful book.

This was a DNF for me-- and really early on too.
I went into this with really high hopes of reading a YA novel focused on a young girl of color, definitely something we need more of, but I just did not enjoy it.

I really did not like Oliver right off the bat and really couldn't finish it. Hearing him say phrases like "gorgeous Indian girl" and calling Rani "Princess Jasmine" the first time they intentionally spend time together and her liking it was honestly just too cringe to me. I imagine that's the point but honestly I knew it was probably going to get worse before it got better and I just could not finish it. Other than that I did enjoy what I did read, the writing style was good and the incorporation of Indian culture was also good! I'm bummed that one character ruined this for me but I really just cringed so hard I could not image actually finishing the book.

Thank you for the opportunity to review!

Breathtaking and unique. I loved getting lost in this book and loved learning more about cultures outside of my own. Rani's inner journey was wonderful, and I love the friendships she has. Such a great book!

The book starts with the phrase: "He's my mother's worst nightmare." Obviously, every Indian mother's worst nightmare is their daughter falling in love with a tattooed white guy who's also an artist. So when Rani Kelkar, a passionate photographer herself, comes across an equally passionate and charming artist Oliver Jensen, she can't help but fall in love with him. As Oliver woos his way into Rani's life, Rani begins lying to her parents to meet Oliver in secret, and she even uses her best friend Kate as a scapegoat. Rani does everything to hide Oliver from her parents - her Indian, conservative and hardworking family would never accept Rani dating in high school.

But their secret relationship turns into a nightmare of sorts. Oliver's dark past resurfaces, and even though Rani believes she can live with it, Oliver starts showing an unusual interest in Rani's culture. From calling her 'Princess Jasmine' to bickering her to wear saris and Indian jewellery - Oliver starts giving away all of these red flags. As if Oliver isn't in love with Rani, but is in love with her 'Indian-ness.' Rani tries her best to evade these signs by attributing it to Oliver's tragic past, but all falls apart when Oliver crosses his limits and turns Rani's life and her culture into a piece of art.

American Betiya made me tear-up. It's one of those books that makes you feel things. I could empathize with Rani. Her immigrant parents have expectations with her and her fear of not meeting those expectations is something I could relate with. Oliver comes off as this perfect male protagonist at first. Not gonna lie, I was heavily attracted to this idea of Oliver. But as soon as he gives these major hints about his fetish for Rani, my brain started ticking off. It's amazing how the author paints this picture of Oliver - in one instance I like how Oliver helps Rani become more confident in her art and makes her feel special, and in another instance he calls Rani 'exotic' and mocks Rani's parents for being so strict.

I have a feeling that the author wanted to show us both these sides - Rani's embracing her roots and culture and also acknowledging the conservative family issues, and Oliver being troubled at being made to hide from Rani's parents (which is not normal in American culture) and being genuinely disheartened by it. I tried to keep an open mind and feel these two characters' pov. It does make sense for Oliver to become frustrated and also makes sense why Rani hides him from her parents (in India, most of us tell our parents about our partners when we become independent and working adults).

The book has a good pace to it. The first half feeds us Rani and Oliver's rise and fall in their relationship and the second half gives us Rani's journey to self-realization and discovering the very roots of her life. The pacing made this book a quick read for me. I also loved how Rani and Oliver's relationship gradually progressed, with them slowly starting to know each other. And I genuinely loved reading about their intimate moments - they were neither rushed or too slow.

American Betiya has the perfect balance of romance and contemporary fiction. It's one of a kind. Unlike most interracial romances, American Betiya shows the darker side of falling in love with someone who no matter what wouldn't be able to embrace the minority culture. And kudos to the author, for bringing in the concept of 'festishization'. Many people do fetishize brown culture and brown people, which is often overlooked as 'love' for that culture. The book was a perfect representation of that fetishization. Also, themes like microaggression, reverse racism (which in reality does not exist) culture appropriation have been conveyed through American Betiya.

Rani Kelkar has never lied to her parents, until she meets Oliver. The same qualities that draw her in his tattoos, his charisma, his passion for art make him her mother's worst nightmare.
They begin dating in secret, but when Oliver's troubled home life unravels, he starts to ask more of Rani than she knows how to give, desperately trying to fit into her world, no matter how high the cost. When a twist of fate leads Rani from Evanston, Illinois to Pune, India for a summer, she has a reckoning with herself and what's really brewing beneath the surface of her first love.

Rani is an Indian-American teenager with a passion for photography, dreams of becoming a doctor, and a whirlwind of a relationship with Oliver, painter and resident bad-boy for whom she falls head-over-heels in love. She meets Oliver at a local art exhibit one day and their subsequent chemistry burns and singes themselves and those around them while they figure out who they are. This novel explores some of the complexities of interracial relationships and the pains of growing up with brutal honesty and careful nuance and is honestly the book I wish I could have read as a teenager.

I don’t quite know what I expected before I read this but I was prepared to feel bored by some of the worn tropes and stereotypes about India, South-Asian families, Indian-American girls, and teenage relationships in particular. though they are present, I was also surprised to find myself through a rollercoaster of emotion as the book took very different turns through all of it. The emotional intensity of unhealthy love, the push and pull of navigating two identities while also trying to grow up, balancing family and friendships, navigating racism and cultural differences, and using artistic expression as a means for self-discovery and communication were all aspects of the novel I found very compelling.

It made me so happy that this kind of incredible representation exists for South-Asian American teenagers now because it made me feel seen in a way I didn’t anticipate. Overall, this was a really enjoyable read and one that I was glad to have experienced. If you’re looking for books with more South-Asian representation, I definitely recommend you pick this one up and give it a shot!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC. I devoured this book. The story of Rani growing up American Indian was a perspective I myself have not read in YA contemporary, so it was really interesting and beautiful learning about growing up in that kind of life. The characters were really well written and the banter between them was fantastic. I very much enjoyed learning more about Indian culture; it's beautiful.

The story about Rani wanting to remain true to her parents, her culture, and herself was inspiring and you were rooting for through the whole book. I was constantly intrigued on what was going to happen next as this story focuses around her dating a white, tattooed, art boy (Oliver); someone who her parents would NOT approve. As the story unravels we see where their relationship goes and at the same time, learn about microagressions the BIPOC community face everyday. The story starts immediately with Rani meeting Oliver so there's no dilly dallying in the beginning which I appreciate. I will definitely be picking up a hard copy of this book to have in my collection!

A brilliant debut that explores young love and a journey of self-discovery. American Betiya explores culture, racism, microaggressions, privilege, toxic masculinity, and more through a cohesive and captivating narrative. An excellent contemporary YA that is filled with interesting characters and will surely resonate with many.

3.75/5 ⭐️ to American Betiya by Anuradha D. Rajurkar. Thank you so much to Penguin Teen Canada & Knopf Teen for an egalley to review!

I did quite enjoy this one, but unfortunately didn’t love it as much as I had hoped. I still think this is an awesome book, and recommend it if you’re looking for a coming of age YA contemporary that celebrates south Asian culture, family, and the messiness of teen love. Just a heads up that it is a bit more hard-hitting than the synopsis may suggest, and is not as sunshine-y. I think this is why I had to lower my rating a little bit. I really loved Rani & her relationship with her family and friends. She is by no means perfect, but I find her to be quite real, likeable, and she learns a lot of important lessons in this book. She has some beautiful heart-to-hearts with her grandma, mother, and cousins which help her figure out her feelings about a boy she likes, and the pull she feels between her parents’s culture & expectations, and her own. There is some really important commentary in this story about cultural appropriation, and the writing translates the MC’s emotions about these situations beautifully as well as the seriousness & hurt racism can cause. Especially now, this is so important! As for the romance, it was super cute at the beginning, but it quickly grew toxic after some red flags. Rani was ultimately able to realize this and take some appropriate steps, but also had realistic emotions that come with a scenario like that. Not what I was hoping for or expecting at the beginning, but I think it was so important and well done, nevertheless. There is also a lot of talk around art, artistry, photography, and finding your voice as an artist. Admittedly this aspect of the book & these characters did go over my head a bit, but I could still very much appreciate and learn about this. I expect readers who are more involved in the arts would totally relate to these themes & conversations. Definitely check out this book, as it’s so worth it! It may be a bit raw and messy, but there is such beauty in it, too!

As I'm now sitting, trying to sum up what I felt for this book, it feels nearly impossible because what justice will my words do to something that made me feel so many emotions at once? I'll still try my best to make this review as appealing as possible so that all of you read this book!😭

I'm a Marathi person, so this review might focus more on what I felt when I read this book, but I'll include all the other aspects too.

Never before in my life have I read fiction with Marathi representation. Starting the book and reading words like Baba, Aajoba, Aaji, Tai, they all made me feel so good. Representation really matters and I loved the accurate representation in American Betiya.

Not gonna lie, this book definitely seemed like a cringey “girl meets boy, they fall in love, family opposes and they still continue” romance. But, yes there's a "but" here, this is definitely not what happened.

Oliver and Rani meet, they fall in love. Even though Rani's parents want her to focus on her goals and not lose her focus because of love, that's what happens. Rani still goes ahead with it, and what happens next is so many things, all at the same time. She realises she's falling for Oliver, but he's not the same guy she met. He is too many things at once, and one of them is the guy who doesn't respect her culture.

People like me, people like Rani from the book, we are people who are very connected to our culture. We're taught that our culture is unique, and so we must respect it, cherish it. And that's what Rani did and I'm so proud of her for that.

There are many things I loved about the book, the representation, but also Rani and Kate's friendship, Rani's bond with her grandparents, her not being too close to her mother but eventually bonding with her, her cousins, and of course her courageous and kind heart.

The book is medium to fast paced and very easy to get into. There is also a part in the book which takes place in Pune, India and I absolutely loved it !! I would highl recommend this to people who want to see insights of Desi and Marathi culture.

There were a few things in the book I didn't agree with, like Mahatma Gandhi being called “great” I wouldn't try to make this controversial but I surely don't agree with that. And secondly Lilly Singh, who again isn't the "best" Indian rep out there. :)

I don't really know where to start with this one. This was kind of hard to read, and I wanted to kick Oliver in the face almost from the first moment we met him. I still want to kick him in the face. He deserves all the kicks to his awful, racist, misogynistic face.

This is a story that explores an all-consuming, manipulative, obsessive, extremely toxic relationship between an Indian American girl and a white American boy. Oliver spends their entire relationship fetishizing her and her culture. It's gross and problematic from the start, with him calling her "Princess Jasmine," telling her that "it's just meat" when she tries to explain why she's a vegetarian, wants to have sex with her while she's in traditional desi clothes for a wedding to act out his own fantasy of that, continuously blames her parents for EVERYTHING without EVER HAVING MET THEM, he calls her his "exotic Juliet," and he just... I mean, he piles microaggressions atop macroaggressions atop blatant racism and sexism and just... never recognizes what he's doing and saying as wrong.

And yes, I understand that was the point. I get that Oliver represents people who do these things and that their relationship was meant to be a portrayal of all the bad things. But I just spent so much of the book wanting to kick him in the face that I didn't spend any time enjoying much of anything. I liked Rani, and I liked how at the end of the day, she came to appreciate her family and culture, but I just wish we could have gotten more of that.

I really liked Rani's relationship with Kate and how great they were, how they came back to each other. They were awesome and I loved how much Kate loved Rani's family, and how she defended them at the end when Rani was explaining all the things Oliver said about them. I loved Rani's relationship with her family members and how she learned more about them and embraced them more fully.

Overall, this was a really good representation of a toxic romantic relationship, as well as of microaggressions and fetishization. Oliver was just such a good example of TRASH. Also, at the end, when he says he's seen as PROGRESSIVE and that he's a LEADER IN RACIAL AND FEMINIST ART?? Um, someone please kick him in the face and never let him anywhere near that stuff.

OH, I didn't even mention how he outed Rani to the world with his art piece at the end. This was awful. Freaking awful, and I love that Rani breaks up with him after this, but it just kills me that it took her this long to draw the final straw. I wanted her to kick him in the face over every little thing. He was just trash, and that is all I have to say about that.

CW: racism, misogyny, microaggressions, fetishization, manipulative romantic partner, drug abuse, suicide ideation, gaslighting, death of a loved one

Before the many things I'd love to say about this book, I'd like to say something again which I felt throughout reading this book, I finally feel represented!

Yes. American Betiya is a book which speaks to me on almost every aspect that the book covers - what it means to be Indian on a foreign land, what it means to stand by your cultures and to simultaneously create traditions of your own, what it means to be an individual when you belong to a very close knit community and many more. Having lived in Chicago as a teen, many references made in the book was like nostalgia hitting hard which ofc is another reason why I loved this book.

As the title suggests American Betiya is about a young Indian American woman Rani Kelkar who aspires to become a paediatrician and is also an amazing photographer. At one of her high school events, Rani meets Oliver, over whom she's falling deep in love with.

But the book isn't a love story, at least not in the sense of love between two people. Rather it is a story of self discovery and learning to love oneself. It's about Rani's journey to understand who she is within her own community and to the world beyond that.

To read the entire review head to my blog, link in bio!

American Betiya is raw but at the same time it's not misleading. It captures the true essence of not only many Indian families but families from different cultures as well and what it means to live under the white gaze in America.

I'd love to share a beautiful moment I coincidently shared with my dad while reading this book. Usually he calls me 'beta' but one night he chose to call me 'betiya' which caught me off guard but definitely made me smile because in that moment I knew that the author had caught on to the feeling behind the word perfectly. ❤️

I would definitely recommend it to all Desi's and to anyone who is willing to not dump their micro-aggressions on this story.

I'd like to thank @hearourvoicestours for organizing this wonderful book tour and for having me be a part of it!

Rani is an Indian-American teenager who has always obeyed her parents. She is eighteen and a senior in high school and has a passion for photography. Her parents want her to go to school for something more serious and Rani doesn't want to disappoint them. Then Rani meets Oliver, who is just the sort of guy that her parent's won't like. He's a white guy with lots of tattoos and an artist. Rani is drawn to Oliver because of his love of art and Oliver seems fascinated by Rani's Indian culture. Rani grapples with the new emotions of a first love and the complexities of a cross-cultural relationship, which she decides to keep a secret from her parents since they don't want her dating at all. This was a story that had just the right amount of angst and edginess. We are not dealing with the "perfect Indian daughter" here and Rani makes decisions that she fears would shock and disappoint her parents. Rani is a relatable protagonist trying to live a life that strikes a balance between being her own person and being a good daughter.

What to listen to while reading...
Oh! Sweet Nuthin' by The Velvet Underground
True Colors by Cyndi Lauper
Make Me Feel by Janelle Monae
Dreaming of You by Selena
Someone You Loved by Lewis Capaldi

This was a great story that explored a young lady and struggles with her culture. This is definitely relatable, especially the scenes with her mother.