When I read the synopsis, I laughed out loud because a guy with tattoos is every desi mom's biggest nightmare (at least in my home😂).
Rajurkar's 'American Betiya' is all about Rani, who falls in love with Oliver, entranced by his charming personality and anxious about lying to her parents. In this cross-cultural romance, family drama, identity crisis, and sense of loss of one's position in this nonsensical world play a major role.

Rajurkar's writing is easy and at times, tedious. More than the writing style, it's the plot that won me over. The themes blend beautifully with the characters, each one built with precision. The story is accessible to people of all nationalities, giving a bird's eye view of desi families and their beliefs, and yet letting the readers understand the story (and cultural differences) at a steady pace.

This novel was so well done and difficult at times to read. I think the author did a wonderful job of bringing the reader along with Rani’s emotional journey and the way her relationship with herself, her identity, and others shifts and changes. I really liked Oliver at first and I was disappointed and betrayed by him in tandem with Rani. This book was so complex and I think it did a great job of talking about a lot of really nuanced and difficult topics like micro aggressions, relationships, and fetishization.

American Betiya‘s main character is Rani, a teenager at a crossroads. She loves her culture and feels a deep tie to it but feels conflicted because her mother uses her background to keep a hold on her. Her upbringing has been school, scholarships, and no boys. While Rani knows her parents want the best for her she feels constrained because she feels as if she cant explore more of the world around her. When Rani meets Oliver an artsy kid she immediately falls hard for him. Though they come from two different backgrounds they share a deep connection. But will those same differences tear them apart?

This is also a coming of age narrative filled with rich culture and heritage. Rani’s interracial relationship brings up many discussions about cultural differences and socio-economic backgrounds. Rani is coming to grips with choosing a college, trying to get some space from her family, navigating high school. Meeting Oliver shakes things up exposes her to new ideas while he learns more about her culture.

Though everything seems sweet with Oliver at first things are not what they seem. I appreciated how this novel explores culture and heritage. It brings up questions about how cultures clash, respecting others’ culture, and traditions vs a modern world. Its thought-provoking and it opens a large discussion about racism, ethnicity, and feeling conflicted about your upbringing. While Rani has a loving and supportive family but also feels like they overstep boundaries. Which is something everyone has experienced being a teenager. It’s a story about crossroads, growing up, and the consequences of our actions which is summed in this conversation between Rani and her grandmother:

“The best masalas use spices slow-roasted over the flame,” she says, “browned, even a little burned. We are like that only— we burn a little to attain the complex flavor.”

This is a beautifully written YA contemporary debut and I enjoyed it thoroughly. American Betiya is a book that you should add to your TBR.

TW: Racism, Drugs/Alcohol

I truly wanted to love this book — American Betiya centers around an Indian-American protagonist who has felt like she has to choose between two cultures, which is a feeling that I am all too familiar with. I loved the beginning of the book, when Rani has her art show and her vibrant family shows up to support her. I also loved how close she is with her family. I think this book touches on really important issues such as the fetishization of Indian women and connecting with your heritage. However, I found Rani hard to connect with — to me, it seems like she was written as a stereotypical high-achieving student who wants to go into medicine. I just couldn't finish this book and may pick it up again in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

My thoughts:
I was really excited to read 'American Betiya' and I have to say it didn't disappoint me. I totally loved Rani, her character was well crafted and was multi dimensional. I was able to easily connect with her. I liked she was proud of her culture and didn't let anyone make her feel ashamed of it. The book deals with themes like: racism, ethnicity, culture differences, toxic relationships and drug addiction.
Anuradha was also able to capture what it means to be a South Asian living in a western country really well.
I did have some issues with the book. The pacing was the main problem- I felt it was very inconsistent and got somewhat repetitive towards the end and some scenes could have been easily deleted without affecting the book much. Also I didn't like that the author described Gandhi as "great" because he was known to be misogynist and racist.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I think this book has one of the best South Asian representation. If you like books by Nisha Sharma, Sandhya Menon and Sophie Kinsella than I think you will certainly like this book.

This was a very interesting, emotional story.

AMERICAN BETIYA is full of raw feelings of growing up, new love and how to manage life when your partner doesn't understand where you're coming from. It is filled with beautiful prose about setting boundaries with parents who need to know everything.

I very much think this does to readers what I'LL GIVE YOU THE SUN did. I felt so captivated by the relationships, narrative, and the characters.

This beautiful book captivated me and I enjoyed Rani's journey. Her secret white, tattooed boyfriend is not at all what Rani's Indian family has in mind for her. Although Rani's relationship with Oliver starts off fun and sex positive, it takes a turn to racism and some fetish-like, controlling behavior.. Rani's trip to India when her grandpa dies provides time, advice, and clarity to make decisions about what she wants for the rest of her life.

American Betiya by Anuradha D. Rajurkar is an enlightening story about an Indian teenager secretly dating a white boy and trying to fit in. This is a great story of individuality and fitting in. Rani is a high schooler focused on her secret boyfriend which causes her to stray away from her family and friends. She is put in uncomfortable situations and has to figure out how to deal with them. When Oliver starts calling her an Indian princess and making questionable decisions Rani has to decide what she will do. Rani isn’t allowed to date and her parents would definitely not approve of her boyfriend. Rani grows up in a culture very different than mine, so I found it enlightening to hear her story. Family is important to Rani, so it is hard for her to go against her family’s wishes. I also found it very interesting that Rani’s best friend, Kate, is white and seeing how she fits in with Rani’s family. Kate’s reaction to everything going on with Oliver was interesting. Kate was a great friend to Rani throughout everything. Difficult issues like drug use are discussed in American Betiya. Rajurkar does an excellent job bringing the reader inside Rani’s perspective to think and feel like her. There were many situations that I was angry with while reading that I might not have even realized in person. I recommend American Betiya for anyone interested in an entertaining novel about teens and Indian culture.

Thank you Books Forward, Random House Children’s/Knopf Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for American Betiya.

Anuradha D. Rajurkar’s American Betiya is an ownvoices novel about Rani Kelkar, an Indian American teen who enjoys photography, volunteering to work with kids, and intends to pursue pre-med in her goals of becoming a pediatrician. Her world comes crashing down when she falls for Oliver Jensen, an artist with a troubled home life. When Rani becomes immersed in his dark past and even darker present, her world begins to fall apart at the seams as she struggles to maintain a grip on her own life and sense of reality.

[excerpt; full review included in link below]

Synopsis: This novel follows Rani, an Indian American girl who has a passion of photography and dreams of being a doctor, and Oliver, a painter that she falls for and ends up dating. They meet at an art exhibit and immediately have so much chemistry. This novel follows the complexities interracial relationships with such honesty and force (tw: fetishing, microaggressions). This book is more than just a love story in my opinion, as we watch Rani grow as a character. I felt drawn to Rani's character, since there were so many similarities between us—her love for her family, her passion for art, her dreams of being in the health field, her strong voice. I really appreciated how Rani's family was characterized with intentional nuance, since I could tell this was written from a place of love.

Reflection: I’m filing this one under “books that I desperately I needed when I was 14." This book is for the nourished my soul and healed the younger me. So much that I share a dedication to this book in a loose free write format.

Dedication: The younger Krithi who struggled with experiencing her love for art and her dreams to be in health/ Who was told that being "too multifaceted" was overwhelming/ Who was told art is a hobby, but not a career/ Who couldn’t name micro aggressions from yt high school boys/ Who couldn't quite understand what was wrong about being told that your bushy eyebrows and hairy thighs were incredibly sexy because they were "so Indian" at the age of 16/ Who couldn't quite say no/ Who had crushes on yt boys really interested in your art only to mansplain art to you/ Who had crushes on yt boys only to make a mockery of your culture/ Who had crushes on yt boys only to pressure you into thinking your culture was wrong and evil/ Who struggled with functioning in PWIs/ Who loved her culture but hated the way people fetishized it/ Who fiercely loved her family but was tired of explaining to people why their truths and values were the way the way they/ Who couldn't quite balance two cultures/ Who trusted too many Olivers/ Who wanted to protect all the Ranis out there/ Who wanted to protect herself & wanted to be seen more than anything

I was so excited to read this book but I’m utterly disappointed. This was such a stereotypical ABCD story (American Born Confused Desi) and most new things added to the formulaic plot are kinda boring or worse, problematic. I am South Asian, fully, and grew up in South Asia but I also live in the States. This book treats its white characters horribly and is set on perpetuating all the negative stereotypes about white people that many Asian people have. I’m also not impressed with the way the book handles drug abuse. It seems like even though the author is *saying* that we should not ostracize people who fall into addiction, the way she wrote about all the characters who take drugs was very demonizing. Not that I’m saying drug abuse is okay or that we should be coddling addicts, but it just makes so sense why this subplot was even added to the story if it wasn’t to show “all the bad things about American culture.” Even Rani’s best friend, who apparently everyone adores, is still framed as a stereotypical promiscuous American teenager.

Overall, this felt less like a book that celebrates or sheds light on second/third generation South Asian immigrants and more like one that follows the outdated and concerning plots that go “immigrant children are ruined by American culture.”

I thought this would be a cute contemporary novel but I didn't end up liking it as much as I had hoped. I did like Rani, her family, and her best friend, Kate. The cultural differences and sex positivity were portrayed well. It also sheds light on racism, sexism, and taboos.

The love interest Oliver was such a bad character. He had a ton of red flags, fetishes Rani constantly, and completely naive. He becomes highly manipulative. gas lights, belittles, and also, extremely weird. I know that it was the point of the character but I really couldn't stand him. Rani also becomes annoyingly obsessed with him and struggles to stand up for herself. Later on she does begin to find herself and her identity but until then, I found her so frustrating.

Some of the dialogue felt stilted and the writing was choppy. The pacing just kind of stops and slows down before picking up again towards the 60% mark. I appreciate the diverse read of an Indian American girl character and everything was wrapped up well in the end but I just think this one is a little forgettable.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Anuradha D. Rajurkar’s debut novel American Betiya follows Rani Kelkar, an Indian American girl in her final year of high school. The story opens at a photography exhibition showcasing some of Rani’s pieces, where Rani meets the enigmatic Oliver and very quickly enters into a relationship with him. With the help of her best friend Kate, Rani hides her growing relationship with Oliver in order to maintain her perfect image to her tight-knit Marathi community, all the while suppressing the niggling doubts that arise over the course of her relationship with Oliver.
The first thing any reader should be absolutely clear about going into this book is that it is not a typical romance, or even a romance at all. The warning signs that their relationship might not be entirely healthy are clear almost from the very beginning, and the author does a really good job at making the reader understand that what is happening is not okay even if Rani herself might brush it off. Rani is lucky to have an incredible support system in her friends and her loving family, but the secret nature of her relationship means that Rani is often dealing with her conflicting feelings alone or without the guidance of older people who could help her. I don’t think that the author is trying to say that Rani made the wrong choice in hiding her relationship, but she is instead pointing out how parents’ rigid and often unforgiving expectations of their children can cause unnecessary grief.
The first half of the book is consumed by Rani and Oliver’s romance in a way that feels almost suffocating, which mirrors Rani’s feelings about Oliver and points out to the reader how much every other aspect of Rani’s life has become secondary to her relationship in an unhealthy way. But even the first half of the book is peppered with quiet moments that show the deep love that Rani’s friends and family have for her. Two of the most pivotal relationships in the novel are those between Rani and her Aaji and Aajoba (her grandparents). The author does a beautiful job of illustrating Rani’s close bond with them through quiet moments and impactful heart-to-hearts. Some of the book’s most lingering images, such as a metaphor where burning masala reflects the intermingling of love and pain, are derived from conversations Rani has with her Aaji or childhood memories of her Aajoba. It was in these moments that I thought Rajurkar’s writing shines the brightest.
After the novel’s climax, which is a devastating event that compounds all of the toxic traits of Rani’s relationship with Oliver into a single canvas, a tragedy brings Rani and her family to Pune, India. Rani’s trips to Pune reminded me a lot of my own. Like Rani, my time in the city is comprised of sporadic visits during various summer and winter vacations over the years, most recently in January 2020. Rani’s trips around the city with her cousin Shalini reminded me a lot of my cousin, my dada, who generously drove me to historic sites and bookstores across the city despite having a demanding job. Thanks to some much-needed open-ish conversations with her relatives, Rani’s time in Pune results both in clarity on her situation and an unveiling of her parents’ past. In short, it becomes clear to Rani that she is more similar to her mother than she ever knew. In my experience visiting Pune and family in other parts of India, gathering many generations under one roof can make it easier to imagine my parents as they were before they were parents, and I think the same is true for Rani. Moments like these, more so than any of the descriptions of the sights and sounds of the city, made me feel like I was back in Pune while reading American Betiya.
As a Marathi American from the Chicagoland area, my teenage self would never have imagined that anyone would write a Young Adult novel about our communities. I am glad that this book exists to inspire other second-generation immigrants that we don’t have to resort to stereotypes or the white gaze in order to tell our stories. One other thing that I think this book does really well, either intentionally or unintentionally, is highlight how Marathi and other Indian American communities can be really isolated. Immigrants understandably often congregate with people of similar backgrounds, but that results in their children inhabiting a sort of bubble where their perceptions of their culture and background are given to them through a narrow lens - at least, that’s how I feel looking back on my childhood. It took me until college to really become aware of how varied traditions and customs are between different Hindu communities. There is a line where Rani tells Oliver that Hinduism considers animals sacred, therefore killing them for food is not okay. It is entirely likely that most, if not all, of the Hindus Rani knows are vegetarian, or that she might believe that those who are vegetarian are more religious than those who aren’t. This could absolutely be explained by the possible homogeneity of her parents’ Hindu family friends in terms of their dietary habits. But the reality is that this is a very reductive view of Hinduism, when many Hindu communities, including my own, regularly eat different kinds of meat, albeit with some restrictions, and have done so for centuries. I’m not trying to criticize Rani or the author for this - after all, I was definitely similar to Rani in the narrowness of my experience when I was her age. It’s just interesting to me how the insularity of many Indian American communities is reflected in the novel.
This is a story that hits all the right emotional beats and adeptly steers clear of cliches and stereotypes. Rani is a well-rounded character who makes several mistakes, but through her support network of friends and family she is able to reconsider her guilt, her shame, and her complicated feelings. I would highly recommend this novel for anyone looking for a Young Adult novel that is willing to have tough conversations about love, sex, family, and identity, while also never losing sight of hope and the support of one’s loved ones.

I didn’t just read this book, I experienced it.

Generally, I talk about “experience” in fantasy or science fiction books because they take me out of this world more and create an entirely new one. In those books, I mostly experience the world and the magic.

In American Betiya, I experienced Rani’s life. From start to finish, Rani’s feelings were my feelings. At some parts I was uncomfortable but I soon realized that it was intentional. Every chapter in this book in so intentional with building up the story and conveying meaning to the readers through Rani’s story.

The writing complements the story so well. It is descriptive and immersive. I have so many highlights and annotations, I wish I could show them all and explain each one.

Rani is a high school student experiencing her first crush and relationship. Finding someone who likes you back as much as you like them is hard, especially at a young age. First relationships feel so magical* with butterflies and newfound confidence.

*in books, at least. I’ve never dated so don’t ask me, lol.

Generally, relationships in young adult contemporaries follow a pattern. They have a meet-cute, fall in love, break up for a bit due to something, and get back together stronger to give a happy ending. About 20% into the book, I expected the same from American Betiya. And honestly, I was not interested in it.

The book had so much more to show through Rani, especially with the setup of her family, identity, culture, and community. I felt like the romance was dulling the book and wished that it did not exist at all. I was not interested in Rani being in love with Oliver, a tattooed and pierced “mysterious” artist white boy.

All is not what it seems, though. Rajurkar has artfully woven this relationship to show us concepts like microaggressions, cultural fetishization, and obsession.

Tied in with these general concepts are also facts that are specific to Indians. How nose piercings for us can be viewed as a traditional Indian thing and not a rebellious teenage act. What our culture means to us even if we are not super religious. What the word “exotic” means to a brown-skinned girl.

Through the smallest things like off-hand comments and seemingly benign interests, the relationship signifies so much.

After the book ended, I spent a while thinking about the beginning and all the small things that I missed or shook off that were silently building to the story which would rattle me later.

I am struggling to explain it well without bringing up specific scenes and spoiling the book. Just, trust me when I say that the writing and representation are really good.

While Rani’s relationship with Oliver is the main plotline in this book, it does not completely define her identity. Rani’s family play a huge role and it is what I related to because the family is so Indian and familiar to me.

From Rani hiding her relationship from her family—which literally every single friend of mine with a relationship has done for the same reasons—to learning more about her parents through others because Asian parents don’t think their past as important to narrate to their kids. Even her justifying being vegetarian even though she is not highly religious spoke to me because I’m the same.

There was enough focus on Rani’s relationship with individual members of her family which made her character whole. No character, especially Asian, is complete without a deep dive into familial relationships.

Through it all, American Betiya is a story of growth through experiences. Rani has a very meaningful time in her life in this book which teaches her many things and causes her to grow in ways that can’t be measured.

Rani learns about herself, her self-identity, her passions, what she is willing to share, where to draw the line, and how to identify and navigate uncomfortable situations and conversations.

The title is apt. American Betiya is about what it means to be an American-Indian daughter. And it is written so well.

P. S. I’m not including a rating for this book because my ratings are highly subjective to my feelings and whether the book made me cry. My thoughts for this book mean so much more than my rating.

READ. THIS. BOOK.

Heartwrenching and beautiful. Desi girls finally got the quintessential coming of age novel, except it actually focuses on us. The author did not shy away from uncomfortable scenes or topics. It was brave and nuanced.

Rani is every desi parent’s dream. Studious, responsible, helpful, kind, and never ever talks to boys. Oliver is her mother's worst nightmare. Tattooed, artsy, and has a tough life. Naturally, opposites attract and soon this blooms into a beautiful, forbidden first love. But Rani can't date. She can't even be friends with boys. So this scandalous affair needs to be kept under wraps, something Oliver can't seem to understand. He wants to be a part of her Indian culture but is highly critical of the downsides of being from a traditional desi family.

Unfortunately, I got mildly spoiled by other reviews and kind of wish I hadn't been so proceed with caution.

Gradually things grow much more intense. The highs are high, but the lows are oh so low. What was once passionate love turns into something darker, and a little more sinister.

I appreciated the fact that they humanized Oliver. He is a product of his circumstances, just like Rani. He’s not perfect and neither is she. The issue is that he wanted everything from her and she just couldn’t give that to him. He is struggling with an alcoholic mother and now a pregnant sister and the financial burden that's about to come. However, that doesn't make up for his disrespectful and culturally appropriating actions.

They loved each other, that was clear, but it doesn't mean it wasn't toxic. I do believe he genuinely cared about her, he just lacked the self-awareness to realize how harmful some of his words and actions were. It's a demonstration of how you can love someone and still be racist towards them.

There was one scene, in their car when they were having sex that was… shocking. Disturbing. And then with the mural. Wow. Especially what happened immediately after that gutted me because was not expecting that to happen. I knew she would end up in India, but I'd assumed that it would be because her parents caught them and as punishment took her back.

The stuff about Nilesh also made me very emotional and weaved into the narrative beautifully. It really showed how conditional the love in desi communities can be. How the desi community betrays the people who struggle.

I will say that at the beginning her narration seemed a little young. I wasn’t sure how old she actually was. But as the book progressed it definitely got very very mature. The beginning was also slow but about halfway through I couldn't put it down.

To be honest, I can’t imagine this book ever having major mainstream success among a typical white American audience. It’s just not something I think anyone who isn’t a person of color could truly understand. The representation was excellent though. Indian girls can get good grades and be responsible, but still break the rules and be in relationships and love art and photography and even (gasp) have sex. Even though I can't imagine it becoming the next Perks of Being a Wallflower (as much as I would love that because this book sooo deserves it) I am so grateful that a book like this finally exists. We American Betiya deserve it.

What is culture? Scholars over decades have come to a conclusion that it is nothing but a way of life that may or may not be compatible with those of other cultures. This is why the big conflict of 'liveability' comes into show. People of a particular group are scared to associate themselves with those of others.

'American Betiya' is the story of Rani, a teenage star-child, belonging to a family of strict desi parents, and she falls in love with a person her parents would never approve of.

This can be considered as a mix between Never Have I Ever and Ice Princess. While the beginning of the story was way too cringey and not relatable at all, I got really hooked towards the middle and like any other high school teenage drama story, the story progressed and gave a satisfactory ending.

One thing that really disturbed me was the typical angry stereotypical desi mom being portrayed time and again in stories like these. The thing is that it definitely makes out the Indian moms to be the villains of every single teenage drama story, and I expected it to be different in this one too.

When Rani meets Oliver there are immediate sparks and as they share their love of art their relationships grows and becomes all encompassing. Rani’s parents hold traditional Indian views however so she and Oliver can not be together openly. What begins as microaggressions quickly becomes much more as they struggle to make this relationship work. In light of the incidents in the news about the fetishizing of Asian woman this book becomes and even more important read. In its dealings with racism, microaggressions and the fetishism of Indian woman the author reminds us to be mindful of how we treat and see others but also how we treat and see ourselves. Rani is a strong character who is also female and Indian and who young girls everywhere could, and should, see themselves in.

This book deals with a toxic relationship, how Asian women across all ages are fetishized and called exotic, and made to defend their own existence as a human being fully separate from the expectations of a white person - it was very beautifully written even if it was tough to read at times. I appreciated how the author wrote Rani’s journey of standing up for herself and finding out what is important to her, living her life fully and chasing her dreams. This is definitely one of the very impactful YA contemporaries I’ve read in a while and I can’t recommend it enough.

High school me needed more books like this.
American Betiya deals with a lot of issues in an honest way that a YA audience (and adults for that matter) can relate to. The generational and cultural divides explored allowed me to feel seen and also see others; to be understood and to understand. However, since the novel did tackle so many issues I felt that Rani was not as well developed as I would have liked. The world that surrounded Rani was full of strong sensory details, but I wanted to know more about her thinking and what was going on in her head.
(Source: eARC from NetGalley)

This is the story of Rani Kelkar, an American born and raised desi teenager. She is the daughter all parents dream of. She has never lied to her parents until she meets Oliver, an American teenager. The qualities that attracts him towards her is what makes him her mother’s worst nightmare. In fact, the story starts with “He’s my mother’s worst nightmare.”

I could relate to the story at various points. I love Kate and Rani’s friendship. I need friends like that. The desi rep and the struggle of being an American-Indian was on point.

The story was going fine until Oliver started acting different. Rani ignored Oliver’s racist comments about her culture at first but I’m glad that she stood up for herself at the end. I was so angry at Oliver after all that he did, especially at the end when he still did not acknowledge his mistake and acted as if it was her parents fault that they were not together anymore.

Usually, stories end with the desi girl falling in love with american boy and ending up married/together. But this is different. Rani chose her family and culture over her boyfriend and that is what I loved about the book. The ending was perfect.