I'm gonna start with saying that the Desi rep in this book was the most authentic I've ever read. Even though I'm Pakistani myself, Indian culture and our culture have alot in common, and so I connected with this book on a deeper level. All the identity struggles Rani has, even though she loved her culture and religion, are struggles I've had myself.

This book takes a very different take on racism than most books do. At first, Oliver seemed to be a good guy, but over time his racist comments seemed to get a little out of hand. Oliver claimed to be "progressive" but his microaggressions seemed to say otherwise.

Kate is Rani's bff, and they both love each other. They have each other's back no matter what. And the relationship Rani had with her parents was something that I could personally relate to alot. She didn't agree with everything they said or did, but she loved them unconditionally.

If you still aren't convinced to read this book, I'll give you a final reason: the culture. The family celebrating diwali together, their cultural clothing, having meals together and talking about random ass things. Just wholesome. And don't get me started on the mentions of all that mouthwatering foods: samosas, parathas, kaju wali barfi ahhh 🤤

The only thing I didn't like was a little bit of the 'info dumb' situation at the end. But overall, I can't recommend this enough.

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5

P.S. this is a bit of a spoiler, but I've seen alot of Desi people complain about how all the brown girl stories just end with her choosing the white boy. But if you wanna see a brown girl actually choose her culture for once, read this!

American Betiya is a poignant story that explores family, culture, relationships, navigating adolescence, friendships and more that will resonate in the hearts of readers. As an Asian and survivor of abuse myself, Rani's story resonated with me and I wholeheartedly felt for her and rooted for her growth. For fans of Sandhya Menon, S.K. Ali, and Samira Ahmed.

American Betiya is the story of Rani,an american-indian who has never in her life looked beyond her books and prepares to become a good paedtrician is suddenly lying to her parents with the entry of the boy named Oliver,an American boy who doesn't understand how she will never eat meat.
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This is where the values factor and the culture of growing up with brown parents in USA that brings confusion,rage, frustration, desire in Rani's life something she had never dreamed of happening with her.
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Rani goes back and forth with her identity and grappling with the questions thrown at her and the alienation of an ethnicity where majority of white people reside.
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The book majorly focuses on Rani's struggle with being an American who's origins lies in India.
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Rani wishes to live a life like her friends and bring a boy to her home and make him meet her parents which she can't because she is not allowed to date.
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The book talks about an important topic which needs to be looked at from both the sides.
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One cannot say that the indian way of living is right and the other way is wrong or vice versa.
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This is a reality of many indians who live in the United States and the writer addresses it through a theme of Rani's desire of dating.
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I felt the book dragged a little towards the end and could have been cut short.
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While I was reading this book I was thinking about something my aunt (khala) said to me that the desire of the brown parents to raise their children exactly the way they would have done in India is something that is hard on the children. But that's the reality of my cousins. Rani's reality is completely different and something you should definitely check out.

Okay wow, I am speechless. After a long time. I am clueless as to where should I begin from. Like in a lot of ways this book was so welcoming to me, right from the page one. I would read some reference to Indian culture, think how overrated it was, and then right that instant something would happen and I would be like okay, not so overrated lol. Omgg, it was sooo amazing to read a book presenting and ownvoice representation of Indian culture!

Rani is belongs to an Indian family. Of course it doesn't define her, but living at a place which is not India with the guide book Indian family is no joke. Her parents are against her dating anyone, and push her towards the one and only goal of her. And incoming Oliver, who brings in colors with him that Rani didn't expect to experience and change her. And I mean figurative and actual colors both. How will Rani and Oliver play out together with Rani's parent being against her dating anyone, let alone a person who ticks all the negative boxes, and Oliver's life being more messed up than what Rani thought.

I will be honest, it is your romance book that you crave a lot to read. It is filled with Indian culture, lots of art, big families, good food (I was sold for this book when samosa was mentioned) and loads more! The starting for me felt a little to fast but at the same time slow... if that makes sense. But there were so many scenes where I would stop, text my friend about the reference and then resume reading. I literally have SO many pages bookmarked at the moment, it was nearly every page. I am very curious to see how people react to this book who aren't Indian. But coming back to the book, it was very pleasant and beautiful to read. The ending was beautiful to a next level, I loved it soo much! There were many instances in this book where I tried not to cry. At the end, I guess I would be willing to read it once again.
(Also there is a lot more I want to add about this book, I am going to sit again in the morning and make notes of all the notes I have made about this book!)

"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.”
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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.
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American Betiyan was one of my most anticipated reads of this year. It has portrayed a desi representative really well. It has all the elements that have been described with utmost care and details to bring out the true essence of India and it's culture. The author made sure to not lose the charm of India's ethnicity even if the book is set in America for most of it's parts. The relationship between Rani and Oliver is all things spicy. You'll like reading it as it gets really steamy at times. 🤭

All in all, if you're looking for an easy read with a desi rep, this one it is!!
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Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for approving me for the arc. I just finished and am completely in love with this book. I felt anger,sadness, and love reading this book. The writing just pulled me in. I definitely would recommend this to a friend.

Thanks to netgalley and hearourvoices tours for the e-arc of this amazing book.

Synopsis: Rani Kelkar is the American born daughter of Indian immigrants and all set to pursue her premed dream. She meets the very White American Oliver and falls for him. Everything seems perfect until their cultural , familial differences take toll on the the relationship. How is this interracial relationship gonna thrive?

Review: At the outset, this book is about the struggles of being a successful in a foreign nation and love amidst 2 cultures. . But, as the book progresses, it deals with identity crises, racism, microaggresions, racist attacks and more. Rani's journey is an eye-opener to anyone and is both heart-wrenching and Heartwarming.

The writing style is awesome and the imagery by the author feels more like viewing a piece of ART or a movie. She keeps indulging you into the world till the very end. This is too good for an adaptation. Please don't miss this amazing book!!

This ARC was provided for review, but in no way affects the following unbiased and impartial review:
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3,5*
Pros: An in-depth PoV into the life of an Indian-American teen girl. Mixes the beautiful Indian culture with the life of an immigrant trying to fit in. Loved the special emphasis on art. Shines some light into the complexities of interracial relationships, including microaggressions and red flags that are often "swallowed down" for the sake of love.
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Cons: Slow-paced and unfortunately standard/run-of-the-mill storyline and arcs. A lot of the racist remarks and red flags are not identified as such throughout the book and it may give a wrong impression to younger readers.

I absolutely loved this book! This story really resonated with me. What felt like a typical boy meets girl love story turned into so much more than I was expecting. The dynamics of the relationship between Rani and Oliver was so deep. Reading about Rani’s internal and external pressures - from her family and Oliver - was so realistic. How Oliver handled his relationship with Rani and fanaticized her culture made me so angry. How little he understood Rani and her culture and what her parents wanted for her became more and more apparent (and cringey) as the story went out. I really liked how Rani found her own voice once she went to India for the summer after the death of her grandfather. Her world just opened up and things became clearer for her. This book will ultimately leave room for lots of discussion and that is always a good thing.

This is a YA novel about an Indian American teenager who experiences her first love and loss while working through experiences of toxic fetishization, racism, duty, pursuing her passion, understanding her community, and loss.

This is going to be more of a personal review. But I've been struggling to put my feelings about this book into words. I don't know that I have every felt so starkly represented by a book, maybe ever. It also definitely hits differently as someone in their 30s. When I was in high school, I would have felt so seen. Now I feel seen, but also all the deeply distressing things that happen to Rani, just made me hurt.

This book deftly normalizes all the "weird" of my life growing up that I needed. The pujas, the clothes, the expectations from family, the deeply pushy need for parents to push their immigrant hopes and dreams onto their children, a peek into the mentality as to why, the dissonance between that feeling and the idea that in America you are an "adult" at 18 and your parents can't stop you from doing things (lies), the secrecy of dating, the lack of conversation about sex and relationships, the taboo, the willingness of the community to turn away from people who are struggling with "shameful" things like "failure" and addiction and poor mental health, family - the good and the bad, growing up and out and in. There were so so many times, where I was like, yes, this, I've have feel this discomfort.

Indian culture is very much part of Rani's life. Among other details and aspects of daily life, she and her parents uphold rituals and celebrate holidays in their home together as a family. However, Rani struggles with balancing her own appreciation and love for her culture, religion, and rituals at a core level, with her struggle and inability to explain them to others to their satisfaction.

Throughout the story, she is asked about these holidays or rituals or the decision to be vegetarian, and her answers appear superficial or not well fleshed out. And it's really because as a teenager a part of the diaspora, she is living in a broader culture that doesn't teach her the details. And learning is time away from art or school or friends. But we can feel her discomfort. Much of this is tied into the broader fetishization that Rani experiences, which heightens these feelings.

Rani and her relationships feel authentic and I look forward to this debut author's writing style developing and growing, because this book definitely had a lot of emotional heft. I think it's a must-read for anyone interested in a variety of different kinds of young adult experiences.

Yesterday, I finished AMERICAN BETIYA by Anuradha D. Rajurkar and wow was this such a thoughtful, complex story. Thank you to @netgalley, @anuradhadrajurkar, @aaknopf, and @booksforwardpr for the e-ARC to review!

This YA novel follows Rani, an Indian-American teen, as she secretly starts dating her first boyfriend, Oliver, while lying to her parents. While the beginning of their relationship is seemingly sweet, issues of tokenism, fetishizing, c, and gaslighting quickly have Rani doubting herself, her identity, her family, and, eventually, her relationship.

I feel like a broken record, but again, I love YA for being able to take incredibly complex issues and place them accessible, and beautiful, stories. You may have thought you were getting a cute YA romance, but instead, we got a realistic expectation about how microaggressions and tokenism are damaging and dangerous - but also got storylines about family and community expectations, family relationship, culture and belonging, and female friendship.

I’ve seen quite a few reviews (especially from South Asian voices), so I’m going to share those in my stories as well! And, I’m going to be honest, I’m going to need y’all to ignore the reviews on Goodreads; I need my fellow white women to do better and stop rating fantastic books about different experiences lower because they “couldn’t relate.”

This is such a fully beautiful #ownvoices book, I can't recommend it enough! Great, great friendships.

Thank you Netgalley & Knopf for a free earc of American Betiya! This book explores the intense complexity of being young, and in an interracial relationship. Rani must hide her relationship with "bad boy" Oliver from her parents, and as a result, this divides them. I adore the true inside look we Rani's head - being pulled in two different directions between her first love, and her Indian heritage. Facing microagressions by the person she loves most, and the internal battle of knowing when to speak up. As specific as this story is to Indian culture, I also love this book because of the way it so accurately explores toxicity in high school relationships - an experience, that is sadly universal.

it’s a perceptive story of a girl, who struck in a relationship that involves two different cultures. The author skillfully explains what happens when two discrete culture collides with each others. It also explains the importance of good parenting and family structure, which gives children a sense of security from the beginning. It elucidate the rani's struggles to balance both of her most valued relationships.
It is an interesting one to read. thoroughly the book throughly. Recommend it

"This could be a mistake. Then again, it could be the best mistake I ever make."

This YA novel focuses on Rani, a first-generation Indian-American senior in high school, who falls for her "bad boy" artist classmate, Oliver, but has to keep their relationship secret from her parents who have forbidden her to date (and would REALLY forbid her to date Oliver). I love the book's premise and that it tackles some tough subjects but wanted more from the story overall.

What I liked:
- The cover! I mean, we all know the old saying but this one totally made me want to read the book.
- The author does a great job of identifying microaggressions and how they may seem harmless but can cause as much pain as outright prejudice.
- How sex positive the story is and that physical intimacy is considered and explored in a thoughtful way.
- The supporting characters. Rani's best friend Kate is a fiery feminist who's not afraid to tell people how it is and Rani's grandmother, aunts, cousins and parents are multidimensional and full of personality.
- The modeling of healthy vs. unhealthy romantic relationships.
- The ending.

What I struggled with:
- I blinked and Rani and Oliver were in love. I know feelings in high school can be accelerated but in this case it didn't feel earned and I was less invested in the couple than I should have been.
- The progression of Oliver's character. I wish there had been more explanation of why he acted the way he did.
- The dialogue. It didn't sound true to teenagers, especially how Oliver spoke.

I enjoyed this book (and especially seeing a Desi teen so well represented) but I think my expectations were super high and it didn't quite live up to them.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Young Children's/Knopf Books for Young Readers for a copy to review.

American Betiya is a story with a mix of a cross-cultural romantic relationship, family boundaries, and arts. The comparison and struggles of traditions and racist thoughts are a highlight of the book.

The story begins with introducing Rani, The American Betiya, with a charming, warm and personality, and Oliver, a hot guy with a troubled past but with genuine sincerity in character. The development of the characters is quite visible and one of the reasons to keep me going through the book.

The secret relationship, sneaking out and falling in love for the first time felt relatable from Rani's pov, but Oliver's character was mostly secretive and it was sometimes hard to get him but that was a charm of his character(in a way).

The writing was good and easy-going but a few times it got a little annoying with the description (it a personal opinion some people like it some don't). The author's attempt to paint a detailed picture and moods was amazing, you could imagine yourself being in-place of the characters. The teenagers were pretty horny emo(obviously teenagers are), at times it made me laugh at the description and the fantasies were INTERESTING. Too much detail laugh
Apart from our horny teenagers, there were other great characters which I totally enjoyed.

Time for some TV/movie recommendation:
Never Have I Ever - Netflix Series
English Medium - Bollywood Movie star
English Vinglish - Bollywood Movie (Not a teenage movie, but shows the struggle of a traditional Indian woman in the US)
Namastey London - Bollywood Movie
Bend it like Beckham - Movie

Quote of The Day: "People Make poor choices when they are not challenged"
~Rani, American Betiya

I’m glad that YA books are read by people way past their teenage years because there’s so much in American Betiya that informs and enlightens people like me (who have such a different life experience) about what it’s like to be a young woman of colour straddling different cultures. Anuradha Rajurkar has written a thoughtful, complex book that gives valuable insights into the struggles many people feel as they forge an identity in a world that keeps foisting stereotypes and expectations onto them.

Rajurkar’s heroine, Rani, is at once an American girl in her last year of high school and the daughter of parents from India whose ambitions for her include respecting (and largely adhering to) the culture from which they originate. They see America as a great land of opportunity and have worked incredibly hard to forge a life for themselves there, and they expect certain things from their daughter.

But America means something different to Rani’s parents than it does to her. It’s almost as though America is her parent’s home away from home. But for Rani, America is her country. She’s an American girl…or maybe an American betiya is a better description: the beloved daughter of her country of origin, but with an Indian side, too.

India is a huge part of Rani, but it’s a part, not all, and she’s learning how to manage the balance of both identities when the sudden appearance of Oliver throws everything into confusion. Oliver is a white boy from a complicated American family with troubles of its own — and loving him as she does puts Rani under new pressure.

Rani describes the passion she feels for Oliver as a “frisson”, a secret and exciting ingredient to a highly charged sexual relationship. Artistic, expressive and very different from Rani’s family, it’s easy to see why she finds him difficult to resist. But from the start, there’s something quite wrong about their relationship and much of the book is about identifying the strange mixture of admiration, obsession and resentment that Oliver has for Rani’s family’s culture. He both loves it and hates it, but the most obvious thing is that he’s disrespectful of its true meaning to her and hasn’t made enough effort to understand it.

Rani knows this and, yet, her attraction for Oliver and her desire to overlook what (in retrospect) clearly not going to work between them, weakens her resolve. She even finds herself participating in Oliver’s bizarre fetishism of her culture, which is uncomfortable to read but wonderfully portrayed in the book. Oliver’s microaggressions start off as annoying and then grow, and the unfolding of their relationship provides a valuable look into a subjectivity I was grateful to experience.

The portrait of Rani’s loving, if sometimes overbearing, family is nuanced and affectionate. Oliver is a less attractive prospect to this middle-aged reader than he will likely be to the teenagers for whom the novel is intended (I wanted to sit that young man down!). Anuradha Rajurkar’s writing is full of authority and she handles complex subjects with grace.

Rani has a secret, and it's everything her parents fear. She's dating a boy, one with tattoos, who wants to be an artist, who everybody likes. Just the sort of worldly boy her parents think is oh so wrong for her. She decides to date Oliver without telling them, and as with so many relationships, it isn't long before Oliver brings his troubles to Rani's doorstep. He wants her to do things she's uncomfortable with. She must give more than she bargained for. He needs her now more than ever. For Rani, it's the kind of consuming relationship she wanted, only she doesn't know that it's consuming her. Fate transports her from her home in Illinois to India over the summer, and that's when all the trouble brewing beneath the surface of her relationship with Oliver spills over. It's not easy living between two worlds.

From the title alone, it's clear that this story is at least partially about the interactions between cultures. Rani's family is Indian, and they hope that their daughter will date people who are part of their culture. Oliver is certainly not Indian, which is part of why he keeps calling Rani his "Indian princess." Rani isn't sure how to handle his little nicknames and comments about her appearance, questions about her culture, and the expectations he has which fall outside of her own. Because of problems in his own life, he tries to inject himself into Rani's family, in his own way, but that also comes at a price for Rani. Rani's story is as much about falling in love as it is about relationships that bridge cultures, and about the misunderstandings and hurtful comments that can arise because of those differences. It's also about Rani's identity, as she pulls away from her parents' own expectations, and seeks to define what she expects of herself, and from others.

The writing from debut author Anuradha D. Rajurkar is vivid, lush, and transportive, whether at a high school in Illinois or on the streets of Pune, India. Every character is well-realized, whether their role is major or minor, and I found myself loving the relationship between Rani and her best friend, Kate. What defines the journey most of all, and how it all ends, is Rani's relationship with herself, and that is absolutely everything. American Betiya is a powerful, evocative look at the intoxicating nature of young love, the meaning of identity and culture, and what it means for a young girl to explore and define herself while being pulled between family, friends, love, and her own wants and needs. Highly recommended to high school youth and adults.

American Betiya by Anuradha D. Rajurkar follows Rani Kelkar as she begins dating Oliver in secret so that her strict and religious parents don't find out. However, 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.

Unfortunately I have gotten extremely picky when it comes to YA contemporaries. This book discusses fetishizing of Indian woman which was interesting to read about in a YA novel. However, Oliver made me so uncomfortable (which I know was the point) and there were so many characters that it made it hard for me to keep track of the story. I also had a hard time relating to the main character, Rani, which may come from me outgrowing the YA genre.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a dramatic and angst filled romance that only a great YA novel can do right. The conversations that were brought up during this read were really captivating—themes of female ownership, sexuality, cultural appropriation, artistic expression, and gaslighting create this soul crushing debut centered around a young woman discovering herself in a relationship, in her religion, and from within.

Rani and Oliver fell hard and fast. I don't think I've ever read an interracial relationship done so raw in YA before. their chemistry was palpable on the page, setting up a passionate and thrilling relationship journey. I loved learning about the different Hindu traditions and customs. Rani's closeness with her community was actually really positive, despite her not being able to divulge into such a huge part of her life—her relationship with Oliver.

Rani made it plenty clear from the beginning that her parent's could never know and there had to be clear ground rules. Oliver was so charming and understanding—the perfect feminist dreamboat who absolutely adored Rani as much as she would let him. They connected on a deeper level, finally someone she could confide in when it came to her art. Once she couldn't give him what he needed in terms of more access to her life and family, he retaliated with manipulation. She loved Oliver so much, even though the things he said sometimes felt tone-deaf in regards to her culture, total microagressions. Not until she was in too far did she realize that his comments and remarks were him objectifying her culture, fetishizing her for his artistic gain.

I still can't believe this was a debut novel. The writing was so sophisticated, you would think this came from a seasoned author.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.