What a Happy Family by Saumya Dave was a novel I really enjoyed. The focus on family coming together in tough times was really important to me. All of the characters were well-developed, and the way they interacted seemed like a real family come to life on the page. While it took me a little bit to really get into reading this book, I was hooked once I did. I never wanted to put it down after that.

Multiple viewpoints from everyone within the Desi family walk us through family struggles, anxiety and depression, the façade of happiness, and the importance of honest communication. The moments of frustration followed by the moments of forgiveness. This book was definitely a trip.

Natasha was the central character, and many of the things shared from the rest of the family centered on her. She doesn't think through the consequences of her actions, and she is extremely selfish. She doesn't want to deal with anything, and she shuts down regularly. In many ways, her part feels extremely immature compared to the rest of the family.

The pacing of the book was somewhat off. The first half was a mix of all the family and an introduction to the issues as things unravel, and the second half was focused on Natasha and the family's resolution. Therapy often takes years, and the way that the resolution came so quickly felt disingenuous.

All this is to say, I liked it, and it had good bones, but it also could have been so much more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC.

I so enjoyed WHAT A HAPPY FAMILY by Saumya Dave - it's an engaging story that I'd be happy to share with a friend (or two or three!)

I tried reading this book but it ended up being a do not finish for me. I really disliked all the characters in this book and was only able to get to 15.%. I don't like the representation of South Asian families in here. The representation of mental health was absolutely terrible in here as well. In terms of the writing style, it was more tell than show.. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.

A story about family, mental health, and healing. It covers sibling dynamics, interracial marriage, abuse, stand-up comedy, and more.

Thanks to Berkley for an advanced copy of What A Happy Family.

This was a book about family, relationships and happiness. I found it so well written and easy to connect to the characters feelings and liked the cultural aspects as well.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a pretty good read. Although I couldn't especially identify with some of the issues that the main characters were going through due to their culture or race, there were enough things that I could identify with. I thought the characters were well thought out and were relatable to many. The story flowed pretty well. Quick read.

TYSM to NetGalley & Berkley for my copy of this book!

I went into this one without fully diving into the description, so I anticipated a simple story about a family going through their everyday motions, but instead was left with an incredible exploration of family, mental health, and the things we hide in an attempt to "protect" or "please" the people we love the most.

Readers will find a little bit of themselves in each of these characters. And will be aching for each family member to succeed and find their true happiness.

I loved this glimpse into the Joshi family's dynamic. I was so drawn in by every family member, from Natasha, wanting to be a stand-up comic, to Suhani, in pursuit of perfection and Bina, the mother. It's a look at mental health issues as seen from an Indian family, even one where there are two psychiatrists. This book is so real and raw, and shows how one family reacts to the things happening to them. I can't recommend this book enough!

Natasha, Suhani, Anuj, Bina, Deepak are the family of Joshi. As each member struggles with being perfect, there is the almost suicide of Natasha which causes the family issues to be discussed openly with a family therapist.
Saumya Dave writes with compassion, knowledge of mental health issues, family issues, immigrant concerns. This should be a book club read as it would provoke intense discussion like the "Chat with Chai", a group in the book. Read to find out what this is.

This was a bit of a slow burn for me, but I ended up liking it a lot. There was a big theme of mental health going on which I always appreciate when done wetland it was done very well in this case. Different members of the Joshi family struggle in their own ways and it puts quite a strain on the other family members. I loved that it showed the true ups and downs that can happen with depression and how it was hard for this Indian-American family to feel okay talking about their feelings or seeking help because of the stigma attached to mental illness in their culture.

I really enjoyed Natasha's comedy and her ambition and strength to keep going even when she was told she'd fail.

This was an eye opening look at how one family tries to survive and come back together when they feel they've broken. It's definitely a book I recommend.

Dave's follow-up to her first novel, Well-Behaved Indian Women is an absorbing drama that examines the dynamics of the Joshi family, mental health, and what it means to truly belong.

Bina and Deepak Joshi came to America to start over and welcome new opportunities into their lives. Bina ia a little resentful of leaving a flourishing acting career but settles into her role as the matriarch of the household-settle being being the operative word-as she supports Deepak's journey to becoming a psychiatrist in America.

Suhani is their oldest child. She's beautiful, accomplished, and seemingly perfect and has followed in her father's footsteps as a psychiatrist. However, a dark secret from her past emerges, threatening to derail her marriage and her career.

Natasha is the middle, so-called "problem" child. She is determined to not follow a traditional path and decides to reject a marriage proposal from a long-time boyfriend and quit her current job, in order to pursue her passion for stand-up comedy. However, her mental health becomes strained by the fall-out and Natasha is forced to reckon with past demons.

Anuj, the youngest, is the golden boy. His quiet confidence and easy-going nature however, mask other insecurities that rise to the surface.

The Joshi family must delve into the past and examine long-buried secrets if they are truly to help each other and heal as a family.

I was riveted by this family drama. The characters were vibrant and so relatable, making this a perfect exploration of the joys and imperfections of family.. I highly recommend!

What a Happy Family is the story of the Joshi family. Author Saumya Dave’s second novel continues the themes from her first: cultural, family, societal expectations and the effect on everyone involved. All are relatable no matter what the reader’s background. My heart went out to matriarch Bina as she endures a humiliation that goes to the core of all she holds important. She only wants the best for her family but at what cost? What to do when her daughters make choices that were never considered by her generation. A major topic of the novel, especially in the second half, is depression. When it strikes close to home what does one do? No matter how prepared a person or family is, there’s still the stigma of mental illness. The hope is that it will be faced with courage and faith in the ones closest to them. What a Happy Family is a family drama that had me flipping the pages, completely entertained and wanting to know how things would work out for the Joshis.

Saumya Dave is truly one of my favorite contemporary fiction writers at this point. I read and loved her debut, Well-Behaved Indian Women, as soon as it came out last year and I am so happy I got to read What A Happy Family now as well. Dave has an exceptional talent for capturing the nuances of the experiences of women in the South Asian diaspora in different ways, and her experience as a mental health clinician and doctor really informs her writing, imbuing her work with an exceptionally strong sense of reality. I’m also really grateful for the raw, honest representation of mental health (specifically anxiety and depression), imposter syndrome, misogyny, racism, and sexism. There are also discussions of abusive relationships, toxic friendships, suicide, and abortion, which were really important (though I wish there had been content warnings from the publisher for these things). Also, ATL REPRESENT! :)

This book follows a family through all the drama and complicated dynamics therein, and it’s really entertaining. But it’s also such an incisive look into the South Asian experience in America and I related to so many of the themes and the characters’ journeys a great deal. I didn’t love the way some of the characters would throw around psych diagnoses in passing, especially since the characters who did this were actually psychiatrists. I know using terms like “OCD” are used by many people in a joking manner, but it is reductive and offensive in a lot of senses, and I expected better from Dave as a psychiatrist herself. Other than that, this book is really incredible and I’m definitely going to continue to keep an eye out for Saumya Dave’s work. I really hope more people pick it up!

Isn’t that what everyone thinks? Looking from the outside, every family looks so picture perfect and better than your own?

This is a consistent theme throughout the South Asian culture: What will people think? You live your life based on what the community will think? How will they perceive your life? Will they accept the new changes that you’ve made or will it make you look “bad”?

Saumya, how do you write about the cultural problems South Asians face in such a thoughtful way?

The story revolves around the Joshi Family, from the outside seems like a picture perfect immigrant family that has succeeded in the US. As many of us know too well, dive a little closer into each members’ life and you’ll find that “perfect” is its own definition. Family dynamics and traditions splitting the members apart to the love and respect for one another, bringing them closer. Without spilling the beans too much, What A Happy Family hits upon many South Asian family themes.

Growing up in a similar environment, the one thing I’ve learned: Sometimes you do have to fall apart to learn to appreciate the togetherness. As I’ve grown older, trust me, my family has not agreed with many of my life decisions. But as we’ve gone through many ups and downs in life, I think we’ve grown to know that we have each other’s back. You’ll feel that throughout all the family love in this read!

I connected to this book on a heart level--the warmth, humor, emotion, depth, and realism pulled me in and I was hooked from the beginning.

The Joshi’s are an Indian-American family living in the suburbs of Atlanta. When a family scandal shows the community they aren’t as perfect as they seem, the family needs to rely on each other.

This was a good, heartfelt family drama. I really liked the cultural background and how the culture affected the siblings vs. the parents. Every family member was dealing with expectations from each other, yet none really were communicating how it was affecting them. This book takes a look at mental health and how it’s at in families from an eastern culture. Despite family members being literal psychiatrists, there was still a “we don’t talk about this in our family” vibe. While I appreciated the characters and what the novel did, I never really connected enough with the story to become heavily invested

“She wants to tell them it will be okay eventually. They’ve been through much worse than this. But he knows they aren’t ready to listen. Families break when everyone argues to win, not understand. So that’s what he’ll do.”

What a Happy Family comes out 6/22.

WHAT A HAPPY FAMILY really showcases how keeping up appearances can be exhausting, particularly when you’re having to do it even with your family. This is a great example of how our family dynamics play a role in our decisions and who we become. Saumya authentically and tenderly portrays the complicated relationships involved in a family; and examines the topic of mental illness with care.

This book was everything I ever wanted. I don't think I've ever this connected and seen inside a book ever. I'm so grateful to have received an arc of this book because I could talk about it all day long and will be raving it about it until and after its release. To dive into the contents, this is a story about a family that each have their own personal problems whether that's in their careers, mental health, relationships, etc. It's told from a multi-person perspective which I as a reader love to read from because I enjoy getting to be in the heads of everyone and see the depth of why they act the way they do. My favorite character was of course Suhani. She's the epitome of who I want to be. Up until recently I had actually not read or seen a lot of Indian women going into the field of medicine because they actually wanted to rather than their parents just telling them they should. Anyways, I felt like Suhani was a reflection of myself and her relationship with Natasha, her sister, definitely had some similarities to my sister and I'd relationship. Besides the wonderful cast of characters, I thought the writing style was easy to read without being juvenile. Another aspect that I was looking for in South Asian adult fiction books was does it read well? Does it read like an adult book? and this one definitely did. I was completely sucked into this family drama and dynamic from the very beginning. Additionally, the way in which South Asian culture was depicted and appreciated, while still breaking down why some of the old fashioned thinking and traditions are problematic was done so well! I think the tension and emotions tied to what happens as an effect of these traditions were quite realistic. I myself have felt so much internalized pressure being the child of an immigrant and as I mentioned, this book understood me. Now of course I want to give this book a five stars, however, there were a couple things that led me to lowering it one star (not to say that this book wasn't amazing because it is and I highly recommend you all pick it up!). First, I know the term shrink was thrown around a lot. I'm not a health care specialist and the author is a psychiatrist, so it could be my interpretation is wrong, but I found that calling a psychiatrist a shrink can be a bit demeaning or oversimplified. I could understand it as a joke between Suhani and her dad, but outside of that it definitely bugged me a bit. Related to this, in the beginning, Suhani talks with her friend Vanessa on how they sometimes label people with certain disorders. Again, I'm not a psychiatrist, but even as a joke, I find that putting labels, especially clinical labels on people can be really detrimental. I'm not sure if it meant to come across that way, but that was just my own thoughts. Aside from that, the only other thing that I didn't really care for in the book was Natasha's comedy. I really tried to not be so quick to judge like Suhani had, but certain things are so hard for me to just change. This is more of a personal thing, but comedians who use their culture in almost a negative context can give other people, specifically white people the opportunity to continue to stereotype South Asian people. I know it's not our job as South Asians to have to filter ourselves for the sake of others, and I'm not sure if it's because of my own personal experiences, but making jokes about South Asian culture and mental health hits a little too close to home and makes me uncomfortable. I know humor can be a coping mechanism for many so I totally understand where Natasha was coming from, but it just wasn't for me. I actually thought she could be a better motivational/public speaker than comedian. Anyways, that's besides the point. I'm going to wrap it up by saying that this book is incredibly special and I'm so excited to gush about it with my South Asian friends.

I loved this second book by new women's fiction voice, Saumya Dave, as I did her debut, WBIW. An intimate look at relationships and family, with moments of humor that punctuate more serious themes, and beautifully written on top of all that. A wonderful read!