The premise of this book sounded interesting. A colored author's debut novel? I was so in for that. However, this fell flat for me. I was disappointed by how flat the characters were - there was no growth, no development, no depth. From the cover to the story to the writing itself, it felt very "Bollywood"-esque to me - glossy, superficial, underdeveloped. It may make an interesting movie, and perhaps that was the intentions. But as a novel, I was let down by this debut.

Dava Shastri isn't an easy character to like - she's a self made billionaire and she uses her money to support any number of noble causes, but it seems that her image and legacy is foremost in her mind, so much so that she decides to leak news of her death a day early so she can see what the world says about her. Her complicated relationships with her children and her realizations of how she fell short as a mother are what make this book interesting, and highlight how something always has to give. An engaging story.

I'm late to the game and no one is more upset about that than I am. Loved how the author depicted different cultures. What an interesting premise to have a wealthy woman leak the news of her death early, just to see what happens. Any plot points after that would be a spoiler, but suffice it to say the story of family and friendship stays engaging throughout the whole book. This books reminds me that you don't have to *like* a character for that character to have an impact on you and stay with you long after you close the book.

This was an interesting book! I loved Dava - she was feisty, selfish, and loving. The secrets in the family were delicious and kept the plot moving. A warning - lots of characters and all of them are barely fleshed out. Lots of flashbacks - so please read it slowly. A story of legacy and family and pain. Worthwhile read!

Dava Shastri is one of the world’s wealthiest women in the world. When she learns she’s dying of a terminal illness, she decides to leak the news of her death early to see how people and the media will react. She summons her four children and their families to her private island to share the news. Hoping to see praise for all her philanthropic work, she’s disappointed when the media instead focuses on her long buried secrets.

Kirthana Ramisetti’s first novel is so well written that you are quickly drawn into all the characters in this multicultural family. From the siblings to the spouses and the grandchildren, each character is described with such detail. Even though a lot of the characters are unlikeable at first, as the story progresses and their life choices are revealed you become more attached. Each character grows closer to the family and learns from each other. Poignant moments between Dava and her grandchildren create a bittersweet message about the power of love and lifelong connections between families.

Thanks to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for the opportunity to review this novel before its release.

Dava Shastri's Last Day was an interesting read. While I overall really enjoyed it, I do feel that it was slow at parts and left a bit to be desired when it came to the connection to the characters. Dava was such a complex character, but I did not connect to her until well over halfway through the book, which could easily lead other readers to abandon this book. I implore you to keep going if you are feeling a little less than impressed, because once we have the scene with Dava and her grandkids, the connection hits and the end goes quickly and hits hard in the feels.

I really enjoyed the unraveling of Dava's life, her secrets, her decisions, and the impacts of her legacy on her children. It's such a great representation of how much our hearts and lives are a our own and how little we actually know about someone's history and choices. Which is why I loved the scene with the grandchildren where she was so vulnerable and honest with them. It's those moments that really connect us in life.

The interesting part was how unlikable the characters were, which I believe was intentional. You do start to feel for them as you learn more about their relationships and what shaped them, but with so many characters it was hard to dive deep enough into their characters without making the book too long. This would be my biggest disappointment of the book was that I was left wanting more in terms of character development.

Thank you to Grand Central and Netgalley for this eARC.

Dava Shastri is one of the wealthiest people in the world and one of the most philanthropic. She has invited her four adult children to her private island to let them know that she has terminal cancer and intends to end her own life that very weekend. Even more surprising is that she misleads the world into thinking she is already dead so she can read her own obituaries.

I gotta be honest here - I really REALLY wanted to love this one… but I didn’t. I was hoping for Evelyn Hugo vibes and while some of the same themes were there, this one just didn’t hit its mark. This book is beautifully written and started out really strong, but it fell off soon after. I hate to say it but I was honestly bored through most of the book.

Despite some of them being being well developed, I just couldn’t connect with the characters and I disagreed with 90% of the choices Dava made throughout her life. While she helped thousands of strangers and her name became synonymous with philanthropy, I found her to be extremely selfish and self absorbed and was often frustrated with what I was reading. There were just so many characters and the book jumped between different time periods without a clear roadmap that it became a chore to read at times. Many of the flashbacks Dava had didn’t add to the story and made the book drag for me.

Solid premise and amazing cover, but it could have used a stronger execution.

I am legitimately surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel! Generational family dramas aren't typically my bag, but Dava Shastri's Last Day did me in.

I loved how Dava's life story was told through flashbacks that related to what was going on in her present. Most of the characters in this novel aren't necessarily likeable, but they are incredibly human.

Dava is such a strong, accomplished, complicated person. The transformation that she and her family go through in this book is beautiful.

When you're a kid it's hard to see your parents as being anything other than just your mom or dad. As the reader we get to see the Shastri children not only adjust to the realization that their mother contains multitudes, but that life and the choices we make aren't that simple.

I can't say enough about this beautiful, powerful book! It's a deep look at family, love, and making a difference in the world, all told through the lens of an unforgettable woman looking back at her unusual life. Don't miss it!

This is too dark a read for me and it should have trigger warnings due to the matter it discusses. I couldn’t finish it.

When wealthy philanthropist Dava Shastri learns she has terminal cancer, she decides to die by medically assisted suicide. She plans the procedure for the holidays, when she'll be surrounded by her children and grandchildren at her remote island home during a snowstorm. She also leaks the news of her death early, so she can see for herself how much good her foundation has done for the world. 

Unfortunately, the news is instead dominated by rumours of a long-ago affair with a musician who'd written a song dedicated to her. As Dava faces her final hours, and her children and grandchildren are forced to grapple with their complex feelings around her death and their respective futures, all of them must also deal with the rumours that have surfaced, and with secrets Dava has kept hidden all her life. 

There's much to love about this novel. Dava is a formidable woman -- inspired by Rockefeller's biography, and determined never to be defined as the wife of a powerful man, she tells her husband Arvid straight-up that she aims to take over the world, and she needs a husband who's satisfied with taking on the role of wife. Arvid readily agrees to let his career take a backseat to hers, and to take a larger role in caring for the kids and the household, and so Dava launches a powerful business empire with charitable foundations that give grants to emerging musicians and to grassroots non-profits that do good for their communities. The story is set in the 2040s, which puts Dava's flashbacks at our present day, and honestly, if Dava were real, I could see myself reading her business books or signing up for her Masterclass. She's a badass woman and an inspiration. Any young woman would be lucky to have such a mentor, and the thought of a South Asian woman -- especially a dark-skinned one who was once mistaken for her lighter-skinned children's nanny -- reaching such heights in present-day America is absolutely mind-blowing. Yes please, may it be so.

Like many powerful figures, however, Dava is somewhat less successful in her relationships with her children. Some of the most moving, most heartbreaking moments in the novel are the contrasts between Dava's realizations of where she fell short as a mother -- for example, her therapist observing that Dava thinks of her children more as employees than as family -- and the beautiful bits of loving memories that sprinkle through -- for example, the "free happiness" of Dava and her youngest son singing together in the kitchen. Alongside her children's resentment at being semi-forced into continuing Dava's businesses for their careers, is the heart-wrenching realization by Dava herself that she displayed more warmth towards a young woman she's mentoring whom she'd met as an adult, than towards the young men and women she'd raised from birth. 

A more traditional novel would have set the story after Dava's death. It would also be heartfelt, in that the various children would still have to deal with the loss of their mother, and the fallout of the rumours surrounding her death. But I think it also would have been more lighthearted, and more tied to the soap opera-ish hook of long-held family secrets now come to light.

Ramisetti chooses to set her story in the hours leading up to Dava's death, and in so doing, casts a pallor of melancholy over the entire affair. This is a beautiful, well-crafted book, but by no means an easy one. I would highly recommend NOT reading it during a vacation or a holiday when you just want to relax. The Shastri-Persson family grapples with inescapable grief the entire time they're together on Beatrix Island, and the reader has to work through this grief right alongside them. The novel gets slow at times -- despite the big mysteries Dava's family tries to solve about her past, most of the answers are fairly easy to guess for the reader, and as a result, some of the flashbacks and present-day conversations just feel too drawn out. 

That being said, the novel really hits its stride maybe about two-thirds of the way through, when Sandi, Dava's newest daughter-in-law, takes the grandchildren to Dava's room to spend her final night with her. Dava offers each grandchild -- including Sandi as a stand-in for the future grandchild still in her womb -- the chance to ask her just one question, which she'll answer honestly on the condition that the answers never leave the room. Thanks to this plot device, we finally get the truth about the musician and other details related to the alleged affair, but more importantly, the plot device also allows Dava to open up to her grandchildren in a way she'd never quite managed with her own children. It's a beautiful, cathartic, and heart-wrenching series of chapters that lead us, inevitably, to the end. The scene where Dava takes her last meal, and the grandchildren and children try to find just the right soundtrack for the occasion, just about brought me to tears. 

Dava Shastri's Last Day starts off slow, but it builds up to being an absolute tearjerker of a novel. I'm not sure how I feel about it overall -- I think parts could have been tightened, and some repetitions could have been cut out. And ultimately, I just find it too depressing a read to want to put myself through it again. Still, Ramisetti succeeds in creating a memorable character in Dava Shastri, and in taking readers along on a truly emotional ride.

+

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for an e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Merry almost 2022 Ladies & Gents. It's time for Hot Takes with Dani. We got some steamy tea in the pot today and its called:

"Dava Shastri's Just Okay"....erm "Last Day"

Listen, Kirthana Ramisetti's writing in this book is beautiful. I will one thousand percent give it that. It was beautifully emotional and heartwarming. The book artfully puts together a dramatic story of loss, grief, family dynamic, love and finding oneself. It will have you laughing one moment and sobbing at another.

As beautifully as it was written, it fell flat and ended up being boring. There were so many unnecessary repetitive parts that made the whole story drag. There were way too many characters and it got confusing often especially in the beginning. The father, Arvid, and the son, Arvie, being written about in the same chapter could get confusing which half the time I didn't really know what was going on. To finish up my tangent, the characters didn't even really seem to have likable qualities...they all were absolutely awful to their mother and she was awful to them. It was just okay...nothing truly monumental happened in the end.

Am I disappointed, maybe but I'm very glad I got to pick up a beautiful book that normally wouldn't have been on my radar.

Thank you Grand Central Publishing, Kirthana Ramisetti and NetGalley for the ARC! If you're someone who loves a book that is beautifully heartbreaking, purchase it at your favorite book store today!

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Instagram!

4 stars
I really enjoy family dramas and this one is so good and unique. However I did struggle a bit getting into it, got there around 1/3 point. I definitely recommend this, but go in knowing it’s going to be a bumpy start. Otherwise a good solid book!

Dava, family matriarch, billionaire and head of a music empire, is dying. With her few remaining days left she has her obituary published early so she can read them. She has also summoned her children to her private island to spend the holidays, and her final days, together. What she doesn’t plan for is her biggest secrets to come out.

I really enjoyed this book! It’s was a character driven novel offering a unique perspective on leaving a legacy, regrets, forgiveness and love.

This book paints a beautiful and complex picture of the complex relationship children can have with their mother. Set in the last few days of Dava's life and in an isolated home, four children must examine their relationships with their mom and eachother to come to terms with her death. Flashing between Dava's present and past, we learn about her ambition and the many twists and turns her life has taken. If you liked Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I highly recommend this book.

Dava Shastri's Last Day has one of the most intriguing premises I've seen for a novel in a while--Dava is the family matriarch, billionaire, and leader of a music empire. But she's dying. And she wants to see what people have to say about her. So she has news of her death announced early to read the obituaries, in memorandums, and news reports. But these reports begin to unearth numerous family secrets that shake her family members to the core. And Dava is still alive to see it.

I think fans of Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Malibu Rising will enjoy this book immensely. It's not the most riveting or engrossing, but it is interesting and fascinating to see how everything plays out. While Dava is a fictional character, to read about the life of such a powerful and impactful woman is amazing, and it feels like you're reading about a real person. There's a lot to love for music aficionados, too, as Dava's experience in the music industry and personal connection to bands is woven throughout the book. Ultimately, I'm really glad I read this book, and I think it would make a great gift for parents/in-laws, etc. or be a nice book club book. Certainly lots to talk about...!

Thanks to GCP for my ARC and finished copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 8/10

What would you do if you knew you were going to die soon?

In Dava Shastri’s Last Day, billionaire philanthropist Dava has recently found out she is going to die from a brain tumor, so she takes control of the situation. She calls her children to spend the holidays at her private island, and leaks the news of her death early - so she can read the obituaries and spend her last days with her family in peace. What she doesn’t expect is for her biggest secrets to come out.

I LOVED this book. What an interesting perspective on legacy, forgiveness and love. The complexities of her family and her death really got me thinking. I loved getting the perspectives of so many characters and different time periods. Dava herself was a very unique character. She has so many layers to her and it made for a very compelling read.

I was thankful to have both a physical copy and an audiobook because I did not want to put this down and flew through it in a day. Both formats were phenomenal, but I especially loved the song at the end of the audiobook.

Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and Hachette Audio for the gifted copies.

This book was amazing and everything of the sort. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

I found the concept of the first book by Ramisetti unique but, it is a little long-winded. The main character Dava is shallow and self-centered and she seems amazed that her children and grandchildren are not impressed with her. I didn’t understand the timeline when it didn’t seem that futuristic and I had never heard of any of the bands. The Motown songs which I did recognize would have been old by the time her parents had Dava let alone when they took their road trips together. I wanted to like it, but at the end was let down.