I learned so much while reading this delightful novel. This was a very impressive debut novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I enjoyed this book due to the fact that I have read very little about India and the slums. I was rooting for Rakhi the whole book and was pleased that the ending was more true to life than a fairy tale ending. I was fascinated by the authors end notes depicting the slum fires as something that she based the books on.

I loved this vibrant, unique, and compelling story. The characters were fully fleshed and the strong writing made this a page turner. I can't wait to read this author's next work!

This is an extraordinary book which depicts the transformation of a young girl who was unruly at times making humorous remarks while addressing serious issues in the over-crowded area of Bombay, India.

Rakhi lost her parents instantly in a bus accident when she was seven years old. She was sent to live with her aunt and uncle who weren't pleased. To escape a harsh punishment by her uncle from something that wasn't her fault, she ran away as fast as she could to escape and ended up in a dangerous area of Bombay. A boy, Babloo, not much older than Rakhi, found her at the train station. She joined his group of homeless friends where she learned the art of begging. "We earn, we eat. That's it."

In her late teens, Gauri Verma, the executive director of Justice for All, took her under her wings and slowly taught her English words and how to assist in the office. Gauri was known as the biggest human rights lawyer not to be messed with. She was like a mother to Rakhi constantly giving her advice. She told her, "Dressing smart tells the world you think our work is valuable." Rakhi pretty much did whatever Gauri asked until one day when a new intern, Alex, from Toronto arrived and gave her some career advice. He was working on his master's degree at Harvard while staying in town for a few months with his wealthy relatives. He offered a tradeoff. He would help Rakhi learn better English; she would give him real tours of the city. He said, "I'd like to see the India you live in."

The book is told by Rakhi and jumps back to give readers a glimpse of her past. The Hindi words and phrases give a true essence of India which also made it a tad complicated at times without knowing the meanings. It would have been helpful to have a quick reference at the end. The story moved along nicely with distinctive characters. The book packs in some complex concerns with workplace relationships and the conditions of the poor people. "The government could end hunger and poverty but deliberately chooses not to." It made me feel a sense of great sadness yet hope for those that are able to dream big.

My thanks to Reema Patel, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this copy with an expected release date of April 26, 2022.

A beautiful and moving book about Rakhi, an office assistant at a small legal from who is tasked with helping a young Canadian through his internship. She was a street urchin and lives in a massive slum in Mumbai. As the story unfolds we learn more of her past and see her determination to improve herself in a society that wants only to hold her back.

Thank you to Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read this excellent book.

3.5, rounded up for a debut author.

Such Big Dreams is wrought with such vivid detail that it instantly transports you to a distant land that somehow still feels relatable. Reema Patel's words come alive off the page as she guides us through Rakhi's inner and outer worlds-- and there are many to navigate, as Rakhi travels between the social justice-oriented law firm where she works as an office assistant, her home in the slums of Mumbai, and the upper-crust world of pseudo-celebrities and do-gooder Ivy League interns. The environments are painted in stark contrast with one another, all of them possessing beauty and darkness in their own ways. The book is occasionally bleak and tedious, but it mirrors Rakhi's existence as a cog in the machine. The existential futility she experiences is exhausting, the constant sense of low-grade doom existing just beneath the surface of her every move. Upon reflection, the title is truly heartbreaking-- Rakhi's dreams aren't, in fact, so big as to be unachievable, at least not by Western standards. This is a young woman who aspires merely to rise out of poverty by going to school, possibly getting a job at a hotel. And yet, her dreams are enormous given her circumstances.
While I wouldn't say this is a particularly enjoyable book due to its subject matter, I would definitely recommend it for the cultural experience.

I'm sorry, this book bored me to tears. I wanted to enjoy it, but from the opening line, I just felt really uninvested in the character. Ultimately, I thought the author's writing style was good, but this story wasn't for me.

An enjoyable read about a young woman in Mumbai who is determined to make her own choices on how to live her life. Rakhi is a former street child working as an office assistant at a struggling human rights law practice and living in one of the city's slums when she is befriended by Alex, the new Harvard-bound intern from Canada. Alex encourages Rakhi to apply to college programs in hotel management so that she can make more of her life and promises to help her with the applications in exchange for her showing him "the real India". The novel gives a good sense of what life is like in Mumbai and the obstacles to success that people in Rakhi's circumstances face when trying to achieve their dreams.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC.

Such Big Dreams was a devastating book about a young girl, with no one on her team, who works to build her life in a poor slum of India. Themes of independence, determination, and hope are roped through the pages. highly recommend.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel.

Thanks to Netgalley, for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Rakhi is an orphan, who runs away from her abusive uncle at 7, and joins a gang of street children in Mumbai. They become her family, especially Babloo, the 9 year old leader of the gang. After an incident, Babloo is sent to a juvenile prison, but Rakhi is sent to a girls school, where she becomes a protoge of Madame Gauri, a human rights lawyer at Justice for All.

When the main part of the book opens, Rakhi is working at Justice for All as a "girl of all trades," making tea, running errands, and so on, and is trying to learn better language in hopes of getting a better job - perhaps even an education. She then meets Alex, an intern at the firm, inserted there at the behest of a washed up actress, looking to use Justice for All for publicity for herself and for her property developer husband. Alex leads Rakhi to believe that she can get an education and that he can and will help her.

Things get dramatic, when a huge fire starts in the area where Rakhi lives, an extremely poor area of Mumbai. Surprise, surpise - there are business interests just waiting to clear out the entire area for developent. At the same time, Babloo comes back into Rakhi's life.

I was riveted by developments in the book, and a lot of it came down to this - to what extent can she actually depend on any of these people who appeared to want to help her? Or will she have the courage to continue fighting and to continue to depend on herself?

This was a fascinating book, and I look forward to reading more books by Ms. Patel.

A really engaging debut! I don't read too much in this genre. but the author did an excellent job creating a compelling world! The characterization and growth of the main character Rhaki was very enjoyable and well done. I thought it was a bit slow at the beginning but it was definitely worth giving the chance as I really ended up loving it at the end!

Wow - this book! I powered through it in 2 days and I think it will stick with me for a while. Rakhi/Bansari is such a great character. She is a combination of savvy and naive. The book made me really feel like I was in Bombay, where I've never been before. There were times I could smell and taste the city. All the descriptions of getting around the city and the foods really brought me there. I don't want to ruin any details, but as I was reading, I couldn't imagine how the book would end, and then the ending was very satisfying, in a non-obvious way. And so nice to have a book centered on a woman where romance was not a focus. My only suggestion for the final book would be to have some kind of glossary of terms. I found myself looking up a lot of the words, and some I could figure out from context, but would have been nice to have right there. But the language was also helpful in getting the feel of the city and the story, so I wouldn't take any of those words out, even when I didn't understand them it added to my enjoyment.

This was a very good book. I’ve read several books set in India the last few years and find their stories and culture really interesting. But I hadn’t read a character like Rakhi before. I’ll leave it to others smarter than me to fully dissect the themes of the book, but I found Alex’s well meaning but complete naiveness was effectively balanced by the infuriating hypocrisy of Rakhi’s boss. I respect her anger since women are so often prevented from expressing it.

No spoilers but the story build to a very satisfying conclusion.

After starting “Such Big Dreams” by Reema Patel, I wasn’t quite sure if I could finish it. The novel takes place in India and there was a lot of slang words and Hindu terms/phrases used. However, I found the storyline interesting and decided to continue. I enjoyed this book and it was something I normally wouldn’t select. I thought the ending was a little ‘unfinished’, however overall still and engaging book.

I love a book with a good story that also sheds light on things I know nothing about. Patel has accomplished her mission here, and the reader is able to vividly imagine what it must have been like for the different characters of her tale. The story is based on events that really happened and it is eye-opening, making the reader want to know more and adding to the genre of books that describe Indian life for both the rich and the poor.
Corruption in government and among the rich? Seems to be a universal theme, but India certainly has its own culture around this. Any young person thinking of doing an "internship" abroad should read this book.

What is fabulous debut novel from Patel! This diverges a bit from what I’ve read in the past. 2022 is all about that diversity though, y’all. The life of the main character, Raiki, is quite riveting. Raiki grew up on the streets of Mumbai, where she had to thieve and scheme in order to survive. This was alongside a group of other street children. She ends up in a girls home and then was rescued by a human rights lawyer. The story enfolds you at the jump. Between her current life as a tealady at the human rights nonprofit and the flashbacks of her childhood and how she got to living on the streets. My chief complaint is it really stalls in the middle. It slows dramatically and it got to be a chore to read it. It picks up again at the tail end. I throughly enjoyed learning some Hindi words (especially the naughty ones!) I look forward to reading more from this author. As her storytelling is funny, bold & raw!

I don't know or can't even pretend to know what like would be like living in India or in the slums of India. I do tend to believe that there is political corruption everywhere and that money tends to speak very loudly. This book definitely makes you think about such things. and while it might be taking place in another country that things are not really all that different from one place to the next.

Wow, what a fantastic debut novel!! This book was super enjoyable. I loved Rhaki’s character so much and enjoyed the blossoming of her character throughout the book. She was fierce and never gave up and despite all the obstacles, she stayed true to herself. This book is written in the present with flashbacks to the past, unraveling her story. This book takes you to India and within the book, you learn so much about the country and culture which I really enjoyed. I will definitely be reading any future books from Reema Patel.

Thank you Net Galley and Ballantine for an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

You know when you're reading a book and a new character shows up and immediately you know there's going to be trouble and a mess and it'll get blamed on the protagonist? This is one of those books. I wanted Rakhi, a young woman living in the slums of Mumbai and working as a tea lady for an NGO, to find her own way up or out or to improve her own lot through her own actions, but it takes, instead, the betrayals and manipulations of two men and Rakhi's erstwhile mentor/boss for her to find her place in the world. Her lack of decision-making is frustrating, and is even more so when you realized that she's been trained her entire life to only take direction from other people, to her own detriment. Overall, a good read, and the ending, which is horrifying from the view of an anticapitalist like me, makes a tragic kind of sense, even as it's presented as positive.

I had never heard of the author before but gave the book an honest try. I could not get into the story at all.