I'll be honest: reading the first half of Such Big Dreams, I kept wondering if this was a title I should put aside without finishing. At the midpoint of the novel, however, the action and conflict picked up, and at the end I was doing that reading-as-fast-as-I-can thing because I *had* to know what would happen next. Such Big Dreams is a novel the most definitely rewards a bit of stick-to-it-ness. The novel takes a cynical, but not necessarily negative view of NGOs: non-governmental organizations established to try to remedy a country's ills, think of Doctors without Borders or the International Rescue Committee.

Such Big Dreams' central character—and the narrator of the book—is Rakhi, a former street child living in a Mumbai slum and working as an office assistant for an NGO, Justice for All, that fights to prevent the unannounced, uncompensated razing of exactly the sort of "unofficial" neighborhood in which Rakhi lives. As is true for most NGOs, funding is tight. Justice for All has had to recently cut staff and satellite offices, and is still in a financially precarious state. One of the ways Justice for All tries to make ends meet is by accepting unpaid interns from wealthier nations—interns who generally become disenchanted with NGO work fairly quickly.

Rakhi, as a former street child, is presented by Justice for All as a success story—a girl in trouble with the law and with no prospects for earning an honest living, who has risen to lead a responsible life. That's how her employer likes to tell Rakhi's story, but in the organization itself she gets little respect, runs endless errands and is often asked to work late into the night. With little control over her own circumstances, Rakhi feels like anything but a success.

This set-up quickly becomes complicated as Justice for All pairs up with a "celebrity" spokesperson, Rubina Mansoor, an aging, second-string performer in Bollywood movies who is best known for a highly sexualized dance number from one of those films. At the same time, Rubina's wealthy Canadian "nephew" Alex joins Justice for All as an unpaid intern. From the start, both are awkward fits with the NGO. Rubina is much more interested in promoting herself and garnering headlines than she is in addressing the problems Justice for All focuses on. Alex, meanwhile, alienates most members of the organization with his unearned privilege and lack of knowledge about Justice for All—and of life in India overall.

Rukhi finds herself in the middle of these awkward transitions. Alex supports her aspirations, but has almost no understanding of her actual life circumstances and the challenges she's up against. This set-up takes the first half of the book and moves along in prose that is capable, but lacks liveliness. As, I mentioned at the outset, this changes, the pace quickens, and the stakes grow higher as the novel progresses.

If you're someone who can launch themselves into a book knowing the payoff will be delayed—but that it *will* come—you should get your hands on a copy of Such Big Dreams. The economic realities, political shenanigans, and individual struggles it presents will stay with you long after you've finished reading.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

I went into this one blind with no real expectations other than to be educated about Indian culture. Early on I was hopeful, but unfortunately this one didn’t land for me.
I found myself feeling unsympathetic toward the protagonist for 90% of the story and had a difficult time connecting to her.
I believe this author has a lot of potential for writing incredible books in the future, but her debut suffers from erratic pacing and unlikable characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“You’re not born only once, on the day your mother gives birth to you. Life forces you to give birth to yourself over and over again.”

Quick Summary: This book follows Rakhi, a former street child in Mumbai, who meets Alex, an intern at her employer, Justice For All. Alec pushers her to think beyond her life as an office assistant and think about what she wants her life to look like.

SUCH BIG DREAMS is a debut novel that sheds light on poverty and classism in India. This book gave me THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE vibes! Rakhi is a character that is easy to cheer for while your heart breaks at her circumstances.

The setting was a big player in this novel. I could clearly envision the slum that Rakhi lived in, the streets she lived on as a child, and the affluent gated communities.

SUCH BIG DREAMS is a slow burn! The build is pretty steady until the last 15% of the book or so.

I would recommend this book as a great choice if you enjoy reading about problems in other countries. I also suggest it for fans of HONOR by Thrity Umrigar and THE GIRL WITH THE LOUDING VOICE by Abi Daré.

4 stars

I will never emotionally recover from this book. Rakhi's never-ending quest to purely just survive was difficult to get through. I found myself almost dreading picking up this book sometimes because I didn't know how much more my heart could take, but what an incredibly moving book.

"Such Big Dreams" is an enjoyable, dynamic debut that paints a dynamic picture of Bombay. It's incredibly emotional and a beautiful story of hope.

3.5 ⭐️

Being a character-driven reader, I usually try to connect with one or more characters and follow them through their journey. Honestly, I struggled to make that connection here. Yet, the significance of the story packs a punch.

Rahki starts on the streets of India and then finds herself working in the office of Justice for All, a human rights agency. Rahki is street smart but naive in the ways of the “world.”

The difference in her world - the slums of Mumbai - is glaringly contrasted with the shining, polished life of Alex, a fellow intern at Justice for All. Alex is from Canada and will soon be a Harvard grad student. He wants to see the real India and asks Rahki to be his tour guide, all while encouraging Rahki to reach for her dreams.

Let me say that this story put me right in the heart of Mumbai, with the sights, smells, food, and even the reality of how the poor live and are treated. Even though I felt that the story moved a bit slowly, and it was more descriptive rather than emotive - there are some profound messages about the poor being exploited and how greed is rampant in poverty-stricken Mumbai.

*𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘴!

Thank you to @penguinrandomhouse for the gifted ebook and @PRHaudio for the audiobook.

I really enjoyed this book. I realized how few books I have read that take place in India. I happened to finish this book at the same time as a book called Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity. Such Big Dreams is fiction, the other isn't. But so many themes and experiences overlapped that it felt like Such Big Dreams could have been a work on nonfiction. I would bet many people have experienced different events from the book in their real lives.

I enjoyed the author's writing style and the main character Rakhi. It was easy to feel sympathy for her and understand the reason to the choices that she made in the book. Without giving details, I liked how the book wrapped up and felt satisfied with the story. I would be interested in reading more from this author.

Thank you netgalley for the advance copy of this book.

This was a quick and absorbing read. For someone who has not been to India, the descriptions of the streets, the food, the smells, the train station, etc were fascinating. The story of the main character, who goes by Rakhi through most of the book, pulled me in and had me rooting for her. Other characters revolved around her and were exposed as the selfish beings they were.

This is a story of one person's reckoning with her own life.

I was pleasantly surprised by Such Big Dreams. I hadn't heard much buzz about it and almost didn't grab it from my Netgalley shelf, but the first couple of pages drew me in right away so I decided to stick with it. I'm glad I did, because I LOVED Rakhi and enjoyed every minute I got to spend with her inside her brain and her story. I don't know anything about living in a slum in India, or about children forced to live in the streets in India, or about NGOs' effects on every day people in India, or so many other things the book covers, but I feel like Patel gave me such a compelling look into this part of the world. The book was that slice of life type read that I'm always interested in - getting to know a tiny piece of a different part of the world - and it was so enjoyable to read. Of course the book deals with some really heavy, difficult themes - extreme poverty, death, abuse, and more - but it never felt TOO bogged-down in the hard stuff, mostly because of Rakhi's incredible personality and sunny demeanor. Even when she didn't seem to be thinking positively, there was a thread of perseverance running through everything she said, did, and even thought - she was always fighting for herself, and even when she was the most discouraged, something told her she was worth fighting for. This book is one that will stick with me for quite some time.

What a powerful great novel that portrays Bombay/Mumbai so well. The characters are very well developed. It was not my "typical" read, but it kept me engaged thoroughly. Rakhi lived on the streets since age 9, and tells her tale unabashedly. I found myself getting emotional at times. Very powerful debut!
Thankful for this ARC !

Such Big Dreams
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Literary Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 5/10/22
Author: Reema Patel
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Pages: 336
Goodreads Rating: 4.00

Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Rakhi is a twenty-three-year-old haunted by the grisly aftermath of an incident that led to the loss of her best friend eleven years ago. Rakhi's life isn't much, but she's managing. That is, until Rubina Mansoor, a fading former Bollywood starlet, tries to edge her way back into the spotlight by becoming a celebrity ambassador for Justice For All. Steering the organization into uncharted territories, she demands an internship for Alex, a young family friend from Canada and Harvard-bound graduate student. And as the stakes mount, she will come face-to-face with the difficult choices and moral compromises that people make in order to survive, no matter the cost.

My Thoughts: The narrator was Rakhi, told in her perspective in a dual timeline of the past and present, which I loved. The author sets in India and the author provides such descriptive insight to India, that you feel like you are there with Rakhi on her journey. The characters are well developed and showed depth, complexity, creativeness, and worked well for this story. The only drawback for me was the use of Hindi words with no point of reference, I think if the meanings were in the author’s note with the other references, it would have made a more powerful impact debut novel. The author’s writing was authentic and creative. Overall, I enjoyed this story and would read other novels by this author.

I don’t really have much to say about this one sadly. The story was good but the way it was written didn’t engage me into it as much as I felt like it should have..

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

This was such a good read for a debut novel. I enjoyed following the journey of Rhaki and to see her develop throughout the novel. Despite everything she had to endure she still had the strength to push forward without loosing herself in the process. You will learn so much about India in this book and enjoyed learning more about it's culture. I will definitely be looking out for the next book from this author. I highly recommend this book.

Haunted by her best friend's death eleven years ago, Rakhi ekes out a living in the Mumbai slum working for the human rights law organization Justice For All. Fading Bollywood starlet Rubina Mansoor becomes the organization's ambassador in a bid to remain in the limelight and demands an internship for Alex, a family friend from Toronto that is Harvard bound. He asks Rakhi to show him the "real" India, which seems harmless enough until it doesn't.

We meet Rakhi in the slums and see what it's like to live in Mumbai without a famous name or much more than a secretary's income. It's crowded, potentially dangerous at every turn, and she's not too far from her past as a pickpocket and beggar on the streets. Alex, part Indian, has no idea what life is like, and his wealthy family protects him from the people with Rakhi's background. He wants to help others with the naiveté of a graduate student who hasn't seen injustice for himself. He pushes her to apply for college and want more, essentially believing that a secretary isn't good enough and that she should want bigger and better dreams than the life she's currently living.

Rakhi's different selves are held separate from each other, and it does remind me of growing up in New York City. People who have different groups of friends or associates tend to code switch, which she does effortlessly. Of course, Alex has no idea about this, because he grew up in a different city and economic class, and his aunties keep him in the affluent areas of this city. He doesn't see or know about lower classes and understand their struggles. Seeing it doesn't mean he understands, either, and hearing Rakhi's story (which we see bits and pieces of with each chapter) doesn't mean he truly knows what the experience actually was like. When it all comes to a head, I didn't expect the level of devastation. At the same time, I'm almost not surprised, either. All along, Rakhi was telling Alex about the level of corruption and how much the poor lose when the rich get their way. All along, we see her boss fight for justice and not get it. Rakhi's future is best when it's one she decides for herself, not what others decide for her. I was pleased to see what her own dream looked like and that she settled into herself at the end.

Such Big Dreams by Reema Patel was a great debut novel. I really enjoyed Rhaki's character. I admit, I cried and cringed a few times too! Rhaki had a super tough and gritty upbringing and she dreams of a better life. She eventually lands a decent job and it able to make it on her own. This was a very enjoyable book and I am so glad I was able to read it.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballentine Books for the e-book of Such Big Dreams.

Such Big Dreams takes place in India where we learn about Rakhi's life being a street kid to working at justice for all. I loved learning about India and the culture. I can't imagine having to fight that hard just to survive.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this digital arc. All opinions are my own.

This was a pretty good read for me, despite the fact that I didn't understand all the terms used in this story. Normally, that would bug me, and I would look for a glossary that would help me understand the words, but for the most part, it just added flavor to the story without taking me away from what was happening. The main character is Bansari/Rakhi, a girl on the streets of Mumbai/Bombay, who is placed in a home for orphan girls after she and her best friend on the streets are caught setting a fire. While you don't know the details until later in the book, you do know that she ended up with an office job in a place called Justice for All, a non-profit legal organization that helps fight for the rights of the poor.

Rakhi is not the most likable of characters, and yet, I felt drawn to her and invested in her journey. Along the way, you learn quite a bit about the area and the people, both the residents and the rich firanghi (foreigners). Alex is one of these firanghi who comes to do an internship with Justice for All and he says he wants to see the "real India" but Rakhi is not so sure. He makes a deal with her--if she shows him the "real India", he'll help her go to realize her dreams and go to college to have a "real job". As she shows him around and gets glimpses of his real life, and she sees some of the things that her boss at Justice for All does to help their organization, she starts to question what she knows, what she believes, and what her real dreams are. She also realizes that no matter what one's intentions might be, money can corrupt even the most well-intentioned people, and that ultimately, she needs to decide where her own lines are. The ending gave me a little hope for her and I also appreciated the author's note, which talked about the inspiration for this novel.

What would have really helped for me would be if the author had included a glossary of all the Hindi terms she used. Some of them I was able to look up, but I couldn't find the definition of others. That definitely would have helped and I hope that later editions include such a thing.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

“You’re not born only once, on the day your mother gives birth to you. Life forces you to give birth to yourself over and over again”

Review: Such Big Dreams by Reema Patel
★★★★☆

Reema’s debut novel is a memorable and heartbreaking story about the resilience of a former street child working in a law office in Mumbai fighting to live her life on her own terms while showcasing all the cards at play when fighting for justice.

Rakhi is 23 but has experienced more hardships than most could ever bare.
She is constantly reminded how she is ‘an other’ due to her upbringing in the streets and now her living alone in the slums in Mumbai.

Reema’s storytelling allows you to feel the hardships the characters experience without getting to graphic and leaves you reflecting on the necessary dialogue around socio-political issues in India but in overall developing countries such as ‘do we find we find ways to shape public policy and law from inside government? Or do we come up with more entrepreneurial fixes?’

We meet an array of characters through Rakhi which all teach us a lesson in humanity which we learn doesn’t always mean a happy ending when people have to navigate creating the life they want when they feel unseen or unheard.

Prepare to feel transported directly to India with the vivid descriptions surrounding the culture, landscape, and language. I saw some critics about having to google a lot of Hindu terms since there isn’t a translation included but I didn’t have a problem with that at all. It felt authentic to how conversations are had which I appreciated.

The author’s inspiration for the book was based on true events that happened in India which I won’t reveal since it could be considered a spoiler but it was an interesting exploration at attempting to find out answers.

Overall, would recommend this page-turner that will have you reflecting on what is necessary when survival is on the line and what dreams and people accompany it.

Such Big Dreams is an interesting portrayal of a woman who grew up on the Mumbai streets and her attempts to make a successful life of her own.

I learned a lot about Mumbai culture from this book and some of the negative impacts of outsiders who come in trying to help. It took me a while to get into it, but it was a quick read once I did. There were a lot of Indian words in it that I didn't understand. Some, I could try to suss out using context clues, but most went over my head. I loved the protagonist and was rooting for her throughout the whole book. Her story is well worth reading.

I enjoyed this story. This is a new author for me which I look forward to seeing what is next for them. This is a well written story about the cost of ambition and the past and present colliding. This is a fast paced story that is enaging and was hard to put down. A story that pulled at your heart strings in parts and guessing what would happen next in others. I enjoyed how the characters are relateable and had great growth throughout the story. This is an entertaining story that you dont want to miss. The characters really bring the story to life and truly made the story for me. I highly recommend reading this book.