Will I read absolutely everything Sonali Dev writes? Yes.
Do I love an Austin retelling? Also yes.
Can you read this book without getting hungry? No.

This about sums up all of the books in the The Rajes series, and Dev does not disappoint with her fourth installment in the series. In this book, we finally get Vansh and Naina's story as she might finally get the HEA she deserves.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

I've read much of Sonali Dev's work, and this one wasn't my favorite. I think it's because the book it pays homage to is tough to copy. Dev has given it a go, for sure, but the characters in this version are just plain icky. To ride the line between likable and odious is a tricky thing, to be sure. This one just didn't work for me. It was a good attempt, but missed the mark.

Jane Austen's EMMA is the most difficult of her stories to retell because the characters ride the razor-thin line of flawed, but likable and just plain unlikable.

While an okay book, THE EMMA PROJECT doesn't quite pull it off. These characters end up being mostly unlikable.

I am a huge fan of the Sonali Dev books. The characters are well developed and I love that they parallel the Jane Austen books. I highly recommend to fans of cozy romances. Swoon.

I adored the rest of The Rajes series, and as much as I wanted to love this one it was just okay for me.

Vansh was an endearing character and after getting a better understanding of who Naina is in this book, I was rooting for her to have a happy ending. However, I had a tough time falling for these two as a couple. They had some great moments throughout the book, but I think the addition of Esha's story sadly took away from the development of Vansh and Naina's story. I wish that Esha's story had been a standalone so that I could have had more detail and character development. I also felt that there was a lot less time with the rest of the Rajes, and I kept hoping for more time with those characters who I already love. The writing itself was great but the plot for this one was just not what I had been hoping for.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for sharing this title. All opinions are my own.
If you've read the other three books in the series, then this will finish off the quartet! While perhaps my least favorite of the group, I've enjoyed the premise of reimagining Jane Austen's heroines through a different cultural lens. Naina is a interesting character and it's great to see her story come through.

When requesting this book, I didn't realize it was the 4th in a series, and was definitely a cover request by me. Maybe if I had read previous books in the series, I would have enjoyed more. I felt the characters fell flat, and I really found it hard to invest myself into this book. All in all, ended up DNF-ing around 40% since I just couldn't find a genuine interest in the book and wanted to dedicate my time to something I felt more connected to.

I really enjoyed this last book in the quartet - a great ending to this body of work.
I liked the mother-daughter aspect of the book and Naina's redemption book.
I enjoyed how Vansh saw her - the real her.

‘The Emma Project’ by Sonali Dev, the fourth book in ‘The Rajes’ series, a retelling of Jane Austen’s ‘Emma,’ was a poignant and lovely read. Absolutely recommend!

This series went out on a bleh ending. I wasn't that into the main characters' relationship. There wasn't enough spark between the two. I really enjoyed this series until this book which was just ok.

3.5 stars - I love these fresh retellings of Jane Austen stories, but this one just wasn't my fave. If you like the story of Emma and can handle unlikeable characters, this will hit the spot more for you than it did for me.

I struggle with contemporary romance novels with a male MC/POV character for obvious reasons - as a cis woman, I fail to relate.

Still, a strong ending to the series!

this is one of the jane austen retellings that this author is known for. I interviewed her with the authors Christina Lauren for an event, and it was very interesting to hear her talk about Austen and why retelling these stories were so important for her.

I really love the Jane Austen retelling series by Sonali Dev. She writes adaptations of Jane Austen books, and I love Jane Austen so naturally I am always interested in new retellings and adaptations. Sonali Dev is a great writer and all the books in her series are always great.

This one is called The Emma Project, because it is based on Jane Austen's Emma.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Jane Austen, so I was really excited to hear that there was a new Emma adaptation being made. There are many film, television and stage adaptations of Emma already (as well as fiction and comic book re-tellings), but my favorite two are the are the 1996 Emma comedy starring Gwyneth Paltrow and the 1995 Clueless movie starring Alicia Silverstone. My favorite Emma movie is still the 1996 version, but this was a really enjoyable adaptation that I am happy to add to my collection of Jane Austen retellings! This one is great because it offers some variety and diversity to Emma as a character.

Jane Austen herself was fond of Emma, but did not count on her being a general favorite among readers. When commenting that work, she said, “I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” This, to me, suggests that Austen wrote Emma to be dislikeable, but the modern adaptations just don’t really ‘get’ it. Not to say that Emma isn’t likeable, but I think that Austen wanted her shortcomings to be prominent, and therefore important for her character growth. There are other Emma retellings that paint her in a very forgiving light, but this one did a great job of presenting her flaws. There are more than a few unflattering passages that were written to make this character appear more human and less ideal. Overall, this was a really good adaptation, and I think Jane Austen would approve.

Despite my high rating, I have to admit that I am quite sad, because I think this is the end of the Raje books. I’m not ready to say goodbye to this fictional family that I have grown to love so dearly. In terms of where this book lies towards my favorites of the series, this one takes third place, sitting right behind Recipe for Persuasion the second book, and right in front of Incense & Sensibility, the third. I highly recommend this amazing collection of Jane Austen retellings, with incredible representation.

There is a lot to love in The Emma Project, and while this one felt like it adhered a little less to the inspiration material than some others in the series, I enjoyed it more than enough on its own. It's an age-gap romance that hits on so many things the characters have experienced as individuals and you really get to understand their connection and how they end up together.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Sonali Dev’s latest installment about the Raje family features a gender swapped retelling of the Austen novel “Emma”.

Vansh and Naina have known each other since Vansh was in diapers. When Vansh returns from his latest philanthropic endeavor, he finds himself battling head on with Naina for funding for a new app idea from the same philanthropist who has already earmarked the money to support her work in Nepal.

As these two are thrown together over and over again - they start to realize that maybe there is more there than an old friendship and some work animosity.

Add in a wonderful cast of background characters and nosey “Aunties” - The Emma Project is a fun and delightful read.

I really enjoyed this installment of the Raje family - it was interesting and multi-faceted cultural view of a diverse family. I wish there was more chemistry between Vansh and Naina - but overall a solid romance!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

As a thank you to NetGalley,Avon, andHarper Voyager, I am writing this honest review for having received an advanced copy. Coming into this novel I requested it knowing it was a series based on Jane Austen novels. I was pleased to see how adaptable it was for readers who had not read the previous three books. However I did read the book prior to this one Incense and Sensibility and enjoyed it immensely. In this gender swapped Indian-American adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma does author Somali Dev conclude her “Rages” quartet. The novel follows the youngest Raj sibling Vansh and Knightlina (Naina) Kohli who has recently broken up with by Vansh’s brother. Tropes present were grumpy/sunshine, age gap romance, friends-with-benefits arrangement. This novel is layered with character development and reflects the emotional tone of its predecessor. Overall I gave this novel 3.5 stars and 4 stars on goodreads.

Sonali Dev can do no wrong! Adapting one of my favorite authors books to a modernized, poc lead story is just what I need in a book! Her writing is phenomenal and continue to look out for her writing and any events she’s apart of!

The sisters relationship felt so immature and almost not even real to me. Other parts I really liked. I haven’t read the others but this works as a standalone

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

While I think The Emma Project offers the most romance, heat, and tension of the series as we come to its close, it was the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of underlying issues that have increasingly bothered me throughout all four books.

But first, let's talk about the characters and their love story because there's a lot to like. I was glad to follow Naina's redemption after Incense and Sensibility. We see how she thinks and what she's up against, the way a lifetime of emotions and ambitions are tangled up inside her. Vansh is meant to be self-involved if well-intentioned, to fit his gender-bent Emma image. Knowing the purpose didn't help me get through all the babying he enjoys and the countless comments about his manly physique and charm (some made by Vansh himself). Luckily, Naina has much the same reaction to him (not impressed). His small touch of humanity is the way he's struggled with dyslexia in a family that is academically gifted and how he could feel the way expectations were lowered for him when he faced challenges in school.

For romance, we have an age gap, sunshine/grump, rivals-to-lovers, friends-with-benefits tale on our hands. I found it more exciting than the last couple books in the series, and the door is open a crack wider when things get steamy. Maybe because the angst between them doesn't have as deep roots as its most recent two predecessors, it's easier to have fun seeing them battle it out. Esha and Sid's minor romance plot was a fun addition if rushed. Esha's status as the clairvoyant, empath cousin who never leaves home already elevated her as an interesting side character throughout the previous books. I've been hoping she'd get her due, and she has a nice love story here. I was only bummed to see it squished in the margins of the main romantic plot.

Ok, so the crux of my issue with this book has to do with the way wealth and philanthropy are approached. So let's start with Vansh. Early on, Naina criticizes Vansh for jumping from project to project without connecting on a deep level, but she retracts that statement rather than Vansh learning from it. He settles down for romantic reasons, not because he addressed his need to make himself feel important and benevolent by bouncing around to different causes as it suits him with no skin in the game.

The specific projects mentioned in the book come with particular attendant issues, as well. It was a drive-by comment in Incense and Sensibility how Vansh used a Peace Corps contact to get BLM and a police union to bargain. And it always got under my skin because what part of a "defund the police" platform is hard to grasp? It's not a find-a-compromise type situation. That's kind of the point. So to see Vansh crow about his role and then fold it into his "selfless" persona was more than I could handle. Things proceed in that vein as Vansh starts a campaign to help with homelessness (for some of the population, anyway-- the "employable" part) which manages to ignore its root causes as Vansh opines that it's an overwhelmingly complicated issue. Vansh uses his rich-boy connections to get corporations to offer jobs to qualified individuals who are currently without a home. And this is championed as capitalism solving problems it helped create. As if the answer is to fix systemic problems by supporting that system. Cool. Furthermore, a gentleman named Hari is Vansh's inspiration to take up the cause. Throughout the book, Hari is a largely one-dimensional character, the poster child of anxiety, naivete, and homelessness. Differing stances on how to support Hari are a big source of conflict between Naina and Vansh. Hari is set up as a child between them, subject to their decisions and guidance as he looks on them with hero worship. And I think it's weird and yucky to not portray Hari as an adult person with agency and many facets. It sets up a gross power imbalance with our paternalistic protagonists on one hand and a childlike person with less privilege on the other.

The final, related issue I want to touch on is the main villain of the story. Jiggy Mehta is this misogynist capitalist and terrible, manipulative investor who funds both Naina and Vansh's projects, pitting them against each other for his amusement. He's transparently in philanthropy for the reputation boost with no real interest in the impact on others. In addition, Mehta holds a grudge against the ease with which people like Vansh lead a charmed, golden existence. And this is portrayed as part and parcel of his other evil tendencies. Vansh grumbles on multiple occasions about how Mehta now has more wealth than the Raje family as if that erases the difference between being born into literally royal wealth versus Mehta having to scrounge for his fortune in life. I'm intrigued by villains that share some of my values or issues and take them in a bad direction, but that wasn't the situation here. It felt weirdly defensive about generational wealth and privilege, with the villain set up as petty and conniving for wanting to take rich kids down a peg.

I don't know, people. This is one of those times where I genuinely didn't want to find myself here writing a bad review, but that's where we're at.