What a touching, fun book. I love how this family navigates through the changes that follow divorce and learn that things aren't always as we think they are. Thanks #NetGalley

Late Bloomers is a delightful character study featuring a recently divorced couple and their adult children. Each is having different relationship problems and we get to hear their thoughts about each other and their problems. It is delightful with lots of love, mistakes, and I enjoyed their clear unique voices. Highly recommended for Jane Austen and Kevin Kwan fans.

This book was both funny and heartwarming combining my favourite things, family drama, and love. Such a great read

Late Bloomers was an excellent debut novel by Deepa Varadarajan. Told from four different perspectives within an Indian family - a recently divorced couple and their two adult children - the novel is full of drama, humor, heartbreak, and little successes and triumphs for each character along the way. Each character's story was very in-depth and you saw each one struggling with their place in life - whether it be in their career but especially in terms of their love lives. Overall the novel was really delightful and a lot of fun to read. The author definitely did not shy away from messy family dynamics and I found the novel to be very genuine and heartfelt. I'm excited to read more from this author in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the chance to read this novel.

After 36 years of an arranged marriage, Suresh and Lata decide to get a divorce. We follow along as this family navigates life after such a drastic change. Getting a glimpse into each family member's new life was such a treat. I enjoyed learning about their lives separate from the family and getting to see them all come together. Thank you, Netgalley!

An enjoyable novel about a family withholding truths from each other despite their love. Suresh and Lata had an arranged marriage, and after many years together, Lata decides to leave and make her own way, taking a job in a music library. Suresh is Internet dating, finding everyone lies about their status, looks, etc. Their son Nikesh, a lawyer, is living with his son and the mother of his son but has not told his parents they are not married, while their daughter Priya, a professor, is dating a married man secretly. As the story unfolds, with humor and emotion, the family begins to understand that they don’t really know each other as well as they thought. The characters are appealing, the story line both humorous and serious, told in a relatable manner. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I had to request this the moment I saw the Indian name on the cover! When it came to actually reading, though, I was not sure of what to expect. So right now, I have mixed feelings towards the book that I am yet to process.

The story is that of an Indian family residing in the US. The parents are recently divorced and are trying to figure out their new life in their sixties, while their children cope with middle age. Varadaranjan has well encapsulated all the thoughts and emotions of the characters in their respective POVs.

While this isn't the light, breezy rom-com that is my comfort zone, it is very beautiful in its own way. The author breaks the boundaries set for conventional novels and explores the world of retired expats. Divorces are looked down upon in India because they reflect lack of adjustment and a stamp of failure. Expecting anew romantic life after this is unthinkable. The author portrayed all of this with great care in the story.

Read this for a refreshing take to second chances and some great food for thought.

Overall this is a joyful read. While there is lots of humor, there are also deep life issues of who we are in the world vs who we are in the eyes of our families. There is a focus on family dynamics (some pretty dysfunctional), but also an exploration of ourselves that we don't often share with others...the voice in our heads about ourselves. Not all characters are very likeable, but I at least felt like I understood them in the end. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing a digital ARC for review.

This is a heartfelt and humorous novel about the Indian-American Raman family, whose parents go through a divorce after thirty-six years of marriage. The resulting events depict a realistic flawed family as they maneuver through changes.

The story was entertaining and emotional, and I recommend it for fans of family dramas.

Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan is the story of an Indian family turned topsy-turvy by the divorce of Suresh and Lata after thirty-six years into an arranged marriage. The book is relatable as the problems they are going through are ones many people of all ages and cultures experience. The underlying feeling throughout the book is love, sometimes misguided or not expressed in the best way, but love is most-definitely there within the family. Something else this book illustrates beautifully is that things are not always as they seem, people can and do put on facades that don't necessarily reflect what is going on with them on the inside.

I slept on this book and read it a little late, but oh my gosh I can't believe I waited! Such a good and poignant book that had me hooked from the first page. The book made me love the characters at points and hate them in others, but overall I grew to enjoy them, warts and all.

I enjoyed the cultural nuance, the characters balancing the current world they lived in vs their cultural expectations. I liked watching them all start over and weave together. Would definitely recommend.

Told from the perspective of each member of the Raman family, we get the story of Lata and Suresh's separation along with the love woes of their children. It's an interesting take on late bloomers and how they all find or end up out of love despite what society's constructs expect from each of them.

Equally funny and heartfelt, this was a moving family drama that follows four different members of a South Asian American family as they try to find love and start over after divorce and failed relationships. I enjoyed the multiple POVs in this intergenerational story and that the full cast audio narration was excellent. Definitely one I'd recommend! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

A family of regular people, with regular issues, float apart and back together in this family saga. This snapshot of life, told with wit and humor, lends a sense of normalcy to life, even when you think there’s nothing normal about it. The writing is well done and the plot well developed. I enjoyed this one!

Late Bloomers is a story about a family, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and relatable. Suresh and Lata had an arranged marriage in India, emigrated to the U.S. and raised their two children Priya and Nikesh. The book is told from the 4 of their perspectives. In their 50s, Lata and Suresh divorce and in this novel, both of them are the "late bloomers" looking to move on with their lives, while their adult children are struggling with their own relationships. The story starts with Suresh, perplexed by Internet dating and the women who tell lies about themselves, while he himself is lying. Others become entangled in the family members' lives, culminating in a chaotic one year old birthday party. This is an entertaining and relatable read.

I struggled to finish this one. The characters were flat for me. Lata being the only one I felt something for. The story felt overly purposeful in keeping the reader at arm’s length. Same as the relationships within the family.

This is an enjoyable and easily digestable family saga perfect for summer reading! A strong and promising debut.

Suresh and Lata have recently divorced after 35+ years of marriage. In his loneliness, Suresh begins dating online. Lata is more interested in her freedom and her job at the library. Their adult daughter Priya has struggles of her own in the dating world. And their perfect son, Nikesh, has a good job, is married and has a baby too.

But all is not well as Priya and Nikesh are hiding secrets of their own, Suresh has himself mixed up in a dating situation that has unintended consequences and Lata finds herself in her own bubble of new adventures. An ultimatum by Nikesh’s partner leads to an avalanche of events that show this family of late bloomers that it is never too late to be true to yourself and live the life you deserve.

This was a slightly comical novel (with relatable undertones) and deeply flawed characters that weren’t likeable. I had a hard time rooting for any of them. The story was a good concept and I always enjoy reading novels about South Asians and their experiences.

Thank you to @netgalley @randomhouse for this gifted advance readers copy. This book hit the shelves on 5/2/23 and is available now.

If you love family drama, this one is for you! And you will really go through all the range of emotions as we watch them navigate divorce and family dynamics in general. I think what I appreciated the most was how real the characters felt, like I felt like they could be my neighbors I'm hearing all of the drama about. While the lack of communication did get to me at times, I think it made sense for who they were. Pick up Late Bloomers for the perfect summer dramedy!

This is a funny and heartwarming family drama about an Indian-American alternating between four POVs - those of the recently divorced parents who are adjusting to being single after 30+ years in an arranged marriage and their two adult children who are managing dysfunctional relationships of their own. I found myself laughing out loud a few times (Suresh, the father's, attempt at online dating is hysterical) and there were some emotional moments as well, and I really enjoyed the look into the characters' experience as South Indian immigrants to the US.

3.5 stars rounded up

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the copy to review.