I hated this. We start off this book with Indian American teen Nikki breaking the $800 camera her father saved for and gifted her. All of this occurs as a misunderstanding with her friend Yash, who she spends the rest of the summer ignoring.

Nikki and Yash's families are quite close, and spend Diwali in Dubai. For a place so openly hostile to the Indian migrant community, I was surprised this wasn't mentioned once. I also found Nikki so grating, as she complained about excessive Indian food and camel milk chocolates. What makes camel milk "grosser" than cow milk?

Another reviewer pointed out part of this book reads like an Emirates ad. It does. And I know Emirates is top notch, but honestly, once you leave American domestic airlines, service tends to go up exponentially. Receiving extra snacks from your flight attendants isn't something special.

I figured out the big reveal long before it was shown. It's fine. You probably will, too. It was all too little too late, as I spent the entirety of this story upset and annoyed.

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Recorded Books

Couldn't get into the storyline and didn't vibe with the main characters. Everyone felt a little too immature.

This was super cute and the narration was fantastic. I will listen to anything and everything narrated by Soneela Nankani.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the Audiobook copy.
The narrator is good but the story lacks interest. This is a Young adult book set in Dubai during Diwali's celebrations. The main characters are interesting but nothing more.
The whole story is too fast and the love between Nikki and Yash is not irresistible and exciting.
It's not a bad book but it's not that good either.

This was a very cute book. I loved all of the imagery and descriptions. I really felt like I was immersed in Dubai and the Diwali festivities. It was definitely a very YA book; the character development and some dialogue felt a little simple. I really enjoyed the audiobook narrator - I felt like they captured the spirit of the main character.

Absolutely loved it. While enemies-to-lovers isn't always my favourite trope, this book was so charming I found myself completely into it. A very cute YA rom com in a gorgeous setting for a beautiful holiday. Perfect!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sleepless in Dubai is a super fun and cute YA rom-com with a cast of loveable characters. I enjoyed this story, but it was definitely predictable.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and rb media for the free ALC in exchange for my honest review. I have loved and adored all the sanity Patel books and this one is right up there with one of my favorites. I will need to add a physical copy to my forever shelf.

This is a friends to lover story.
Nikki and her best friend Yash have had a huge fight that lead to her spending the whole summer being mad at him.
Their families are close and travel to Dubai together to celebrate Diwali. Their parents force the time to spend time together. They want Nikki and Yash to mend their friendship and Lili, Nikki's sister, is the only one who realized the two were in love.

This was so cute! I loved the fact that we get to explore Dubai during Diwali with the characters--it made me want to book a trip ASAP! I do wish we had gotten to see a little more romance from Nikki & Yash, but this was more the story of them finding their way back to each other and not necessarily the begin of their journey. The narration was also great!

I got an opportunity to listen the book on netgalley. It is simple story of two friends and their families spending Diwali vacation in Dubai.
As I stay in Dubai, I felt a few facts need to be rechecked by incidences in the book.
Thank you netgalley for giving me an opportunity to review this work.

This was such a cute friends-to-enemies-to-friends-to-more-than-friends YA romance! I think I would have really loved this one back when I was in high school. The story was pleasantly predictable, but the descriptions of Dubai and the Diwali celebrations (and the food!!) were so vivid and fun to read; they added some fantastic depth and character to the story. I also enjoyed the narrator of the audiobook. I'm looking forward to reading more books by Sajni Patel in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for my advanced copy!

First I would like to thank RB Media for providing me a copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

This book is about Nikki, high school student and aspiring photographer, who goes on a trip to Dubai to celebrate Diwali with her family and family friends including her ex best friend Yash. When Nikki and Yash have a falling out over the summer their two families think the trip is the perfect opportunity for the two to rekindle their friendship and force them with each other throughout the trip. As the two spend more time together and actually talk they finally figure out what went wrong during the summer and start mending what was broken. They also get to experience once in a lifetime events together and grow closer as they continue to learn more about each other.

What I Loved:
- Audiobook quality, I’ve had some bad luck with audiobook quality and listening at a higher speed but I had no issues with this book
- Family traditions, I love that every morning Nikki’s dad gets fresh fruit and cuts it to share with the family it is those simple gestures that make the biggest impact
- Dubai, as someone lucky enough to have visited Dubai I think this book does an amazing job with describing the city and the overall grandeur of it all
- Diwali, I have not experienced a Diwali celebration before but after learning so much about the holiday and what is involved I will be looking to see if there are any local Diwali celebrations next year
- Artists, I love that both Nikki and Yash are artists and their families support their art, and that is one of the ways the two reconnect

This has all of the making of a young adult romance novel with Nikki overthinking everything and making a HUGE deal over smaller things but those internal monologues add to the story and helps with understanding Nikki. If you are looking for a sweet enemies to friends to lovers young adult story with great cultural and travel tidbits I would absolutely recommend you picking up this book.

Two families decide to take a trip to Dubai together for the Diwali celebration. Which is great until the two ex-best friends are forced to hangout again. Nikki is mad at Yash for a camera miss hap however, Yash tries to make it up to her. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for my honest feedback!

This was such a fun story! Nikki and Yash had a friendship falling out but now their families have planned a joined visit to Dubai for Diwali. What will happen on the trip? I loved reading about Dubai and the Diwali traditions. I found Nikki and Yash to be endearing and enjoyed watching them grow over the course of the story! The narration was great and made the story come to life! Thank you to NetGalley and Recorded Books Media for an advanced audio copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

This book is already added to my book order!

I really liked this book and it made me constantly want to eat treats. The food sounded amazing.

That aside, I loved Yash! Nikki not so much, she was self absorbed about 90% of the time and had definitely could not own up to any of her flaws. She however did have the most character growth.

Sweet Yash. He went through it! Very happy he didn’t run straight into Nikki’s arms the moment she flipped from hate to in love. I liked that he told her what he went through and didn’t sugar coat it for her feelings.

All in all I thought the book was adorable and I think a lot of high school kiddos can relate.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review.

I was attracted to the cover, it's very pretty and I haven't stopped hearing good things about this book. I like how the author uses cultural differences and weaves them into the story, letting us see more of these characters and engraving them in the reader's memory.
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The opportunity to travel to Dubai through the voice of the narrator was so special, it was a very charming trip through that beautiful country and the feelings of the characters.
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It is a very nice and cute YA book with very warm characters that keep you trapped in the story
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Thanks to Sajni Patel and RB media for give me a copy of this book in exchange for my honest and voluntary opinion

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

Definitely a feel good teen rom-com.
Quick read. Sweet story. Great characters. Loved that the setting added to the story and was a supporting cast member.
Soneela Nankani did a great job narrating. There was a lot of repetition of phrases/emotions which at moments got annoying and I think that should have been caught by editors, but otherwise a great read especially when trying to take a break or in between some darker reads.

3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books for the arc.