4 stars

This is another hit from Adiba Jaigirdar!

Meghna and Rani share dual POVs in this charming best friends-turned rivals turned-...you know the trope! Both of these young women are smart, curious about and engaged in the world around them, and definitely reflect that they are whole people, despite a peculiar mutual obsession with one particular dude: Zak. What's extra gratifying is that the interest in Zak actually brings both protagonists together; he's much more of a vehicle than a character who has much meaning on his own (and ya, especially in YA, I'm living for this narrative).

While this is definitely a YA romance, there's so much more to these characters and this novel in general than just this romantic plot line. I expect age-appropriate readers will really appreciate the explorations of friendships, romantic relationships, and evolving understandings of identity.

I'll be recommending this one to students and to readers of all ages looking for a solid YA romance with substance.

Rani Choudhry Must Die was an amusing, heartwarming and entertaining novel. Once I got past the first few chapters, I was hooked. I do feel the ending was predictable but I really enjoyed watching Rani and Meghna grow and learn more about themselves and who they are outside of their relationships with Zak. I really appreciated the open discussions about gender, race and colorism, as well as getting to learn more about Bangladeshi culture and language. It was really refreshing that they were both into STEM and were passionate about winning the competition, both with interesting projects. I’d happily recommend it to teens at my branch looking for a fun, but also poignant book about love, family, friendship and culture.

Realistic and thoughtful romance about two young women who used to be best friends reconnecting over a shared cheating boyfriend--only to realize that perhaps they have something more than science smarts to share. The characters were believable and lovely, the romance developed sweetly, and overall, it was just a fun read!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an eARC, this does not influence my review.
This was a phenomenal book I love all of Adira Jaigirdar’s books so much and this one is super amazing. I love how beautifully flawed that each character is and the slow growth that we witness throughout the story. If you like sapphic romance or revenge plots then this book is perfect for you.

The Good
I devoured this book! I loved the cover and blurb since it was announced, but getting to read it has been a fun experience! Rani and Meghna are two ex-friends now belonging to different social classes and schools living miles apart. There is a one-sided beef between the two, where Meghna views her as an archnemesis while Rani wishes she knew why Meghna stopped answering her calls. Then enters Zak, the cheating boyfriend and a plot to expose him with their science project emerges.

What I loved most about this book was how much Rani and Meghna bring out the best in each other and why they worked as best friends and then girlfriends. I loved seeing their character arcs individually and as a unit together and healing their rift. I loved them both and could see each of their sides in every argument. Jaigirdar did an amazing job discussing misogyny, colorism, culture and class in this book and how those intersections affect not only the main characters' lives but how they view each other. This was also quite fast-paced and that was a great aspect of this book. It played out in my head like an indie coming-of-age romance - sweet, moving and to the point.

Tropes:
— Rivials to Lovers
— Bangladeshi fmcs
— Women in STEM

Format: Ebook

The Rating
I give this book a 5/5🌟 rating. This was so good! I love when my anticipated reads are as great as I imagined them being!! This is my second book I've read by Jaigirdar and I need to read everything she releases!

i love you and your words, adiba jaigirdar. please never stop writing these enemies (ish) to lovers sapphic romances. i always have the best time reading her books and Rani Choudhury Must Die is no exception. one thing to keep in mind is that the romance aspect of this book is a little more of a side plot rather than a big plot like her past books. I would say the most prominent plot in this book would be the cheating and revenge, which i am all for!

I HATE MEN! Adiba Jaigirdar knows exactly how to write a rivals to lovers! Meghna and Rani were absolutely adorable and had me yelling “you’re in love you idiots” the entire time! I devoured this book in a day! Combining Rivals to Lovers, Girls who are Messy (with a capital M) and Women in STEM (bunsen burner… on) created a wonderful story and will absolutely be added to my recommendation list!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

*4.5 Stars*

I really liked this one. I loved the main characters, they were flawed and captivating. I was really into the whole competition part of the story. I love a competition in any book but a science competition? Yes, please. I also enjoyed how they used to competition to get revenge, I thought it was a great idea. Speaking of great ideas, not all of the main characters' ideas were great, some could be called very bad decisions but it made sense to me because teenagers and I liked that they weren't so perfect all the time. What I did have a little more trouble with was the background and why Meghna hated Rani so much... It never really did make sense to me and I still don't really get the title...
Overall though, this was really really good and I'm, once again, looking forward to more books by Adiba.

Do I even need to say I adored this book? I mean every book Jaigirdar has been an absolute hit and I've loved ever one and this one was no exception. The concept was a little bit darker than the others this was still really fun. I loved the characters and the romance was adorable as always.

A Sapphic story with women in STEM?! Sign me up, please! Just absolutely love this. Chef's Kiss. Highly recommend

I LOVE Adiba Jaigirdar. However, I was frankly appalled by the details of the plot of Rani Choudhury Must Die, as well as the lack of commentary around those within the existing reviews here on NG.

While I loved the plot in a general sense, the two main characters create an app and, in its implementation, advocate for the violation of all conceit of privacy. Rani Choudhury sucks, sure, but he doesn't deserve systematic stalking by the main characters, constant violation of his privacy through the breaking into his phone, illicit downloading of an app he did not consent to have in his possession, or the consistent tracking of his activity through that app.

Regularly, I'll read books and see an act of bigotry that is not called out within the text -- an act of racism that isn't contextualized as *racist*, and is instead normalized. I will always, always knock a book stars for that sort of wonton behavior around subjects that are inherently more serious or impactful than the text made them seem.

In this case, I have to do that for Rani Choudhury Must Die. I expected, at some point, for the app to be flagged by the judges as illegal, if not expressly unethical. It didn't. No one commented on it. The foul ethics and illegal and frankly *abusive* behavior engaged in by the main characters is never called out or in -- it is actually rewarded and normalized with the text.

For that reason, I'm really disappointed to say that I can't give Rani Choudhury Must Die more than 1 star. It feels frankly dangerous to have an idea like this out in the YA sphere without contextualizing it in-text by calling it what it is: abusive, illegal, shitty behavior.