Let's get my biggest issue out of the way first: the title. Rani Choudhury Must Die bothered me because Rani is one of the narrators. Another review suggested Zak Sardar Must Die as a better title, and I have to agree—it would align more with the John Tucker Must Die inspiration.

That said, Rani Choudhury Must Die was a quick and enjoyable read. The plot, about Rani and Meghna teaming up after discovering they've been dating the same guy, was engaging, though I did have to suspend disbelief at times (like how their school advisor never flagged ethical issues in their project). The main themes—friendship, family dynamics, and toxic behaviors—were explored, but some side plots, particularly the family rift, felt underdeveloped.

The dual POV was well done. While I couldn’t always distinguish the voices, I still kept them straight, which speaks to the author’s skill. I appreciated how the book portrayed women in STEM, especially coding, in an authentic and well-researched way.

The book also taught me a lot about Bengali culture, and while Meghna and Rani’s queerness isn’t explicitly defined, it adds an interesting layer to the story. The best part was the recurring joke, "How many Ranis/Meghnas do you know?"—I laughed every time.

Overall, it's a solid, enjoyable read that I’d recommend. I’m excited to check out more from this author.

This was such a cute and heartwarming YA romance! I loved the growth our two main characters, Rani and Meghna, experienced throughout the story, and I was thoroughly hooked on their revenge plotline for their shared cheating ex. The emphasis on them recovering their friendship and realizing there was something more behind it was so well done.

The narrators also crushed it with their portrayal of Meghna and Rani.

Definitely pick this one up for a rivals to friends to lovers story.

Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook to preview.

I am SUCH a fan of Adiba Jaigirdar, I freaking love the Irish accents in the audiobook. This was cute! I mean two brown girls pining for each other but also having that twist of academics throughout it really pushed it to shine. All of the characters were likeable and lent themselves to let readers root for them. I had such fun and definitely recommend for those looking for a lighthearted YA book.

very cute romance. it threw me off at first when I heard the Irish accents, but then I realized I've read this author before! It was a cute former enemies who get back at the guy who dated both of them. Im not Bengali, but my uncle is, so I love Bengali representation. Especially girls in STEM. I may be a new fan of this author! Loved the narration and the sapphic rep!

Meghna and Rani used to be so close, but you could almost call them enemies now. Meghna is so tired of being compared to Rani and coming up short, while Rani feels immense pressure to be perfect. When they realize they've been dating the same boy, they'll put they're differences aside to teach him a lesson.

This book was an entertaining spin on a classic theme, with serious John Tucker Must Die vibes. While it follows a somewhat familiar pattern, this interpretation felt fresh and fun to read. Meghna and Rani are both likeable, and readers will root for them and their growing relationship. It was wonderful to see both leads as women in science.

I was drawn in to this one immediately by the cover. Idk what it is about this one, but I love it so much! Two brown girls looking at each other in longing, and there’s books and a computer there? Ugh so cute. And the pages inside are just as cute. Trust me!

Ok so this starts off when two girls find out the dude they think they’re dating is also dating someone else. And the someone else is actually a certain someone they don’t like. This whole part of the plot was weird to me because even though they found this out, it seemed like neither one of them wanted to break up with the asshole. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out why. They both kept making excuses. And like I’m sorry, once I find out something like that, the very thought of them pisses me off. They were truly weirding me out.

They took FOREVER to get together too. I wasn’t as into as I could have been because they were fighting for so long. And that one girl was ANNOYING. I said like 7 times while I was reading it, Girl leave them both alone lol She was so insecure and mean and it made me hate her. And its usually hard for me to outright hate a character, but not this time.

The two of them together was cute tho. But we don’t spend enough time with them at all. By then its the end. I went into this thinking it was a romance and a little disappointed because it was not. Just like she said it they were giving him that if they went through with doing the project the way they originally were going to, I thought it was really ironic that she said that because that’s what the whole book ended up being about.

But overall I did like the messaging that girls can do what ever they want and of course the women in STEM overall thing. But to have it be about this and still mostly about how this stupid boy almost ruined everything for them and then didn’t even treat them right was a bit counter productive. I’m glad she talked about some of the struggles they were going through tho.

This was disappointing, but still good. Idk how to explain that, really. I think I was expecting something else. I wanted them to find the dude, break up with him and then find each other immediately. But we didn’t even get a variation of this. I hope if nothing else this review will put you in a different mindset so you don’t go in thinking you’re getting one thing and get something else. And just a reminder to everyone, I am not an enemies to lovers girlie, so this very well may just not have been my jam. Idk, read it and let me know what you think.

Rani Choudhury Must Die is an engaging and clever YA RomCom. The characters are likeable and realistic and will draw the sympathy or readers. I especially liked the ending. Highly recommended for collections where contemporary YA circulate well.

Rani Choudhury Must Die was yet another fun and endearing release from Adiba Jaigirdar.

I loved how much growth both of our main characters experienced by the end, and the romance was super sweet, too!

3.5 so 4 rounded. I did not like Meghna at all in the beginning. I didn’t understand her dislike in Rani. Literally nobody did. and Zak just…got away with everything. Like they just decided it was all good now and he can go be a cheater some more and nobody cares. The romance wasn’t as believable. It seemed very random. Rani also seemed too good and Meghna too bitter. It felt a little one sided. And 90% to even get to any romance is criminal. I did really like the friends and Meghna’s older brother. He had some solid advice that anyone could relate to.

3.5 stars. This was cute. I enjoyed the audiobook and the characters. Having two Pakistani MCs who had to deal with culture, family, community, and expectations in their own way was the primary story, and the romance was almost incidental, which is how I prefer it.

Nothing stood out as especially good or bad- this was a feel good YA novel.

3.5 stars

This was a fun story; friends to enemies to rivals to friends to...? I feel like this was another book that I'm just too old to read. It's about once friends, now enemies, Rani and Meghna and how they deal with the fact that both of their their boyfriends is actually the same person. He's been cheating on both of them, for different reasons, so they team up to beat him at the big science exhibition.

I appreciated the look at culture and how that plays into expectations, in school achievements, relationships, society, and more. And how challenging it can be to be a part of a small community, and to be the first generation of your community to be growing up in a different culture from what your parents grew up with.

Overall, a fun, light read, though a bit on the young side for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.

I've read a few stories by Adiba before and while I liked the ones I've read in the past this one was a bit hard for me to get behind. First, I LOVED Rani as a character. I related to her so HARD so it was difficult to hear Meghna basically TEAR INTO her the entire story. I couldn't understand why Meghna hated Rani so much and when she did explain herself, I didn't like the explanation. Rani was right when she argued with her, Meghna's hatred of Rani was unwarranted. Meghna had no idea what Rani was going through and had no right to try to sabotage Rani and her project! In my opinion the book should not have been called "Rani Choudhury Must Die" It should have been named after Zakash who was the REAL villain of the story and who faced ZERO actual consequences from anyone during the story. That was the most frustrating part of this whole novel. I understand that we shouldn't focus solely on that cheater but he should have had SOME consequences for his actions.

4.5 rounded up

Cuuute besties->to academic rivals -> to lovers.

Meghna has always come second to her old bestie Rani even before they had a falling out. She is hopeful that at this year’s science fair she will finally beat her. While at the competition she finds out her boyfriend is also dating Rani behind both of their backs. Meghna wants to work with Rani to take him down and maybe take Rani down with him?

I liked that this was in dual pov and that the reason for their falling out included their families. It was a fun story and the narration was great.

Thanks to netgalley and Macmillan audio for an alc

I thought this book was very interesting and cute! I giggled, I blushed, I gasped. I thought the premise of the book was very interesting and I really enjoyed the STEM aspect. I also appreciated that these WOC don’t exist in a vacuum, and they do mention things like colorism and misogyny. The cultural aspects of this book were really lovely, and I also liked the representation of multiple LBGBTQ+ characters outside of the main characters (Meghna’s friends). Overall, I would absolutely recommend this book! A cute little sapphic YA novel.

This was a quick and easy read, but it was missing something The Henna Wars and Hani and Ishu had. I didn't really feel invested in the romance, and the scene where Meghna realises she might like Rani felt rushed. It came across as though the author was trying to convince us of Meghna's attraction, rather than that Meghna herself was having the realisation. The whole concept for the app was also unethical and I'm not sure it was realistic that they'd have been able to compete with it, but at least that was addressed towards the end.

If you loved the movie Do Revenge, you need to read this book!! I've loved every Adiba Jaigidar read, and this is no exception. Rani and Meghna are rivals with a mysterious back story created by jerk boyfriends, rumors within a small community, and two girls constantly compared by their parents against their peers. This is a heartwarming story about two young women grappling with constant marginalization and a world that wants to pit them against each other. Jaigdar does an amazing job highlighting what it is like for Bengali-Irish teen girls to exist in science and tech spaces that are still dominated by men, and often white men.

-1 star: the app designed by Meghna and Rani seems like it would be illegal due to the privacy and consent issues. They address this a bit toward the end, but it's glossed over quite a bit. I also wish the queer and relationship storylines had been developed a little more throughout the book.

Rani and Meghna are ex-best friends who team up when they realize they are dating the same boy, Zak. They team up to get revenge and beat him in a science exhibition. While working on their app to expose cheaters, the girls realize they have more than platonic feelings for each other.

I really liked the idea of this book. However, the execution was a little bit off. I enjoyed the characters of Meghna and Rani and how the story switched between their points of view. However, I feel like both of their characters were a bit underdeveloped. It also took way too long to get to the romance part of the book. Overall, it was a decent read. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys the enemies-to-lovers trope. I give it 3/5 stars.

Adorable audiobook. Sweet teen love just wish they fell in love sooner and that their romance was more of the plot! Love women in stem parts too. Thanks netgalley for the ARC!!!

Adiba Jaigirdar works her magic again, featuring another absolutely beautiful cover!

In what I'm coming to recognize as her signature storytelling, Adiba weaves a story of Bangladeshi teens in Ireland wrestling with the complicated pressures of family, identity, and queerness.

Meghna is tired of being constantly compared to Rani, against whom she can never win. She feels isolated from the tightknit community who turned against her family years ago.

Rani wishes her family supported her half as much as they do Zak. She struggles with her parents' high expectations and stringent rules dictating how to be an appropriate young woman.

Both girls love their Bangladeshi heritage and incorporate it into science projects they work very hard to perfect for an important competition. Oh, and also? both girls are dating the same guy. Cue a rivals team-up to win a science competition and get revenge on the two-timer.

The science competition is a bit confusing for someone like me who has no personal experience with the system. The transition from individual schools to entire country to continent wide felt fuzzy, but I'm not sure whether that was a story problem or a me problem. I also got hung up on the changing projects from one competition to the next - were students selected for the superiority of their project or for their individual skills?

The story relies heavily on a project that is a major invasion of privacy. I can see why the main characters might not see an issue with that, but I am confused as to how adult advisors okayed it. Thankfully the ethics of the situation are eventually pointed out, even if it happens late and feels a bit cursory.

On the plus side, I love how the author creates layers in her story and crafts characters who feel real. I love the way she writes siblings and parents as a daily part of life and includes meaningful relationships with genuinely interesting friends.

The recurring joke of "do you know another Meghna/Rani?!" quickly had me anticipating the line and giggling every time.

The audiobook is a very pleasant listen thanks to dual narrators Chandrika Narayanan-Mohan and Shubhangi Karmakar. While not a perfect performance (ill-timed phrase breaks and delayed dialogue interruptions, for example), the narrators' voices are distinctly different while sharing light Irish accents that are very enjoyable to listen to. The audiobook edition I received a few days before publication was in strong need of a clean-up editing pass - I hope what I got was an early file version rather than the actual finished product.

Haven't met a book by Adiba Jaigirdar I didn't like! It's always an easy 4 stars at least, and this one is too!
Here's what I had a problem with though - it was so tech-utopia-ish that I think will date it. It already sours me a bit. I think the characters acknowledge this too, and their growth arcs past the book would probably reflect that.
It's also basically a sapphic version of When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon. I'm neutral about this, sort of, except of course this is better in my books because Dimple and Rishi annoyed me to no end and I loved both Rani and Meghna.

All this to say, desi sapphics stay winning. It's giving Tina and Anjali ditching Rahul to have a chill life together (the ending we all demand!).