4.5⭐

Thank you Ananya Devarajan, HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley for the ARC!

Sanskari Sweetheart was a fun magical-realism rom-com. It dealt with themes that are not normally explored in th romance genre --- the communication and miscommunication. Raina and Aditya had sizzling chemistry that complemented eachother seamlessly. I love how romantic Aditya was and his sweet gestures to Raina.
I also enjoyed the Bollywood Dance Competition setting that is set up outside India.


Overall, this was an emotional rom-com the further you dive into the story!

3.5 🌟
The main characters had some really adorable and romantic moments between them. Wish we had gotten to know more about their four year long relationship, since the whole story occurs in the span of a weekend (with Saturday occurring over and over). There were some elements that felt disjointed, like her issues with her family members. They would be brought up suddenly and then not addressed for a couple chapters and that occurred multiple times, to the point I didn’t remember what the problem was in the first place. I enjoyed her new friendship with Simran, and I liked how Raina’s relationship with her mom was portrayed, and her and her sister coming to terms with how their relationship was changing.

THIS. IS. YA. This isn’t just a fun time loop romance. It’s a simulation of what it’s like to be emotionally avoidant (aka a teenager!) and face situations where you need to confront hard conversations with not only people you love, but people whose opinions ultimately don’t matter. As usual, Devarajan excels at articulating character relationships well beyond the central romance. The dynamics between Raina’s family and social circle are complex and varied; I especially loved the auntie gossip mill and how their children avoided, defied, or even enabled it. Teenagers would benefit so much from dissecting the themes in a classroom (while actually enjoying the reading experience!). This is the perfect transition book from middle grade to young adult, and I don’t know why I haven’t been seeing this pushed everywhere.

Don't really like the overuse of Bollywood and the cringe I got while reading this book. I get that it is an romance based on Indian characters but this is not the way you represent it.

This was a great YA romance book. If you love Bollywood then you will love this book! The romance was so sweet! I would highly recommend reading this book!

3.5 stars!!

A huge thanks to the author, publisher and Netgalley for a cppy of this book! I had a fun time with it!

Firstly, I would say that it has been a while since I read a YA novel, and I was really fascinated by the concept of a time loop with a dancer. I had to pick this up!! While I enjoyed the first half of this book - it gave me the perfect escape I needed from my busy and hectic life. But as it progressed, I found it to be slightly dragged and slow. Raina and Aditya are both great characters, but I just couldn't connect with them for some reason - I feel like I needed more establishment before we plundged into the time loop... Maybe these are different expectations, but I kind of wanted the book to explore her relationships beyond Aditya - like when her sister came in the time loop, or her mother too - I wish there was more depth in those interactions and not felt like an afterthought.

Overall, it is a fun book, and I wish all the luck to the author!

This book has the trope of 'stuck in a time loop' with repeating do-overs which is a theme that I've read before, but this was for sure a first where there is an existing romantic relationship from the beginning. On page, Aditya and Raina are the perfect couple and are also co-captains of their National Bollywood Dance Circuit group. They seem to be made for each other but the cracks in their relationship start showing in their last competition for the scholarship.

I read Kismat Connection over a year back and have read so many books since, I don't remember the book very well. There are obviously characters shared with both the novels with the FMCs in both being sisters. I think this book is readable as a standalone, but I recommend reading both for context and I wish I remembered the first one better.

Pacing wise, the book wasn't too bad but as with books using this trope, the repetition bored me after a while. I found the character development with Raina and just the way her character was crafted to be fascinating. Her relationships with people were so nuanced and are food for thought. The writing style though didn't sit great with me. It's either that or I was in a reading slumpish state when I picked it up. These are my thoughts on the book for now but may change with possible rereads.

PS- I would comment on the cultural aspects of this but I don't find anything that really separates this book from any book with white characters and maybe a few POC side characters. The only examples I can think of would be the entire cast being Indian with Indian names (to my memory) and a little bit of the 'aunties' stereotype. Saying this as an Indian who tries to pick up and support books from Indian/Indian origin authors.

thank you so much to ananya and her team for an ARC copy of this book!!

this was my first dabble into reading a southeastern asian romance and it was so fun, i loved the aspect of the dancing competition and the culture that was interwoven into the story, but i just did not enjoy raina as a main character, im all for a women who knows what she wants and is willing to be whatever it takes to do it but she was just so unaware of the feeling of the people around her and she did not treat aditya well and my heart hurt for him bc he deserved better

overall the vibes were there and i want to give this author another chance!❤️

4.75 stars rounded up to 5

Being trapped in a time loop sounds like my own personal hell, but man I love reading about time loops in books, specifically in romance books. When Sanskari Sweetheart was first announced, I instantly knew that I would enjoy reading this book. A book with desi characters, gossiping aunties, dance and a tinge of magical realism in the form of a timeline? That's a recipe for success, I tell you.

When we first meet Raina, she's the stubborn captain of a Bollywood dance team, whose mind is on winning a scholarship to convince her mom that dance is what she wants to make her career in. Around the same time, we meet Aditya, the co-captain of the same dance team, her long-term boyfriend. Their relationship is on the rocks, and all due to the lack of communication between them. There are chapters in the book that surround their arguments - Raina's stubbornness in not opening up, Aditya not listening to her - and all of this comes while Raina is trapped in a time loop. It makes for a very dramatic and interesting situation, which is almost reminiscent of Bollywood movies and Indian serials.

This is a sweet YA romance where the star of the show is honest communication. Raina, through the time loops, learns both how much she loves Aditya, and how much she’s hurting him. The two of them have been inseparable for so long, first as best friends and now as boyfriend and girlfriend. The biggest problem is that since they started dating, Raina has stopped seeing him as her best friend and has been closing part of herself off, leaving Aditya feeling hurt and uncertain.

The first time loop starts after their first breakup, and continues resetting every time they separate. Raina tries to dismiss it, to accept it, to focus on anything and everything else but the problem … until she realizes how much she loves Aditya and starts fighting. Fighting herself, fighting bad habits, doing the work of opening herself up to be vulnerable, to tell her boyfriend what she wants and needs, and finally asking him what it is he needs.

It’s a fast read, well put together and decently written, and is more of a 3.5 than a three. Thank you so much to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

4.75 stars rounded up to 5

Being trapped in a time loop sounds like my own personal hell, but man I love reading about time loops in books, specifically in romance books. When Sanskari Sweetheart was first announced, I instantly knew that I would enjoy reading this book. A book with desi characters, gossiping aunties, dance and a tinge of magical realism in the form of a timeline? That's a recipe for success, I tell you.

When we first meet Raina, she's the stubborn captain of a Bollywood dance team, whose mind is on winning a scholarship to convince her mom that dance is what she wants to make her career in. Around the same time, we meet Aditya, the co-captain of the same dance team, her long-term boyfriend. Their relationship is on the rocks, and all due to the lack of communication between them. There are chapters in the book that surround their arguments - Raina's stubbornness in not opening up, Aditya not listening to her - and all of this comes while Raina is trapped in a time loop. It makes for a very dramatic and interesting situation, which is almost reminiscent of Bollywood movies and Indian serials.

While I am not a big fan of the miscommunication trope, I do like how it was done in this book. It was masterful, and in the overall context of the story, makes complete sense for the way the characters are. Time loops also provide a way to pack in character development, and while to the characters, the changes seem sudden, to us readers, it is the perfect way to show people can change. I loved the climax of the book and the actual conclusion of the competition. Raina really grew, and her character development is one of the best parts of the book. Plus the way her and Aditya's relationship ends is a delight in its own way. It's the start of a new journey that the two are about to undertake together.

All in all, Sanskari Sweetheart was a delightful romcom and I cannot wait to read more of what Ananya Devarajan writes!

I would like to thank Ananya and HarperCollins for providing a digital arc. Sadly, I have some conflicting feelings about the book and have decided to not review publicly. However, I will say Bollywood dance troupes have become an important part of the South Asian diaspora experience for many. By mixing genres of music, choreography and becoming social pillars Ananya really captures the cultural experience in Sanksari Sweetheart.

Sanskari Sweetheart by Ananya Devarajan is a delightful and heartfelt contemporary romance that masterfully weaves tradition with modernity. The story follows a charming yet conflicted protagonist navigating cultural expectations, familial bonds, and the challenges of finding love on their own terms. Devarajan’s vibrant prose and nuanced character development bring depth and authenticity to this witty and heartwarming tale. A perfect read for fans of romance that celebrates identity and individuality

When I heard that there was a new YA Desi romance coming out, I was really excited. However, I didn't realize this was a groundhog day style book. Raina wakes up again and again, only to relive the same day. Instead of being a compelling YA novel about herself and her family, this was a repetitive, and at times, boring, novel. I couldn't really understand why she liked her boyfriend so much, and there wasn't much explanation given for the groundhog day style of storytelling. Raina was a flat character, and it was hard to understand her ambitions during the repetitive storytelling. I also started this book under the pretense that it was a story about falling in love. However, the love interest is already her boyfriend. I think this is partly an issue of me not enjoying the book, and partly a marketing issue on the part of the author and publisher. Why say this is a YA romance set within the competitive Desi dancing outlet, when it is actually, in fact, a groundhog day living-the-same-day-again-and-again story about a girl having relationship issues with her boyfriend? There is very little actual dancing going on in the story, as well as barely any context about her dance team. I wish this story was what I was promised, but it wasn't. A sore sore disappointment in my opinion.

i love ananya and her books so much, i knew i was a fan for life since kismat connection and this just solidified my stand. i have rarely read a romance about an already existing couple and the way this was executed the miscommunication, the issues that can arise was something i really liked, the magical realism part was definitely my favourite, seeing how each day or more like each chance unfolded was incredible, sometimes funny sometimes sad as even though i knew the whole iyer love prophecy thing ( read book one for it ) i got sad every time they broke up.
all in all this was a really good spin off series with a lot of confusion, romance and the perfect amount of bollywood.

Not 100% sure about a proper rating, but it definitely rounds up to 4 stars on goodreads! I'm honestly not too picky when it comes to romcoms (may be related to age & relatableness, but I only love YA romcoms), something I've realised as I've received many eARCs since I started reviewing. This is a good thing, as I've learned that romcoms are so fun!

With the main character Raina, I can see some disliking her: she closes herself off to others who aren't family, can be dismissive of her boyfriend's feelings, and focuses too much on perfection and doing what is expected. But I honestly understood her, and could relate to the unwillingness to be vulnerable to non-family. Plus, she goes through a lot of character growth!

The romance was sweet (pretty sure this is the most romantic teenage boy I've ever read about) but also filled with a lack of communication, something that the time loop and its (almost) endless breakups really highlights to Raina. So, Raina's development through the book made the ending a satisfying one!

Personally, I enjoy consuming fiction with time travel and other similar elements, because they always make me wonder about how I would react in a similar scenario, especially with time loops. I definitely understood why Raina reacted the way she did and I liked how she did try to do things a little differently each time.

Overall, I had a fun time reading this book, though something felt missing to me (I can't place it at the moment, but it's not a big deal). Still, it was a great romcom, and I enjoyed it!