My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding by. Sajni Patel | Book Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Title: My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding

Author: Sajni Patel

Format: ebook (borrowed)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 4/19/22

Categories: Romance, Young Adult, Teens, Indian Wedding, Family, Coming of Age, Contemporary

A fresh, witty rom-com romp set against the backdrop of a high-profile music competition and a riotous Indian wedding

Zurika Damani is a naturally gifted violinist with a particular love for hip hop beats. But when you’re part of a big Indian family, everyone has expectations, and those certainly don’t include hip hop violin. After being rejected by Juilliard, Zuri’s last hope is a contest judged by a panel of top tier college scouts. The only problem? This coveted competition happens to take place during Zuri’s sister’s extravagant wedding week. And Zuri has already been warned, repeatedly, that she is not to miss a single moment.

In the midst of the chaos, Zuri’s mom is in matchmaking mode with the groom’s South African cousin Naveen—who just happens to be a cocky vocalist set on stealing Zuri’s spotlight at the scouting competition. Luckily Zuri has a crew of loud and loyal female cousins cheering her on. Now, all she has to do is to wow the judges for a top spot, evade getting caught by her parents, resist Naveen’s charms, and, oh yeah . . . not mess up her sister’s big fat Indian wedding. What could possibly go wrong?

Check out this book cover! It is so vibrant that it caught my eye and I had to borrow it. This is what I thought:

+ This is a coming of age book set around Zurika’s older sister’s wedding. Zurika is thinking about college, thinking about her love of music and trying not to disappoint her family.

+ I love that this is set around an Indian wedding! I love weddings and I love learning about other cultures and how they celebrate weddings. I could just picture the colors of the celebration and the food. I think it’s beautiful how an Indian wedding is centered around tradition and family.

+ Outside of Zurika’s coming of age challenges, this story is about family. Zurika has cousins who help her try to get to an audition and encourage her musical talents. Her parents and the elders of course want her to pursue law or medicine but eventually they let her make her own choices with the help of Zurika’s sisters standing up for her. I love that her family is complex and relatable. I love how much fun she has with her cousins!

+ The romance between Zurika and Naveen is super sweet! They go from strangers, to friends, to a little something more and it’s cute.

~ So the wedding celebrations take place in the span of one week, and so this is a bit of insta-like. I won’t say love because clearly it’s not there…yet.

Why you should read it:

you get to learn about Indian weddings and the fun they have with all the celebrations leading up to the actual wedding
a sweet romance
perfect for teens – Zurika is relatable

Why you might not want to read it:

I think it’s more geared towards teens – but it’s still a cute story

My Thoughts:

I think this is a cute story with some Indian wedding celebration fun and a sweet romance. I love that it centers around family and it’s got a beautiful book cover.