katiemack's reviews
1404 reviews

I grew up watching Monty Python and Eric Idle was always one of my favorite members (especially in recent light of Terry Gilliam being terrible), so this was a fun read. It is a little disjointed, and he name-drops a lot (though he is pretty tongue-in-cheek about it). Overall, however, it invokes a lot of nostalgia not only about Monty Python, but also other well-known people from the 60s to the present.

There’s some decent research in here. The concept of having only one child is a polarizing one (whether it’s a conscious decision or not), and Sandler acknowledges this while laying out the data.

Some reviewers have been quick to label this book as “propaganda,” and while Sandler clearly expresses her bias toward having one child, I think she comes across this way because she is defensive in the beginning—but only to address the stereotypes that exist about only children.

I appreciated the way she lays out the arguments for and against having one child, but ultimately, this is a book for those who have already decided how many children to have. The main conclusion seems to be “only siblings are fine; multiple children are fine,” so it’s not for those who are in the midst of family planning.

I need to stop reading several sad books in a row. This slow-burning family drama was so, so lovely and devastating to read. Mirza does a wonderful job building this Muslim-Indian-American family (Layla, Rafiq, Hadia, Huda, and Amar), and her melancholy prose made the plot unfold even more effectively. I also loved the unapologetic use of Urdu phrases to add depth.

I'm giving this 4 rather than 5 stars because Mirza did not give us any insight into Huda (which was more glaring because she was the only immediate family member not highlighted) and because another round of editing probably would have trimmed some of the plot points that were rehashed over and over. Otherwise, I highly recommend it.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to read a retelling of Emma set in South Asia; however, this book fell flat for me. While Emma was about the titular character's growth and development, I didn't see any sort of growth for Ania in Polite Society. In fact, it seemed like Rao was distancing himself from his own characters, as though he disliked writing them. Additionally, while this book has been compared to Crazy Rich Asians, it lacked not only the depth, but also the enthusiasm to earn this comparison.

I received an eArc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

NetGalley eArcs are hit-or-miss on formatting, and this one was a clear miss. It's especially disappointing because, as a mixed media book, consistency between the different types of correspondence (via Twitter, emails, journal entries, and more) is important. I wish I had waited and gotten a physical copy of the book to fully appreciate this.

I also debated whether the formatting or the content of the book was the reason for my rating (2.5 stars). I was really looking forward to reading this book and learning more about Haiti from authors who have experienced it, and the book delivered on that. I also appreciated Alaine's snark, though it was grating at times, and I enjoyed reading her mother's diary. Unfortunately, the book deviates from exploring the relationships between Alaine and her relatives (namely, her mother) in favor of scattered side plots--including a family curse--and the inclusion of multimedia correspondence from peripheral characters.