Welcome back to Reading, Reading, Reading!

In between school work, the constant stream of depressing news, and walks around the neighbourhood with my parents, it has been quite challenging to find the time (or motivation) to pick up a book (for pleasure) and read it all the way through. Alas, my reading slump has now ended thanks entirely to The Trouble With Hating You by Sajni Patel. This book was a real treat to read, and the perfect novel to stop my long lasting reading slump!

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Liya Thakkar is a successful biochemical engineer, takeout enthusiast, and happily single woman. The moment she realizes her parents’ latest dinner party is a setup with the man they want her to marry, she’s out the back door in a flash. Imagine her surprise when the same guy shows up at her office a week later — the new lawyer hired to save her struggling company. What’s not surprising: he’s not too thrilled to see her either after that humiliating fiasco.
Jay Shah looks good on paper…and off. Especially if you like that whole gorgeous, charming lawyer-in-a-good-suit thing. He’s also arrogant and infuriating. As their witty office banter turns into late night chats, Liya starts to think he might be the one man who truly accepts her. But falling for each other means exposing their painful pasts. Will Liya keep running, or will she finally give love a real chance?

This book was magic from beginning to end! While I will admit the story seemed to begin fairly slowly, I was incredibly surprised by how the pace picked up, and from there, the story really took off! Before reading this book, I was in the mood for a light adult romance, but I’d say that categorization is actually a bit off. I would not really call this book a romance, as it is not steamy in even the smallest way. It is actually a very deep and emotional story, which can be triggering for some readers. This book is not your everyday hate to love romance, but rather a hard hitting adult contemporary featuring a great cast of strong, Indian characters.

In books like this, the characters usually make it or break it for me. Luckily, I really enjoyed Liya and Jay, the main characters in this novel. This book is written in dual-POV, which made it easy to quickly care for the characters and understand their emotions. Liya is a very independent and head-strong character, which is very different than what other woman in her community are like. While I thought she was being overly stubborn at times, her actions always had proper reasoning and understanding. Jay is possibly my new favourite fictional character of all time! I absolutely adored his character, as he was both strong and sensitive, and was never afraid to stand up for himself (or his lady!).

Other than the two main characters, the friendships in this book are so inspiring and admirable. Liya has a mighty and tight inner circle of friends who always have her back, while Jay is very close to his immediate family. All of the friendships and relationships in this book made me feel so happy to read about, especially since I have not been seeing my friends as often as I’d like to (thanks to COVID-19, of course). This book made me appreciate the unconditional love I have with my parents and others, and reminded me never to take it for granted, especially since Liya has a lot of trouble with her parents.

The writing in this book is absolutely phenomenal. While I had a few small pacing issues throughout the story, the writing was immaculate and astonishing for a debut author! Sometimes in novels written in dual-perspective, it can be hard to remember which character is narrating a certain chapter, however, I found the two main perspective’s voices distinguishable and very easy to follow.

Overall, I loved this book and gave it 4.75/5 stars! If you are looking for a light but emotional book to read this summer, I HIGHLY suggest picking this one up! Thanks to HBG Canada for sending me a finished copy of this book!

Good Night Book Owls!