The Rearranged Life by Annika Sharma
- Pub. Date: May 15, 2015
- Publisher: Curiosity Quills Press
- Pages:268
- Rating:4/5
- Goodreads/Amazon/ Book Depository
Nithya, a vivacious, intelligent and driven college senior has always known what she has wanted: a successful career in medicine and the love of her family. She's even come to terms with the idea of an arranged marriage, a tradition her conservative Indian family has held up for thousands of years.
When a night of partying puts her on a collision course with danger, Nithya's entire life changes.
Enter James St. Clair, the smart, challenging and heartbreakingly handsome American.
As Nithya and James fall in love, she questions the future she and her parents have always planned. Now, Nithya has a choice to make: become a doctor and a good Indian bride, or step away from her family and centuries of culture to forge her own path.
The decision she comes to takes her on a journey that transforms how she sees her future, her relationships with loved ones, and how she learns to put herself back together when even her best-laid plans fall apart.
First Line: "I've been drugged."
Review: The Rearranged Life is a forbidden romance type of novel, but I found it to be more than that it was also about standing up for yourself and doing what makes you happy and realizing life isn't always going to go the way you planned.
Nithya is an Indian girl born and bred in America. Her parents are pretty traditional Indian parents, they believe in arranged marriages, not the sort where she has no say so but where they find and approve the guy and then if the two hit it off they get married. They are not for love marriages at all so poor Nithya can't follow her heart without breaking her parents. It's crazy how well I could relate to Nithya, I also married someone out of my culture and shocked everyone in my family so I definitely understood the inner conflict she was facing when it came to that. She has always been the perfect daughter doing everything her parents want and making a lot of sacrifices to keep her family happy but what happens when your family expects you to make the ultimate sacrifice...love.
When Nithya meets James you can tell there was an attraction there from the get go but she knows better then to act on it so she tries to keep it strictly platonic too bad her heart didn't get the memo. While James is growing on her Nithya's family has plans to pair her up with Nishanth a son of an old family friend. I'm not going to lie when I met James I loved James when I met Nishanth I loved Nishanth, but you can easily tell which guy was meant for her, one she had feelings for the other it was more of an obligation.
I loved seeing Nithya's character grow throughout the novel and I felt James was a big part of it, he challenged her and she was able to be herself with him without wondering if he was going to judge her or not, honestly it was like she felt more free with James. I mean how can you not root for the two and hope she makes the choice that will lead to her happiness.
Overall Sharma wrote a beautiful story with a sweet romance and endearing characters.
Memorable Quotes:
Review: The Rearranged Life is a forbidden romance type of novel, but I found it to be more than that it was also about standing up for yourself and doing what makes you happy and realizing life isn't always going to go the way you planned.
Nithya is an Indian girl born and bred in America. Her parents are pretty traditional Indian parents, they believe in arranged marriages, not the sort where she has no say so but where they find and approve the guy and then if the two hit it off they get married. They are not for love marriages at all so poor Nithya can't follow her heart without breaking her parents. It's crazy how well I could relate to Nithya, I also married someone out of my culture and shocked everyone in my family so I definitely understood the inner conflict she was facing when it came to that. She has always been the perfect daughter doing everything her parents want and making a lot of sacrifices to keep her family happy but what happens when your family expects you to make the ultimate sacrifice...love.
When Nithya meets James you can tell there was an attraction there from the get go but she knows better then to act on it so she tries to keep it strictly platonic too bad her heart didn't get the memo. While James is growing on her Nithya's family has plans to pair her up with Nishanth a son of an old family friend. I'm not going to lie when I met James I loved James when I met Nishanth I loved Nishanth, but you can easily tell which guy was meant for her, one she had feelings for the other it was more of an obligation.
I loved seeing Nithya's character grow throughout the novel and I felt James was a big part of it, he challenged her and she was able to be herself with him without wondering if he was going to judge her or not, honestly it was like she felt more free with James. I mean how can you not root for the two and hope she makes the choice that will lead to her happiness.
Overall Sharma wrote a beautiful story with a sweet romance and endearing characters.
Memorable Quotes:
~"I want you. I want to be rebellious and safe, wanted and challenged, broken and whole, and I want it all with you.I am all in."
~"He has seen me at my most vulnerable, in a disorganized mess in class and in a heaping ball of tears on his floor, yet he sees greatness in those experiences."
