The Awakening of Meena Rawat was refreshing to read. I really enjoyed following Meena’s story and seeing her grow from an “untouchable” child in North India to a strong independent Indian woman in America. It was inspiring and definitely kept true to its title.

Thank you so much to the author and NetGalley for a gifted copy of this book. 💜

Meena was born into the "untouchable" caste, the lowest of the low. At the age of ten she watched her mother die unfairly due to her caste. She ends up at Grace Mercy orphanage, the nuns, while kind, cannot always protect her from the hatred of others. Then one day Ramu arrives at the orphanage, the two form a strong bond, unfortunately, they eventually part ways.
Meena is now in the US, in an unhappy marriage. The only bright side of her life is her eight year old daughter and her job. One day, at a work dinner, the guest speaker is someone she never expected to see again, Ramu. She is now faced with an extremely difficult choice.

The story is told from different perspectives and we learn a lot about the past and how it affected the future. I really appreciated being able to read all the separate angles and learn each character's thoughts and why they made the choices they make. Meena's character is strong and yet vulnerable. All of the characters were well developed. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Thanks to Netgalley and Black Rose Writing for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Sometimes you want to read a book for its cover and it delivers more than your expectations. Then there are those that just miss that mark. This books holds much potential, but unfortunately just wasn’t for me. I’m not going to count the reasons why.

Thank you to Black Rose Writing and Netgalley for a complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.