Love this Indian Wedding! So much beauty, tradition, and a spectacle worthy of Bollywood. I could just see them in their finery, chosen specifically for each piece of the ceremony. I thought I had a ton of details to keep track of when my sons got married. That was nothing! The musical ambitions of Zurika and Naveen are another fascinating part of the book -- and their meet cute plus sweet, budding romance. Inspired by the wedding of the author's brother, the book is full of rich detail. Want to go to a wedding?

4.5*

Man I love sajni’s books. Her writing style is mind blowing, so captivating and easily creates a visual in your head. This was such a cute and fun read and it just had me there smiling and giggling 🤭 I just know if Sajni ever wrote a book with the arranged marriage trope I would EAT it up like it’s my last meal.

Reading this has me wishing I can experience this type of story at a wedding too😩

I wish we got an epilogue tho :(

My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding is a cute meet story with meddling older relatives, a generation of supportive cousins, and two teenagers trying to follow their hearts and desires while finding more than they planned on.

Family expectations weigh heavily on Zurika, whose true calling is violin. A gifted musician, with a penchant for hip hop, her family expects her to enter a suitable profession, such as becoming a doctor or lawyer, and leave her music as a hobby. Her cousins conspire to help her follow her dream while fulfilling her role in her older sister’s upcoming wedding.

Her plan may be thwarted when she finds herself caught sneaking out by the groom’s brother, who happens to have a similar plan and is part of the musical competition at the auditions she is sneaking to. Following her dreams may lead to more than she bargained for.

Disclaimer: A copy of the book was provided by the publisher.

I really enjoy Sajni Patel's adult books. However, this YA felt flat to me. The characters feel like I've met them before, I've heard the dialogues before, I've seen the scenes before. It's a fun premise, but not a new one. I felt almost a bit bored from the start because it didn't feel that original, and the YA voice felt a bit whiny.

such a fun and cute read!

it felt like spring romance come alive — hence why the release date was so perfect.

i loved how it was a completely fresh, new story while still using a multitude of tropes that one can’t help but love. the characters were very lovable and i did find myself rooting for the main leads.

Zurika Damani is a gifted violinist who wants to pursue her career in music but her parents want her to become a lawyer like her successful sisters. Zuri has a shot at getting into her dream music college by winning a music competition. Unfortunately, the competition is during her sister's wedding weekend. While Zuri sneaks off to audition for the competition she meets Naveen her future brother in law's cousin who is also sneaking off to audition for the same competition. The book takes us through all the wedding events and how Zuri tries to realize her dreams and gives us a sneak into her chemistry with Naveen.

This was a cute read, that authentically represented a Gujarati wedding in great detail. Zuri, Naveen and all the side characters where sweet and likable. Even though the book was loaded with a lot of cliches, it was still an enjoyable read.

Thank you Abrams books for sending me an ARC of the book.

Rating - 3.5 stars

Everything about this book spoke to my soul as a South Asian-American, from Zuri wanting to follow her dreams instead of following her predetermined path set by her parents, to the family relationships and lavish wedding events.
I loved the romance aspect as well, Naveen Patel definitely could be the love interest in a '90s Bollywood movie played by Shah Rukh Khan.

4.5 stars

My Sister’s Big Fat Indian Wedding is such a fun and cute read! There were actually times where my cheeks hurt from smiling so much!

Zuri dreams of attending Juilliard, but her family has other plans for her- follow in her older sisters’ footsteps towards a future in law. On top of the stress of college admissions and a music competition that could be the key to starting her music career, Zuri also has to juggle the responsibilities of being sister to an Indian bride, who has made it very clear that everything must go perfectly. Oh, and don’t forget about Naveen, the cocky and charming rival her mom wants to match her with. What could go wrong in one week, right?

The beautiful descriptions of the food, outfits, and wedding festivities reminded me so much of weddings within my own Gujarati family. I could feel the energy and excitement coming up from the pages! Growing up, I was always surrounded by relatives and family friends, so reading about Zuri’s brought back many memories of loud dinners and get-togethers.

One of my favorite things about this book (because trust me, there were many) was the importance of music. Music is not only a passion for Zuri and Naveen, but also a way for them to express and cope with emotions. Music is also a huge part of the wedding festivities, which I thought the book highlighted well. It just wouldn’t be the same if there wasn’t a dhol player or a DJ hyping everyone up.

I absolutely loved the chemistry between Zuri and Naveen! Their rivals-to-lovers arc had me hooked, and I looked forward to their interactions with one another. I also couldn’t stop myself from squealing whenever Naveen flirted with Zuri or when Zuri, to the best of her ability, tried to avoid catching feelings.

This is later than I expected, but thank you @PiqueBeyond for providing me a NetGalley copy of the book in exchange for an honest review! I loved the story so much, I just had to get myself a physical copy when it released!

DNF @ 38%

I was really looking forward to this once since I enjoyed some of the author's previous work, and the premise of a big Indian wedding sounds like so much fun. However, the writing isn't gripping me so far, and the main character and the romance don't feel developed or interesting enough. I'm not very invested in the story, so I'm unfortunately going to set this one aside.

I loved all the elements of culture that were included in this book. There is so much that is not seen or talked about in main stream media. The family relationships were a lot of fun to see as well. However, the story was just not for me! However, I know there will be a great audience for this book.

After looking into this book, as well as the author a little bit more, I will not be giving feedback on the book for no reason except that I am not the right person to be providing feedback on this book. As a white person from North America, my feedback will not help with the promotion of this book, when there are plenty of South Asian and Indian reviewers who would be much better at reviewing this book.

This was such a wonderful, fun and vibrant novel about family dynamics and expectations, and pursing your dreams that sometimes go against what your family might want for you. This novel was so charming and the fact that it's back drop was an over the top Indian wedding made the book even more atmospheric with it's description of the décor, food and the vibrant culture.

I did not know this book was an YA contemporary novel when I requested it. I've read the author's other work in the Adult romance genre and really loved it. So I jumped at the chance of reading another one of her novels. I tend not to read YA contemporary because a lot of the times I feel a disconnect with characters and I think I would have LOVED this when I was younger. I still enjoyed it now as an adult, but I think the experience would have been elevated for a younger reader.

Overall, I still enjoyed the plot and romance, and I will continue to pick up this author's adult releases.

Thank you, AABRAMS Kids/Amulet Books and NetGalley, for providing me with this ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) in exchange for an honest review.

This was so incredibly fun to read! It was sooo cute and sweet. There was beautiful traditions and the family. Ugh. I loved it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one. I like the author’s writing style, and how vibrant and realistic everything feels. Even though I don’t really have any knowledge of the culture and traditions, I could picture everything really well because of how the author described it and brought the events and the characters to life. The whole wedding weekend seemed like so much fun, and I loved the atmosphere it created.
Zuri was a really good character. I liked that she was trying to follow her dreams, and I also completely felt for her as her family continually tried to push her in a different direction. I really appreciated how the author wrote Zuri’s struggles between attending the audition or being there for her sister and family. I also really liked the relationship between Zuri and Naveen. They had some fun banter, and though Zuri viewed him as competition and the enemy in the beginning, I liked seeing that change as they worked together. It was really sweet and funny.
The pacing was really good. There were a ton of different wedding events, and the whole story took place in the span of a little over a week. The writing style was super easy to follow, and I found myself laughing so much while reading.
I’d definitely recommend this hilarious YA book filled with culture, family, and love.

This feels like a YA mix of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Crazy Rich Asians". Completely predictable, with a smart Indian-American main character and suitably handsome romantic foil. This is a great teen beach read for those who want their romance rated PG with just a few funny yet tasteful references to the wedding night. While it ends well, I would love a sequel to see how Zuri and Neveen navigate college life.

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. My Sister's Big Fat Indian Wedding was such a fun read! It dealt with familial customs and traditions that are carried on even though the original intent may have been lost. It's nice to see a book celebrating diverse cultures with an occasion that is happy and over the top.

This book was delightful. It was a lush, detailed book about an Indian wedding. I throughly enjoyed it. I loved Zuri! She was a really amazing main character. I felt the book was more a family story then a romance.

This middle-grade to YA story is full of warmth and family love. Zuri is trying hard to live up to family expectations and the examples of her wildly successful older sisters, but her heart isn’t in medicine or law—it’s with her violin. And she’s good. To make things worth, she’s only a senior in high school and her mother is already trying to find her a nice Indian boy to marry. The problem comes when Zuri tries to balance being there for her sister’s wedding with reaching for a future in music. And to make things worse, the boy her mom has her eye on is competing for the same scholarship. And, darn it, he’s actually nice.

There’s great dialogue here, both among the family members and between Zuri and Naveen. Overall, this is a super supportive, loving family, although they have a blindspot about what “successful” means.

The wedding itself is lavishly over-the-top, and we get a wonderful look at various traditions as the eight-day celebration progresses. And oh, the descriptions of food!

We definitely cheer for Zuri—and Naveen!—not just as a potential couple, but as people with a bright future ahead of them, if only they can grab on to it.

Possible Objectionable Material:
Lying to parents and sneaking around. Some characters are gay. Some mild cursing. Some minor characters sneak into each others’ hotel rooms at night.

Who Might Like This Book:
If you like boisterous, loving families, learning about Indian traditions and food, music, and coming of age, you’d probably like this book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my opinion.

This book also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2022/05/a-handful-of-april-releases.html

I loved the descriptions of the various rituals of the Gujarati wedding, the food and the outfits, the family dynamics among generations, the sweetness of teenage crushes, the need to be your own person as a teenager, trying to find a balance between finding ourselves and respecting traditions, as well as that all-consuming stress of getting into college.

Overall, this book is as bright and bold as its brilliantly beautiful cover, and will keep a smile on your face throughout!

FIrst of all, thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. I thoroughly enjoyed this teen rom-com. The story was a solid look into family dynamics and pressures, and I also loved the glimpses into the cultural wedding traditions. I actually wish the Instagram feed was real so I could see pictures and visualize everything. I can't wait to share this with my students!