One devoted modern girl + a meddlesome, traditional grandmother = a heartwarming multicultural romantic comedy about finding love where you least expect it.Raina Anand may have finally given in to family pressure and agreed to let her grandmother play matchmaker, but that doesn’t mean she has to like it–or that she has to play by the rules. Nani always took Raina’s side when she tried to push … when she tried to push past the traditional expectations of their tight-knit Indian-immigrant community, but now she’s ambushing Raina with a list of suitable bachelors. Is it too much to ask for a little space? Besides, what Nani doesn’t know won’t hurt her…
As Raina’s life spirals into a parade of Nani-approved bachelors and disastrous blind dates, she must find a way out of this modern-day arranged-marriage trap without shattering her beloved grandmother’s dreams.
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2.5 STARS!
I came across The Matchmaker’s List randomly while searching through publishers on NetGalley. I was immediately drawn to the cover and once I read the blurb, it was settled. I had to read this book!
But my expectations were shattered to say the least. I found the beginning rather slow and detailed. I wasn’t pulled in right away, I paused for a moment and continued later on. But even then I found myself not really connecting with the heroine, Raina. I found her to be weak minded and immature. I feel like she struggled internally from being heartbroken in the past and became a bit jaded. Once the dating commenced, I found myself bored with these men. Even Raina couldn’t take it! Then things only seemed to downspiral more with the presence of Dev, the guy she fell in love with. It all felt like a lot of unnecessary drama to be honest. Then to top it all off, Raina tells a white lie that turns into a white whale of a lie and ends up hurting a lot of people.
I will say that I enjoyed the cultural aspects of the book. I love reading books about women of different ethnicities and backgrounds. And of course my favorite character in the book, Nani. She was just a sweet, sassy, and strong headed woman who loved her granddaughter and wanted her to be happy and taken care of.
Overall, this book wasn’t my cup of tea but I hope my opinion doesn’t deter people from reading it. As I myself have found books I loved that others just didn’t care for.
A funny and moving exploration of modern love.
Copy received via Netgalley for an honest review
I really wanted to really enjoy this book, however to me it fell flat.
I liked the premise of the book, and I thought things could have been funnier, more of a rom-com than we got.
Though the main thing that made this fall flat for me was our leading lady Raina. Though she is nearly 30 years old, she came off as immature. I was sure at times I was reading about a 14 year old girl not a smart, successful woman.
I just didn’t get her. She came across as childish and selfish and like she was going to stamp her foot and chuck a tanty every second page.
But this could just be me.
I really think that this book had potential. This might be a case of it’s not you, it’s me.
This book gave me so many thoughts. About a 29 year-old woman facing pressure from her grandmother (and from herself) to get married, she begins meeting with suitors her grandmother has found but they all leave something to be desired. When an old flame reenters her life, she’s not sure what to do!
Pros:
– Indian-Canadian (mixed race) heroine #representation
– Multiple potential suitors that keep you guessing until the end
– Fully three-dimensional characters with well-developed backstories
– HEA
– Creative and fresh (no predictable tropes)
Cons
– Strange switching of POV–sometimes in the first person and sometimes in the third. I believe that it’s in the third person when it’s a flashback, but it was super confusing to catch on to, and at first I thought we were in a person’s head.
– There’s a lot of flashbacks to a lot of different times, and despite the date being presented at the forefront of the chapter, it’s still confusing for the story to be told all out of order.
– There’s a storyline about the the MC unintentionally letting her grandmother believe she is gay in order to get out from under the pressure of getting married, and soon the rumor expands to the whole community and she doesn’t correct them, she just plays along?? It starts off interesting, but the longer the lie goes on, the more implausible it seems, and I would just love to hear from someone in the LGBTQ+ community on what they think of this storyline.
I don’t know, I REALLY debated my rating on this one. It’s more like a 3.5, but I didn’t really feel like I could round up given other books I had given four stars too and enjoyed significantly more. Overall, I’d probably still recommend giving he book a go.
A quick, fun read.
Very fun characters that I really enjoyed. The story felt like people I know. And the characters weren’t boring archetypes but had some great depth.
I enjoyed this book.
I usually don’t write reviews unless I feel very strongly about a book, and this one upset me on a couple of levels. My first complaint was with the narrator, I simply couldn’t like the main character, and though she grew minimally more mature by the end of the book, I found her shallow, immature, self-absorbed, and wishy-washy. And she’s a competent professional? But what really got me grinding my teeth was her imbecilic idea to plead lesbianism to get her Nana off her back about getting married. To the author’s credit, the fallout from this stupidity was realistically portrayed, but the pain she caused was, I felt, too lightly treated. Homosexuality is too serious to be treated like a joke; it has serious, life-changing consequences, and coming out is not always an easy or accepted decision. And what two otherwise intelligent males saw in her was beyond me. The only reason I didn’t throw the book across the room several times was because it was on my Kindle and I didn’t want to break it. Avoid at all costs.
30 is looming around the corner. As a member of the Indian community, Raina Anand, a successful Toronto banker, is beset by her well-meaning Nani (grandmother) to get married and married soon! She provides a list of eligible Indian men and Raina agrees to at least meet, if not date them.
Torn by thoughts of her first love, Raina feels pressure from her family and community and friends and makes some foolish mistakes along the way. Like telling her gossipy grandmother she is gay so as to avoid these dates. She creates her own nightmare of lies; lets just say she is way off kilter in her 29th year and has a lot of growing up to do.
This book is winsome, funny and endearing. The struggles of the young Indian women to respect their culture and families while maintaining the independence they covet is real and heartening. Terrific book club choice! Highly recommend.
Raina Anand lives in Toronto and was raised in a traditional Indian home by her grandmother, Nani. She is turning thirty and Nani is getting concerned that her granddaughter isn’t married. Romance hasn’t been on Raina’s agenda since she failed at her most recent long term relationship.
Nani is on a mission and provides Raina with lists of suitable single Indian men for a potential husband. Raina makes a light effort to make her grandmother happy but finds no suitor to her liking. They live in a tight-knit community and Raina begins to feel judged by her failures. This pressure builds further when she is asked to be the maid of honor at her best friend’s wedding.
”The Matchmaker’s List” is about a woman trying to balance a modern lifestyle with traditional values. This debut novel by Sonya Lalli has the core themes of romance, friendship and the pursuit of happiness
Bright and vivid, and fresh and funny — I was utterly charmed by this insight into Raina’s struggle to be the perfect Indian daughter.
Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “The Matchmaker’s List ” by Sonya Lalli, Berkley Books , January 22, 2019
Sonya Lalli , Author of “The Matchmaker’s List” has written an entertaining, witty, emotional, intense, and heart-warming novel. The Genres for this novel are Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Romance, and Humor. The timeline for the story is in the present and goes to the past when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. The author describes her colorful cast of characters as complex, complicated and quirky.
Raina Anand is a modern young professional that appears to have everything. She has a high-paying , prestigious job and wonderful friends and family that care about her. Raina doesn’t realize as she is approaching thirty, that she is about to be part of her Grandmother’s attempts at finding her a husband anyway she can. Raina’s grandmother is playing matchmaker, and her attempts at finding Raina a husband are very amusing. The Grandmother’s list of Indian suitors is quite a long list, and Raina is not happy with this at all. Especially when she realizes that her Grandmother places an advertisement online. Raina’s grandmother is a traditional Indian grandmother, who tries to be very modern and understanding.
With Raina’s 30th Birthday approaching, and her best friend getting married, there is a lot of pressure to find someone. Raina finds that her grandmother’s attempts at finding her love is causing many problems. I appreciate that the author discusses the importance of family, friends, love, emotional support and hope. I would highly recommend this delightful novel for those readers who enjoy an easy and charming read. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.