Publishers Weekly
11/26/2018
On her deathbed, Raya’s grandmother, Daadee, tells her that she’s left things that Raya and her cousin Anandi should have at a remote ashram in India, which Daadee visited in her own youth. Worried about her future and confused by her anxiety about being accepted to UCLA, Raya travels to the ashram with Anandi, hoping to find personal clarity and locate whatever Daadee left behind. At the ashram, direction comes when Raya finds two of Daadee’s adolescent journals and falls in love with Kiran, a budding filmmaker from Delhi. Loosely retelling the Indian story of Shakuntala, both Daadee, through journal entries, and Raya, through her first-person narration, draw parallels to their own lives, struggling to find balance between their goals and the sacrifices that their newfound romantic entanglements would require. Well-known designer Roy and daughter Dash write in a pop culture–laden conversational tone to convey Raya’s concerns—stress about going to college and declaring a major, curiosity about sex and a future with Kiran. Though her feelings are portrayed as valid and relevant, the book’s too-quick pace leaves them underexplored and too quickly resolved, making the overall message about trusting one’s individual journey unsatisfying. Ages 13–up. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
Praise for 96 Words for Love:
A Junior Library Guild pick
A Girls Life Chloe's Book Club pick
"A universal love story as fresh, vibrant and stunning as the back drop of India it is set in. I loved the message, the journey and the self discovery at the root of this epic love story."—Kim Kardashian West
*"Raya's candor and self-reflection infuse the narration with the perfect balance of insight and momentum. A beautifully crafted, truly feminist coming-of-age story featuring nuanced characters in a unique setting."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"This book is a feast for your soul. How our inner lives and yearnings govern the adventure we call life is part of every lore in every tradition. This story by Rachel and Ava will energize you and fill you with the longing of a love that stirs within us as a spark that can turn into a raging fire and without which life stays barren and dry."—Deepak Chopra MD
"A witty, warm, compelling coming of age story from my friend, fashion superstar Rachel Roy and her daughter Ava. 96 Words for Love is a story that will capture your heart and leave you feeling empowered to go after your dreams."—Brian Grazer, Oscar-winning producer of Empire, Friday Night Lights, Arrested Development
"With heart and hope, 96 Words for Love is a vivid story of one girl's mission to unravel the forty-year-old mystery of her grandmother's past at an ashram. Roy and Dash have written a beautifully crafted homage to Bharat (India) and expertly explore the meaning of cultural identity, love and the lengths we'll go to find truth in our lives. A must-read!" -—Nisha Sharma, author of My So-Called Bollywood Life
"A majestic coming of age story about family, first love, and self-discovery....From the moment Raya boards a train into the Himalayas, 96 Words for Love will completely sweep you away."—Sara Saedi, author of Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card and The Never Ever series
"Appealing, funny, and authentic."—Donna Scanlon
Library Journal - Audio
01/01/2020
There are 96 Sanskrit words to describe the word "love," and while Raya is not looking for love at an ashram in India, she finds a romantic partner as well as her calling in life. In this retelling of the Shakuntala and Dushyanta love story, Raya decides to spend the summer before college at the ashram in India where her grandparents met and fell in love. This is an appealing love story with a lot of heart. Narrator Soneela Nankani does an admirable job of characterizing a diverse cast that includes American, Indian, British, and Australian characters. VERDICT This is an additional purchase where YA romances are popular.—Jodeana Kruse, R.A. Long High School, Longview, WA
School Library Journal
11/01/2018
Gr 10 Up–After being accepted to UCLA, Raya starts to wonder if that is where her true passion lies. Right before her beloved Daadee passes away, she tells Raya that she has left something for her and her cousin Anandi at the Rishi Kanva ashram in the Himalayas she had stayed at in her youth. Raya decides that this is her opportunity to find herself and who she is meant to be, so the teen convinces her parents to allow her to live at the ashram with her cousin for a month. While solving her Daadee's mystery, she meets Kiran, a boy she desperately doesn't want to fall for on her journey to self-discovery, but does, and she meets a slew of other people who change her for the better. All of the characters in this story are well fleshed out with their own internal conflicts. Throughout, readers are also told the story Shakuntala and Dushyanta and how their love story parallels what both Raya and her Daadee have experienced. This is a readable, relatable story that touches upon social justice issues, such as sex trafficking, which at times feel like vehicles in place only to move the love story along. VERDICT A general purchase for libraries looking for romantic coming-of-age stories with depth.—Kristyn Dorfman, The Nightingale-Bamford School, New York City
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2018-10-23
When Raya Liston spends a month at an ashram in India, she doesn't just find herself: She also finds true love.
Seventeen-year-old Raya has a plan: major in English at UCLA and make her Indian mother and biracial (half black, other half unspecified) father proud. Spending the summer after high school at the Rishi Kanva ashram in the Himalayas with her cousin Anandi is definitely not the plan—until she receives a phone call from her dying grandmother, Daadee, saying she's left something important for Raya and Anandi hidden on the ashram grounds. Against her better judgment, Raya leaves for the ashram, where she unexpectedly falls in love with Kiran, a budding filmmaker who breaks rules as passionately as Raya follows them. In the process of falling in love and uncovering the secrets Daadee left, Raya realizes that the real question is not what she wants to do but who she wants to be. An insightful, layered feminist retelling of the Hindu myth "Shaktunala," the book features a diverse cast of characters who grapple with equally diverse issues in a richly drawn setting. Raya's candor and self-reflection infuse the narration with the perfect balance of insight and momentum. Her relationship with her family is particularly refreshing: Unlike in most books about diaspora, Raya's Indian relatives support her, guiding her through conflict rather than creating it.
A beautifully crafted, truly feminist coming-of-age story featuring nuanced characters in a unique setting. (Romance. 14-18)
