Publishers Weekly
01/07/2019
Bhathena (A Girl like That) weaves forbidden love and love gone awry into her story of a high school senior adjusting to Western culture. Raised in Saudi Arabia, Susan now lives in Canada with her mother while her father continues to practice medicine overseas. Attending a coed school is a novelty for sheltered Susan, and she soon finds herself drawn to rebellious Malcolm—a friendship she hides from her strict parents, who are getting a divorce. Also a secret are her dreams for the future: instead of fulfilling her parents’ wishes by becoming a doctor or engineer, she wants to attend art school. Malcolm is holding on to secrets of his own about his charged relationship with his father and stepmother. The characters can feel clichéd, but this dramatic romance, told from Susan and Malcolm’s alternating viewpoints, authentically traces the teens’ gradual changes as they come to terms with mistakes they’ve made and who they want to be. Ages 12–up. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
"Bhathena has crafted a masterfully complex story filled with flawed characters and a titanium-strength love story. In The Beauty of the Moment, readers will fall in love, experience the heartbreak, and chase burgeoning hope to the end. A brilliant follow up to A Girl Like That.” —Nisha Sharma, author of My So-Called Bollywood Life
“This dramatic romance, told from Susan and Malcolm’s alternating viewpoints, authentically traces the teens’ gradual changes as they come to terms with mistakes they’ve made and who they want to be.” —Publishers Weekly
“[Susan and Malcolm's] struggles with expectations and traditions born in a faraway land will ring true for any reader with immigrant parents. . .A good recommendation for readers interested in romance.” —Booklist
“Fans of Nicola Yoon’s The Sun Is Also a Star will enjoy this bicultural romance. A strong purchase for most YA collections, especially where contemporary romance is in demand.” —School Library Journal
“Bhathena masterfully discusses a host of those themes including cultural differences, complex family dynamics and self-discovery. The characters are strong, and their development is realistic and well paced; the tone and flow of dialogue go a long way to creating a lasting connection with the story. Best of all, no one theme overtakes the other, which allows readers to develop their own take on the story.” —The Globe and Mail
School Library Journal
03/01/2019
Gr 8 Up–Told in alternating viewpoints, this is the story of two teenagers who seemingly have nothing in common. For Susan, the new student in Canada from Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, failure is not an option. Make the highest grades. Marry a good Malayi Christian boy. Get a degree in engineering or medicine. Take advantages of the opportunities available in Canada. Art is a hobby not a career. These are the messages that are constantly drilled into Susan's head. The messages for Malcolm, who is Parsi Canadian and a known troublemaker, are different: Stop smoking. Get over your cheating ex-girlfriend. Stay out of detention. Give your stepmom a chance. Ignore your father's taunts. Despite their differences, they fall for each other. As they become closer, Susan yearns to spread her wings and Malcolm longs to trust someone. But when Susan's attempt to assimilate into her new home goes awry and Malcolm's bad boy reputation nearly shatters his hope at a new love, everything they have known to be true is turned upside down. While it has the trappings of the usual first love story tropes, the writing is by turns upbeat, mature, and complex. VERDICT Fans of Nicola Yoon's The Sun Is Also a Star will enjoy this bicultural romance. A strong purchase for most YA collections, especially where contemporary romance is in demand.—Cicely Lewis, Meadowcreek High School
Kirkus Reviews
2018-10-28
Opposites attract in this teen romance shaped by immigration, grief, and loss.
Susan Thomas and Malcolm Vakil could not be more different. Susan is a shy, bookish Malayali Christian perfectionist who grew up in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, before moving to Canada for her senior year of high school. Malcolm is a hell-raising Parsi Canadian still reeling from his mother's death, his father's abuse, and his ex-girlfriend's betrayal. Despite their better judgment, the two teens strike up a tentative romance, their feelings quickly deepening from infatuation to true love. But as Susan grapples with her parents' impending divorce and her desire to go to art school and Malcolm confronts his conflicted feelings for his ex-girlfriend and his damaged relationship with his father and stepmother, the two must learn to overcome their insecurities to support each other. The story is told from each of their points of view, and each perspective is nuanced and distinct. Susan's character arc is convincing and compelling, defying her initial characterization as a clichéd, overprotected Indian girl. But while the action is fast-paced and the characters refreshingly diverse, Bhathena's (A Girl Like That, 2018) clumsy prose and stilted dialogue limit the narrative's emotional impact. The Parsi elements of the book ring true, particularly refreshing considering how little Parsis are represented in Western YA literature. In contrast, the book is riddled with cultural inaccuracies and stereotypes about southern Indians that unfortunately render those characters less believable.
A diverse, entertaining love story that falls just short of extraordinary. (Romance. 14-18)
