To cure her post–senior year slump, made worse by the loss of her aunt Sonia, Noreen is ready to follow her mom on a gap year trip to New Delhi, hoping India can lessen her grief and bring her voice back.

In the world’s most polluted city, Noreen soon meets kind, handsome Kabir, who introduces her to the wonders of this magical, complicated place. With Kabir’s help—plus Bollywood celebrities, fourteenth-century ruins, karaoke parties, and Sufi saints—Noreen begins to rediscover her joyful voice.

But when a family scandal erupts, Noreen and Kabir must face complicated questions in their own relationship: What does it mean to truly stand by someone—and what are the boundaries of love? 

I really enjoyed this mother/daughter story that featured locations in New Delhi and a great relationship between them. I loved the travel aspect and the descriptions of different locations as well as the touches of culture that were included. The writing style was easy to read and flowed well, though I did find that there were some things that were maybe left as loose ends or mentioned and then not returned too. The story did involve a lot of current topics and the situations associated to those felt very real and well written, which I appreciated. I could see some people wanting more depth to the story, or wanting some refinement but I found it to be a really enjoyable and fun read.

Happy reading!