96 Words for Love
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- $9.99
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
A modern retelling of a romantic Indian legend, 96 Words for Love is a star-crossed love story perfect for fans of The Sun is Also a Star and When Dimple Met Rishi.
Ever since her acceptance to UCLA, 17-year-old Raya Liston has been quietly freaking out. She feels simultaneously lost and trapped by a future already mapped out for her.
Then her beloved grandmother dies, and Raya jumps at the chance to spend her last free summer at the ashram in India where her grandmother met and fell in love with her grandfather. Raya hopes to find her center and her true path. But she didn't expect to fall in love... with a country of beautiful contradictions, her fiercely loyal cousin, a local girl with a passion for reading, and a boy who teaches her that in Sanskrit, there are 96 different ways to say the word "love."
"This book is a feast for your soul." --Deepak Chopra
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
