Forbidden Jewel of India

When I saw there was a romance that took place in INDIA, I was so excited. I love reading stories in different countries and time periods, and I know very little about British Imperial rule in India. The saving grace to this book was the way Allen described the countryside and way of life in India. That was interesting. I felt like she crammed a lot in, and it worked.

However, I was super disappointed with the heroine, Anusha. As a mixed race individual, she doesn't feel like she belongs anywhere. Fair. She's adamant that she is both English and Indian, and that's a constant struggle, which is interesting and relatable. That was all thrown away at the end because Anusha was just sooooo happy to be with Nick that she didn't care if show more people cut her hair, changed her clothes, or made her walk a certain way. By the end of the novel, we lost Anusha, and her most defining feature was that she loved Nick. Bor-ing. I don't have a problem with a woman who really loves her man, but it is problematic when she sacrifices everything to be with him and he's just along for the ride. The ending was such a letdown, that it ruined the book for me, and it didn't deliver overall. show less