Plot:

When a British Indian woman’s life hits rock bottom, she decides to change her stars by falling in love…with herself–a hilarious, heartfelt story from outrageously funny novelist Radhika Sanghani.

Nina didn’t plan to spend her thirtieth birthday in jail, yet here she is in her pajamas, locked in a holding cell. There’s no Wi-Fi, no wine, no carbs–and no one to celebrate with.

Unfortunately, it gives Nina plenty of time to reflect on how screwed up her life is. She’s just broken up with her fiancé, and now has to move back into her childhood home to live with her depressed older brother and their uptight, traditional Indian mother. Her career as a freelance journalist isn’t going in the direction she wants, and all her friends are too busy being successful to hang out with her.

Just as Nina falls into despair, a book lands in her cell: How to Fix Your Shitty Life by Loving Yourself. It must be destiny. With literally nothing left to lose, Nina makes a life-changing decision to embark on a self-love journey. By her next birthday, she’s going to find thirty things she loves about herself.

Review:

Why is this novel only an average of 3 ish stars? This novel was incredible right from the beginning. For starters, it is very funny, covers topics of race and when you aren’t black, or white but you are in-between which many at times do not understand the difference. The main character Nina gets a lovely room in Prison for the night. The guy watching her gives her a self help book and that is where her journey begins. From then, she encounters so many people on her new journey to self-care (or self-love but I prefer the first term). Stuff happens when she goes viral for trying to make her point across as it comes out wrong. She becomes very self-conscious of what people think of her. To the end of the novel where she is that enlightened and she does not care at all. To a nagging mother, to seeing where she comes from and issues with her brother as well. So many life changing quotes or at least reflecting thoughts. “As you get more spiritual, you vibrate on a higher frequency. So people around you who are vibrating at lower frequencies start to move away, and you don’t vibe together so much… You are so start to attract people vibrating at higher frequencies, which is amazing.” Overall, I really enjoyed this novel as it covers so much in a very relatable way. It is witty, refreshing with its different types of heartbreaks. It covers race and cultural difference in the best suitable way which I found important. Covers topics with femininity and modernness. I just loved it and loved watching Nina and all the other characters grow and evolve as people. And together.

5/5 Stars