Oof, guys. It’s been a long time since I read a romantic comedy which is how you know my life has been chaotic because usually, that’s all I read. However in the past year, I really wanted to focus on reading novels that gave me a deeper, knowledgeable insight into the lives of other people. In this endeavour, I put my love for romance novels on the back burner because I felt that it didn’t fit in with my current goals. It wasn’t until I saw a review of “The Trouble with Hating You” that I felt inclined to get back into reading rom coms. What’s so special about this book is that it’s about two Indian American 20-somethings finding love! Growing up, there was a lack of representation in the books that I was reading, there weren’t narratives like this one that I could relate to. Having the ability to pick this off the shelf was really special and I truly could not wait to read it.
“The Trouble Hating You” by Sajni Patel follows Liya, a successful engineer at a struggling company, and Jay, the lawyer hired to save her company. The two meet when Liya’s father ambushes her by organizing a dinner between their family and Jay’s. Liya has had a rough history with her family, the temple, and her past trauma that has given her a bad reputation in their community despite her good nature. Jay has been dealing with the trauma of losing his father, the guilt making him unable to move forward with his life. The book touches on arranged marriages, sexual assault, trauma, and strained familial relations.
Patel expands a lot on how members of the South Asian community view each other and where their values lie; in addition to this, she details the ways in which things must change.
This book is the perfect mix of funny, cute, and thoughtful. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a lighter read but also who are open to learning more about Indian culture and what it means to be Indian and American. There is so much in this book that I could relate to regarding my own experiences and I think it’s an important narrative to share so we can have a deeper understanding of our community as a whole.