2.0
emotional slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Operation Mom

Author: Reenita Malhotra Hora

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 2/5

Diversity: Indian MC with Anxiety, Indian characters, Pakistani character, Indian character with ADHD

Recommended For...: young adult readers, contemporary, romance, blind dates

Publication Date: August 22, 2022

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Age Relevance: 15+ (drugs, cursing, fatphobia, diet culture, ED language, romance)

Explanation of Above: There are drugs mentioned in this book and some cursing. There is a lot of fatphobia in this book and discussion of diet and weightloss that kinda leans into the ED language. There is also some romance shown.

Publisher: GenZ Publishing

Pages: 220

Synopsis: Ila, a Mumbai-based teenager, is going nuts with Veena, her controlling, single mother who prevents her from stalking her pop idol, Ali Zafar. Veena wants her daughter to date real guys in the lead-up to finding a husband. But Ila decides that the only way to get her mom off her back is by finding her a boyfriend instead.

Review: So… I didn’t like this book that much. I though the concept was fun. I loved that it is a “my kid sets me up on a blind date” which is a twist on a favorite trope of mine (my family sets me up on a blind date). The MC of our book is desperate to get her mom interested in someone else when she’s trying to go to a concert. The book focuses on our MC finding men for her mom on dating apps and reaching out for the help of other family members. It was a cute book for that part of it.

However, the book had a lot of fatphobic language in it. There was a lot of remarks made to the MC from her mother about her weight and appearance. There were whole scenes of them all just going to the gym and talking about weightloss and dieting. There was a lot of remarks about body types and a lot of horrible language being associated with being plus size. It was very uncomfortable to me, as a plus size person, to read all of that and it really messed with my head for a bit. The book was also really rushed in spots.

Verdict: Overall, based on the fatphobic language, I wouldn’t recommend this book to younger audiences.