3 stars

The book started with a bang (even if the first line in the prologue had an adverb) and proceeded well until about 50%. Then it became a regular Bollywoodish or rather a Tollywoodish story with all elements that would cater to the emotional audience. A rebellious sister who turns from a village belle to a city girl in a few pages; a scandal that threatens everything the heroine worked hard for; hardships, insults, and hopelessness; internal conflict and indecisiveness; an opportunity to escape and start fresh; issues that get sorted without much effort; and finally a neatly tied hopeful ending that gives scope to continue with book 2.
The narration is easy to follow, so that was a plus. The imagery is great, especially the descriptions of the setting and henna designs.
However, the characters had much to be explored. They ended up quite shallow and seemed to be acting as per a list of traits. The sister, Radha, reminded me of a character (a namesake) from a Hindi daily soap, Saath Nibhana Saathiya.

Overall, it was an easy read but not something that'll stay with me.