Blog Tour & ARC Review: Beauty and the Besharam by Lillie Vale
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Series: None
Author: Lillie Vale
Published May 10th 2022 by Viking Books for Young Readers
Goodreads Synopsis
Heated competition leads to even hotter romance in this YA summer rom-com for fans of Sandhya Menon, Emma Lord, and Wibbroka.
Seventeen-year-old, high-achieving Kavya Joshi has always been told she's a little too ambitious, a little too mouthy, and overall just a little too much. In one word: besharam.
So, when her nemesis, Ian Jun, witnesses Kavya’s very public breakup with her loser boyfriend on the last day of junior year, she decides to lay low and spend the summer doing what she loves best–working part time playing princess roles for childrens’ birthday parties. But her plan is shot when she’s cast as Ariel instead of her beloved Belle, and learns that Ian will be her Prince Eric for the summer. [Cue the combative banter.]
Exhausted by Kavya and Ian’s years-long feud, their friends hatch a plan to end their rivalry by convincing them to participate in a series of challenges throughout the summer. Kavya is only too eager to finally be declared the winner. But as the competition heats up, so too does the romantic tension, until it escalates from a simmer to a full-on burn.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.
Kavya Joshi loves nothing more than proving her nemesis, Ian Jun, wrong, and getting one up on him. She's often been told she's too much, but with Ian, it's as if her competitive side can't stay down. So when Ian spots her public breakup with her ex, and then to add insult to injury, is her new partner at her summer job as a Disney princess, Kavya needs to do whatever it takes to win. But soon she realises that the line between hatred, and love, is closer than she ever thought, and the one person she could never imagine herself falling for, is her perfect prince charming all along.
What initially drew me to this book, I will admit, was the cover, but once I started reading it, I was hooked by Kavya's character, and her growth as a person. She was such a strong character, who knew what she wanted, but there was a vulnerable side that she really kept hidden from others, and her worries about being the perfect daughter, and not being too besharam, was a real struggle. Because of this nature, she's been on the outs with Ian since they were about 10, and he 'embarrassed' her by rescuing her at a water park. She's so independent, that she couldn't abide that someone else had to help her, and that's where the rivalry grew from. Honestly, I love enemies-to-lovers romances, and though this wasn't quite that big, for Kavya, it was hard to start to see Ian as a friend, and then something more, rather than a rival. There's a whole bucket-load of secondary characters, and though one really got on my nerves at times (looking at you, Val), they really added to the story, and I sort of want a sequel, or spin off, to see more about this glorious cast. Beauty and the Besharam is a joyful book, full of fantastic representation and diversity, that I think needs to be added to everyone's TBR's!
Dates Read:
April 22-24, 2022
Rating
4 Stars
Lillie Vale is the author of books for both teens and adults, including The Decoy Girlfriend, Beauty and the Besharam, The Shaadi Set-Up and Small Town Hearts, an American Library Association’s 2020 Rainbow Books List selection. She writes about secrets and yearning, complicated and ambitious girls who know what they want, the places we call home and people we find our way back to, and the magic we make. Born in Mumbai, she grew up in Mississippi, Texas, and North Dakota, and now lives in an Indiana college town. Find her on Twitter @LillieLabyrinth and Instagram @labyrinthspine, or visit her website lillielabyrinth.com.
LINKS: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads
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