Review by Booklist Review
Finally, the vibes of Netflix's Never Have I Ever are here in book format: Aisha Agarwal is on a mission to make her senior year memorable. It's only when she ponders Stanford's admissions prompt, "share a time you left your comfort zone," that she realizes she's been living in the safe zone. Lord Ganesha seems to intervene when her longtime crush, Brian, asks her to winter formal--but then stands her up. Deciding to stage her own intervention, she gets into the car of a stranger (her age, super dreamy) during a slight case of mistaken identity. It just so happens that the guy, Quentin Santos, needs to be tutored in math, at which Aisha excels, so they strike a deal: tutoring in exchange for him nudging her out of her nest. Sandwiched between tutoring sessions and makeovers, the two swap dreams and personal fears, cementing a heartfelt bond. Peppered with laugh-out-loud humor and deeper themes of inadequacy and self-acceptance, Vohra's debut brings memorable characters and a unique new voice to the YA landscape.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A senior's fervent attempt to stretch her horizons reveals that some things just can't be planned. Aisha Agarwal, who's attending Arledge Preparatory on a scholarship, always aims for the top--from the school of her dreams (Stanford) to the boy of her dreams (Brian Wu, co-valedictorian and former childhood friend). With Brian recently out of a relationship and maybe, finally, speaking to her again, the main thing still tugging at Aisha's mind is a Stanford application prompt: "Share a time you left your comfort zone." When a mix-up introduces Aisha to the beaming, laid-back Quentin Santos, a biracial (Italian/Filipino) tennis player from a neighboring public school, their ensuing friendship results in Aisha's tutoring Quentin in exchange for his helping Aisha follow through on a list of beyond-her-comfort-zone experiences she wants to complete by graduation--things that she told herself she couldn't do earlier due to her academic focus and the strictness of her Indian immigrant parents. Along the way, Aisha discovers that people, herself included, tend to be far less one-note than they might appear. With equal parts humor and gravity, the narrative tackles subjects such as self-acceptance, anxiety, differences in socio-economic status, and cultural and religious traditions (Aisha's family is Hindu; Quentin's is Catholic). A lovable cast of characters, laugh-out-loud scenes, and a slow-but-steady romance all make for a breezy yet earnest read. A charming debut with real substance. (Fiction. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
