While You Were Dreaming

3.25 stars, although some aspects of Alisha Rai's first YA novel deserved a high rating.

4 stars for the overarching plot about Sonia Patil's vulnerable family situation. Her mother was recently deported back to India, and her older sister Kareena is undocumented, so Sonia is always hyper-aware that she needs to remain under the radar to avoid bringing attention to their status. 4 stars for the give-no-fucks attitude of Sonia's co-worker Hana, and for the complex dynamics between Sonia and her former bestie who ghosted her to hang with the school's Mean Girl.

*3 stars for the unconvincing romance that features a love triangle with two brothers. Much like the movie While You Were Sleeping, Sonia rescues one but becomes more interested in the other. But the rescued brother's behavior is weirdly inconsistent, and the other brother glowers and scowls too much for my tastes. Plus the love story felt unnecessary amidst the more substantial plots about Sonia's family and friends, and the ever-looming threat of deportation.

I would be interested in reading a sequel that tells the story from Kareena's POV. She was thrust into the roles of breadwinner and parental figure at age 19, and she is queer in a culture that doesn't always welcome deviation from the norm. She deserves her own HEA or at least a HFN.