My So-Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sahrma

Winnie Mehta's boyfriend Raj cheated on her, sort of. When she told him she wanted to "take a break," she didn't mean she wanted to break up -- so why does she come back from summer film camp to discover that he's dating Jenny Dickens? The relationship drama is complicated by a prophecy that Winnie's parents got from an astrologer when she was a baby. Raj meets all of the criteria to be Winnie's soul mate, and while Winnie isn't sure she believes in the prophecy, she's also not sure she doesn't. And her friend Dev is paying her a lot of attention now that she's no longer with Raj... Meanwhile, it's her senior year, and she's focused on a couple of big extracurricular projects that could make the difference between getting into the NYU Film Studies program, or attending community college at home (as *gasp* a theatre major. Horrors!)

I had a really hard time relating to the main character, or believing in either of her love interests. Many of her concerns seemed overwrought: there are a lot of other options between NYU and community college, but Winnie didn't appear to be willing to consider any of them -- and she was convinced that running the school's film festival would make her a shoo-in for the program, whereas I feel that the college admissions process is not that cut and dried. On the other hand, I appreciated the depiction of her loving, supportive parents, and her descriptions of Bollywood films made me want to watch a couple.

Bottom line: if you enjoy YA books with romantic comedy plotlines and characters with diverse backgrounds, you might enjoy this -- just be prepared for a dose of teenage angst!

Also, for the record, there is nothing wrong with being a theatre major. ;-)

(Reviewed from an e-audiobook borrowed through my library system.)