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Born Confused #2
Bombay Blues
The long-anticipated sequel to Tanuja Desai Hidier's groundbreaking BORN CONFUSED!
In BORN CONFUSED, Indian-American just-turned-17-year-old Dimple Rohitbhai Lala found love, friendship, art, and home where she least expected it. But a lot's gone on in the years that have followed. And what happens if what you thought you wanted wasn't what you wanted after all? As she learns during adventures that take her from India to New York to London and back, with a little luck and a lot of vision, the journey home might prove just as magical as what you left behind to make it.
In BORN CONFUSED, Indian-American just-turned-17-year-old Dimple Rohitbhai Lala found love, friendship, art, and home where she least expected it. But a lot's gone on in the years that have followed. And what happens if what you thought you wanted wasn't what you wanted after all? As she learns during adventures that take her from India to New York to London and back, with a little luck and a lot of vision, the journey home might prove just as magical as what you left behind to make it.
560 pages, Hardcover
First published August 26, 2014
31 people are currently reading
801 people want to read
About the author
Tanuja Desai Hidier
9 books132 followersTANUJA DESAI HIDIER is an award-winning author/singer-songwriter and innovator of the ‘booktrack’. She is the recipient of the 2015 South Asia Book Award, the James Jones First Novel Fellowship, the London Writers/Waterstones Award, and the APALA Children and YA Honor Award, and her short stories have been included in numerous anthologies.
Her pioneering debut BORN CONFUSED — the first South Asian American YA novel — was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and became a landmark work, hailed by Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone Magazine, and Paste Magazine as one of the greatest YA novels of all time on lists including such classics as To Kill A Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, Little Women, Harry Potter, and Huckleberry Finn. The novel has been translated into various languages.
Tanuja’s crossover/adult novel/sequel BOMBAY BLUES is recipient of the South Asia Book Award. It launched at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC, and the Zee/Jaipur Literature Festival in India (along with her accompanying album) and was deemed “a journey worth making” in a starred Kirkus review, “an immersive blend of introspection, external drama, and lyricism” by Publishers Weekly, “teeming with energy and music…a chronicle of Bombay cool” by The Hindustan Times, and “Chock-a-block with musical references as well as linguistic leaps of faith that only a musician could have pulled off” by The Sunday Guardian (cover story).
WHEN WE WERE TWINS, Tanuja’ album of original songs based on Born Confused, was featured in Wired Magazine and at Creative Artists Agency for being the first-ever “booktrack.”
The music video for ode-to-Bombay “HEPTANESIA”, from Tanuja’s Bombay Blues ‘booktrack’ album BOMBAY SPLEEN, was a BuzzPick on rotation at MTV Indies. Track “Seek Me In The Strange” was selected for the soundtrack of feature film Other People’s Children, and “Deep Blue She” for the #VogueEmpower playlist (Vogue India’s social awareness initiative for women).
Tanuja recently produced the DEEP BLUE SHE #Mutiny2Unity #MeToo music video/remix/PSA: a grassroots women’s/LGBTQI/human rights and racial/gender equality project featuring 100+ artist/activists, with all artist proceeds to charity. Outlook Magazine calls the project “The ‘We Are The World’ of our times, with a desi edge.” More info on the participants and how to dive in (all artist proceeds to charity) here.
Her pioneering debut BORN CONFUSED — the first South Asian American YA novel — was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and became a landmark work, hailed by Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone Magazine, and Paste Magazine as one of the greatest YA novels of all time on lists including such classics as To Kill A Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, Little Women, Harry Potter, and Huckleberry Finn. The novel has been translated into various languages.
Tanuja’s crossover/adult novel/sequel BOMBAY BLUES is recipient of the South Asia Book Award. It launched at the National Book Festival in Washington, DC, and the Zee/Jaipur Literature Festival in India (along with her accompanying album) and was deemed “a journey worth making” in a starred Kirkus review, “an immersive blend of introspection, external drama, and lyricism” by Publishers Weekly, “teeming with energy and music…a chronicle of Bombay cool” by The Hindustan Times, and “Chock-a-block with musical references as well as linguistic leaps of faith that only a musician could have pulled off” by The Sunday Guardian (cover story).
WHEN WE WERE TWINS, Tanuja’ album of original songs based on Born Confused, was featured in Wired Magazine and at Creative Artists Agency for being the first-ever “booktrack.”
The music video for ode-to-Bombay “HEPTANESIA”, from Tanuja’s Bombay Blues ‘booktrack’ album BOMBAY SPLEEN, was a BuzzPick on rotation at MTV Indies. Track “Seek Me In The Strange” was selected for the soundtrack of feature film Other People’s Children, and “Deep Blue She” for the #VogueEmpower playlist (Vogue India’s social awareness initiative for women).
Tanuja recently produced the DEEP BLUE SHE #Mutiny2Unity #MeToo music video/remix/PSA: a grassroots women’s/LGBTQI/human rights and racial/gender equality project featuring 100+ artist/activists, with all artist proceeds to charity. Outlook Magazine calls the project “The ‘We Are The World’ of our times, with a desi edge.” More info on the participants and how to dive in (all artist proceeds to charity) here.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
April 25, 2016
Ms Hidier had been clearly been smoking that pure Himalayan ganja which the characters procure in Bombay during the process of writing this novel. The kind that really gives you an overblown confidence in your ability to ponder deep philosophical questions in subversive, eloquent ways.
Anyway, I've given it such a high rating because even though the majority of the novel was sentimental/cliche bullshit I think I do understand and relate to the sadness and dislocation at the heart of this novel. I liked that the screaming question wasn't HELP ME I'M BROWN, but HELP ME I'M A PERSON AND HOW DO YOU DO THAT.
Also I would have probably loved it if I had read it high.
Anyway, I've given it such a high rating because even though the majority of the novel was sentimental/cliche bullshit I think I do understand and relate to the sadness and dislocation at the heart of this novel. I liked that the screaming question wasn't HELP ME I'M BROWN, but HELP ME I'M A PERSON AND HOW DO YOU DO THAT.
Also I would have probably loved it if I had read it high.
May 8, 2016
Ouch. I fear my skin is thinning. Too long immersed in bittersweetness just leaves one with the bitter, like oversteeped tea.
No fault was found with the lyrical prose or the culture clash or dear, sweet Dimple. Karsh, on the other hand, was either recast or given a script that made me want to hit him in the head with a potato. Visiting Bombay with her felt like returning to an old friend only to hear that she'd suffered great loss and was only just beginning to reclaim herself, her life.
It is nearly four in the morning, and I cannot confer a star rating on something while the covers are still warm.
No fault was found with the lyrical prose or the culture clash or dear, sweet Dimple. Karsh, on the other hand, was either recast or given a script that made me want to hit him in the head with a potato. Visiting Bombay with her felt like returning to an old friend only to hear that she'd suffered great loss and was only just beginning to reclaim herself, her life.
It is nearly four in the morning, and I cannot confer a star rating on something while the covers are still warm.
October 16, 2017
What the *frock* did I just read??
After more than a decade we finally get a chance to revisit the life, musings, and viewfinder of Dimple Lala - now 19, dating Karsh, and attending NYU for photography. She and Karsh are going to visit India together for Karsh’s big DJ break in Bombay and Sangita’s upcoming nuptials.
And that’s about all that we think we know and will expect from this story. But somehow, everything derails. Literally. And not even the changes and different experiences the characters go through, but the amount of focus Hidier puts on poetic descriptions of pretty much anything you can think of made it so difficult to get through most of it. It was sparingly done in the first book, Born Confused. In this one, it was like she just vomits poetry and alliterations all over. And the altoo faltoo ending? Did her editor call her up asking for something pronto and she chalked something up between huffs? Some passages got so dense that I actually couldn’t even picture what was being described.
Once again, Hidier’s successful dialogue skills shine and my absolute favorite scenes were anything with Dimple’s family. If she wrote just scenes with those characters (using quotes of course) and excluded Dimple and Karsh completely (seriously, who were they in this book?), I would’ve loved it. I mean all of them but her and Karsh - Sangita, Kavita, her parents, her aunt and uncle, even little Akasha. It lacked the pleasant charm they bring to the story because they’re instead relegated to secondary characters barely featured. And my issue with that was that they all had way more interesting stories and issues (read: journeys) than anything Dimple is consumed with.
My other issues were the unrealistic aspects of the story. Dimple, who knows no other language than English and who has only visited India with her parents to stay with her family, independently explores all of Bombay with no language barriers, no maps, no help. Granted, she does travel around from time to time with locals and/or someone multilingual, but she takes a train by herself! I mean c’mon!
Also, this was a small annoyance but it did bother me that the first novel referenced things in the 1990s as happening just a year or so before the events of that novel - when Dimple is 17. In Bombay Blues, she’s 19 and references events of the late 2000s having occurred several years ago. So either someone drank some youth fountain juice or Dimple takes forever to age. Again, not a big deal. I just wonder if she will be able to ever pay off her student loans.
Overall, after great expectations, this became a chore to get through. Would only recommend if serious fans want to keep reading and revisit their favorite characters. Otherwise, just stick with the first one.
After more than a decade we finally get a chance to revisit the life, musings, and viewfinder of Dimple Lala - now 19, dating Karsh, and attending NYU for photography. She and Karsh are going to visit India together for Karsh’s big DJ break in Bombay and Sangita’s upcoming nuptials.
And that’s about all that we think we know and will expect from this story. But somehow, everything derails. Literally. And not even the changes and different experiences the characters go through, but the amount of focus Hidier puts on poetic descriptions of pretty much anything you can think of made it so difficult to get through most of it. It was sparingly done in the first book, Born Confused. In this one, it was like she just vomits poetry and alliterations all over. And the altoo faltoo ending? Did her editor call her up asking for something pronto and she chalked something up between huffs? Some passages got so dense that I actually couldn’t even picture what was being described.
Once again, Hidier’s successful dialogue skills shine and my absolute favorite scenes were anything with Dimple’s family. If she wrote just scenes with those characters (using quotes of course) and excluded Dimple and Karsh completely (seriously, who were they in this book?), I would’ve loved it. I mean all of them but her and Karsh - Sangita, Kavita, her parents, her aunt and uncle, even little Akasha. It lacked the pleasant charm they bring to the story because they’re instead relegated to secondary characters barely featured. And my issue with that was that they all had way more interesting stories and issues (read: journeys) than anything Dimple is consumed with.
My other issues were the unrealistic aspects of the story. Dimple, who knows no other language than English and who has only visited India with her parents to stay with her family, independently explores all of Bombay with no language barriers, no maps, no help. Granted, she does travel around from time to time with locals and/or someone multilingual, but she takes a train by herself! I mean c’mon!
Also, this was a small annoyance but it did bother me that the first novel referenced things in the 1990s as happening just a year or so before the events of that novel - when Dimple is 17. In Bombay Blues, she’s 19 and references events of the late 2000s having occurred several years ago. So either someone drank some youth fountain juice or Dimple takes forever to age. Again, not a big deal. I just wonder if she will be able to ever pay off her student loans.
Overall, after great expectations, this became a chore to get through. Would only recommend if serious fans want to keep reading and revisit their favorite characters. Otherwise, just stick with the first one.
August 16, 2017
There were parts of this book that I really connected to, mostly the issues that arise with being bicultural. I also loved the overarching themes of equality and "love is love." Some parts were a little too over the top and verbose for me. Definitely a good read before traveling to India though.
December 30, 2014
I think I'm reacting instead of reviewing right now, and that's okay. Emotionally, some books hit harder than others, especially when you're invested in the first to the point where the second is...
May 27, 2018
This quote sums up the entirety of the book. If you read nothing else in this review, read this quote to decide if you'll like the book:
*internal screaming*
The thing is, if I had been 19 when I read this, I probably would have loved it. Now, this is nearly 600 pages. I got stuff to do. Ain't nobody got time for that many pages, half of which read like the above. The story itself was interested, but got buried in the trash avalanche of words. There were some gems to be found, beautiful phrases and so on, but you really had to be prepared to wade through the garbage of the rest. I recommend thigh-high waders because that manure was bottomless.
What saves this book from being 1 (or 0) stars is the plot. But the plot can't redeem it. Plus, Karsh is annoying. That withholding dance that some people find so sexy just seems like a waste of time to me. There was a notably really excellent sex scene somewhere in the middle of the book, but again, it couldn't save the rest of it.
The last two chapters are even worse than the quote above. I wrote them off as complete nonsense, just spews of words strung together in what Hidier apparently thought was a pleasing fashion. And I'm sure it was, but after 500+ pages, I was fed up with her nonsense.
Cowboy mirror-shoring where I'd just been, me barebacking that hyphen, no lady-in-waiting but a cowgirl fate-gaiting, skippering, too, car lights sliding the many-cabled sails of this splurge of a surge of a bridge, as if it were sensuously blinking up and down, knowing if I were to bait it with my photographic tackle, snap it from this fast-speed pane, all I'd get'd be black backdrop skirred with neon squidges, skywriting hieroglyphically hippocamping, a neo-mythic X-ray lightning bugged with birds drugged, flying fish glug, zeppelins unplugged...now gazing into another set of rearview driver eyes (mappleblack, piquant), my re-return message to him, that bay-roving buckaroo, (sub)urban picaroon, just capriolistically hop-skipping-sent as that steeded sea-riding gangplanking swanimal of a finished yet incomplete - or was it unfinished yet complete?
*internal screaming*
The thing is, if I had been 19 when I read this, I probably would have loved it. Now, this is nearly 600 pages. I got stuff to do. Ain't nobody got time for that many pages, half of which read like the above. The story itself was interested, but got buried in the trash avalanche of words. There were some gems to be found, beautiful phrases and so on, but you really had to be prepared to wade through the garbage of the rest. I recommend thigh-high waders because that manure was bottomless.
What saves this book from being 1 (or 0) stars is the plot. But the plot can't redeem it. Plus, Karsh is annoying. That withholding dance that some people find so sexy just seems like a waste of time to me. There was a notably really excellent sex scene somewhere in the middle of the book, but again, it couldn't save the rest of it.
The last two chapters are even worse than the quote above. I wrote them off as complete nonsense, just spews of words strung together in what Hidier apparently thought was a pleasing fashion. And I'm sure it was, but after 500+ pages, I was fed up with her nonsense.
September 9, 2014
A passable read however all of the elements that made 'Born Confused' that wonderful bildungsroman that it was, were sadly missing from this sequel. What I felt made the former were characters like her parents and Karsh. Karsh, I felt, was an integral part of the first novel and he felt like an entirely different character in this sequel. I understand what the author was trying to convey by having him feel adrift after his father's death but he was entirely changed from what he was in 'Born Confused'. And Dimple, too. Yes, she's grown since being that American Born Confused Desi however the scenes with 'Cowboy' just left me bored and feeling increasingly irritated with Dimple.
Desai Hidier still writes beautifully though, you can truly get lost in her writing. There's a fluidity and melody in her words that many authors try hard to achieve but cannot quite grasp.
All in all, an okay read but I'll stick to re-reading 'Born Confused' whenever I feel the urge to relive Dimple's life.
Desai Hidier still writes beautifully though, you can truly get lost in her writing. There's a fluidity and melody in her words that many authors try hard to achieve but cannot quite grasp.
All in all, an okay read but I'll stick to re-reading 'Born Confused' whenever I feel the urge to relive Dimple's life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 8, 2015
tanuja desai hidier is the kind of writer whose language uses all the senses, without ever feeling too heavy-handed. it's playful and inventive and it feels good in your mouth. i didn't know this sequel to born confused was coming out until i saw it on a shelf in a bookstore, and it was such a serious delight to get to pick back up with dimple and karsh, to see that almost-too-perfect first love fall apart (the way it does), and to see dimple adventure and recenter herself within/between people and worlds.
also, because i always appreciate a ya novel that includes the homos: here be lesbians! won't spoil ya, but lez discuss.
also, because i always appreciate a ya novel that includes the homos: here be lesbians! won't spoil ya, but lez discuss.
February 16, 2015
The writing is dense and lyrical. I think this REALLY could have used a stronger edit.
Though I love her voice and do get the cultural references, it gets tedious at times and it takes too long to get to the well-written climactic scenes. That said, I was frequently captivated by Hidier's writing and felt super "in-the-know" when I could get all her literary and cultural references. This is a book that requires your full attention but is quite rewarding in the end.
Though I love her voice and do get the cultural references, it gets tedious at times and it takes too long to get to the well-written climactic scenes. That said, I was frequently captivated by Hidier's writing and felt super "in-the-know" when I could get all her literary and cultural references. This is a book that requires your full attention but is quite rewarding in the end.
August 1, 2017
It was interesting to learn what had happened with Dimple and Karsh, and their friends and loved ones. However, the story was overlong although the prose is often poetic and quite beautiful. Tanuja Desai Hidier is a very gifted writer, and if she ever wrote a book of poetry I'd buy it in a second!
January 4, 2015
When first we met Dimple Lala in Born Confused, she is a 17 year old Indian American who up until now had been living in the confusing space between those two words with nothing concrete to stand on - a space where she is too Indian to be American and too American to be Indian. She is an ABCD - American Born Confused Desi (Hindu for a person from South Asia).
Dimple is also a talented photographer, carrying her Chica Tikka, her third eye SLR camera, everywhere and recording everything with it. A gift from her beloved grandfather, her now deceased Dadaji, its photographs were how the two bridged their language barrier, communicating their lives to each other in pictures from half way around the world - Dimple in New Jersey, Dadaji in Bombay. Dimple also found herself involved with the boy her parents had considered 'a suitable boy' and whom she originally rejected simply because meeting him was arranged by their parents. The very handsome Karsh Kapoor is a favorite Indian DJ playing gigs in Manhattan night spots.
Now, in Bombay Blues, it is two year later and Dimple is 19, a student at New York University and still with Karsh. Dimple is heading to India along with her parents to celebrate the Lala's wedding anniversary and for the wedding of Dimple's sister-cousin Sangita. Karsh arrives a few days later, to hopefully break into Bombay's music scene and to DJ Sangita's wedding. Dimple and Karsh have been growing apart recently and she is hoping the trip will help them reconnect to each other again.
But Karsh has other work to do - he needs to find closure and come to terms with his father's tragic death, a death that has shattered him. This work that doesn't include Dimple, but does include some Hare Krishana, especially after his first DJ gig doesn't go as well as he had hoped.
And in reaction to Karsh pushing her away, Dimple has a fling with a fellow photographer simply know as Cowboy. She had noticed him at the airport and after running into him a second time in Bombay, Dimple decides it is a fling that is meant to be.
For her part, Dimple, has taken two giant steps backwards since her cross cultural identity crisis in Born Confused. Now, she needs to rediscover and reconnect with who she is and what she wants to be. Oddly enough, it is the bride-to-be Sangita, the most traditional appearing character in the novel, who teaches Dimple about finding ones true self - about identity fusion and finding a way to bridge her Indian and her American selves.
To add to all this, Sangita's sister Kavita, who came out to Dimple in Born Confused, is determined to now come out to her parents as a lesbian, as well. But when her ex Sabina shows up in Bombay, well, things get interesting…
The story lines in Bombay Blues are actually quite simple, just as they were in Born Confused. It is a story about journeys - internal and external journeys in search of 'home.' And that is just what gets interrogated in this novel - the idea of what and where home is.
I loved Dimple in Born Confused and the way she took the reader along on her coming of age journey. In Bombay Blues, Dimple again invites us to ride along in rick, tuk tuk, on foot or by taxi through the maze that is Bombay, narrating her story using the same funny, deprecating, sarcastic stream of consciousness thinking as before, but with a difference. Two years has given her stream of consciousness a more mature feeling, so her language is much more lyrical with incredible alliteration, wonderful word play, and poetic imagery.
Hidier holds the reader spellbound as she perfectly catches all the tensions, all the confusions, all the jealousies, all the happiness that make up a novel about family, friendships, relationships, identity. All the while, she conjures up the sight, sounds and smells of Bombay, creating a lovely aromatic and musical reading experience.
If you haven't read Born Confused, that doesn't mean you can't read Bombay Blues. It does work as a stand alone novel since you are given enough information to be able to understand how Dimple has arrived at where she is in the beginning of this second novel.
And, it is another big book - my copy of Born Confused is 432 pages, Bombay Blues comes in at 560 pages, so they are an investment in time. But if you stick to it, to the end, you will be rewarded with a reading experience you won't soon forget. Besides, don't you just love the name Dimple Lala?
This novel is recommended for readers age 14+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley
This review originally was originally posted on Randomly Reading
Dimple is also a talented photographer, carrying her Chica Tikka, her third eye SLR camera, everywhere and recording everything with it. A gift from her beloved grandfather, her now deceased Dadaji, its photographs were how the two bridged their language barrier, communicating their lives to each other in pictures from half way around the world - Dimple in New Jersey, Dadaji in Bombay. Dimple also found herself involved with the boy her parents had considered 'a suitable boy' and whom she originally rejected simply because meeting him was arranged by their parents. The very handsome Karsh Kapoor is a favorite Indian DJ playing gigs in Manhattan night spots.
Now, in Bombay Blues, it is two year later and Dimple is 19, a student at New York University and still with Karsh. Dimple is heading to India along with her parents to celebrate the Lala's wedding anniversary and for the wedding of Dimple's sister-cousin Sangita. Karsh arrives a few days later, to hopefully break into Bombay's music scene and to DJ Sangita's wedding. Dimple and Karsh have been growing apart recently and she is hoping the trip will help them reconnect to each other again.
But Karsh has other work to do - he needs to find closure and come to terms with his father's tragic death, a death that has shattered him. This work that doesn't include Dimple, but does include some Hare Krishana, especially after his first DJ gig doesn't go as well as he had hoped.
And in reaction to Karsh pushing her away, Dimple has a fling with a fellow photographer simply know as Cowboy. She had noticed him at the airport and after running into him a second time in Bombay, Dimple decides it is a fling that is meant to be.
For her part, Dimple, has taken two giant steps backwards since her cross cultural identity crisis in Born Confused. Now, she needs to rediscover and reconnect with who she is and what she wants to be. Oddly enough, it is the bride-to-be Sangita, the most traditional appearing character in the novel, who teaches Dimple about finding ones true self - about identity fusion and finding a way to bridge her Indian and her American selves.
To add to all this, Sangita's sister Kavita, who came out to Dimple in Born Confused, is determined to now come out to her parents as a lesbian, as well. But when her ex Sabina shows up in Bombay, well, things get interesting…
The story lines in Bombay Blues are actually quite simple, just as they were in Born Confused. It is a story about journeys - internal and external journeys in search of 'home.' And that is just what gets interrogated in this novel - the idea of what and where home is.
I loved Dimple in Born Confused and the way she took the reader along on her coming of age journey. In Bombay Blues, Dimple again invites us to ride along in rick, tuk tuk, on foot or by taxi through the maze that is Bombay, narrating her story using the same funny, deprecating, sarcastic stream of consciousness thinking as before, but with a difference. Two years has given her stream of consciousness a more mature feeling, so her language is much more lyrical with incredible alliteration, wonderful word play, and poetic imagery.
Hidier holds the reader spellbound as she perfectly catches all the tensions, all the confusions, all the jealousies, all the happiness that make up a novel about family, friendships, relationships, identity. All the while, she conjures up the sight, sounds and smells of Bombay, creating a lovely aromatic and musical reading experience.
If you haven't read Born Confused, that doesn't mean you can't read Bombay Blues. It does work as a stand alone novel since you are given enough information to be able to understand how Dimple has arrived at where she is in the beginning of this second novel.
And, it is another big book - my copy of Born Confused is 432 pages, Bombay Blues comes in at 560 pages, so they are an investment in time. But if you stick to it, to the end, you will be rewarded with a reading experience you won't soon forget. Besides, don't you just love the name Dimple Lala?
This novel is recommended for readers age 14+
This book was an EARC received from NetGalley
This review originally was originally posted on Randomly Reading
October 25, 2014
First off, Tanuja Desai Hidier's book is a swirl of amazing words. There's a lot of skill to her imagery and the way she describes things. Sometimes, her sentences turn into poetry.
She's also gotten deep into the head of a young woman confused with her identity, especially as she returns to India. There is some deep commentary in the novel about loss and the fluctuations in relationships. I also liked learning a lot about the customs and scenery in India--although it was hard to differentiate between different cultural sites for me.
The main character, Dimple, is interesting to follow. There's a lot of short-cuts and slang to her word choices and way of thinking. While it was remarkably brilliant in the beginning chapters, her abbreviations became heavier to wade through as the pages increased. I found myself unable to follow the thread of the story, as she went through various experiences.
Bombay Blues also looks straight-on into the music industry. A lot of the behind-the-scene perspective, though, didn't compel me. (It may be because I'm not really in the know about music, so while I thought brief scenes were intriguing, they didn't really push the narrative forward for me.)
Although I could relate to Dimple and the female characters, I had a hard time really rooting for the male interests in this story. Overall, this novel was a neat take on finding one's identity, but the story was too hidden behind young adult/music slang and convoluted thinking for me to thoroughly enjoy.
She's also gotten deep into the head of a young woman confused with her identity, especially as she returns to India. There is some deep commentary in the novel about loss and the fluctuations in relationships. I also liked learning a lot about the customs and scenery in India--although it was hard to differentiate between different cultural sites for me.
The main character, Dimple, is interesting to follow. There's a lot of short-cuts and slang to her word choices and way of thinking. While it was remarkably brilliant in the beginning chapters, her abbreviations became heavier to wade through as the pages increased. I found myself unable to follow the thread of the story, as she went through various experiences.
Bombay Blues also looks straight-on into the music industry. A lot of the behind-the-scene perspective, though, didn't compel me. (It may be because I'm not really in the know about music, so while I thought brief scenes were intriguing, they didn't really push the narrative forward for me.)
Although I could relate to Dimple and the female characters, I had a hard time really rooting for the male interests in this story. Overall, this novel was a neat take on finding one's identity, but the story was too hidden behind young adult/music slang and convoluted thinking for me to thoroughly enjoy.
January 21, 2015
In this sequel to Born Confused, the main characters Dimple and her boyfriend travel to India for a family wedding. They experience a culture shock and try to maintain their modern "American" relationship while learning about their cultural past and family history.
I was excited to finally (10 years later) read the sequel to a novel I remember loving. Born Confused was a wonderful glimpse into what life is like for teens caught between the cultures and beliefs of their parents and their lives in the US. Perhaps because BC was a young adult novel, I was expecting something appropriate for teens. This one is not. This is clearly aimed at 20 somethings, part of the newly defined "new adult" genre. There are frequent sexual references (including sex toys), abundant drug and alcohol use, and more adult themes in general.
Although some readers find the author's writing "lyrical" and "beautifully written", I found it confusing and very difficult to follow. Sometimes my confusion stemmed from my lack of knowledge about India and the music scene, but more often it was due to the author's diversion from conventional grammar and punctuation and the use of vocabulary outside the norm. I found myself bored and distracted.
Other reviews were certainly more positive. I'm just not sure I know anyone to whom I could recommend this book.
I was excited to finally (10 years later) read the sequel to a novel I remember loving. Born Confused was a wonderful glimpse into what life is like for teens caught between the cultures and beliefs of their parents and their lives in the US. Perhaps because BC was a young adult novel, I was expecting something appropriate for teens. This one is not. This is clearly aimed at 20 somethings, part of the newly defined "new adult" genre. There are frequent sexual references (including sex toys), abundant drug and alcohol use, and more adult themes in general.
Although some readers find the author's writing "lyrical" and "beautifully written", I found it confusing and very difficult to follow. Sometimes my confusion stemmed from my lack of knowledge about India and the music scene, but more often it was due to the author's diversion from conventional grammar and punctuation and the use of vocabulary outside the norm. I found myself bored and distracted.
Other reviews were certainly more positive. I'm just not sure I know anyone to whom I could recommend this book.
October 16, 2014
Sadly, because of how much I adored Born Confused and how high my hopes got in such a short time, this book was a big let-down. 550 pages and really I could count the big things to happen on my hand. I can tell Tanuja likes to write poetically, but most of the time it felt like it was clogging up the rest. And besides always being skeptical of everything every character says is meaningful and deep (that is not realistic), that just made it feel like the whole book was trying so hard to make a point of growing up and such. I'm still processing my feelings, but it was a drag of a read. I wonder if reading in short bursts does that? I wonder if I was in a different headspace if I'd like it? The main characters ended up becoming quite annoying and the character who I would have loved to read more about isn't really shown off until the end. I'll be bummed about this for a long time :(
August 24, 2014
Got this from Net Galley. Had mixed feelings, but mostly positive, about "Born Confused", but read it in high school. I remember Dimple's revelations on straddling the cultural divide reminded me of my own experiences. It is so refreshing to check in with her a few years into college and see that we're still on the same page, especially with the introduction of desis-from-india vs desis-from-america dichotomies. The writing felt more rich and vivid than "Born Confused" and the themes explored have matured with the characters (infidelity, first-loves, LGBTQ+). Overall, it was a really compelling read. Though I personally didn't connect very much with the clubbing/partying/DJing scenes, I liked how they reflected Dimple's own growth and point of view as an artist.
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November 2, 2015I can't seem to get far in the book. it's kinda hard to stay interested. and for some reason i am just not connecting at all with any of it. which im disappointed in, because it's such a huge book! and i love huge books. plus it's kinda hard to find thick contemporary novels. thick books are so much easier to find when it comes to sci / fantasy. but anyways, i really wanted to like this book, but it just didn't work out.
i read born confused, which was hard for me to read as well, but mostly because dimples friend was so annoying and an appropriator, (so it was a little angst like for me, especially cause of the boy factor) and i felt like her friend simply got away with it. and plus dimple was left to "fix the pieces" when they fell out.
this book i guess just wasn't for me.
i read born confused, which was hard for me to read as well, but mostly because dimples friend was so annoying and an appropriator, (so it was a little angst like for me, especially cause of the boy factor) and i felt like her friend simply got away with it. and plus dimple was left to "fix the pieces" when they fell out.
this book i guess just wasn't for me.
May 26, 2014
I got this from netgalley, which rocked! I love dimple, but this was so stream of consciousness that i had some trouble losing myself in it. Really transformative story, though and i enjoyed the descriptions of bombay.
September 1, 2014
I think that the author went a little too stylistically weird in this book. Maybe because I loved Born Confused nearly ten years ago, I just didn't love this book as much.
May 6, 2015
jesus christ that was a slog
January 26, 2019
I actually really liked this book/didn't expect it to be as good as it was (I mean it's a sequel that took a while to get out - though I somehow didn't know it existed for a long time!).
Although Born Confused was a tighter narrative, I think Bombay Blues is a deeper narrative that quite accurately charts the process of growing up and leaving childhood behind. The complicated way in which not everything can have a tidy ending is more present here than at the end of Born Confused.
Even the way the novel explores what it means to be Indian, I think, is more thoughtful and nuanced than in the first book - like this book kind of starts with the assumption that you know the basics, rather than having to be walked through. It's very unique just like the first novel was, in charting the experience of being Indian American in India.
I do have a few issues with the novel. I think it needed stronger editing, for sure. On the one hand, I always appreciate Hidier's extremely visual, poetic language. There are none quite like her. In Born Confused, though, the use of that sort of language feels more intentional. Here, it's almost overwhelming. No one, or at least I don't, want to read a 400+ page poem. Example of confusing prose: "A NorBlack-NorWhite-donning half Indian, half Icelandic makeup artist (who appeared entirely Argentinian)" -How do you appear entirely Argentinian?? IDK. There were a few places where my eyes started to skim the multi-page introductions to buildings.
I get that Hidier was maybe trying to convey the specific feeling of Bombay, but it almost felt at times like she was writing more from her own experience there than from Dimples (I am making a huge assumption here haha but whatever). EVERY place they went was transformative and magical and left the character gasping in awe. But this was true of like 15 places. It just sort of runs together and I almost want to roll my eyes by the last handful of transformatively decorated interiors.
As far as relationships went:
I wanted to punch Cowboy, but I thought the author handled the arc of that experience well. Like, it fit, and there weren't easy answers or judgements. But sometimes the dialogue was absolutely murdering me. Like working the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle into their random exchange, or this:
"-I feel so connected to you. Can I ask you something?
I nodded hazily.
-Are you the bridge?
I suddenly thought: maybe I was."
Every conversation was just like... too much and it didn't feel like they were saying much. I also never understood what he looked like? I kept imagining him as 32-ish years old, not sure if that's accurate.
Speaking of dialogue: again, I feel like it needed a harsher editor. It felt too cloying and planned out at times. Obviously this is fiction and fiction doesn't capture the reality of dialogue so much as the truthful feeling of it (it would be boring to have "hi hello hows the weather?" all the time) but sometimes it was like EVERY convo with her family and Karsh was super meaningful and "home... is not a place, but a feeling" like... ok ....? The taxi driver tells her she is his God. Akasha or whoever the small child is who always acts like a fortune teller "sees zeros in her eyes" O....... k.
Like: I feel like some of the characters and situations would have been more clear to me if some sections had just been less poetic.
But anyway. I liked it, would recommend it for anyone who appreciated the first book.
(worth noting maybe; I received the uncorrected proof version of the book! Since i bought it on eBay. the page #s seem about the same and I doubt much changed but, FYI!)
Although Born Confused was a tighter narrative, I think Bombay Blues is a deeper narrative that quite accurately charts the process of growing up and leaving childhood behind. The complicated way in which not everything can have a tidy ending is more present here than at the end of Born Confused.
Even the way the novel explores what it means to be Indian, I think, is more thoughtful and nuanced than in the first book - like this book kind of starts with the assumption that you know the basics, rather than having to be walked through. It's very unique just like the first novel was, in charting the experience of being Indian American in India.
I do have a few issues with the novel. I think it needed stronger editing, for sure. On the one hand, I always appreciate Hidier's extremely visual, poetic language. There are none quite like her. In Born Confused, though, the use of that sort of language feels more intentional. Here, it's almost overwhelming. No one, or at least I don't, want to read a 400+ page poem. Example of confusing prose: "A NorBlack-NorWhite-donning half Indian, half Icelandic makeup artist (who appeared entirely Argentinian)" -How do you appear entirely Argentinian?? IDK. There were a few places where my eyes started to skim the multi-page introductions to buildings.
I get that Hidier was maybe trying to convey the specific feeling of Bombay, but it almost felt at times like she was writing more from her own experience there than from Dimples (I am making a huge assumption here haha but whatever). EVERY place they went was transformative and magical and left the character gasping in awe. But this was true of like 15 places. It just sort of runs together and I almost want to roll my eyes by the last handful of transformatively decorated interiors.
As far as relationships went:
I wanted to punch Cowboy, but I thought the author handled the arc of that experience well. Like, it fit, and there weren't easy answers or judgements. But sometimes the dialogue was absolutely murdering me. Like working the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle into their random exchange, or this:
"-I feel so connected to you. Can I ask you something?
I nodded hazily.
-Are you the bridge?
I suddenly thought: maybe I was."
Every conversation was just like... too much and it didn't feel like they were saying much. I also never understood what he looked like? I kept imagining him as 32-ish years old, not sure if that's accurate.
Speaking of dialogue: again, I feel like it needed a harsher editor. It felt too cloying and planned out at times. Obviously this is fiction and fiction doesn't capture the reality of dialogue so much as the truthful feeling of it (it would be boring to have "hi hello hows the weather?" all the time) but sometimes it was like EVERY convo with her family and Karsh was super meaningful and "home... is not a place, but a feeling" like... ok ....? The taxi driver tells her she is his God. Akasha or whoever the small child is who always acts like a fortune teller "sees zeros in her eyes" O....... k.
Like: I feel like some of the characters and situations would have been more clear to me if some sections had just been less poetic.
But anyway. I liked it, would recommend it for anyone who appreciated the first book.
(worth noting maybe; I received the uncorrected proof version of the book! Since i bought it on eBay. the page #s seem about the same and I doubt much changed but, FYI!)
Read
June 8, 2018In this follow up to BORN CONFUSED (one of my favorite YA novels), 19-year-old Dimple flies to Bombay for her cousin's wedding while her boyfriend, Karsh, is on a post-college DJ tour of the city and struggling to expand his audience. Dimple and Karsh are both mourning the death of a family patriarch but express their grief in different ways that strains their relationship. While photographing the city, Dimple wrestles with her dual identity as an Indian American, torn between two countries and not totally at home in either. Since my family is dual-nationality, this book really resonated with me. The author draws from her personal experiences.
Although BORN CONFUSED was clearly YA, BOMBAY BLUES deals with more adult issues: recreational drug use, arranged marriages, long-term relationships, sexual infidelity, college, and careers. It's also longer and slower paced at 550 pages and written in a literary style more geared to older readers. The use of dashes instead of quotation to mark dialogue makes it harder to read. I'd recommend BOMBAY BLUES to adults who read the first book as a teen and want to know what became of Dimple (a delightfully complex character) and to college students (not enough novels written for them). It's also a marvelous introduction to Bombay/Mumbai, which feels like a virtual vacation. The writing is lovely, brimming with poetic imagery and deep blue themes. There's also a companion CD to the book (sold separately), composed by the multi-talented author/singer-songwriter.
Disclosure: the author is a friend, but we met through her writing.
Although BORN CONFUSED was clearly YA, BOMBAY BLUES deals with more adult issues: recreational drug use, arranged marriages, long-term relationships, sexual infidelity, college, and careers. It's also longer and slower paced at 550 pages and written in a literary style more geared to older readers. The use of dashes instead of quotation to mark dialogue makes it harder to read. I'd recommend BOMBAY BLUES to adults who read the first book as a teen and want to know what became of Dimple (a delightfully complex character) and to college students (not enough novels written for them). It's also a marvelous introduction to Bombay/Mumbai, which feels like a virtual vacation. The writing is lovely, brimming with poetic imagery and deep blue themes. There's also a companion CD to the book (sold separately), composed by the multi-talented author/singer-songwriter.
Disclosure: the author is a friend, but we met through her writing.
August 22, 2024
2.5
I have no idea what the *frock* I just read. I found the first story in the series to be so relatable as a fellow ABCD, but this one missed the mark. Dimple and Karsh find themselves in Bombay to celebrate her cousin’s wedding and for Karsh to explore the DJ scene in India while still processing the loss of his father. Somehow, despite being brought up in the US, Dimple is able to navigate the streets of Bombay all by herself for days worth of adventure and befriends a mysterious cowboy to add a bit of spice. Don’t get me wrong, there is still beautiful prose and the exploration of some topics that are considered more taboo by the culture, but this story was SO drawn out (over 500 pages!!) and I found myself getting lost with what the point of what I was reading was. There is also a pretty heavy focus on drugs and sex which at times was over the top. I enjoyed reading some of the Bollywood references but after a while those became too much too. There are some lovely passages of lyrical writing that did not match the tone of the book so it made it challenging to keep track of what was going on. Maybe that was the intent though? So you could also feel like you were smoking the Ganga right along side them?
I have no idea what the *frock* I just read. I found the first story in the series to be so relatable as a fellow ABCD, but this one missed the mark. Dimple and Karsh find themselves in Bombay to celebrate her cousin’s wedding and for Karsh to explore the DJ scene in India while still processing the loss of his father. Somehow, despite being brought up in the US, Dimple is able to navigate the streets of Bombay all by herself for days worth of adventure and befriends a mysterious cowboy to add a bit of spice. Don’t get me wrong, there is still beautiful prose and the exploration of some topics that are considered more taboo by the culture, but this story was SO drawn out (over 500 pages!!) and I found myself getting lost with what the point of what I was reading was. There is also a pretty heavy focus on drugs and sex which at times was over the top. I enjoyed reading some of the Bollywood references but after a while those became too much too. There are some lovely passages of lyrical writing that did not match the tone of the book so it made it challenging to keep track of what was going on. Maybe that was the intent though? So you could also feel like you were smoking the Ganga right along side them?
Read
October 27, 2025It took me about 5 years to read this book to completion, and i think that was a good move. I bought a copy at Ollie's Bargain Outlet and was absorbed into the blue-tinged world of Dimple and her relatable, sorrowful, unserious cultural reckoning. But i only read it over breaks during college, so i always forgot that the story existed until i moved out in 2025 and started living away from home. Something about the timing was so right; i had returned from a short visit to Korea, and I was undergoing--yet again--that neverending timeloop of "who am i despite/because of all the cultures I was brought up in?" I was deeply comforted by this book, and the writing style was unlike anything you'll ever read. It IS a lot, but finishing it feels like a good cry, so I would recommend it to any fellow art loving, sentimental, slow on the uptake young women like myself.
May 8, 2020
Solid 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.
3 positives:
-The descriptions Hidier provides of Bombay make one feel as if they are there.
-When Dimple travels all over Bombay, there are many landmarks mentioned. Those landmarks remind me of my time there.
-I admire the way Hidier promotes the idea of female independence in a society in which females struggle.
1 negative
- There were so many passages in the book where the dialogue dragged on and on. I almost felt like giving up but since I am a sucker for punishment I continued on. The ending or lack of made me regret it.
3 positives:
-The descriptions Hidier provides of Bombay make one feel as if they are there.
-When Dimple travels all over Bombay, there are many landmarks mentioned. Those landmarks remind me of my time there.
-I admire the way Hidier promotes the idea of female independence in a society in which females struggle.
1 negative
- There were so many passages in the book where the dialogue dragged on and on. I almost felt like giving up but since I am a sucker for punishment I continued on. The ending or lack of made me regret it.
May 28, 2024
Wow. What a book! What an experience! The absolute poetry, the sheer imagery! I need to listen to the songs the author wrote at the end, because wow. This book has probably the most poetic descriptions of sex I've ever read, and in the hands of a lesser author, it would feel silly and gimmicky. Not in this book. This author is just too damn good. Truly an excellent book.
This makes me not want to read another YA or children's book for the rest of the day; I just want to sit with this one and soak in it and read back all the passages I bracketed (and there were a lot). Wow!
This makes me not want to read another YA or children's book for the rest of the day; I just want to sit with this one and soak in it and read back all the passages I bracketed (and there were a lot). Wow!
August 7, 2017
I had occasional moments of feeling connected to Dimple, which probably saved me from writing the book off completely. Compared to "Born Confused" (and despite the length of the novel), I felt it was too choppily written for me to engage with it fully; I finally managed to get into the flow of the book in the last fifty or so pages, and wish the rest of the book had felt like that.
August 7, 2017
I rarely stop reading books halfway through, but man this book was hundreds of pages of nothing with some interesting points of view scattered throughout. I couldn't finish it. Giving it an extra star since I still enjoy the type of prose Hidier writes, but stick with Born Confused. This was disappointing.
June 26, 2019
Unfortunately I had high expectations from this sequel. Bombay Blues pales in comparison to Born Confused. No surprises that it took me two years to finish reading it. The characters have lost their charm and too much description is distracting to the reader - almost like masking bad character buildup.
December 24, 2021
I'm sure there's a good story in here. At times I saw it but it was too fleeting. with over 500 pages I just don't have it in me and I've dragged out renewing this book long enough. I loved Born Confused when I was in high school but as an adult reading Bombay Blues the story gives too much while giving so little.
August 2, 2020
Far more poetic than the first novel, which is such a favorite of mine.
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