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Zigzags
When Aneesha returns to Chicago for the summer, all she wants to do is write and carouse with friends. Maybe rekindle things with her old flame, Whitney, who has a serious new job and relationship. Aneesha weaves through dance parties, dive bars, and all-night Mexican joints on her bike, but keeping old friends is complicated in this charming debut novel from Kamala Puligandla.
235 pages, Paperback
First published October 19, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
June 28, 2021
3.5+ | Like the narrator, I: am an outsider who moved from Chicago to Southern California; believe Chicago is the most magical place in the summertime; and am not the type of extrovert to maintain friendships on a daily basis. So this book was a well-timed read for me. Had I read it immediately after my move—rather than 3.5 years later, during a pandemic when traveling is restricted—it would have destroyed me. Instead, I can now appreciate the sentiment that friendships, even when they're imperfect and "apart, off in [their] own lives, getting farther away from the circumstances that brought [them] together, [they] will continue to exist[.]"
January 9, 2026
this book is so deliciously dykey and friendship-forward. i loved the long summer days and the realistic lesbian friends who oscillate between sexual and platonic desires.
Throughout my schooling as a writer, people had critiqued my stories for their lighthearted humor, the way darkness never lingered long. Nothing ever fully exploded and broke your heart - people just kept on joking. As I sat here with my friends, at the same musty bar where we had met and gotten our lives all knotted up, I knew that was how life went. It much was more heartbreaking that there was no finalizing explosion. There was always more that followed, and the farther you went, the more the lightness became the darkness and the dark, the light until it was all fairly murky.
July 17, 2021
In Zigzags by Kamala Puligandla, Aneesha goes back to Chicago for the summer knowing it will be complicated. Her ex Whitney has moved in with her boyfriend, and she's going to be sleeping in their extra room. But ultimately, she just wants to sink into her friend group again—gathering at the Heartland, rolling her eyes at Richard, letting Georgie ground her. And maybe this summer her messy love life won't be...as messy?
I thought this was an intriguing book that really gets at that painful moment where a dive bar crew, that wild young group of friends, is suddenly growing up and moving away and committing themselves to big jobs or serious issues or families. They are changing, reassessing, and settling, and it's a wistful, nostalgic feeling, even when you know that you'll stay friends. You know that even as you'll stay in contact, things are changing in a way that's irrevocable—your small little traditions will fade, your nights will end earlier.
There were some strange stylistic choices (ex. Lakeshore Drive when it's Lake Shore Drive, dialogue among multiple characters packed into one paragraph) which I found distracting. Occasionally Aneesha's first person perspective could dip into showy, pretentious philosophical statements that pulled me out of the story. (Sometimes we think pretentious thoughts, but the way they were inserted often felt awkward and overly omniscient, like she was in the clouds reflecting down on herself—or honestly like this book was written in 3rd pov and then switched to 1st.)
I was often frustrated with the characters, but I actually liked that. We all have semi-insufferable friends who we love anyway. They're our people even when their faults are filling up towards the brim. (I still found it really hard to care about Whitney.) Aneesha is a difficult, sarcastic, lesbian trying to find comfort and instead only finding a shifting group of friends who may escape at any moment. It's a love letter to that weird time in life when you keep painfully wondering if your group of friends is going to 'make it.' Where you're proud of them but also find yourself wishing they would just stay instead, with you, in this moment, in this city.
Ultimately, this was an imperfect but still compelling novel about a queer, messy group of friends who are growing up, and a story of their summer.
I thought this was an intriguing book that really gets at that painful moment where a dive bar crew, that wild young group of friends, is suddenly growing up and moving away and committing themselves to big jobs or serious issues or families. They are changing, reassessing, and settling, and it's a wistful, nostalgic feeling, even when you know that you'll stay friends. You know that even as you'll stay in contact, things are changing in a way that's irrevocable—your small little traditions will fade, your nights will end earlier.
There were some strange stylistic choices (ex. Lakeshore Drive when it's Lake Shore Drive, dialogue among multiple characters packed into one paragraph) which I found distracting. Occasionally Aneesha's first person perspective could dip into showy, pretentious philosophical statements that pulled me out of the story. (Sometimes we think pretentious thoughts, but the way they were inserted often felt awkward and overly omniscient, like she was in the clouds reflecting down on herself—or honestly like this book was written in 3rd pov and then switched to 1st.)
I was often frustrated with the characters, but I actually liked that. We all have semi-insufferable friends who we love anyway. They're our people even when their faults are filling up towards the brim. (I still found it really hard to care about Whitney.) Aneesha is a difficult, sarcastic, lesbian trying to find comfort and instead only finding a shifting group of friends who may escape at any moment. It's a love letter to that weird time in life when you keep painfully wondering if your group of friends is going to 'make it.' Where you're proud of them but also find yourself wishing they would just stay instead, with you, in this moment, in this city.
Ultimately, this was an imperfect but still compelling novel about a queer, messy group of friends who are growing up, and a story of their summer.
July 25, 2022
So I can't say I didn't enjoy this book, but I also wouldn't say I liked it very much either. Let me explain.
Throughout the whole book, the main character felt really detached from the first-person narration because she is telling the story as if the reader is another one of her friends, which should make for a really close and intimate experience with the story, but unfortunately didn't for me. This is for a few reasons, the main one being that it almost seems like you’re supposed to already know everything about the narrator’s backstory and her extensive group of friends and all about them and their backstories as well. So it feels like you’ve picked up the book in the middle of a story that you weren’t privy to because the narrator tells the story with very little explanation of who anyone is, what they’re doing there, how she met them, or her connections to them or why they’re friends in the first place.
Speaking of the side characters, there were too many to fit into one book. There are about seven different friends Aneesha hangs out with throughout the book and it got a bit confusing having all these names thrown out at you, again, with what feels like the expectation that you already know all about these people with the narrator almost refreshing you on who they are rather than explaining who they are to her.
At first, I didn't want to call Aneesha a self-insert character for the author because it felt unfair since I don't know the author at all. But it became pretty apparent that this was the case as the novel went on, especially with the quote on page 195-6 discussing Aneesha's desire to go forward and write about all the people in her life and her story with them. It seems like the author was using this book and this story to kind of work through some stuff, which I like and can make for a really good story, but just seemed to be based too much on real-life events without consideration for plot embellishments and character development that readers outside of this specific friend group this story is based on would understand and enjoy reading.
ALL THAT BEING SAID, I loved the aspect of this book that was just queer people living their lives without tragic backstories or even a hint of a coming-out plotline. Aneesha, a queer woman of color, was just living her mid-20s life, going through the quarter-life crisis with her closest friends and I loved that.
Not much happens plot-wise in this book, which is fine, I think a focus on characters can make for a great story, but there was not much development for any of the characters either unfortunately. I just wish the story had been more fleshed out for those of us who do not know the intimate details of the real-life events which seem to be the basis for this entire book.
Throughout the whole book, the main character felt really detached from the first-person narration because she is telling the story as if the reader is another one of her friends, which should make for a really close and intimate experience with the story, but unfortunately didn't for me. This is for a few reasons, the main one being that it almost seems like you’re supposed to already know everything about the narrator’s backstory and her extensive group of friends and all about them and their backstories as well. So it feels like you’ve picked up the book in the middle of a story that you weren’t privy to because the narrator tells the story with very little explanation of who anyone is, what they’re doing there, how she met them, or her connections to them or why they’re friends in the first place.
Speaking of the side characters, there were too many to fit into one book. There are about seven different friends Aneesha hangs out with throughout the book and it got a bit confusing having all these names thrown out at you, again, with what feels like the expectation that you already know all about these people with the narrator almost refreshing you on who they are rather than explaining who they are to her.
At first, I didn't want to call Aneesha a self-insert character for the author because it felt unfair since I don't know the author at all. But it became pretty apparent that this was the case as the novel went on, especially with the quote on page 195-6 discussing Aneesha's desire to go forward and write about all the people in her life and her story with them. It seems like the author was using this book and this story to kind of work through some stuff, which I like and can make for a really good story, but just seemed to be based too much on real-life events without consideration for plot embellishments and character development that readers outside of this specific friend group this story is based on would understand and enjoy reading.
ALL THAT BEING SAID, I loved the aspect of this book that was just queer people living their lives without tragic backstories or even a hint of a coming-out plotline. Aneesha, a queer woman of color, was just living her mid-20s life, going through the quarter-life crisis with her closest friends and I loved that.
Not much happens plot-wise in this book, which is fine, I think a focus on characters can make for a great story, but there was not much development for any of the characters either unfortunately. I just wish the story had been more fleshed out for those of us who do not know the intimate details of the real-life events which seem to be the basis for this entire book.
January 3, 2021
I bought this book for the title and I’d have to say it didn’t disappoint. (I’ve done that in the past with books and it rarely pans out.) There were so many moments I felt like the narrator had been inside my head. A refreshing read with a simple story, but complex characters.
February 24, 2021
Reminded me of all my beloved friends and lovers in San Francisco. This book is an ode to friendship. It was tender, intellectual, and just lovely. It made me laugh and cry and was just what I needed.
September 29, 2022
This book perfectly captures the 20 something year old queer late puberty, particularly that the grief of seeing your friends move on and become themselves is far more beautiful and heart breaking than any breakup could ever be
April 30, 2024
Love letter to queer Northside Chicago summers in your 20s. Dancing at Danny’s, Tank Noodle, Moody’s, hazy beach days, OMG. Needed more CTA, but otherwise deeply accurate. I am going to gift this to one of my own everlasting Chicago friends.
May 27, 2025
Captures what it feels like to be queer in Chicago in the summertime - I can feel those late night bike rides. I re-read the book as I prepared to leave Chicago and a similarly close friend group. It was the perfect bookend, so to say.
November 23, 2020
I loved this book and it made me miss all my friends.
Want to Read
December 16, 2020CAMBRIDGE/New Books FICTION Puligandla, Kamala
January 3, 2021
An ode to the overthinking queer woman
January 18, 2021
2,5 stars!
May 9, 2021
Hot dykë summer / butch bottom summer...
Love it
Love it
July 17, 2021
Tender hearted Queer 20-somethings summer bildungsroman. Delicious from beginning to end.
January 1, 2022
Marked this book as “want to read” on 1/1/21 so only seemed fitting. Here for brown queer authors but the plot lines became hard to follow in a fictional work
July 12, 2022
like a 2.5 maybe ? idk this just wasn’t for me. i didn’t connect with the writing or any of the characters… sad cause i had high hopes.
November 3, 2022
Started kinda slow but reeled me in with factual statements about friendship, love, and self perception that i have often felt. Heartwarming and tender
Read
February 7, 2023This book might’ve convinced me to buy a bike this summer
November 6, 2023
This was like a very leisurely love letter to friendship when you are on the cusp of adulthood as a twenty-something and about to drift apart. A little slow in some parts.
December 4, 2023
One of my favorite books. I could’ve kept reading it forever. Wish I could read it again for the first time.
July 1, 2024
obsessed!!! summer in Chicago forever ! did u know chicago is the best city ever? also the themes of growing up, growing apart, being a 20-something year old not knowing what you're doing hit
July 20, 2024
A balm for this homesick Midwestern girl.
This is a book I want all my friends to read so they understand how I feel about a Midwest summer. Loved it
This is a book I want all my friends to read so they understand how I feel about a Midwest summer. Loved it
Did Not Finish
October 19, 2024dnf @ 33% – some charming moments but ultimately not engaging enough to keep me going :(
August 15, 2025
one of the most intimate and familiar-feeling books I’ve ever read
December 10, 2024
The book felt very semi-autobiographical, as most first books do. It was more character-centric than plot-centric, there was definitely some dialogue that did not quite fit into the scene, and other little things that were awkwardly placed. It was still such a good book, you can’t help but feel a fondness for the characters, their radical tolerance for each other’s quirks, and the places they frequent. It is a love letter to Chicago, and sketches out the complexities of close relationships, including close queer relationships, in a way that is truly unique. It feels nostalgic - almost as if capturing the memory of the events, rather than the events themselves in real time.
July 31, 2024
Enjoyable, easy read. Love a queer protagonist. Not a favorite, but enjoyable.
November 28, 2020
an ode to queer friendship!
July 26, 2023
This book wandered aimlessly and was only saved by a few well-written characters and some funny moments that perfectly summed up how it feels to be in your early twenties. Unfortunately, it was also riddled with typos and errors.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews