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Meet Me in Mumbai
A novel in two acts—told eighteen years apart—gives voice to both mother (Ayesha) and daughter (Mira) after an unplanned teen pregnancy led Ayesha to place Mira up for adoption.
Seventeen-year-old Mira Fuller-Jensen was adopted by her moms at birth. All she knows about her biological mother is that she was a high-school student from India who returned to India after giving birth. Although Mira loves her moms, she's always felt out of place in her mostly white community.
So when Mira finds an old box with letters addressed to her from her birth mother, she sees a way to finally capture that feeling of belonging. Her mother writes that if Mira can forgive her for having to give her up, she should find a way to travel to India for her eighteenth birthday and meet her. Mira knows she'll always regret it if she doesn't go. But is she actually ready for what she will learn?
Seventeen-year-old Mira Fuller-Jensen was adopted by her moms at birth. All she knows about her biological mother is that she was a high-school student from India who returned to India after giving birth. Although Mira loves her moms, she's always felt out of place in her mostly white community.
So when Mira finds an old box with letters addressed to her from her birth mother, she sees a way to finally capture that feeling of belonging. Her mother writes that if Mira can forgive her for having to give her up, she should find a way to travel to India for her eighteenth birthday and meet her. Mira knows she'll always regret it if she doesn't go. But is she actually ready for what she will learn?
352 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2022
22 people are currently reading
6529 people want to read
About the author
Sabina Khan
9 books573 followersSabina Khan is the acclaimed author of the upcoming Middle Grade Fantasy THE BLOODSTONE THIEF (Scholastic, Fall 2025), and YA Contemporary novels WHAT A DESI GIRL WANTS, MEET ME IN MUMBAI, ZARA HOSSAIN IS HERE & THE LOVE AND LIES OF RUKHSANA ALI. She has lived in Germany, Bangladesh, Macao, Illinois and Texas before finally settling down in Vancouver, BC. When she’s not writing, you can find her playing with her adorable puppy, picking new songs for Karaoke or sitting in a coffee shop dreaming up new stories and characters.
Her books have received starred trade reviews; were a Junior Library Guild Selection, a Teen Indie Next Pick, were on the “Best Of” lists of Oprah Magazine and Seventeen, were featured on NBC News and the BBC, the NYT, Teen Vogue, as well as short-listed for the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize and the Ontario Library Association’s White Pine Awards.
Find her on Twitter and Instagram @sabina_writer
Website: https://sabina-khan.com/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
October 9, 2022
4.5⭐️
Such an emotional journey! I knew after reading the description that this was going to be heartbreaking.
I didn't expect Ayesha’s story to start right at the beginning. I was genuinely expecting a shifting through two different timelines kind of story, but this was a really nice break from reading books of that format. We were able to deeply connect with Ayesha very well because of this and dare I say that I actually connected with her even more than her daughter, Mira. This really set the tone for my overall approval of this book.
This one was definitely not a book about the best and worst decisions that the characters took or could have taken, but it felt like we were allowed to just take in and try to understand the several things that go through a person's mind before they take major decisions. This is amplified more when these feelings are represented in people that do not get a lot of representation in these sensitive topics. I was really happy with the characters, especially Ayesha because she made extremely strong decisions, and how those decisions made her who she was in the future was amazing! I can’t think of a single character I hated in this book.
Safe to say I was very invested in this!
Such an emotional journey! I knew after reading the description that this was going to be heartbreaking.
I didn't expect Ayesha’s story to start right at the beginning. I was genuinely expecting a shifting through two different timelines kind of story, but this was a really nice break from reading books of that format. We were able to deeply connect with Ayesha very well because of this and dare I say that I actually connected with her even more than her daughter, Mira. This really set the tone for my overall approval of this book.
This one was definitely not a book about the best and worst decisions that the characters took or could have taken, but it felt like we were allowed to just take in and try to understand the several things that go through a person's mind before they take major decisions. This is amplified more when these feelings are represented in people that do not get a lot of representation in these sensitive topics. I was really happy with the characters, especially Ayesha because she made extremely strong decisions, and how those decisions made her who she was in the future was amazing! I can’t think of a single character I hated in this book.
Safe to say I was very invested in this!
July 30, 2022
Sometimes, I wonder why I decide to pick up genres like YA contemporary when I know I’m too old for them. But this was another book where the premise hooked me and I couldn’t resist the opportunity to participate in a blog tour. And I’m glad I did.
I was actually expecting the two timelines to alternate but I think the author’s decision to tell the whole story from the past first and then move on to the present worked fine for this story. It was a very easy to read in terms of pacing and I finished it in one shot but that doesn’t mean the content was easy to take in. As the author is dealing with themes like teenage pregnancy, interracial adoption, identity crisis and more - there’s a lot of pain and anguish in these pages which the author captures well and I felt the importance and gravity of the decisions that the characters were having to make. While I don’t really identify with any of the themes, it was still a very relatable book because of how innately South Asian everything felt.
Both the characters Ayesha and Mira did and felt things which I thought they were being wrong about but upon trying not to judge them, I realized they were only being eighteen year olds thrust into difficult situations and dealing with them in whatever way they could think of. Ayesha in particular is terrified and alone and the fact that she even manages to make such momentous decisions is highly commendable. It was only her tremendous guilt I had some issue with but I also decide how she should feel about giving up her daughter.
Mira on the other hand has had a wonderful childhood and family but the feeling of missing something never goes away. Her sadness at not knowing much about her own birth heritage felt very sad and her attempts at finding those missing parts of herself was heartening. I was also very glad that she had such an excellent support system in her parents and friends. Actually, the one thing that I noticed about the whole book was that there were only supportive characters throughout and despite the sad content, it’s overall a very positive book.
On the whole, this was something unlike most books I read but I thought it was a very well written tale of two young women separated by circumstances finally finding their way back to each. It’s about love and family of all kinds, the one we are born in and the one we make, and how being supportive of each other can only lead to happiness even if things aren’t going well. The final page made me tear up and it was such a poignant way to end the story, where it feels like a new beginning. This was my first book by the author but I definitely hope it won’t be my last.
I was actually expecting the two timelines to alternate but I think the author’s decision to tell the whole story from the past first and then move on to the present worked fine for this story. It was a very easy to read in terms of pacing and I finished it in one shot but that doesn’t mean the content was easy to take in. As the author is dealing with themes like teenage pregnancy, interracial adoption, identity crisis and more - there’s a lot of pain and anguish in these pages which the author captures well and I felt the importance and gravity of the decisions that the characters were having to make. While I don’t really identify with any of the themes, it was still a very relatable book because of how innately South Asian everything felt.
Both the characters Ayesha and Mira did and felt things which I thought they were being wrong about but upon trying not to judge them, I realized they were only being eighteen year olds thrust into difficult situations and dealing with them in whatever way they could think of. Ayesha in particular is terrified and alone and the fact that she even manages to make such momentous decisions is highly commendable. It was only her tremendous guilt I had some issue with but I also decide how she should feel about giving up her daughter.
Mira on the other hand has had a wonderful childhood and family but the feeling of missing something never goes away. Her sadness at not knowing much about her own birth heritage felt very sad and her attempts at finding those missing parts of herself was heartening. I was also very glad that she had such an excellent support system in her parents and friends. Actually, the one thing that I noticed about the whole book was that there were only supportive characters throughout and despite the sad content, it’s overall a very positive book.
On the whole, this was something unlike most books I read but I thought it was a very well written tale of two young women separated by circumstances finally finding their way back to each. It’s about love and family of all kinds, the one we are born in and the one we make, and how being supportive of each other can only lead to happiness even if things aren’t going well. The final page made me tear up and it was such a poignant way to end the story, where it feels like a new beginning. This was my first book by the author but I definitely hope it won’t be my last.
dnf
March 24, 2024Couldn't get into the second half... skipped to see how it ended but even that didn't interest me.
Good idea for a story, meh for me.
Good idea for a story, meh for me.
November 2, 2022
ayesha is an indian teen studying in the u.s. to pursue her dreams. but an unexpected pregnancy throws her dreams out of line, and the goal-driven girl turns into someone who doesn’t know what to do anymore.
eighteen years later…mira is ayesha’s daughter who’s had a great life so far, but she feels like something’s missing, especially in terms of her culture. she finds a box with letters from her birth mother, one of which tells mira to meet ayesha in mumbai on her eighteenth birthday.
i love generational stories and i love sabina khan, so this book was amazing!! it was pretty weird to have the main character switch halfway through the story, as i don’t believe i’ve ever read a book like that, but i loved seeing ayesha through mira’s eyes, both before and after they met. this was a beautiful story and i highly recommend it!
eighteen years later…mira is ayesha’s daughter who’s had a great life so far, but she feels like something’s missing, especially in terms of her culture. she finds a box with letters from her birth mother, one of which tells mira to meet ayesha in mumbai on her eighteenth birthday.
i love generational stories and i love sabina khan, so this book was amazing!! it was pretty weird to have the main character switch halfway through the story, as i don’t believe i’ve ever read a book like that, but i loved seeing ayesha through mira’s eyes, both before and after they met. this was a beautiful story and i highly recommend it!
Want to read
September 22, 2021Oh my god! This COVER!!! 😭✨
October 5, 2022
First half is better, if not overly idealogical and not very realistic for the time period. The story is well written and engaging, there are just cultural holes that don't make sense to me. Ayesha is a Muslim girl from a very conservative country, fears and respects her parents and their conservative beliefs but yet she has no problem with abortion and is an early advocate for lesbian adoption in the early 90s? All after less than a year living in the US.... not buying it. This is my issue with the whole book, It doesn't seem to take reality into account and brings in too many controversies that are just glazed over. Hindu boy and Muslim girl - the tension there is barely touched on even though it would have been a massive deal in the 90s. It's written based on ideology not on reality - how the author wishes the world worked vs. how it actually works.
The second half of the book is not as well written. It takes a look at Mira, the child given up for adoption, 18 years after Ayesha goes back to India. Her adoptive parents have made a great life for her and, in typical teenage fashion, she finds multiple ways to make herself a victim and the character isn't super likeable. Despite this the books wraps up in a completely unrealistic happy ending that ties everything up on nice little bows and minimizes anything that would, under normal circumstances, throw a metaphorical wrench into the plot line.
The second half of the book is not as well written. It takes a look at Mira, the child given up for adoption, 18 years after Ayesha goes back to India. Her adoptive parents have made a great life for her and, in typical teenage fashion, she finds multiple ways to make herself a victim and the character isn't super likeable. Despite this the books wraps up in a completely unrealistic happy ending that ties everything up on nice little bows and minimizes anything that would, under normal circumstances, throw a metaphorical wrench into the plot line.
September 26, 2022
I REALLY enjoyed this YA mother-daughter story! Told in two parts, the first part features Ayesha, a Muslim teen from Mumbai who is finishing up high school in the States so she has a better chance to get into an American university. Feeling lonely missing her family and home, she befriends a Hindi boy from her country who is also living in the same town. Ayesha ends up pregnant and has to decide whether to keep the baby or not.
Fast forward 18 years and the second half of the story features Mira, the daughter Ayesha gave up for adoption. Though Mira has been raised by two loving moms, she's always felt there was some missing connection to her cultural heritage. When she discovers letters written to her by her birth mother, she fights for a chance to visit Mumbai in the hopes of meeting Ayesha.
Moving and incredibly heart felt, this was great on audio and recommended for fans of authors like Sajni Patel or SK Ali.
Fast forward 18 years and the second half of the story features Mira, the daughter Ayesha gave up for adoption. Though Mira has been raised by two loving moms, she's always felt there was some missing connection to her cultural heritage. When she discovers letters written to her by her birth mother, she fights for a chance to visit Mumbai in the hopes of meeting Ayesha.
Moving and incredibly heart felt, this was great on audio and recommended for fans of authors like Sajni Patel or SK Ali.
January 2, 2024
This book was a mess. I read it for an article I'm writing about teen birth mothers in YA literature, and after getting through the birth mother's perspective, I just couldn't read anymore.
The depiction of adoption is fine and is typical of what I have seen in other books. The writing style is where this book really suffers. Not only is it /super/ repetitive, but the language is dumbed down so much that it's almost insulting to read. I'm not sure if this is just the author's style or if she thinks that audiences can't understand anything more substantial.
If you're looking for books about adoption or teen birth mothers, find another book.
The depiction of adoption is fine and is typical of what I have seen in other books. The writing style is where this book really suffers. Not only is it /super/ repetitive, but the language is dumbed down so much that it's almost insulting to read. I'm not sure if this is just the author's style or if she thinks that audiences can't understand anything more substantial.
If you're looking for books about adoption or teen birth mothers, find another book.
September 23, 2022
This book was so good! I haven’t read this author before but I know I’ll read her other books now. She had a way of bringing her characters to life that was so impressive and felt so natural. I especially enjoyed Ayesha’s part of the story.
This book is broken into two parts.
In the first part of the book we meet Ayesha. She’s a thoughtful, intelligent, hardworking and quite selfless teenager. Her family is in Mumbai. It’s her senior year and she’s staying with her aunt and uncle. She does feel lonely sometimes because most of her family is in Mumbai. She has a great best friend but there’s no one that necessarily reminds her of home until she meets Suresh (if I have misspelled please allow it as I have already returned the library book and I’m lucky I even remembered the characters’ names). His family is also in Mumbai.
They feel an instant connection to each other and fall in love for the first time. When Suresh’s dad gets very sick he is called back to Mumbai.
Then Ayesha finds out she’s pregnant.
She is sure that her family will not be ok with this. Even if they could accept it, she feels it would bring shame and bad consequences to them in Mumbai.
She is alone and has no way to care for the baby and also feels like no one in her family can find out about the baby.
She makes an arrangement with an adoption agency where the family adopting the baby will let her live with them for the duration of the pregnancy.
When the baby comes, Ayesha tried to resume her normal life.
Almost 18 years later we meet Mira. Mira has had a wonderful life. She loves her moms and her sister. She has good friends and does well in school. But she feels conflicted about how disconnected she feels to her background. She knows her family is from Mumbai. People look at her and can tell that she is somehow different from the rest of her family. But Mira doesn’t feel a connection to her ethnicity probably in part because she doesn’t know much about it.
Months before her birthday she finds a box in her garage and finds a few mementos from her birth mother. Then she finds a stash of letters that Ayesha left for her. The most important letter asks Mira to meet Ayesha in Mumbai on her 18th birthday.
These characters were very lovable. You’ll feel bad for pretty much every body at some point (honestly, I never felt that bad for old Suresh lol).
I enjoyed watching Mira get to know more about Mumbai.
This book is broken into two parts.
In the first part of the book we meet Ayesha. She’s a thoughtful, intelligent, hardworking and quite selfless teenager. Her family is in Mumbai. It’s her senior year and she’s staying with her aunt and uncle. She does feel lonely sometimes because most of her family is in Mumbai. She has a great best friend but there’s no one that necessarily reminds her of home until she meets Suresh (if I have misspelled please allow it as I have already returned the library book and I’m lucky I even remembered the characters’ names). His family is also in Mumbai.
They feel an instant connection to each other and fall in love for the first time. When Suresh’s dad gets very sick he is called back to Mumbai.
Then Ayesha finds out she’s pregnant.
She is sure that her family will not be ok with this. Even if they could accept it, she feels it would bring shame and bad consequences to them in Mumbai.
She is alone and has no way to care for the baby and also feels like no one in her family can find out about the baby.
She makes an arrangement with an adoption agency where the family adopting the baby will let her live with them for the duration of the pregnancy.
When the baby comes, Ayesha tried to resume her normal life.
Almost 18 years later we meet Mira. Mira has had a wonderful life. She loves her moms and her sister. She has good friends and does well in school. But she feels conflicted about how disconnected she feels to her background. She knows her family is from Mumbai. People look at her and can tell that she is somehow different from the rest of her family. But Mira doesn’t feel a connection to her ethnicity probably in part because she doesn’t know much about it.
Months before her birthday she finds a box in her garage and finds a few mementos from her birth mother. Then she finds a stash of letters that Ayesha left for her. The most important letter asks Mira to meet Ayesha in Mumbai on her 18th birthday.
These characters were very lovable. You’ll feel bad for pretty much every body at some point (honestly, I never felt that bad for old Suresh lol).
I enjoyed watching Mira get to know more about Mumbai.
November 13, 2024
I don’t often cry with stories. I’m shocked and saddened by many stories, but there’s only been a handful that truly move me to tears. Meet Me in Mumbai was one of them. I’m sure it’s also my pregnancy hormones, but this story was something I needed to hear at this moment in my life. It’s such a beautiful and heartbreaking and moving story. A young woman faced with toughest decisions when she gets pregnant at 18. As I’m currently expecting my first child, I can’t imagine how my life would be if I didn’t have the support of family and friends. Ayesha Hamid makes very difficult decision regarding her pregnancy and to do all by herself with no family or friend to stand by her, was a devastating thing to listen to it. But in the end, this story wraps up an emotional journey of love, forgiveness and peace. It may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But I recommend one read! Absolutely worth reading or listening to!
September 23, 2022
**4.5 stars!**
The novel opens with us meeting Ayesha, eighteen years in the past. I first thought that we'd see the book bouncing between past and present, but we see the past merge into the present fluidly in one go, which was a lot less confusing than some other past/present type books. Ayesha is a young Indian girl living with in Indiana, USA, for her last year of high school. She's made some friends, but still feels pretty out of place from everything she knows and loves back home, but finds a lot to love here, too. One night, she meets a boy named Suresh, and over the course of days spent together, getting to know one another, falls head over heels for him. He's also a Mumbai native, and they bond over this and many other things over the timeline of their short, yet magnetic relationship.
Soon, Ayesha falls pregnant. She panics, like I'm sure anyone in her position would. She's faced with the what will they think stereotype of pressure, and over many confused and emotional months, decides to put her baby up for adoption. Fast forward eighteen years and we meet Mira, Ayesha's biological daughter, who has grown up in a predominantly white community with her Moms. She loves her life, her family and friends, but she can't ignore that she longs to feel like she belongs and to know her roots. So when she finds letters from Ayesha, it opens up an opportunity for the two of them to meet in India—for Mira to find the answers she's searching for, and for Ayesha to tell her biological daughter the reasons why it had to be this way.
Overall, Meet Me In Mumbai was this sunflower-type of read. I felt like the sun was always on me when I was reading it, casting a golden light of healing, warmth and emotion. I felt each ounce of growth, heartache and strength that Sabina wrote, and most times couldn't put it down. I did love Ayesha's POV a lot more than Mira's, connecting a lot more with the more "mature" sounding voice. I thoroughly adored the setting and how Sabina also broke down harmful stereotypes, which was a really refreshing thing to read in YA. This was such a heart-warming, deep novel that explores the bond of family, the pain of letting go and ways time—and all it's tangled ways—heals wounds. A sparkling four and a half stars!
The novel opens with us meeting Ayesha, eighteen years in the past. I first thought that we'd see the book bouncing between past and present, but we see the past merge into the present fluidly in one go, which was a lot less confusing than some other past/present type books. Ayesha is a young Indian girl living with in Indiana, USA, for her last year of high school. She's made some friends, but still feels pretty out of place from everything she knows and loves back home, but finds a lot to love here, too. One night, she meets a boy named Suresh, and over the course of days spent together, getting to know one another, falls head over heels for him. He's also a Mumbai native, and they bond over this and many other things over the timeline of their short, yet magnetic relationship.
Soon, Ayesha falls pregnant. She panics, like I'm sure anyone in her position would. She's faced with the what will they think stereotype of pressure, and over many confused and emotional months, decides to put her baby up for adoption. Fast forward eighteen years and we meet Mira, Ayesha's biological daughter, who has grown up in a predominantly white community with her Moms. She loves her life, her family and friends, but she can't ignore that she longs to feel like she belongs and to know her roots. So when she finds letters from Ayesha, it opens up an opportunity for the two of them to meet in India—for Mira to find the answers she's searching for, and for Ayesha to tell her biological daughter the reasons why it had to be this way.
Overall, Meet Me In Mumbai was this sunflower-type of read. I felt like the sun was always on me when I was reading it, casting a golden light of healing, warmth and emotion. I felt each ounce of growth, heartache and strength that Sabina wrote, and most times couldn't put it down. I did love Ayesha's POV a lot more than Mira's, connecting a lot more with the more "mature" sounding voice. I thoroughly adored the setting and how Sabina also broke down harmful stereotypes, which was a really refreshing thing to read in YA. This was such a heart-warming, deep novel that explores the bond of family, the pain of letting go and ways time—and all it's tangled ways—heals wounds. A sparkling four and a half stars!
March 1, 2023
That was perfect! It was making me cry at one point. Sabina knows how to write an interesting story about any topic! She makes you feel every character's grief and emotions in every book. It's amazing how she does it, and sometimes I can relate to the characters! I only grew up with a mom and grandparents and felt like I was never complete not knowing my father even though I did meet him a couple times as a kid then later in high school.
May 4, 2023
Did I cry? Yep. This is a super sweet adoption story. I loved nearly everything about it, especially the two main characters. 4 stars instead of 5 because I thought it was a bit slow in parts and could have done without some of the supporting characters. But still. Very good. Very cute. Highly recommend.
August 7, 2022
Meet me in Mumbai: A heartfelt story about 2 women Ayesha and Mira - separated by time, space, and a life altering decision.
This emotional story is told in 2 acts over the course of 18 years. Ayesha is a young Muslim Indian girl who has recently moved to Bloomington, Indiana to finish her senior year of high school. There she falls in love with Suresh, a fellow Mumbai native, and the two start a secret relationship. Soon she becomes pregnant and makes the difficult decision of placing her baby for adoption.
Mira is a young girl living in Houston with her adopted family yearning to make sense of herself. Raised by two white mothers and a sister who fits the mold, Mira often feels the eyes of the world deeming her as out of place. With little exposure to Indian culture she struggles with her identity and feels disconnected from the heritage to which she was born. When Mira finds letters written to her by her birth mom Ayesha, she makes the decision to travel across the world to India in search of answers and hopefully a deeper understanding of herself.
There are so many moments in this book that tugged my heartstrings for both Ayesha and Mira. As a first generation Indian-American, I could identify with both women and their struggles of identity, belonging, and the ever present weight of balancing one’s dreams with the expectations and image of family. Ayesha’s decisions are influenced by the age old saying “Log kya kehenge?” or “What will people say?” This book tackles many important topics such as interfaith relationships, teen pregnancy, interracial adoption, racial prejudice, and Queer relationships. In spite of the many obstacles and adversity both characters face, the book gives a message of hope and positivity for a future of acceptance and support.
I really appreciated the cast of side characters, especially Nikhil and Pooja, who allow readers a look into modern India and help dispel a lot of cultural misconceptions. The reunion between mother and daughter was poignant, although a bit short. I would definitely love to read more about what happens after!
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: September 6, 2022
Thank you to @Scholasticinc @ireadya @sabina_writer and @coloredpagesblogtours for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review
This emotional story is told in 2 acts over the course of 18 years. Ayesha is a young Muslim Indian girl who has recently moved to Bloomington, Indiana to finish her senior year of high school. There she falls in love with Suresh, a fellow Mumbai native, and the two start a secret relationship. Soon she becomes pregnant and makes the difficult decision of placing her baby for adoption.
Mira is a young girl living in Houston with her adopted family yearning to make sense of herself. Raised by two white mothers and a sister who fits the mold, Mira often feels the eyes of the world deeming her as out of place. With little exposure to Indian culture she struggles with her identity and feels disconnected from the heritage to which she was born. When Mira finds letters written to her by her birth mom Ayesha, she makes the decision to travel across the world to India in search of answers and hopefully a deeper understanding of herself.
There are so many moments in this book that tugged my heartstrings for both Ayesha and Mira. As a first generation Indian-American, I could identify with both women and their struggles of identity, belonging, and the ever present weight of balancing one’s dreams with the expectations and image of family. Ayesha’s decisions are influenced by the age old saying “Log kya kehenge?” or “What will people say?” This book tackles many important topics such as interfaith relationships, teen pregnancy, interracial adoption, racial prejudice, and Queer relationships. In spite of the many obstacles and adversity both characters face, the book gives a message of hope and positivity for a future of acceptance and support.
I really appreciated the cast of side characters, especially Nikhil and Pooja, who allow readers a look into modern India and help dispel a lot of cultural misconceptions. The reunion between mother and daughter was poignant, although a bit short. I would definitely love to read more about what happens after!
4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: September 6, 2022
Thank you to @Scholasticinc @ireadya @sabina_writer and @coloredpagesblogtours for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review
July 31, 2022
Meet me in Mumbai is an emotionally realistic young adult story.
Ayesha is a teenage Muslim girl, she lives with her uncles in the USA, meanwhile, her family still lives in Mumbai because she wants to go to an American university. One night she meets a boy, like her, he is also from Mumbai, they will have a secret relationship, so sweet with movies and cuddles until Suresh must come back to India. Shortly after Ayesha finds out that she is pregnant.
It's not an easy pregnancy, to keep up appearances and protect her family, Ayesha decides to give her daughter up for adoption, a decision not taken lightly and painful.
Her journey is raw, she loves her daughter, but she knows that she cannot keep her, even so, she does not stop thinking about dreaming about what it would be like to stay with her baby.
17 years later, Mira finds letters where Ayesha describes her pregnancy and why she decided to give her up for adoption, she also wants to meet her on her 18th birthday.
Mira loves her family and knows that they love her, but still she feels that something is missing, that she doesn't quite fit. Mira is not like her fellow Hindus of hers, she does not speak the language, and she does not watch Bollywood movies or eat typical dishes.
Of the two protagonists, I liked Ayesha's part better, it's more emotional, you empathize more with her and her motives, and she feels more serious and mature, while Mira feels younger, I like Mira's moms, they give her everything she needs, including a trip to India to meet her birth mother.
The section in Mumbai and the reunion was the shortest part, I wish it had more pages, but it still doesn't affect my enjoyment. It's a sweet connection.
Read it if:
• You want to diversify your reading: Muslim MG, the adoptive parents are a lesbian couple and more side LGBTQ+, Muslim characters
• Realistic young adult story
• Emotional
• Teen pregnancy and adoption
• Coming of age, discovering yourself
• Connection with your family and roots
Thank you to The Colored Pages for the copy in exchange in my honest opinion.
Ayesha is a teenage Muslim girl, she lives with her uncles in the USA, meanwhile, her family still lives in Mumbai because she wants to go to an American university. One night she meets a boy, like her, he is also from Mumbai, they will have a secret relationship, so sweet with movies and cuddles until Suresh must come back to India. Shortly after Ayesha finds out that she is pregnant.
It's not an easy pregnancy, to keep up appearances and protect her family, Ayesha decides to give her daughter up for adoption, a decision not taken lightly and painful.
Her journey is raw, she loves her daughter, but she knows that she cannot keep her, even so, she does not stop thinking about dreaming about what it would be like to stay with her baby.
17 years later, Mira finds letters where Ayesha describes her pregnancy and why she decided to give her up for adoption, she also wants to meet her on her 18th birthday.
Mira loves her family and knows that they love her, but still she feels that something is missing, that she doesn't quite fit. Mira is not like her fellow Hindus of hers, she does not speak the language, and she does not watch Bollywood movies or eat typical dishes.
Of the two protagonists, I liked Ayesha's part better, it's more emotional, you empathize more with her and her motives, and she feels more serious and mature, while Mira feels younger, I like Mira's moms, they give her everything she needs, including a trip to India to meet her birth mother.
The section in Mumbai and the reunion was the shortest part, I wish it had more pages, but it still doesn't affect my enjoyment. It's a sweet connection.
Read it if:
• You want to diversify your reading: Muslim MG, the adoptive parents are a lesbian couple and more side LGBTQ+, Muslim characters
• Realistic young adult story
• Emotional
• Teen pregnancy and adoption
• Coming of age, discovering yourself
• Connection with your family and roots
Thank you to The Colored Pages for the copy in exchange in my honest opinion.
June 2, 2022
This YA story focuses on telling the story of a mother and daughter duo 18 years apart. Ayesha becomes pregnant at 18 and to avoid the damage to the family's reputation it could cause, she decides to put the baby up for adoption and live with the potential adoptee family during her pregnancy under the guise of an advanced school program. The reader follows her through the pain it causes her before she decides to return to India instead of pursuing her dream college. The story continues in part two with her daughter Mira and her adoptive family in Texas. As she gets older, she questions who she is and wants to reconnect with her culture.
This book is an emotional read that will have you empathizing with the characters and their struggles. It has mentions of privilege and racism that the characters endure and how lonely it makes them feel. I really liked the writing style as well as the plot and could see how this could be a truly impactful story for many readers who may be struggling with their identity. I loved the vast representation and how the main characters are Muslim and many side characters fall on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
The concept of adoption and the feeling of being so culturally different within a family are very specific situations that may not pertain or strongly connect with many readers, but they are written beautifully and in a way that leaves room to empathize.
It's a great book that tackles the pain and confusion that comes with life-changing surprises at a young age, discovering oneself, and reconnecting with family. A great book for anyone who enjoys a unique and diverse YA book!
(A big thank you to my local indie bookstore (The Storybook Garden) for providing me with a copy to read and review. This in no way influenced my honest opinion!)
This book is an emotional read that will have you empathizing with the characters and their struggles. It has mentions of privilege and racism that the characters endure and how lonely it makes them feel. I really liked the writing style as well as the plot and could see how this could be a truly impactful story for many readers who may be struggling with their identity. I loved the vast representation and how the main characters are Muslim and many side characters fall on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
The concept of adoption and the feeling of being so culturally different within a family are very specific situations that may not pertain or strongly connect with many readers, but they are written beautifully and in a way that leaves room to empathize.
It's a great book that tackles the pain and confusion that comes with life-changing surprises at a young age, discovering oneself, and reconnecting with family. A great book for anyone who enjoys a unique and diverse YA book!
(A big thank you to my local indie bookstore (The Storybook Garden) for providing me with a copy to read and review. This in no way influenced my honest opinion!)
March 23, 2022
Meet Me In Mumbai by Sabina Khan follows an 18 year old Ayesha as she finishes her last year of high school in a small town in Illinois. Once dragged by her friend to a party she meets Suresh, another student originally from India. Their love grows until Suresh is pulled back to India leaving her heartbroken, alone and pregnant. She must protect her family and does what she believes best for her daughter and future. Seventeen years later, Mira finds a letter from her birth mother inviting her to India to meet. Being pulled between her mothers and her untouched Indian roots, she takes a leap of faith to discover her birth family.
Sabrina Khan is able to describe and show the struggles of an Asian family against society. The struggles of not ruining your family name and having to take charge of your life while being in emotional ruin is written beautifully. I would consider this to be a book more for young adult even though the concept of adoption and society issues may not be understood. Definitely recommend!
Sabrina Khan is able to describe and show the struggles of an Asian family against society. The struggles of not ruining your family name and having to take charge of your life while being in emotional ruin is written beautifully. I would consider this to be a book more for young adult even though the concept of adoption and society issues may not be understood. Definitely recommend!
June 5, 2022
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC as part of an instagram giveaway from the author Sabina Khan
This story is amazing. It's beautiful and really interesting and taught me a lot. But the writing and pacing of this book felt a little off to me. The writing was very different troughout the entire book as well as the pacing which made it a little awkward to read a times. Overall still an amazing book though that definately deserves to be read and loved
This story is amazing. It's beautiful and really interesting and taught me a lot. But the writing and pacing of this book felt a little off to me. The writing was very different troughout the entire book as well as the pacing which made it a little awkward to read a times. Overall still an amazing book though that definately deserves to be read and loved
October 15, 2022
I was fully invested in Ayesha’s story but it just felt like there were so many cultural details that were glossed over. Although I understand Mira felt disconnected from her South Asian background, she was just so annoying (so many “outbursts” and “the word revolves around me”). Maybe I’m over teenagers, idk. Surprised her white mothers made 0 effort to help her connect with her roots in 18 YEARS though. Overall, heartwarming I guess? I was just not rooting for Mira at all lol.
October 8, 2022
This was really good! I wish each character had a little more time to breathe in their sections, the chapters felt a little rushed to meet the plot points sometimes.
December 29, 2022
4.5/5
this was really fun and also a lot more emotional than i had expected. It was interesting to read because one of the mcs moved from india to the US and is trying to find her place while the other is brown but has been raised by white parents and doesn’t know much about her culture. I’m somewhere in the middle because i was born here, but i was raised by my nani (maternal grandmother) and parents who were born in india, so i got to experience a lot of the parts of my culture. I actually cried at the end of this book and i didn’t expect to at all but wowww.
It was to fun to me when Mira was learning all about her culture and heritage and her desi friends were showing her stuff and i was so happy to see her get introduced to the stuff i grew up with and i had such a big smile on my face bc it’s just so amazing to me to read books where the mc calls her grandma nani, and has experienced ✨indian traffic✨ i’m telling u the traffic there is actually CRAZY, and puts on a lehenga and a bindi for weddings, and knows what it’s like to have that giant indian family. all of this just makes me so happy so because of all of that this book made me so happy, yet because of the events it also made me feel so many other feelings so i really loved this.
also-this book reminded me of how much i miss indiaaaa. we haven’t been able to go in a few years and it’s been awhile and i rly miss it and want to go. the problem is bc the travel there and back takes like 2 days each, and because of the huge time difference you gotta spend AT LEAST 2 weeks there if not more. And, you can’t go in the summer bc the places my family comes from are HOT like really really unbearably hot on the summer so that’s never an option. So usually winter break is the only option but we always seem to have plans:((( so yeah.
thank you for coming to my ted talk
this was really fun and also a lot more emotional than i had expected. It was interesting to read because one of the mcs moved from india to the US and is trying to find her place while the other is brown but has been raised by white parents and doesn’t know much about her culture. I’m somewhere in the middle because i was born here, but i was raised by my nani (maternal grandmother) and parents who were born in india, so i got to experience a lot of the parts of my culture. I actually cried at the end of this book and i didn’t expect to at all but wowww.
It was to fun to me when Mira was learning all about her culture and heritage and her desi friends were showing her stuff and i was so happy to see her get introduced to the stuff i grew up with and i had such a big smile on my face bc it’s just so amazing to me to read books where the mc calls her grandma nani, and has experienced ✨indian traffic✨ i’m telling u the traffic there is actually CRAZY, and puts on a lehenga and a bindi for weddings, and knows what it’s like to have that giant indian family. all of this just makes me so happy so because of all of that this book made me so happy, yet because of the events it also made me feel so many other feelings so i really loved this.
also-this book reminded me of how much i miss indiaaaa. we haven’t been able to go in a few years and it’s been awhile and i rly miss it and want to go. the problem is bc the travel there and back takes like 2 days each, and because of the huge time difference you gotta spend AT LEAST 2 weeks there if not more. And, you can’t go in the summer bc the places my family comes from are HOT like really really unbearably hot on the summer so that’s never an option. So usually winter break is the only option but we always seem to have plans:((( so yeah.
thank you for coming to my ted talk
January 10, 2023
This book is split in half, the first telling the story of a Indian teen living in Illinois who gets pregnant, and the second is her daughter growing up with an adopted family that doesn’t look like her. I found the first half of the book exciting and I felt eager to read it but the second fell short. As the daughter comes into her own with her culture, the author attempts to also teach the reader some fun facts about India. But it ended up feeling like I was reading one of those narratives on a state test for school. And at the end, the story is still only told from the daughter’s perspective despite the fact it’s an important time for both of them. Such a good premise but the book fell short.
December 27, 2025
This deliciously descriptive book about family — both blood and chosen — picks you up and drops you into the life and times of a young woman and the outcomes of her choices. Come settle into the households of Ayesha and Mira. Live their lives facing difficult decisions. Grapple with the choices they make. Love the deep friendships they cultivate. And ultimately wonder if your heart is built for true forgiveness, as well. (Bonus if you are a foodie, you may be able to taste the many many dishes mentioned, too!)
April 28, 2024
Meet me in Mumbai was such a moving story about Ayesha and the choices she’s forced to make when she finds herself in a very difficult position. At such a young age she makes a life changing decision for her and her unborn child. I loved that we were given both POVs, Ayesha (birth mom) and Mira (adopted daughter) to gain both perspectives.
Starting with Ayesha we see the family and cultural dynamic and how she feels about her family, Suresh (her babies father) and other friendships. Once we move to Mira’s POV, we are given a glimpse of how the effects of her life was being Indian and adopted by white parents. That played a role in her longing to know her culture and how some treated her when they saw their family dynamic. I loved that she had a best friend whose family was also Indian and shows her aspects of her heritage and embraced her.
Once Mira found letters from her birth mom, I loved that she eventually voiced her longing to know, but also explained that it wasn’t anything against her mom’s. I appreciated the final parts of the book because we were given a resolution to their story. I do feel it was pretty quick. I personally would have liked just a bit more from the ending, but it did not take away from the overall wrap up, or feel incomplete.
Starting with Ayesha we see the family and cultural dynamic and how she feels about her family, Suresh (her babies father) and other friendships. Once we move to Mira’s POV, we are given a glimpse of how the effects of her life was being Indian and adopted by white parents. That played a role in her longing to know her culture and how some treated her when they saw their family dynamic. I loved that she had a best friend whose family was also Indian and shows her aspects of her heritage and embraced her.
Once Mira found letters from her birth mom, I loved that she eventually voiced her longing to know, but also explained that it wasn’t anything against her mom’s. I appreciated the final parts of the book because we were given a resolution to their story. I do feel it was pretty quick. I personally would have liked just a bit more from the ending, but it did not take away from the overall wrap up, or feel incomplete.
November 7, 2022
Great for young adult.
February 11, 2024
The writing was a little repetitive and awkward at times but the story was so good and just as heartwarming as it was heartbreaking, I’d definitely recommend this book to people
4 ⭐️
4 ⭐️
December 24, 2024
For what it is and what it is trying to be, it is good. But I know it could have been so much more.
3.75
3.75
March 12, 2023
Oh wow that was fun. I loved how it was a second chance love for mother and daughter
October 27, 2023
I was excited to see something ab south Asians but sadly this was disappointing. istg they fr just let anyone publish a book nowadays. this prob should've been a short story
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