Review: Jazz in Love

Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger
Find it at a local indie!

• Why I read it: Arranged marriage, cute boys, growing up, Southeast Asia, culture clash!
• Disclosure: Received a copy from an author friend (but not THE author). Thanks!

 Jasbir, a.k.a. Jazz, has always been a stellar student and an obedient, albeit wise-cracking, daughter. Everything has gone along just fine--she has good friends in the "genius" program she's been in since kindergarten, her teachers and principal adore her, and her parents dote on her. But now, in her junior year of high school, her mother hears that Jazz was seen hugging a boy on the street and goes ballistic. Mom immediately implements the Guided Dating Plan, which includes setting up blind dates with "suitable," pre-screened Indian candidates. The boy her mother sets her up with, however, is not at all what anyone expects; and the new boy at school, the very UNsuitable hottie, is the one who sets Jazz's blood boiling. When Jazz makes a few out-of-the-ordinary decisions, everything explodes, and she realizes she'll need a lot more than her genius education to get out of the huge mess she's in. Can Jazz find a way to follow her own heart, and still stay in the good graces of her parents?

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I have a hard time with romance. Mostly because I'm much more the scrawny-gangly-shy-artsy-bangs-in-the-face-and/or-dreadlocks-emo-bohemian type than blond-surfer-boy, and the former doesn't show up so much. (Come to think of it, he doesn't show up much in real life, either. Hmmm...) So why is it that cross-cultural romance is so awesome? Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier. Major win. While not strictly YA and also magical realism, Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. Even more of a major win. Jazz in Love by Neesha Meminger? Absolutely adorable and the most fun I've had reading a book in forever. Anyone else seeing a trend?

Meminger is also the author of Shine, Coconut Moon, which I haven't read but have heard is pretty awesome. Unfortunately, even after the success of Shine she couldn't find a publisher for Jazz, so she decided to self-publish, and produced the perfect example of everything self-publishing could/should be. It's got a cover that's better than most "chick lit" types (read: not totally embarrassing to be seen with in public), it's smoothly edited and well-written, keeps it real, has characters I want to know, and is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Long story short, traditional publishers lost out, because it's a book that I would have bought (and am still planning to buy as a gift!) in a heartbeat.

It's the wisecracking narration by Jazz that really made this book for me. While I occasionally felt like I was outside the SE Asian clique with slang like bindi-bos (bimbos, "but brown") and frequent mocking of American attempts to pronounce Jasbir - jazz-BEER - Jazz's attempts to mesh the Bollywood world of her parents with her teen realities could be related to any teen's frustrations. Her secret romance novel obsession, her "gay best friend," and her crush-maybe-more on the school bad boy were certainly things that transcended cultural differences. It's not an "issue" novel, it's just a novel where the main character happens to be a PoC. The world needs more of them. There were a few things that grated on me, like the overuse of exclamation points (!!!) and several moments where I was beating my head against the wall at Jazz's bad decisions. (What, are you stupid? Well, ARE YOU? Stop. Just. Stop. *puts hands over eyes* *shakes head* *peeks* *keeps reading*) Still, it grated on me less than your average Meg Cabot, which is a Big Deal because The Princess Diaries? Ultimate rainy day book.

The ending in particular was excellent, because even though it was a little dragged out, it wasn't perfect. Sorry, but in real life things don't always work out, and Meminger captured that here without making it a downer to read. Still a happy ending, but bittersweet, too.

What this all boils down to? Read this book. It's sweet, funny, real, and just all-around awesome. Trust me! Four and a half out of five stars.