Oh my goodness, I can't believe I actually finished this behemoth of a book! Not that it was a chore, far from it. It was well worth the time put into it. And it was a LOT.

This book was an absolute delight because of the characters. Everyone was so vivid, so alive, and just SO CUTE (even when they're being mean). I had to stay sharp, because there were a LOT of characters to keep track of - every family had 4 or 5 children, there were remarriages, deaths, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and it got complicated at times. Since I had the ebook it wasn't easy for me to flip to the front where the family tree illustration was (that would have helped).

Advice - read it all in one go. If you stop and take a break, you'll forget the minor characters and small plot events that have a tendency to become important later.

Against it - there's a lot of details about festivals and politics I found to be unnecessary. It made things complicated without adding much to the plot.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Recommended for people who love colourful characters, India, and complicated family/life situations.