Monday Book Review: How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life

Happy Monday everyone! I'm here at work until 1:00 p.m. so I thought I would share my thoughts on Kaavya Viswanathan's book How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life. Unless you've been living under a rock or just don't care, this is the book that got rave reviews, and then got pulled when it turned out that the author had plagiarized passages from not one, but at least 3 books.

Well, I was in the library on Saturday, and I saw that they had a copy of the book in the new book rack, and I thought, hey won't don't you take it out and read it?

After all it got published because the editor liked the book and thought it would sell. So I did and I have to tell you that I really enjoyed the book. I thought the writing (apart from the plagarized bits) was fresh and the book was interesting. I started reading it on Saturday and finished it on Sunday.

One of the things I liked about it was that it gave a different perspective on being a young adult. Opal Mehta is a first generation Indian-American who's parents have planned practically from birth for her to go to Harvard. It's about whether she's living her dreams or her parents dreams, and if not, what are her dreams. Opal is a total overachiever, science nerd, who has never had a boyfriend, and doesn't hang out with the popular crowd. After her Harvard interview goes wrong, her parents (who are hysterical by the way) decide on a plan to get her a life to make her more attractive to Harvard.

All the acronyms that they come up with for their plans are one of the funniest part of the book. There's a minor subplot wither Opal's cousin Kali as sort of a contrast and a cautionary tale. After reading the book, I can see the similiarities in terms of plot to Megan McCafferty's books but they are incredibly slight because Opal's experiences are so different from Jessica's.

I really enjoyed the family occasions in the book where Opal's large family gets together to celebrate the holidays. It added a flavor to the book. Books about the Indian-American experience are few and far between particulary from a YA perspective, and I enjoyed getting to know Opal.

I think it's a shame that because of the plagiarism charge, it will be awhile before we see a sophomore effort from Kaavya Viswnathan. I would have enjoyed seeing how she might have grown as a writer in her second book.

Here's hoping that she gets another chance in the future. After all both Stephen Glass and Jayson Blaine bounced back from their plagiarism scandals.

Thanks for reading!
EKM