Grown-Up Pose: A Review

Thank you to Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited and thrilled to receive an advance copy of the Grown-Up Pose because I have to admit that I am always looking for Asian representation in mainstream culture and I have never read a book where the protagonist is of Indian descent.

The main character, Anu, is conflicted about who she is and how her identity has always been dictated by the expectations of her culture and of her parents. She had always done the “right thing” in her parents’ eyes. But does doing the right thing often mean at the expense of personal happiness? Shouldn’t doing the right thing mean we should be happy with our choices?

Anu, in her search for self, falls into the many pits and traps that some women may find themselves in after doing everything that society expects of them: get married, have children, keep an organized home, volunteer at your child's school, and support your husband. Thinking she had ticked off everything on the "grown-up list", she wonders why she continues to feel like she's still got some growing up to do.

Unhappy, she tells her husband to leave the house, impulsively buys a yoga studio that needs a lot of TLC, flees everything to go to London, and gets into all sorts of cringe-worthy date mistakes as she jumps on the Tinder train and swipes wrong (or right). As someone who's always got her life in control, she tries new things she's never tried before as she lets go of some of that self-control and ends up making a big fool of her grown-up self.

Set in progressive Vancouver, I was intrigued to read about a new locale, as well as the range of characters presented in the story. I was most entertained by Anu's parents whose easy repartee provided some comic relief and the introductory text messages at the beginning of each chapter were entertaining. I can see some of the generational and cultural gaps in the way they talk and the way they navigate new technology to communicate with the younger generation. I thought that was clever in portraying how the old is trying to adapt to the new. And yet, certain values are still kept sacred by the older generation: family, education, and community. It's amusing to also see how Anu interacts with those younger than she, like Imogen, whom she likes as a person but she still grapples to understand.

Finally, it all comes down to the whole theory of "having to lose yourself in order to find yourself". How does Anu come out from her identity search? Does she lose her family, her beloved daughter, and the first man she had ever kissed all in the name of personal happiness and self-understanding?

There are many good points in the book though it was hard to root for Anu. Perhaps, as a mother myself, it was a hard sell for me to see her as a loving mother because of her actions, and really, the lack of "airtime" for Kanika. There were many characters, issues introduced in the book that, though relevant, seemed disjointed. They did not necessarily gel which seemed to affect the cohesiveness of the story.

Overall, the book is for those who are young enough to understand some of the social mores of today's generations. This book is also for those old enough to understand the importance of learning from your mistakes and, hopefully, not make the same mistakes again. Tough choices have to be made, but sometimes, you just have to suck it up and make the best of your situation especially when there are other people involved. Because, unfortunately, that's what being a grown-up is all about.

The book is available on March 24. If you are intrigued by how it all ends for Anu, you can purchase a copy here.