Review: Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma
Nisha Sharma found her way onto my For You Page on TikTok over the summer of 2021 so I’d been anticipating Dating Dr. Dil ever since! Honestly, I hear “Shakespeare Retelling” and I’m sold. And this is a Taming of the Shrew retelling, which is always a play I’m drawn to, because it’s a huge challenge to make it work in the modern age. Not sure what Taming of the Shrew is? If you’ve seen 10 Things I Hate About You, you know the story!
I really liked the beginning of this book and then things kind of plateaued for me towards the end, but it was really exciting to read a book by a South Asian author about a South Asian family. One of my favorite movies is Bend It Like Beckham and I thought were a number of similarities with the stories, particularly when it came to Kareena’s family. It felt familiar and exciting!
Synopsis:
“Kareena Mann dreams of having a love story like her parents, but she prefers restoring her classic car to swiping right on dating apps. When her father announces he's selling her mother's home, Kareena makes a deal with him: he'll gift her the house if she can get engaged in four months. Her search for her soulmate becomes impossible when her argument with Dr. Prem Verma, host of The Dr. Dil Show, goes viral. Now the only man in her life is the one she doesn't want.
Dr. Prem Verma is dedicated to building a local community health center, but he needs to get donors with deep pockets. The Dr. Dil Show was doing just that, until his argument with Kareena went viral, and he's left short changed. That's when Kareena's meddling aunties presented him with a solution: convince Kareena he's her soulmate and they'll fund his clinic.
Even though they have conflicting views on love-matches and arranged-matches, the more time Prem spends with Kareena, the more he begins to believe she's the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with. But for Prem and Kareena to find their happily ever after, they must admit that hate has turned into fate.” —The Storygraph
What I Liked:
The Concept—Like I said, love a Shakespeare retelling, big fan. Taming of the Shrew is a challenge and I liked how Sharma handled it, especially making Prem (Petruchio) really pine amidst his angst.
The Structure—There’s a piece of Much Ado About Nothing that implies Beatrice and Benedick knew each other previously and I liked how there was a meeting between Kareena and Prem that was referenced throughout the book. It shows their initial attraction and then outside forces keep them apart.
What Didn’t Work:
Mish Mash of Tropes—I didn’t think the fake dating angle was strong enough. I would have liked to see it milked a little bit more to add the enemies (ish) to lovers.
Second Half Pacing—I just kind of lost interest and had to work to finish the story, I wasn’t feeling as compelled to pick it up. Also, I don’t know why the constant pet name from Prem made me cringe. But the overuse of “Rina, honey” just got to me lol.
Content Warnings:
loss of mother, grief