“Bursting with humor, banter, and cringeworthy first dates, Sonali Dev’s The Vibrant Years is a joyful and fun read, but it’s also very much a timely tale about a group of underestimated women demanding respect and embracing their most authentic selves.”—Mindy Kaling

Living on their own terms means being there for one another.

When sixty-five-year-old Bindu Desai inherits a million dollars, she’s astounded—and horrified. The windfall threatens to expose a shameful mistake from her youth. Desperate to keep the secret, Bindu quickly spends it on something unexpected: a condo in a posh retirement community in Florida.

The impulsive decision blindsides Bindu’s daughter-in-law, Aly. At forty-seven, Aly still shares a home with Bindu even after her divorce from Bindu’s son. But maybe this change is just the push Aly needs to fight for the segment she’s been promised for years at the news station where she works.

As Bindu and Aly navigate their new dynamic, Aly’s daughter, Cullie, is faced with losing the business that made her a tech-world star. The only way to save it is to deliver a new idea to her investors—and of course they want the half-baked dating app she pitched them in a panic. Problem is, Cullie has never been on a real date. Naturally, enlisting her single mother and grandmother to help her with the research is the answer.

From USA Today bestselling author Sonali Dev comes a heartfelt novel about three generations of hilarious, unconventional, ambitious women navigating bad dates, a spiteful HOA board, reemerging exes, and secrets that refuse to remain hidden. Join the Desai women on a shared journey of self-discovery as they dare to live their most vibrant lives.

Listening Length

11 hours and 1 minute
Author

Sonali Dev, see all
Narrator

Deepti Gupta, see all
Audible release date

Dec 1 2022
Language

English
Publisher

Mindy's Book Studio
ASIN

B09YDNBZPV
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	11 hours and 1 minute
Author	Sonali Dev, Mindy Kaling - introduction
Narrator	Deepti Gupta, Soneela Nankani, Anita Kalathara
Audible.ca Release Date	December 01 2022
Publisher	Mindy's Book Studio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B09YDNBZPV
Best Sellers Rank	#47,844 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #638 in Humorous Fiction & Satire #1,771 in Women's Fiction (Audible Books & Originals) #3,009 in Humorous

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

11,447 global ratings

5 star		50%
4 star		33%
3 star		13%
2 star		3%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from Canada

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Paulux

A very human look into an another culture

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on April 12, 2023

Verified Purchase

Although the beginning of the book felt longish and confusing (each chapter alternates between 3 women who are related, but of different generations), i enjoyed the last 2/3 of the book. It's an interesting look into American women of Indian descent, their goals, dreams, obligations and culture, and how they evolve over time. No sex, some happily ever after, in a very sensible way.

Helpful

Laurie ‘The Baking Bookworm’

Intergenerational journeys of self-discovery

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on November 25, 2022

Verified Purchase

The Vibrant Years is a new book by author Sonali Dev that sounded like a fun, RomCom read that features the bond between intergenerational women and a long-held secret. The story sounded compelling, and I was in the mood for a lighter read. It is an Amazon First Reads pick that is published by Mindy Kaling's Mindy's Book Studio imprint.

This is a story about three generations of women in an East Indian American family that illustrates the ups and downs and issues they face in their lives. Within this story, Dev weaves East Indian cultural references and important issues such as gender discrimination and the social and cultural expectations that women face. But what stood out for me the most was the wonderful support Bindu, Aly and Cullie provide each other as they weather their own personal journeys of self-discovery.

The premise intrigued me, but the storytelling fell short for me. The dating antics of these three women played less of a role than I anticipated, and these romantic aspects felt glossed over while I found Bindu's secrets from her past to be melodramatic and lackluster. The story soon took on a repetitive feel and I didn't find it humorous or as emotional as I had hoped, giving it more of a Contemporary Fiction feel than a RomCom.

I appreciate the inclusion of important social issues that impact women, particularly BIPOC women, and I loved the intergenerational support Bindu, Aly and Cullie give each other but, in the end, this was just an okay read for me.

I read this book as part of the Amazon First Reads program.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Erin Michelle Ross

A beautiful story

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 29, 2022

Verified Purchase

This contemporary tale of three generations of Indian-American women stole my heart. Although I think grandmother Bindu definitely stole the show when it came time for her chapters, I enjoyed all three of these strong female protagonists. The novel focuses on topics such as sex, marriage, parenting, and the workforce. I look forward to other Mindy Kaling reading club choices.

Helpful

Gail

Funny and believable.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 22, 2023

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed this story very much. It kept my interest and helped me learn about the East Indian culture. Overall it was very funny.

Helpful

Bronwen E Fairbrother

Strong women with very different character profiles who love and support each other.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on February 3, 2023

Verified Purchase

The writing is solid, I love good character work, they each have a journey to take to become better versions of themselves. They are doing the work and they don't have to do it alone, these Indian American women have each other.

Helpful

Beverley Jane Conrod

Enjoyed the book

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 15, 2023

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N/A

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PETER J FLETCHER

Reading fun and a great story!

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 6, 2022

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Reading was easy, picturing the characters and identifying with a few of them made this an enjoyable book.

Helpful

Dorothy Drinkwater

A tale of inter-generational south asian women. Very well writfen

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on December 19, 2022

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A very well written story.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Boingboing

Fluff

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 13, 2022

Verified Purchase

I've read Sonali Dev's series based (loosely) on Jane Austen's novels so I know what to expect from her.
In this case, without the constraints of an attempted 'homage' to Austen, she's prone to rambling about all over the place. The reader is expected to suspend disbelief to an absurd degree.

Sexy grandma, serious mum, and app-developer-genius daughter are all a bit crap at love. In an attempt to win back control of her successful app, the daughter/granddaughter proclaims she'll develop a new dating app. Honestly, I don't think that was a great plot line and it remained broadly unresolved.

As readers, we all know Grandma's secret but its big reveal is a long time coming. She has a completely unbelievable ability to attract large bequests from dead men - one who dies just moments after orgasm. Seriously? pah!

It's pleasant enough, wildly over-privileged and all a bit silly. But I knew that was exactly how it would be.

4 people found this helpful

Ritu B

Good Read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 12, 2022

Verified Purchase

I chose this as my Amazon Prime First Reads book for the month, as I have read a good few of Sonali Dev's books, and I'll be honest, I do love her Bollywood style of writing!
The Vibrant Years is not a romance, but more of a Women's Fiction, a contemporary story based around the lives of three generations of women from one family; Bindu, the confident, sexy 60-something grandma, or Binji as her granddaughter calls her; Aly, the 40-something ex-daughter-in-law of Bindu who has a strong bond with her ex-mother-in-law, and Cullie, the extremely intelligent 20-something granddaughter.
There is a secret Bindu is hiding. Something she has hidden since her late teens. This secret is threaded throughout the book, with short quotes from an old journal.
Dev has covered a lot in this book, looking at the conventional ways of thinking, and expectations put upon both men and women, the stigmas attached to certain jobs, and the way thinking has begun to change over the decades that span the three main characters' lives.
They all end up going on dates as research for a new app Cullie is trying to design, and end up finding more than love as they stumble from disaster date to disaster date.
It took me a little while to get into the story, but once I did, I was eager to know how the secret would unfold to the cast of characters, as we, the readers, are made aware of the 'shame' Bindu feels for her past, earlier on in the book.
There is a feel-good factor to the book, once things unravel, and settle back into a more favourable pattern, and overall, a good read.

2 people found this helpful

Angie T.D.

Good Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 2, 2022

Verified Purchase

I enjoyed reading this light-hearted, and humorous book. The characters were good, and the pace of the book was fine. Not a bad First Reads book for me, I thought it was fun to read.

3 people found this helpful

Tracy Collier

A very slow burner - perseverance required!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 30, 2022

Verified Purchase

For probably 90% of this book I really wanted to stop reading as I wasn't enjoying it at all - it was simply the fact this was our book club of the month book that I persevered on. Thankfully that last 10% of the book saved it I thought. You finally found out what the book was really going on about and you then started to get it. Its unusual to get a book with 3 very strong characters in it but none of the 3 dominated the book, they had equal billing. Not a book I would really recommend as you really need to persevere with it to get any enjoyment out of it.

A beautiful set of love stories

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 13, 2022

Verified Purchase

This is a sweet, sensual and empowering story of ""carpe deum" with a great plot.
The interwoven lives of these three women is succinctly and thoughtfully portrayed. Their internal narratiives persuade anyone that "going for it" or following your passions and dreams includes the responsibility you have towards the effect of that puruit on those you connect with on your journey.

One person found this helpful

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