REVIEW: Isha, Unscripted by Sajni Patel

Isha, Unscripted by Sajni Patel: Isha is used to being the odd one out in her family of crazy overachievers even when her parents are ever ready to remind her of this fact at any given moment. For the most part this is all okay because she has her bestie who is also her cousin and fellow outcast Rohan to commiserate with, so when her chance at a breakthrough falls flat with a producer it is Rohan that convinces Isha to track down Austin celeb Mathew McConaughey to try and pitch her script idea… after all Mathew was Isla’s professor back in the University of Texas, surely he remembers her…right? Well tracking down a celeb proves to be a lot harder than Isha had expected which leads her to a few drinks with one of the cutest bartenders in town and a whole night of shenanigans that leaves Isha wondering what exactly her future might hold…

This really was a really interesting book that turned out to be a lot more relatable than I had expected. One of the things that I really enjoyed in this book was the Indian representation, Patel did a great job with painting the picture of the family dynamics of an average Indian family without leaning too heavily on the stereotypes which we most commonly see nowadays.

Isha grew on me as the book progressed, I will be honest for the first half I did feel that she was holding herself back a lot but I think she really proved herself in the second half of the book. I will say there were moments that she seemed younger than she was, in that she need to pull up her socks and really learn that you have to knuckle down if you want to achieve your dreams. However I did like the way she stuck to her guns and did not give up on her script even when pretty much everyone else had. As for her relationship with her parents, well I think it would be fair to say that almost anyone can relate to having the back and forth moment with their own parents where the line between being treated like a child and an adult blurs. I totally related to most of her interactions with her parents and their desire for her to finally get a job and get serious, but I did like that they were always supportive of her even if it wasn’t in the way she had wanted.

Now this book is tagged as a romance but this really fell completely flat for me. There was little to no romance in this book and the little that there was was really bland. So much so I can’t really remember Isha’s love interest. What this book did have was an incredible bond between Isha and her cousin Rohan. I loved seeing these two bonding over the fact that neither of them fit the normal traditional mold that is expected of them. I really liked that they were always there to support each other even when there was no one else in their corner.

If you are looking for a book about self growth, a great cousin bond and some really cringy drunken moments then this is the book for you. While this was not really the book for me, I did enjoy parts of it and I would definitely check out Patel’s future books.

Book Info:

Publication: February 14, 2023 | Berkley Books |

Isha Patel is the black sheep of the family. She doesn’t have a “prestigious” degree or a “real” career, and her parents never fail to remind her. But that’s okay because she commiserates with her cousin, best friend, and fellow outcast, Rohan.

When Isha has a breakthrough getting her script in front of producers, it doesn’t go according to plan. Instead of letting her dreams fall through the cracks, Rohan convinces her to snag a pitch session with an Austinite high-profile celeb: the one and only Matthew McConaughey, who also happened to be her professor at the University of Texas years ago–he has to remember her, right?

Chasing Matthew McConaughey isn’t easy. Isha needs a drink or two to muster up courage, and she gets a little help from the cutest bartender she’s ever encountered. But when the search for the esteemed actor turns into a night of hijinks and unexpected–albeit fun–chaos, everything falls apart. Isha’s dreams seem farther than ever, but she soon realizes who she really needs to face and that her future may just be alright, alright, alright.