BOOK REVIEW: Jana Goes Wild by Farah Heron
Lions, Elephants and Giraffes, Oh My!!
This was exactly the kind of romance I needed for February. I was completely rom-com-ed out after my holiday reads and didn’t want to read another formulaic, enemies-to-lovers book. So when NetGalley had this one available, I said “yes, please!”
The first thing that drew me to this was the setting. We have a large cast of characters who all travel to Tanzania for a two week destination wedding of two childhood/family friends. Sounds great but then you throw in Jana, our main character, her 4 year old daughter, Imani, and Imani’s father, Anil, and the drama ensues. Anil and Jana have had a peaceful, if not cool, co-parenting relationship with their daughter after their two week relationship ended up with an unexpected pregnancy and the discovery of a small complication, Anil was married at the time of Imani’s conception.
Jana was not expecting Anil to be on the wedding trip even though they were both in the bridal party, so they are thrown together for two weeks in Tanzania where they can’t escape each other, their past or the impact of their East African culture, expectations and judgments, especially when the whole family is around them and Jana’s mother is making up fanciful stories about her.
I really did love Jana. I can appreciate her feelings of betrayal and mistrust when it comes to Anil. I also get where he wants to be able to move forward and not live in a co-parenting relationship with Jana who apparently hates him and will never forgive him for lying to her even though she has learned the truth about Anil and Nadia’s marriage, not to mention the divorce has now been final for years. That betrayal and pain cuts deep, and I’m glad that the book didn’t gloss over those feelings and just have her move on and say “no harm, no foul.” Even though there were romantic feelings there that she couldn’t ignore, she struggled to accept and admit or even act on them when it had been five years. Through it all, there were moments that her inner dialogue began to wear on me, but it was fleeting. For the most part, I was right there with her.
The Tanzanian setting was absolutely amazing. I loved the national parks they visited, the description of their game rides and safaris. Even the descriptions of the different hotels they stayed in were unique and fun. All the way down to the mosquito nets, concern over the water and especially all of the specific cultural dishes. There is the added bonus of the recipes at the end of the book!
Imani is the perfect little Lion King obsessed four year old, and her innocence and ignorance to her parents' relationship aids in forcing Jana and Anil to finally talk, something that they never really have. It all led perfectly and logically to the bridal party’s night in Hatari. Sigh…but it wouldn’t be a true rom-com if we didn’t then have to deal with miscommunications and misunderstandings.
One of my biggest pet peeves in romances is the amount of the M&Ms (miscommunications and misunderstandings) and the overwhelming time that is spent on them. Half the time I want to scream at the book, and then I don’t like the characters any more. The difference here is the M&Ms are strategically placed and only last the absolute length needed. It’s not drawn out or embellished. There is a massive M&M scene near the end of the book, and I was so angry thinking it was going to last until the last page where everything was magically resolved. Nope. It literally was only a couple needed pages and the characters actually learn and communicate and move on from it. WHAT?!?!? Impossible!
The conclusion was fun and perfect, and I just finished it feeling happy! What more could you want from a book like this! However, I will say that Jana is a better woman than I. I don’t think that I would have made the same decisions she did after the little Instagram debacle.
Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I’m sad that most people won’t be able to read it until it is released on May 2. Tag it now; it’ll be a great summer read!
Where does this land on my bookshelf?
Top Shelf! Rarely do romances end up that high on my shelves. Typically, they are hidden away somewhere in the middle. But let me share one more time some of the things I loved most about this book:
The crazy characters in the #bridalbrigade
The breathtaking setting of Tanzania
The tender family moments throughout between Jana, Imani and Anil
Jana’s “Letting Loose List”
Karaoke
The family photo albums
Being a Second Chance at Love trope made the difference for me. It was so well done and so well developed that I was just engrossed in the lives of these characters. Even their careers are well thought out and developed to help reflect the characterization. Clearly, I think that if you even remotely enjoy romance books, this should be a must read!!
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