Am I forever in awe over and obsessed with the illustrated cover design? YES. Was this novel just as gorgeous as its cover? ABSOLUTELY. Attention, attention: you need to reading Grown-Up Pose. Now.



A delightfully modern look at what happens for a young woman when tradition, dating, and independence collide, from acclaimed author Sonya Lalli.

Adulting shouldn’t be this hard. Especially in your thirties. Having been pressured by her tight-knit community to get married at a young age to her first serious boyfriend, Anu Desai is now on her own again and feels like she is starting from the beginning.

But Anu doesn’t have time to start over. Telling her parents that she was separating from her husband was the hardest thing she’s ever done—and she’s still dealing with the fallout. She has her young daughter to support and when she invests all of her savings into running her own yoga studio, the feelings of irresponsibility send Anu reeling. She’ll be forced to look inside herself to learn what she truly wants.

As always, a copy of this book was provided by the publisher or author in exchange for my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.

Going into Grown-Up Pose blindly and optimistic was the best decision I could have made when reading it. This is such a special, sweet, read that brightened up my day. For a moment, I was mostly in it for the cover design and how shallow I am when it comes down to illustrated covers. Yet, within only a few pages, Sonya Lalli had me hooked and completely engrossed in Grown-Up Pose. This is definitely a book that is more than just another beautiful cover.

At this stage in my life--well enough into adulthood, yet not quite feeling as such--books like Grown-Up Pose really hit the right marks for me. Right time, right book. Coming of age stories can be hit or miss sometimes, and they come in all genres and ages. Most of the time, I lack a personal connection with them. Lately, though, more and more voices have been presenting themselves in fiction that feel organic and true to life--this is one of those voices.

Grown-Up Pose is a refreshing sort of story in its diversity, honesty and optimism. Lalli never fails to tug a smile upon my lips and the pacing of Grown-Up Pose is quick and sharp. Stories that feature flawed characters coming into their own, changing their life and taking newfound risks are always a soft spot for me.

The characters are wonderful; realistic in their flaws, errors, and what not. Sometimes you want to shake some sense into them, other times you want to high five them. Lalli writes Grown-Up Pose in a way that feels nearly fluffy, but not quite cheesy. The story itself gave me many warm and fuzzies. I found myself rooting for our leading lady, Anu.

Ultimately, there's so much goodness in Grown-Up Pose. Easy to read, intelligent and charming, this upbeat story keeps the pages turning. Grown-Up Pose is all about starting over, discovering who you were always meant to be, and growing up.