Title: Maya in Multicolor
Author: Swati Teerdhala
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 304
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Review Copy: Purchased
Availability: Available now
Summary: When it comes to romance, Maya still believes in meet-cutes, but she’s done with boys wasting her time. After her freshman romance refuses to put a label on their relationship, Maya decides to reclaim her life and completely turn around her college experience. She’s got big plans to throw the most spectacular Holi—a colorful Hindu festival symbolizing rebirth, which Maya feels she desperately needs.
Enter college heartthrob Nishant Rai, an upperclassman, notorious playboy, and well-connected DJ. After the student council makes him Maya’s co-planner, she finds herself working closely with the one guy on campus she can’t have and definitely doesn’t want. He plans to turn the event into #HoliFest, a flashy EDM festival blending old traditions with the fresh new twist of a music festival. As the two grow closer, Maya realizes Nishant is so much more than a pretty face. Is he just wasting her time, or has she finally found her meet-cute?
Review: I went into Maya in Multicolor hoping to get a cute opposites-attract romance with a hint of rivals, and author Swati Teerdhala delivered precisely that. Maya in Multicolor is a fun first year of college romance, putting it squarely at the upper end of the YA age spectrum.
I really enjoyed Maya and her character development. The realization that her not-boyfriend had been holding her back (and never meant to go anywhere in the first place) was painful, and while Maya broke up with him quickly, the pain of that lingered for a while. It was immensely satisfying to watch her push herself to reclaim the rest of her freshman year in spite of that, even when it meant awkward dates or painful moments of self-reflection. It was easy to root for her to chase her dreams, and easy to sympathize with her when she faltered.
Like Maya, it took me a little bit to warm up to Nishant, but I was very happy when he and Maya started to open up to each other. I also liked that we got to see some his “struggling with family expectations” plot from the outside—normally that’s a POV character storyline—which helped give him quite a bit more depth than I was expecting. It was also pretty fun to track his feelings for Maya by the way he started delaying or deflecting finding her dates.
There isn’t much space to develop the cast outside of Maya and Nishant, nor is there much time spent on exploring college life outside of the event planning for Holi. It makes the novel feel rather thin in places. Some of that is, of course, a result of Maya being isolated by her relationship with her not-boyfriend, but I had hoped for more of her non-Holi-planning college life once she was free of him. That said, Maya and Nishant’s relationship is well-developed and well-paced, so I can’t fault the author for keeping the book’s scope focused so tightly on them.
Recommendation: If you’re looking for a lighthearted, low-stakes romance this spring or summer, you should check out Maya in Multicolor soon. Maya and Nishant’s romance trajectory is fun, and Maya’s determination to make a better college experience for herself is largely satisfying. This would be a good book for when you want to relax and unwind.