Indiot (Isa Maxwell Escapade #2) by Ana Spoke - Book Review

Here's my review of Indiot by Ana Spoke (@SpokeAna). This review is also available at Goodreads.

This is the second book of the Isa Maxwell series.

How I Got This Book

I received a free Kindle copy from Amazon. I bought the Kindle copy of the second book in the series.

The Pitch

Funny chick lit about quirky millennial's misadventures in India.

Summary

After her adventures with Mr. Hue, the eccentric billionaire CEO of Shizzle, Inc., Isa Maxwell is newly flush with cash. Deciding to do good, she decided to go to India at the request of an Indian prince to sponsor an orphanage. As usual, things went bad very quickly. Isa Maxwell quickly lost her passport and money. Now, she must cooperate with Mafiosos and undercover FBI agents to save herself and, perhaps, do some actual good.

The Good

Once again, Ana Spoke destroys the stereotype of "dumb chick lit" with her Isa Maxwell series. Indiot is basically a (very uncommon) comedic crime/spy thriller in the disguise of chick lit, just like how Shizzle, Inc. is actually social satire. 

Besides all the expected excitement of a thriller, Indiot also offers excellent commentary about real important political, social, and economic issues. You don't typically read about child labor or human trafficking in chick lit.

I was surprisingly pleased by how well Ana Spoke wrote about India. As a person of color, I usually am trepidatious about white authors writing about an "exotic" setting - usually the book's full of offensive stereotypes. However, Ana Spoke does an excellent job of lampshading the stereotypes about India. For example, one of the characters complained about Western celebrities improving their image by helping the cliche poor Slumdog Millionaire children.

The Bad

The bad thing about reviewing the sequel of a great book is "sequelitis". When your expectations are high, you inevitably misjudge the quality. Having said that, I think it's fair for a four, not five star rating. 

The only major problem with Indiot is the characters. Besides Isa, none of the other characters made a great impression on me. I do miss the characters of Isa's parents and Mr. Hue of Shizzle, Inc. 

Overall Rating - 4 of 5

Enjoyable "comedy action/crime thriller".

Social Satire Rating - 4 of 5

Great social commentary.