Right as Rain

An April 2026 Reading Is a Lifestyle Subscription Book Pick

A contemporary YA with a speculative twist about a college-bound girl who is struck by lightning and a storm cloud attuned to her emotions begins to follow her everywhere.

“I was struck by lightning and now there’s rain following me around. I was struck by lightning and now there’s rain following me around.”

Megh is a Desi girl whose plans to escape to college on the West Coast are complicated when she gets struck by lightning in the first week of a prestigious summer internship. What results is a storm cloud that follows her everywhere, which seems to react in direct response to her emotions. Megh’s struggles with depression, fear of leaving her home and loved ones, and uncertainty about her future cause the cloud to act up, and in order not to disrupt her future she’s determined to find a way to control her feelings–with the help of a fellow intern with kind eyes and warm smile.

With its sweet friends-to-lovers romance, beautiful female friendships, and an original and sensitive take on what it’s like to struggle with strong negative emotions, RIGHT AS RAIN has the emotional complexity and fantastical elements of THE ASTONISHING COLOR OF AFTER and the modern attitude of EMERGENCY CONTACT. It’s the perfect laugh/cry read to accompany a hot, humid New York summer: charming and poignant and an all-around winsome teen read that speaks to living with depression honestly and movingly.