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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
As always, I've been enjoying (most) of Sandhya's works! Just "As Kismet Would Have it"... That one will always leave me salty haha.
I loved the format of this book, the strangers-to-lovers trope, and it wasn't really a cringey read like some YA romance novels can be!
Here's a quick (no spoiler) summary of the book:
The story is about a teen named Sweetie who is struggling with how OTHERS around her perceive her due to her weight.
Annoyed by this, she decides to go against some of her loved ones to create a persona and mission: the Sassy Sweetie Project.
We follow her as she rebels to begin living life for HER and to prove others wrong (and her belief in herself RIGHT).
There was a stake added at the end that didn't feel like it fit with the continuity of the character(s)... But I can overlook it.
I really enjoyed reading this book and learning/watching (er, reading?) the development of so many characters. I'm not seeing it's to help set us up for the rest of the series that'll focus on the other characters as well.
I love this series (it starts with "Something About Sweetie").
I loved the format of this book, the strangers-to-lovers trope, and it wasn't really a cringey read like some YA romance novels can be!
Here's a quick (no spoiler) summary of the book:
The story is about a teen named Sweetie who is struggling with how OTHERS around her perceive her due to her weight.
Annoyed by this, she decides to go against some of her loved ones to create a persona and mission: the Sassy Sweetie Project.
We follow her as she rebels to begin living life for HER and to prove others wrong (and her belief in herself RIGHT).
There was a stake added at the end that didn't feel like it fit with the continuity of the character(s)... But I can overlook it.
I really enjoyed reading this book and learning/watching (er, reading?) the development of so many characters. I'm not seeing it's to help set us up for the rest of the series that'll focus on the other characters as well.
I love this series (it starts with "Something About Sweetie").
I received an e-ARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Review can also be found on *Milky Way of Books*
I fell in love with Dimple and Rishi. The first book by Sandhya Menon opened the world to me into the beauty of the Indian community, of food and culture awareness. Now the sequel novel of this beautiful story focuses on Sweetie and Ashish.
A boy who is not as close to his family's tradition and a girl who is fat and doesn't conform to her mother's expectations. Despite that and through a series of hilarious moments, Indian food, culture festivals and lots of music, the two come close and develop feelings for each other. The plot was more character focused and didn't feel slow. I liked the pace and the attention Menon gives into the details of her characters and how the dynamics between parents and children work.
I enjoyed it very much and even if you haven't read the first book you'll love this one!
I fell in love with Dimple and Rishi. The first book by Sandhya Menon opened the world to me into the beauty of the Indian community, of food and culture awareness. Now the sequel novel of this beautiful story focuses on Sweetie and Ashish.
A boy who is not as close to his family's tradition and a girl who is fat and doesn't conform to her mother's expectations. Despite that and through a series of hilarious moments, Indian food, culture festivals and lots of music, the two come close and develop feelings for each other. The plot was more character focused and didn't feel slow. I liked the pace and the attention Menon gives into the details of her characters and how the dynamics between parents and children work.
I enjoyed it very much and even if you haven't read the first book you'll love this one!
Love Sweetie and Dimple and the brothers they’re with! This one explored Ashish’s family more, and I really liked getting that backstory on him.
*** I received an ARC of this novel from Simon Pulse and NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. However, this does not influence my opinions in any way.***
Publication Date: Out now!
2/5 Stars
Despite all of Sandhya Menon’s books sounding very appealing to me, I’ve realized her writing just isn’t for me. If I was in high school I feel like I would have loved her books. They are all cheesy and full of teenage melodrama. However, now that I’m older I can’t help but roll my eyes at it all.
When starting this novel, I thought I would have a different reaction. I liked the characters and they didn’t seem as cookie cutter as the characters in previous books. Nevertheless, that was soon debunked the farther I read. It isn’t that the characters are bad, they are just very wishy-washy. One sentence they say something with intent and then a paragraph later their mind is completely flipped on the spot. Throughout the whole novel that never changed either. They were having internal struggles over the most mundane topics and no one was made better in the end for them.
Additionally, Menon’s writing very much tells you what is happening and doesn’t show it. It’s a lot of reading about what they do, but not experiencing it. And when you do experience a scene she throws in comments that you might here in a middle schooler’s mind (ie: “duh”). It takes you out of the story and makes me feel like I am reading something read for a much younger audience. And even then, even though her novels attempt to tackle subjects like diversity, weight, etc - I’m not sure I’d even hand this book to younger people in my life if only because I don’t believe they would gain anything from it aside from a way to judge people and feel self centered / entitled.
Overall, this obviously was not the book for me. Because I didn’t enjoy it I took forever to finish it. Even so, about half way through I decided I was over the book and just sped my way to the end to complete it and solidify my opinions.
Publication Date: Out now!
2/5 Stars
Despite all of Sandhya Menon’s books sounding very appealing to me, I’ve realized her writing just isn’t for me. If I was in high school I feel like I would have loved her books. They are all cheesy and full of teenage melodrama. However, now that I’m older I can’t help but roll my eyes at it all.
When starting this novel, I thought I would have a different reaction. I liked the characters and they didn’t seem as cookie cutter as the characters in previous books. Nevertheless, that was soon debunked the farther I read. It isn’t that the characters are bad, they are just very wishy-washy. One sentence they say something with intent and then a paragraph later their mind is completely flipped on the spot. Throughout the whole novel that never changed either. They were having internal struggles over the most mundane topics and no one was made better in the end for them.
Additionally, Menon’s writing very much tells you what is happening and doesn’t show it. It’s a lot of reading about what they do, but not experiencing it. And when you do experience a scene she throws in comments that you might here in a middle schooler’s mind (ie: “duh”). It takes you out of the story and makes me feel like I am reading something read for a much younger audience. And even then, even though her novels attempt to tackle subjects like diversity, weight, etc - I’m not sure I’d even hand this book to younger people in my life if only because I don’t believe they would gain anything from it aside from a way to judge people and feel self centered / entitled.
Overall, this obviously was not the book for me. Because I didn’t enjoy it I took forever to finish it. Even so, about half way through I decided I was over the book and just sped my way to the end to complete it and solidify my opinions.
Such a cute story! One of my favorite romance books this year. Also, it uses a surprising amount of GRE words.
Finally a contemporary-romance novel that hits all the right spot. I don't read a lot of YA anymore, I'm more of adult reader now; so it's refreshing to read a realistic story with a wholesome characters.
There's Something About Sweetie is the kind of content that I need during these trying times, I laughed and swooned. Although, this book do need to come with content warning: Sweetie's mother's fatphobia and internalized fatphobia from the main character. I'm a skinny Southeast Asian reader so I cannot vouch for the representation.
I have to say the pairing is *chef kisses* neatly done. I'm picky with my romance but Menon did a wonderful job at crafting Ashish's and Sweetie's respective arc. I like that both of them have their own supportive friends and family. It's equally endearing to see the main male character have a healthy friendship outside the romance relationship. I don't think I've seen that enough particularly with early YAs.
The actual rating for There's Something About Sweetie is 4.5 stars. The ending is dramatic as hell ala Bollywood but I'm not complaining. It's a happy ending. I personally feel this is way better than Dimple and Rishi's book. I really cannot wait for the next one. All I know is Samir and Pinky will kill me .... with angst and happiness.