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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
A sweet, fun read. Sometimes bordering on too cheesy, sure, and Dimple seems to get much more book time than Rishi does, but for a first book I really enjoyed this. I would definitely read more.
Let me just say that I am rating this novel, but I don’t feel good about it because contemporary romance is always a hit or a miss for me. There needs to be more than romance for me and, although this novel included themes about sex, family relationships, and future careers/following dreams, I found that the romance was all encompassing. Which it should be, as a contemporary romance. It just was not the book for me.
I listened to the audiobook, which may have also impacted my experience, but I think that, overall, I’m just not into the genre.
Reading Challenge Prompt: A young adult novel.
I listened to the audiobook, which may have also impacted my experience, but I think that, overall, I’m just not into the genre.
Reading Challenge Prompt: A young adult novel.
This review is for Shannon. If you are not Shannon, you can keep scrolling.
My conclusion: cute as heck, cheesy as Market Basket extra-extra cheese pizza, and predictable as a conspiracy theory breakout sesh at the family function.
Overall, I had a good time
My conclusion: cute as heck, cheesy as Market Basket extra-extra cheese pizza, and predictable as a conspiracy theory breakout sesh at the family function.
Overall, I had a good time
Cute. But no Rainbow Rowell or Stephanie Perkins kind of YA contemporary romance.
Whenever a writer writes about a characters that are not white in a country where 73% of the population is composed of white people they are setting themselves up for an important task: the task of representing these POC characters to non-POC people who might not have had the chance of being exposed to their cultures before.
Even if the author is from the culture which he or she is writing about, they have to take care to represent it in the most accurate and fullest way. Sometimes, to accentuate the differences that these characters have, they might overdo the differences a little bit to make it stand out more vividly.
Before I started reading this book, I’ll admit that as always when it comes to reading a book about non-white characters I was wary. I was wary that the author wouldn’t represent the cultures of these characters in a positive or accepting light. Additionally, I am always afraid that the author will play upon preconceived notions that people already have of the culture and stereotypes in order to make the story more appealing to a wider audience and thus lose the authenticity of the book’s representation.
In this case, as a member of the Desi community of California I was especially scared about how Menon portrayed brown (to clarify I mean Indian and not Hispanic or Latino people at the moment) people and their daily lives. If what Menon wrote was not realistic nor accurate to the lives of many Desi boys and girls growing up in the United States, especially in California, I would know immediately and grow to resent the book for its inaccuracy.
Now let’s go on to review the actual book. We have two characters Dimple Shah who grew up in Northern California and is going to go to Stanford in the fall to study computer programming or some kind of tech-y thing in the School of Engineering I’m not really sure but I know she wants to develop an app and then sell it to help people all over the world. She’s just you know, you’re average girl who grew up near Silicon Valley and wants to get into the tech industry. Apparently, Dimple doesn’t really care about “Indian” things like looking pretty or worrying about making a good marriage match. On the other end, we have Rishi Patel who is going to MIT in the fall (because that’s what his parents want) who is the perfect older son. Rishi does whatever his parents want him to do and he is Indian to the core he loves his culture unlike Dimple it appears.
So we are introduced to these two characters who are as different as can be. And the first time they meet is at Insomnia Con where they are both going for a summer program to make connections and learn who to develop apps, etc. Dimple thought she would have to fight tooth and nail to go to the convention so she doesn’t really question her good fortune or why her parents are so nonchalant and accepting about shelling out a thousand dollars. On the other hand, Rishi’s parents tell him to go to Insomnia Con to meet with his future wife and Rishi flies across the country without questioning it, enrolling in a course that he doesn’t even have a lot of interest in.
The first time Rishi sees Dimple he goes up to her and says “Hello future wife!” which causes a creeped out Dimple to fling an iced coffee at him and run away. This is just the start of their many troubles. From the beginning it is clear that Rishi is hung on Dimple he even keeps bringing up the ideas of ‘kismet’ and destiny when he’s alone with his thoughts and it is also additionally clear that Dimple wants nothing to do with Rishi at all after finding that her well-meaning but perhaps a little misguided parents had only let her go to the convention because they thought she would meet her future husband their and want to get married to him.
And thus we are now on a roller coaster ride as we watch Dimple and Rishi interact with each other for the next several weeks because wouldn’t you know it? They are partners for the app project they have to develop. And Dimple clearly resents this because Rishi doesn’t even care about the prize or the summer course as much as she does: it’s not his dream in life.
Things start to get better in between them with the two of them opening up to each other and finding that they understand each other on a level that no body else can. Dimple even finds out about how Rishi loves drawing comic and how he would rather do anything than be groomed to one day have the same job as his dad but of course Rishi would never do anything like Dimple and just do whatever his heart wants; he always puts family first.
A lot of Dimple and Rishi’s problems came from the fact that although they understood each other very well, they didn’t have the same opinions when it came to a lot of things. And I guess they just were unsure if compromise was possible. But as all romance novels do… things work out by the end.
There were things I loved about this story certainly and there were other things I didn’t care for at all. I loved the story, the plot, etc. I loved Rishi and his dynamic with his family: his parents, his brother, etc. I loved how Rishi stayed true to his culture and beliefs no matter what. He was always just unapologetically himself. What I didn’t like was how Dimple’s character got annoying and repetitive at parts. She was always mad about the same things, she couldn’t compromise, she was one of those people who believed her way was the right way for majority of the novel. I also didn’t like how disrespectful she was to her well meaning mother at times or how rude she was to Rishi when Rishi was just trying his best.
Some things that did confuse me though were that Dimple claimed to be as unIndian as can be but she wore a mix of Indian and Western clothing a lot of times and how she would have parts of Indian culture dispersed throughout her daily life. Tat part did confuse me, I’m not Indian but I do have a lot of Indian friends and for the most part they only wear Desi clothes at Indian parties and such. If they were born in America or had been living in America for most of their lives they had a nice balance of both cultures in their lives but they weren’t like Dimple who, no offense and this is just my opinion so I hope I don’t get any hate for it, acting more like a person who had moved from India to California in maybe middle school or freshman year of high school.
I am very happy to say that this book was not overly dramatic like a Bollywood movie although now that I think of it there was dancing incorporated into a part of the story. But I mean there were no dream sequences of singing and dancing in exotic locals to explain the whole act of falling in love in a PG way. And according to my friends from Northern California, Menon’s depiction of it and the Indian community up there was fairly accurate.
Even if the author is from the culture which he or she is writing about, they have to take care to represent it in the most accurate and fullest way. Sometimes, to accentuate the differences that these characters have, they might overdo the differences a little bit to make it stand out more vividly.
Before I started reading this book, I’ll admit that as always when it comes to reading a book about non-white characters I was wary. I was wary that the author wouldn’t represent the cultures of these characters in a positive or accepting light. Additionally, I am always afraid that the author will play upon preconceived notions that people already have of the culture and stereotypes in order to make the story more appealing to a wider audience and thus lose the authenticity of the book’s representation.
In this case, as a member of the Desi community of California I was especially scared about how Menon portrayed brown (to clarify I mean Indian and not Hispanic or Latino people at the moment) people and their daily lives. If what Menon wrote was not realistic nor accurate to the lives of many Desi boys and girls growing up in the United States, especially in California, I would know immediately and grow to resent the book for its inaccuracy.
Now let’s go on to review the actual book. We have two characters Dimple Shah who grew up in Northern California and is going to go to Stanford in the fall to study computer programming or some kind of tech-y thing in the School of Engineering I’m not really sure but I know she wants to develop an app and then sell it to help people all over the world. She’s just you know, you’re average girl who grew up near Silicon Valley and wants to get into the tech industry. Apparently, Dimple doesn’t really care about “Indian” things like looking pretty or worrying about making a good marriage match. On the other end, we have Rishi Patel who is going to MIT in the fall (because that’s what his parents want) who is the perfect older son. Rishi does whatever his parents want him to do and he is Indian to the core he loves his culture unlike Dimple it appears.
So we are introduced to these two characters who are as different as can be. And the first time they meet is at Insomnia Con where they are both going for a summer program to make connections and learn who to develop apps, etc. Dimple thought she would have to fight tooth and nail to go to the convention so she doesn’t really question her good fortune or why her parents are so nonchalant and accepting about shelling out a thousand dollars. On the other hand, Rishi’s parents tell him to go to Insomnia Con to meet with his future wife and Rishi flies across the country without questioning it, enrolling in a course that he doesn’t even have a lot of interest in.
The first time Rishi sees Dimple he goes up to her and says “Hello future wife!” which causes a creeped out Dimple to fling an iced coffee at him and run away. This is just the start of their many troubles. From the beginning it is clear that Rishi is hung on Dimple he even keeps bringing up the ideas of ‘kismet’ and destiny when he’s alone with his thoughts and it is also additionally clear that Dimple wants nothing to do with Rishi at all after finding that her well-meaning but perhaps a little misguided parents had only let her go to the convention because they thought she would meet her future husband their and want to get married to him.
And thus we are now on a roller coaster ride as we watch Dimple and Rishi interact with each other for the next several weeks because wouldn’t you know it? They are partners for the app project they have to develop. And Dimple clearly resents this because Rishi doesn’t even care about the prize or the summer course as much as she does: it’s not his dream in life.
Things start to get better in between them with the two of them opening up to each other and finding that they understand each other on a level that no body else can. Dimple even finds out about how Rishi loves drawing comic and how he would rather do anything than be groomed to one day have the same job as his dad but of course Rishi would never do anything like Dimple and just do whatever his heart wants; he always puts family first.
A lot of Dimple and Rishi’s problems came from the fact that although they understood each other very well, they didn’t have the same opinions when it came to a lot of things. And I guess they just were unsure if compromise was possible. But as all romance novels do… things work out by the end.
There were things I loved about this story certainly and there were other things I didn’t care for at all. I loved the story, the plot, etc. I loved Rishi and his dynamic with his family: his parents, his brother, etc. I loved how Rishi stayed true to his culture and beliefs no matter what. He was always just unapologetically himself. What I didn’t like was how Dimple’s character got annoying and repetitive at parts. She was always mad about the same things, she couldn’t compromise, she was one of those people who believed her way was the right way for majority of the novel. I also didn’t like how disrespectful she was to her well meaning mother at times or how rude she was to Rishi when Rishi was just trying his best.
Some things that did confuse me though were that Dimple claimed to be as unIndian as can be but she wore a mix of Indian and Western clothing a lot of times and how she would have parts of Indian culture dispersed throughout her daily life. Tat part did confuse me, I’m not Indian but I do have a lot of Indian friends and for the most part they only wear Desi clothes at Indian parties and such. If they were born in America or had been living in America for most of their lives they had a nice balance of both cultures in their lives but they weren’t like Dimple who, no offense and this is just my opinion so I hope I don’t get any hate for it, acting more like a person who had moved from India to California in maybe middle school or freshman year of high school.
I am very happy to say that this book was not overly dramatic like a Bollywood movie although now that I think of it there was dancing incorporated into a part of the story. But I mean there were no dream sequences of singing and dancing in exotic locals to explain the whole act of falling in love in a PG way. And according to my friends from Northern California, Menon’s depiction of it and the Indian community up there was fairly accurate.
Good book about trusting yourself and finding love. As well as choosing your own path instead of following someone else’s.
fast-paced
Fun, quick, and light read. Enjoyed the characters and loved the quick mention of Madoka Magica 😂
I'm so glad this one lived up to the hype! It was an adorable, feel-good romance that was predictable but not as much as I expected. I loved that we get both Dimple and Rishi's perspectives, so there is a balance of Rishi's respect and reverence for tradition along with Dimple's desire for independence and frustration with her mother's focus on looks and marriage. Rishi is sweet and dorky and a genuinely good guy who also can't manage to have a civil conversation with his brother. Their emotions at every moment rang true to me — they felt like the college freshmen I live and work with and remember being. I loved that all the Indian characters subverted stereotypes in one way or another; I loved that Celia's bisexuality was worked in without fanfare, as was Ritu auntie's use of a wheelchair. There were parts here and there that I could nitpick, but nothing that really took away from my enjoyment of the book. I even laughed out loud at multiple points, and teared up near the end. If you're looking for a light, sweet read or just want to remember what it was like to fall in love for the first time, this is a great pick.