A review by ruth24
From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

5.0

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.

I've been waiting for [b:From Twinkle, with Love|36373464|From Twinkle, with Love|Sandhya Menon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519633175s/36373464.jpg|51394148] to come out ever since I read [b:When Dimple Met Rishi|28458598|When Dimple Met Rishi|Sandhya Menon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1475687488s/28458598.jpg|48593860], so I was super excited to get an ARC! I started off feeling a bit skeptical and wondering if this book would live up to my expectations, but then I got into it… like REALLY into it.

[b:From Twinkle, with Love|36373464|From Twinkle, with Love|Sandhya Menon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519633175s/36373464.jpg|51394148] took me back to high school (in a good way) and reminded me how it felt to grow apart from friends and to have a crush on someone. While I was reading, I found myself getting butterflies and grinning like mad, sitting up and looking around me thinking, “Why isn’t everyone else freaking out right now?” I straight up devoured this book. I read in the elevator, on the bus, during my lunch hour… It felt a little bit like I had a crush of my own.

Menon wrote a wonderful role model in Dimple Shah, and Twinkle was no different. Both have a passion, they know what they want in life, and they’re ambitious, but they also struggle with not fitting in and finding their voice. LOVE LOVE LOVE. This is my favourite thing about Menon’s books.

But even with these rose-tinted glasses on, I can admit there were things I didn’t like about [b:From Twinkle, with Love|36373464|From Twinkle, with Love|Sandhya Menon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519633175s/36373464.jpg|51394148]. I felt like Menon did more telling than showing, especially with Twinkle’s character. I would have liked to see more positive actions from her in the beginning of the story, to get me fully on board with her character. I didn’t find her super likeable.

Spoiler

Later, when Twinkle loses herself in arrogance, it felt sudden and manufactured. I would have preferred a more gradual shift in her behaviour, as this would have been more believable, and easier to sympathize with. I also think Menon should have been more vague about who ‘N’ was to keep me guessing alongside Twinkle.

Despite not liking Twinkle that much, I really enjoyed

Spoiler

Sahil

as the love interest. I enjoyed getting to hear parts of the story from his perspective and found

Spoiler

the personal hang up with his twin brother

interesting. I liked that the story was told through different mediums, like Twinkle’s letters to famous female directors, emails, text messages, and blog posts. I also appreciated that LGBTQ and POC characters were represented.

Do I recommend this book? Yes, definitely! Especially to those of you who love a good ‘SQUEE’ over some fictional romance.