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daumari 's review for:
From Twinkle, with Love
by Sandhya Menon
3.5, rounding up to 4, and second book for my Asian readathon 2020, checking off "3) Read a book featuring an Asian character or written by an Asian author who is different from you." I am Chinese American, and definitely need to broaden my reading range of the diaspora.
Cute standalone, with most annoyances coming from the realistic ughhhs of teenage life (it's been 15 years since but I'm sure if I peek at my diaries of the time they are similarly pressed about The Future but also how no one likes me, and how intense these feelings are).
Twinkle feels she is a total wallflower and her childhood bestie has seemingly moved on to the popular crowd. She aspires to be a filmmaker (and addresses each diary entry to a female director), but isn't sure how to peel herself off the wall and into where the people are, something that the protagonist of [b:There's Something About Sweetie|35583527|There's Something About Sweetie (Dimple and Rishi, #2)|Sandhya Menon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539796761l/35583527._SY75_.jpg|57017289] also shares. An encounter at a coffee shop leads her to work on a film for an upcoming school festival with Sahil Roy, identical twin brother of her crush, Neil Roy. Meanwhile, a mysterious suitor pops up in her email inbox... who was fairly obvious to figure out, but Twinkle's got going on, okay?? Our protagonist gets ugly with directatorial power, and that can be frustrating to watch but the journey to realizing where she crossed the line feels earned.
I have a feeling it will eventually be dated, but I enjoy books where the story is also told through texts and blog posts (fond memories of other YA books like [b:ttfn|301024|ttfn (Internet Girls, #2)|Lauren Myracle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388205880l/301024._SX50_.jpg|1644362] being Super Cool to teenage!me) Twinkle and her anxieties about social circles felt real, though the continued metaphor of groundlings vs silk feather hats felt like a stretch (though again, this also feels like a very authentically teen thing to do).
Cute standalone, with most annoyances coming from the realistic ughhhs of teenage life (it's been 15 years since but I'm sure if I peek at my diaries of the time they are similarly pressed about The Future but also how no one likes me, and how intense these feelings are).
Twinkle feels she is a total wallflower and her childhood bestie has seemingly moved on to the popular crowd. She aspires to be a filmmaker (and addresses each diary entry to a female director), but isn't sure how to peel herself off the wall and into where the people are, something that the protagonist of [b:There's Something About Sweetie|35583527|There's Something About Sweetie (Dimple and Rishi, #2)|Sandhya Menon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539796761l/35583527._SY75_.jpg|57017289] also shares. An encounter at a coffee shop leads her to work on a film for an upcoming school festival with Sahil Roy, identical twin brother of her crush, Neil Roy. Meanwhile, a mysterious suitor pops up in her email inbox... who was fairly obvious to figure out, but Twinkle's got going on, okay?? Our protagonist gets ugly with directatorial power, and that can be frustrating to watch but the journey to realizing where she crossed the line feels earned.
I have a feeling it will eventually be dated, but I enjoy books where the story is also told through texts and blog posts (fond memories of other YA books like [b:ttfn|301024|ttfn (Internet Girls, #2)|Lauren Myracle|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388205880l/301024._SX50_.jpg|1644362] being Super Cool to teenage!me) Twinkle and her anxieties about social circles felt real, though the continued metaphor of groundlings vs silk feather hats felt like a stretch (though again, this also feels like a very authentically teen thing to do).