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sayitwithasmile 's review for:
From Twinkle, with Love
by Sandhya Menon
This was a super cute young adult romantic comedy that at it's base was mindless and fun but had some important, inspiring subjects as well. Twinkle Mehra is a 16-year-old aspiring filmmaker who is at multiple crossroads in her life. She writes about her feelings and encounters to her heroes, female filmmakers such as Sofia Coppola and Mira Nair. She is juggling her own place on the high school social ladder - a groundling - as well as a best friend who is spending more time with the popular crowd, a student producer she is falling in love with, and a secret admirer that may or may not be the twin brother of her producer. Sprinkle in some familial drama with her immigrant, blue collar parents and you have the perfect YA mixture.
Menon perfectly captures a young woman who is discovering herself. Twinkle knows her passions and what she wants to do, though it may not fully resonate with her family. She recognizes herself in her heroes but also the disparity of females filmmakers and the struggles they must've gone through to reach success. You get the usual dose of teenage stupidness and drama but in the end, I definitely teared up watching Twinkle come out happily on the other end. I loved the examination of race and class within the high school setting and the examination of the parent/child relationship with immigrant parents and the divide between raising children in a more prosperous USA and the hard personal consequences that decision might have. I usually eyeroll at romance in YA books (why do we always have to have it?? It so often feels forced) but the relationship between Twinkle and Sunil felt really natural to me and I rooted for it the entire way through.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself listening to this! Soneela Nankani was fabulous. Having previously heard her narration in middle grade form, it took me a bit to center myself on the ages of the characters (she does skew slightly young to my ear) but in then end, I thought she was a fabulous voice for Twinkle. With the audiobook format, the addition of Sunil's perspective felt superfluous. I assume in writing these segments served as email, text, and blog posts interjected throughout which may act as a more natural way to have another side of the romance and plot. However, with the addition of a second narrator, it made the sections feel too sparse and unnecessary.
Menon perfectly captures a young woman who is discovering herself. Twinkle knows her passions and what she wants to do, though it may not fully resonate with her family. She recognizes herself in her heroes but also the disparity of females filmmakers and the struggles they must've gone through to reach success. You get the usual dose of teenage stupidness and drama but in the end, I definitely teared up watching Twinkle come out happily on the other end. I loved the examination of race and class within the high school setting and the examination of the parent/child relationship with immigrant parents and the divide between raising children in a more prosperous USA and the hard personal consequences that decision might have. I usually eyeroll at romance in YA books (why do we always have to have it?? It so often feels forced) but the relationship between Twinkle and Sunil felt really natural to me and I rooted for it the entire way through.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself listening to this! Soneela Nankani was fabulous. Having previously heard her narration in middle grade form, it took me a bit to center myself on the ages of the characters (she does skew slightly young to my ear) but in then end, I thought she was a fabulous voice for Twinkle. With the audiobook format, the addition of Sunil's perspective felt superfluous. I assume in writing these segments served as email, text, and blog posts interjected throughout which may act as a more natural way to have another side of the romance and plot. However, with the addition of a second narrator, it made the sections feel too sparse and unnecessary.