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A review by mari1532
There's Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
#TheDiverseBaseline (learn more at: https://thediversebaseline.carrd.cocreated by @bookish.millennial & @themargherita.s (on instagram))
I read this audiobook through my library.
Brief Summary: Sweetie Nair is going to try new things, stick up for herself, and find her first love. Her quest to prove her haters wrong is something she and her friends dubbed the "Sassy Sweetie Project". Tired of being told what she cannot do and who she is because of her weight Sweetie has something to prove.
Ashish Patel is in a funk, like a basketball scholarship-ending kind of funk. Seen as a player both on and off the court Ashish is confronted by the fact he has never dated an Indian-American girl. However, when he meets Sweetie that seems likely to change.
Ashish is taken by Sweetie's love of life and positive outlook. Sweetie is intrigued by Ashish that doesn't play into the high school jock stereotype. It's a recipe for a beautiful love story, but not everyone is on board with their relationship.
Thoughts: I really liked Sweetie as a character. I thought she had such a youthful exuberance that made it clear she could adapt to any challenge. I also loved her interactions with her friend's group. They seemed so supportive and close that I wanted to be friends with them.
I think that Sweetie was definitely my favorite part of the book and I did like the arc of the story between her and her mother. I did not like Sweetie's mom by the end of the book, but I do think that there was some growth in her views about body image that were starting to change. However, for three-quarters of the book I just wanted to hug Sweetie any time the two of them had an interaction with one another. I understand her mother thought she was protecting her, but yikes.
The way that Sweetie also made Ashish come out of his shell was cute to watch. Her unapologetic embrace of her Indian heritage and the excitement she felt on each of their dates jumped off the page and just made you feel happy as a reader.
Ashish was a more interesting character to me than his brother from the first book. I just felt that he had a few more layers to his personality. Some of those layers were struggling with a bit of depression over a broken heart, but it was lovely to see navigating the loss of an idea to acknowledging a real thing on the page. Sometimes it feels like previous breakups in romances are very definitive (as in there is a clear villain) and the murkiness of Ashish's breakup shows that even though you break up with someone the love doesn't entirely go away.
If you want a fun read with teenage heartbreak, love and angst I would recommend this book.
I read this audiobook through my library.
Brief Summary: Sweetie Nair is going to try new things, stick up for herself, and find her first love. Her quest to prove her haters wrong is something she and her friends dubbed the "Sassy Sweetie Project". Tired of being told what she cannot do and who she is because of her weight Sweetie has something to prove.
Ashish Patel is in a funk, like a basketball scholarship-ending kind of funk. Seen as a player both on and off the court Ashish is confronted by the fact he has never dated an Indian-American girl. However, when he meets Sweetie that seems likely to change.
Ashish is taken by Sweetie's love of life and positive outlook. Sweetie is intrigued by Ashish that doesn't play into the high school jock stereotype. It's a recipe for a beautiful love story, but not everyone is on board with their relationship.
Thoughts: I really liked Sweetie as a character. I thought she had such a youthful exuberance that made it clear she could adapt to any challenge. I also loved her interactions with her friend's group. They seemed so supportive and close that I wanted to be friends with them.
I think that Sweetie was definitely my favorite part of the book and I did like the arc of the story between her and her mother. I did not like Sweetie's mom by the end of the book, but I do think that there was some growth in her views about body image that were starting to change. However, for three-quarters of the book I just wanted to hug Sweetie any time the two of them had an interaction with one another. I understand her mother thought she was protecting her, but yikes.
The way that Sweetie also made Ashish come out of his shell was cute to watch. Her unapologetic embrace of her Indian heritage and the excitement she felt on each of their dates jumped off the page and just made you feel happy as a reader.
Ashish was a more interesting character to me than his brother from the first book. I just felt that he had a few more layers to his personality. Some of those layers were struggling with a bit of depression over a broken heart, but it was lovely to see navigating the loss of an idea to acknowledging a real thing on the page. Sometimes it feels like previous breakups in romances are very definitive (as in there is a clear villain) and the murkiness of Ashish's breakup shows that even though you break up with someone the love doesn't entirely go away.
If you want a fun read with teenage heartbreak, love and angst I would recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Classism, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Infidelity
depression