When Dimple Met Rishi

Dimple and Rishi #1

by Sandhya Menon

The arranged marriage YA romcom you didn't know you wanted or needed...

Meet Dimple.

Her main aim in life is to escape her traditional parents, get to university and begin her plan for tech world domination.

Meet Rishi.

He's rich, good-looking and a hopeless romantic. His parents think Dimple is the perfect match for him, but she's got other plans...

Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works even harder to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

As joyfully refreshing as Rainbow Rowell, Jenny Han and Nicola Yoon, When Dimple Met Rishi is a frothy, funny contemporary romance told from the dual perspectives of two Indian American protagonists. While Dimple is fighting her family traditions, Rishi couldn't be happier to follow in the footsteps of his parents - could sparks fly between this odd couple, or is this matchmaking attempt doomed to fail?

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Audiobook, Realistic Fiction, Young Adult Contemporary

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 30, 2017

About the author

Sandhya Menon is the New York Times bestselling author of several novels with lots of kissing, girl power, and swoony boys. Her books have been featured in several cool places, including on The Today Show, Teen Vogue, NPR Book Review, Buzzfeed, and Seventeen. A full-time dog servant and part-time writer, she makes her home in the foggy mountains of Colorado.

Reviews

[emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my GOD, you guys. I know people have said this book is bad. I know pretty much every source I trust full-on hated this book. But, like, wow.

Do you ever read a book and you’re almost impressed by how bad it is? This one is, like, genuinely written in the hopes of creating more diversity in the young adult genre and look at that. Girl hate!

https://emmareadstoomuch.wordpress.co...

Wow-ee. Almost enough to make me laugh if I weren’t already crying from hopelessness, depressed with the irrefutable knowledge that young adult literature will be teeming with ingrained sexism from now until the end of time and no amount of angry quoting in ranty one-star reviews will change that.

Nothing matters!!!

Let’s get into it. Categories!


NOT LIKE OTHER GIRLS

Here’s a fun fact: even if you don’t use the exact phrase “not like other girls,” creating that situation under a different wording is still bad!! It’s still benefiting off the same trope of putting down girls at large in order to make your dumbass character seem greater than and unique!!!!

Example:

“Even when she was in elementary and middle school, she always chose computers as her choice of centers while all the other more popular girls seemed to cluster together in art or reading.”

This wholllllleeeeeee book we cannot escape how Unique and Different Dimple is. She is just So Cool. She likes Computers. (Okay, that is actually really cool. More girls in STEM! But not at the expense of making it seem like reading and art aren’t important? Because, uh. They are. Also this book describes programming and web design exactly never, despite TAKING PLACE AT A PROGRAMMING CAMP.)


GIRL HATE

In my experience, the Venn diagram of “books where the popular kids are evil” and “books with girl hate” is a circle. And even if it wasn’t, god, don’t both suck?

But we don’t have to talk about that right now, because this book is just still more proof that the two coexist beautifully. And by “beautifully,” I mean “go hand-in-hand because life is hell and books are suffering and everything is bad and why not just villainize popular kids because it’s easy and boring while we also hate girls because it’s easy?”

Anyway.

Examples? Examples.

“Her booty shorts also barely covered her booty.” Oh, noooooo! Heaven forbid! Shorts covering an ass, but not well enough to some rando’s standards? How will we live? How shall we survive? What will happen to humanity?

“Really, it was sort of refreshing to have a boy prefer her company to a girl like Isabelle’s.” Just because you’re sooo insecure you don’t think anyone could ever want to hang out with you doesn’t mean you need to bring other girls down in an attempt to feel superiority in place of confidence and self love. Asshole.

“Of course Isabelle was up for it. She'd probably even eat carbs for that amount of attention.” Whoa, cool! An assumption of a girl’s dietary habits based on her physical experience used to slut-shame her (in this instance) and call her an attention whore! How revolutionary! Even the sexism in this book is tired and overdone.

“She refused to be one of those girls who gave up on everything they'd been planning simply because a boy entered the picture.” Everyone, please don’t forget the fact that girls come in types. I cannot stress this enough. Girl personalities are downloaded pre-formed from a web interface, and we only have amazing heroes like Dimple to protect us from all the attention-starved, non-carb-eating banshees in too-short shorts.

Just kill me. Take me out of my goddamn misery.


THE DIMPLE THING

Okay, so. I think this book is trying to do Something. And that something is flip gender roles, specifically as they typically exist within the genre of the young adult contemporary. In this book, the male character (Rishi) is romantic and looking to be in a relationship, while the female character (Dimple) is ambitious, career-motivated, and trying to stay away from love.

Dimple is also very cold. Even mean. And people are suuuper upset about that.

But how much of that Dimple hate is coming from the fact that she’s acting in a way we expect from male characters?

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like the “mean but it’s okay because they love you so much” trope. But I call it out whenever I see it. I don’t like it in the Will Herondales, either.

There’s nothing wrong with feeling that way. We’re societally conditioned to balk when we see women act in traditionally “masculine” ways. But, like...be aware? Because that doesn’t mean it’s great.


RISHI

I don’t really have that much to say here actually. I just didn’t want to break up all the fun bolded subheadings.

I just hate Rishi. He is a lil creepy weirdo, and so obsessive and emotional and boring. That’s really why I hate him. He is SO BORING. Stop fawning over your own love for one goddamn second, and, I don’t know. Punch somebody? Up the ante somehow. God.


THIS RELATIONSHIP IS HORRIBLE

Okay, so. Dimple hits Rishi all the time? And he constantly worries about whether he’s going to make her angry? And just takes sh*t from her constantly but if he’s even the slightest bit less-than-perfect she will genuinely, actually, physically hit him, or get mad at him, or yell at him.

Also, Dimple takes Rishi’s sketchbook out of his bag, reads it, and sends it to an author he likes even though he expressly requested none of that happen. No apologies occur. Rishi thanks her later. Because gross invasion of privacy is such a rad trope.

I mean. Super unhealthy, no? But also just like not even fun to read lol. Like this book is so bad. I cannot stress that enough.


GENERAL STUPIDITY

This book is also just...so...dumb. On so many levels. It’s very nearly impressive. Here are some examples of its masterful handling of different types of its own idiocy.

BAD HANDLING OF ACTUAL ISSUES: Dimple rants about all the expectations placed on Indian-American girls, and...Rishi’s response...is just...well, this: “He laughed. ‘That does sound annoying.” Amazing.

DO YOU REMEMBER YOUR OWN DESCRIPTIONS: At one point, Rishi is described as “stretching his long legs out in front of him.” Um. Boi is 5’8. If a boy who is lit-er-ally five feet and eight inches tall is now “long-legged” then when converted to girl-numbers my legs are flesh skyscrapers.

SO CRINGEY: “Dimple crossed her arms and cocked her head, in a come at me, bropose.” I don’t even need to say anything about this one. But on an unrelated note, can someone come pick me up? I was hospitalized for cringing so hard after reading that line and I can’t leave until someone signs me out.

CONSISTENCY, PLEASE, IT’S ALL I ASK FOR: Literally, one moment in this book Rishi’s dorm room is so small that when he’s sitting at his desk, he says he is JUST AS CLOSE TO DIMPLE AS HE WOULD HAVE BEEN SITTING NEXT TO HER ON THE BED, and the next, it is so CAVERNOUS, so LUXURIOUSLY LARGE that Rishi and his little brother get into a screaming match within its massive dimensions without even seeing her. I pray for the sweet oblivion of death.

WHAT KIND OF INTIMACY: At one point, Dimple and Rishi (lol I typed “Dishi” I am so tired this book is physically exhausting) are making out. In a public space. And they touch each other’s backs. Which is incredibly PG. Not even PG-13. But apparently this moment is so unbelievably hot that they immediately have to have a conversation about whether they should f*ck or not. WHATEVER FOREVER.

Bottom line: I should have expected to hate this book. However, wow, I really did not expect to hate this book. Do not make my mistake: It is bad.

------------
pre-review

No yeah, you guys were right. That was...not good.

But I stand by what I said on the iced-coffee issue.

Review to come

------------
currently-reading updates

I AM FURIOUS. is that literally the iced coffee scene you've all been crying bitter, bitter tears of rishi-pity over??? are you KIDDING ME.

if a strange dude came up to me in a strange city and said i was his FUTURE WIFE and he was so excited for our LIVES TOGETHER, i would freak the f*ck out dude!!! honestly my only comment on this crown jewel in all of your negative reviews is that dimple is a GODDAMN BADASS for throwing her iced coffee at that tiny creep. i wish i had the balls to do that when strange men say strange things.

in conclusion: WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU GUYS TALKING ABOUT EVER

[Emma Giordano · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you were looking for your perfect cute summer contemporary romance novel . . . look no further.

This book was honestly so wonderful. It was an absolute delight to read. It is adorable. It's laugh out loud hilarious. It'll give you alllllll the feels.

As this novel follows to Indian-American protagonists who's parents have essentially "suggested" a potential arranged marriage between the two, I can't speak for the representation. I will say, I've only seen rave reviews from Indian reviewers and it is so clear to me that many readers could really identify with these two characters who may share their heritage. In my experience, I virtually have no knowledge of Indian culture whatsoever. As it's a hugely influential part of the story, I do feel I took away a lot! There are many phrases and words in Hindi, they speak about different types of Indian fashion, and overall display a lot of customs I previously did not know much about. I ended up googling a lot of what was included in the novel and really enjoying learning something new about Indian culture! I've left this novel with a huge desire to learn more, and to especially watch more Bollywood movies. I think this story would be enjoyable for Indian readers and non-Indian readers like. There's so much to love about the way this culture is presented.

Like I said, the humor is CONSTANT. This is a seriously funny read and I promise you will find yourself laughing all throughout. I can't remember the last time I read a book that I could really sell to you based solely on comedic value, but my gosh is this book downright hysterical. It's totally worth the read just for the comedy and amusement.

Dimple is such a queen. Any girl who can call out her mother's misogynistic views by page five is a girl I can get behind. She is 100% unique and sure of herself - She's a non-conformist and happy with being in her own skin. She's absolutely independent and unafraid to be herself. I really appreciated the individuality of her character and her determination to stay true to herself.

Rishi is such a loveable dork. "Dork" is sincerely the only way I can describe it because he's just so goofy and full of life. He's a dedicated person, whether that's to his parents wishes or to his own heart. He really goes over the moon for the people he cares about and I think that's so admirable.

I think the only thing I would have liked to see MORE of - not that the book is not absolutely fabulous - is a more developed story of the web design aspect of this book. Dimple & Rishi attend the same summer program/contest where the goal is to develop an app to present to professionals in the world of web design. Dimple repeatedly expresses her love for coding and it's obvious that she is pursuing a career she is passionate about. I just would have liked more scenes of Dimple and Rishi actively working on their app they are at the program for, in addition to all of the fun scenes that come from their summer together. I think Dimple's idea for the app itself was revolutionary and a bit more development on their coding process and how the app eventually comes out would have only aided the story.

Overall, this book was fantastic. It made me happy. It made me emotional. It helped educate me. I'm really thankful I experienced this story and I really hope you all pick it up this May 30th! I'm hoping to have a longer review on my YouTube channel in the coming months, so stay tuned for that!

This book was sent to me unsolicited and for free by Simon & Schuster. I had no obligation to review this book and all opinions are my own.

[emi · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars

People: this books is the worst lol don't read it

Me: hahahah it can't be that bad

Me: *is wrong*

Usually, this was where I'd put a quote that I liked from the book, but the writing in this book sucked. But I don't wanna mess up the aesthetic of my reviews. So, yeah, you're stuck with that.

So what even is the point of me being on this website if I don't even listen to the thousands of negative reviews on my feed that are there to guide me towards great books? Every single time someone tells me not to read a book, I proceed to ignore everything they say because what do they know? and read it any ways. Guess what? 10 out of 10 times that someone is right. And 10 out of 10 times they end up commenting on my review, laughing at my pain.

I'm gonna do all of us a favor and just delete my life because I just keep filling it full of disappointment.

In fact, all the disappointment I have been acquiring lately has accumulated into something so large, you can see it from space. All those astronauts in the Internation Space Station are staring down at me at this very moment, shaking their heads and wondering what I did to become so full of sorrow but secretly enjoying a new piece of scenery, as I'm sure looking at space can get very boring.

I should have aborted this book during the first chapter when I was bombarded with middle grade style writing. Actually, no, I'm lying. Middle grade books have excellent writing, as a published book should, which is the exact opposite of this. Middle grade books don't deserve to be compared to this trainwreck. This writing gave me flashbacks to 13-year old me, who spent her days on fanfiction.net writing Good Luck Charlie fanfiction. Except 13-year old me's writing might have been even better? It was definitely not as annoying. But I knew I could have eventually gotten used to the writing, so instead of DNFing it right then and there, I persevered, thinking it couldn't possibly get any worse. But, Spoiler Alert!, it did.



One day, when technology advances to a point where time machines are a thing that exists, the first thing I will do is go back to the moment when I decided to open this book and stop myself. Just so I go avoid the pain and suffering that is Dimple Shah.

I never thought I would hate a character more than I hate Rowan Whitethorn, but heyyy Dimple came pretty close.

I don't even think I can form a paragraph of all the reasons why she's the worst, so here's a list

• not like other girls
• doesn't wear makeup bc she's not like other girls
• mentions the fact she doesn't wear makeup at least 30 times per chapter
• throws iced coffee and some guy because he "attacked" her and by attacked I mean he spoke words to her and obviously that isn't okay
• even as a person who doesn't drink/like coffee i know that is a giant waste of like $5
• but at least she's a "strong independent woman"
• actually, her exact words are "she was no delicate flower"
• and rishi's exact words were "spirited" which he said about a million times before page 35
• and also by "strong independent women" i mean she's a controlling bitch who is physically abusive
• SHE LITERALLY PUNCHED RISHI AND HURT HIM AND FELT NO REMORSE
• "Dimple punched him in the ribs, lighter than she wanted to, but he still winced."
• She never lets Rishi have any say on anything?
• Like she decided what they are gonna do for their app
• And also what they are going to do for the talent show
• doesn't wear makeup
• Also there was a part when someone told her how to pronounce his name AND SHE FUCKING TOLD HIM HE WAS PRONOUNCING HIS OWN NAME WRONG
• Like If I tell you "Emi" is pronounced as "Kate Middleton" my name is fucking pronounced Kate Middleton and not like "Emmy" seriously
• also I've had a person once message me and ask me how to pronounce my name? I thought it was pretty simple but there's a pronunciation guide for y'all in case you were ever wondering
• But wait, it gets better
• Because LIKE TWO PAGES LATER SHE GETS MAD AT THEM FOR PRONOUNCING RISHI WRONG
• Like don't you understand where their anger is probably coming from now??
• Also, because she's not rich and doesn't wear makeup she's better than everyone else
• also there was one part when rishi called her an introvert and I was like wtf??? since when???? not once in the book were we ever shown she's an introvert. no introvert I know would throw iced coffee at people and go to 40,000 different social events.
• but let's jump back up to the beginning of the story right after she met rishi WHEN SHE HATED HIM FOR NO GODDAMN REASON
• Like maybe he said the wrong thing, but it wasn't necessarily creepy or anything. People have definitely said a lot worst to someone then "hello future wife"
• Bc that is what he said that made her throw coffee at him and hate him for no reason
• it's not a reason to hate someone
• also in case you forgot, she doesn't wear makeup. she mentions it so much so we don't forget.
• also she was so vocally rude? like i know you don't like these rich kids aka "aberzombies" but she is so rude to them. and wonders why they are rude to her in return.
• and also, it's not like the do something to make her rude to them. she hated them the moment she laid eyes on them.



Urgh I don't even wanna talk about her anymore. Let's move on.

Rishi was okay. I didn't hate him. He had his redeemable moments. But honestly, I was too busy being annoyed with Dimple to really pay too much attention to him. Which is a shame. He seemed cool.

So what was the plot of this book? Because I thought it would be about a girl who goes to coding camp and meets boy and does coding and stuff like that, but hahahahahahah nope. It was just Dimple being totally unbearable. The coding stuff didn't even happen. It was mentioned briefly here and there, but Dimple and Rishi didn't mention it as much as SOMEONE ATTENDING AN ENTIRE COURSE FOR CODING SHOULD BE. I don't know much about coding. I've kinda messed around with it here and there, but as an extremely amateur clueless person. But I would imagine that coding an app would take quite a lot of focus and dedication, especially when there is such a limited timeline. WHen Dimple was so upset when she didn't win, I WAS LITERALLY YELLING AT THE BOOK THAT MAYBE IF YOU ACTUALLY SPEND TIME ON FREAKIGN MAKIGN YOUR APP YOU WOULDN'T BE IN THIS POSITION ARHGAUSJD. Also, she was mad that the "aberzombies" won because of their zombie beer app and it wasn't as great as hers. Like seriously girl? You haven't seen their app. It could be effing amazing, and it applies to a bigger target audience then your app does. Just because you think someone is entitled and big-headed and won just bc they have money doesn't mean they didn't create an well-developed app.

Dimple, that entire scene:





There was also a talent show thrown into all that drama for absolutely no reason. It makes no sense. Let's take time away from these kid's *very busy* coding free time and make them show off their talents. And give them a prize that is absolutely worthless if they don't win the coding competition. Like wtf. Please explain this to me. And then this talent show gets 10x more screen time then the actually coding aspect of this book does.

Literally, the only cool thing about this book was the exposure it provided to Indian culture. Honestly, that's amazing. Let's keep that up.

Thank god it only took me three hours to read this book, I'm not sure how much longer I could have lasted before I lost all my brain cells. I can't believe I spent money on this.

This is what I should have done with my money instead of buying this book:



In conclusion, there are so many other books in this world that are so much better than this book and have characters who aren't Dimple Shah.

[Tweebs ♡ · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to respond to everyone's comments but I didn't want to come off repetitive so I'll express my gratitude on here.

Thank you to everyone for being so supportive ❤️❤️❤️ I don't have enough words to describe my love for y'all. Bless your souls ❤️❤️❤️

In all seriousness, I never brought this bullshit onto my review to make the drama even bigger but I'm going to take advantage of this experience and help spread awareness.

I admit, this experience was shitty. I never thought writing this review will lead to this type of bullshit. If I had the chance to go back in time and re-write my review.

You will find the same review.

I'll never change my opinions to satisfy anyone and I'll never stop writing honest reviews. My mom didn't carry me for 9 months to give birth to an ass kisser. I'm sorry for being blunt but if you don't like my opinion then please don't fight me on it. Please don't take it to other websites. If you're honestly upset over anything I've ever written then talk to me. I'm a very understanding person and I'm cool with anyone sharing their opinions; whether it be agreeing or disagreeing with mines.

I hope you guys don't ever get discouraged and doubt your own reviews

If you ever find yourself in a similar situation, then I advise you to keep being honest no matter what

To the person who shall not be named even though she legit exposed my name, nice try honey.


*************

Wow

For those who got offended over my review, why don't you take a seat because I'm going to clear some shit up for you.

I didn't pick this book up thinking it's going to be exactly like a Bollywood movie. That's bullshit. I just said I watched them. That's all. Is it a crime to watch Bollywood Movies?

I never judged this book because it didn't live up to the expectations of a Bollywood movie or "the obvious stereotype of indians" as one said. That's bullshit. Idk why I have explain this shit but I'm left with no choice. Y'all need to know that I will never in my entire existence judge a book due to that reasoning. I'd punch my own self. I only judged this book due to its characters and how they pissed me off. I wasn't thinking about Bollywood movies or any stereotypes when I was writing my review. The thought never even crossed my mind. I have Indian friends and I know for a fact that Bollywood movies isn't an accurate representation of the Indian Culture.

Where y'all got that from, I will never know. I've already listed out the frustrations I had with Dimple, so go look at it because I'm not re-typing it. If you don't agree with my opinion of Dimple then okay. Bye ! You're not forced to agree with me.

For those who read my review whether on GR or Twitter (y'all idk how it even got to twitter. I'm shook!)

I want you to know that it's not cool to take my words and twist it up. If you misunderstood my review then please say something. Don't take my shit to other websites. I've never been so angry. I literally said I watch Bollywood movies and y'all went crazy.

What's next? Y'all going to arrest me for saying I like anime or something?

If you had a problem with my review then please drop a comment telling me what got you angry. Even if, someone had taken upon themselves to grace the Twitter community with my review and said a few hateful things; Doesn't mean it's the truth.

Doesn't mean you have the right to call me racist.

I'm not even hurt because I know myself. I know, I'm not racist and if you got that vibe from me then you need to professional help. I'm not trying to be modest or anything but I'm the nicest person. I'm so down to learning about new cultures. I watch so many foreign things and listen to foreign music. I don't have a single racist bone in my body. My friends are so diverse. My family is POC.

I'm so infuriated by that "racist" comment

I'm so done with this shit. Idk what else you want me to say but if you still have any problems. Leave a fucking comment and don't let me find you on Twitter


*****************

dis·re·spect·
/disrəˈspek(t)/

- showing a lack of respect or courtesy; impolite

“When Dimple Met Rishi” more like “When Dimple Met my Fist” because I will forever be angry about the fact that this lil shit named Dimple wasted a perfect ice coffee. That was straight up disrespect. This girl literally stood in line to only throw an ice coffee at someone. Talk about ruuuuuuude like I get why she did it but no. My heart still hurts reading that scene like I swear i never knew how passionate i was about the ice coffee life until this book.

It’s funny how the ice coffee is on the cover and I’m legit here like :



I get it, I'm ranting over a fucking drink. But I'm just representing the ice coffee since it can't speak for itself. #justice4icecoffee.

Alright.

Reading this book was like ordering a prom dress from online. You see a dress on a randamn website and you think to yourself, "yo that's the one!" . Then, you have to wait for the prom queen worthy dress and when you get it, this is what happens :



In other words:

I've never felt so unsatisfied by a book in my entire life.

Just like the prom dress, I was expecting to love this. I have a few friends who love Bollywood movies and made me watch them which I actually really enjoyed. When I seen this book, I thought it was cool to have an indian rep. Maybe get some Bollywood vibes. You feel me?? I even got myself hyped up because *cough* look at all those 4 or 5 star reviews *cough*. What a joke. I'm honestly wondering if I got the right book because whaa..?? I refuse to accept the fact that one of my anticipated releases was the biggest let down. I will forever question hype books or more like 4 or 5 star reviews from now on. I give up. #trustissues

why did I hate this book?

It's very easy, friends.

Dimple.

As in, "When Dimple met my Fist", Dimple.

She's the reason why I hate this book. Well, she's among one of the reasons. Why? Dimple is such an annoying lil shit. I liked the ice coffee better than her and it was in the book for literally 2 seconds. I legit got angry at my cousin for no reason the other day because she has dimples and somehow that reminded me of Dimple. I don't think I can even look at Harry Styles anymore without associating him with Dimple but....... I'll fix that problem because Dimple ain't ruining Harry styles for me. Nope.

It's just sad

Would you believe that I actually liked her? For the first 20 pages or so? because I can't believe my own self. My hatred towards Dimple started ever since that ice coffee scene. I'm not saying that I have a grudge against her but that's exactly what I'm saying. I tolerated her character. I found her somewhat cool because she was a nerd, stood up for herself, wanted to pursue her dreams, and shit. I could feel the potential in her character. Then, she completely killed my hopes when she met Rishi. Her entire character changed. She went from tolerable to "wtf someone slap this lil shit " I would honestly pay someone $5 to explain to me why this girl changed like that?

Is she a pokemon? Who switched her? Bring back the Dimple I liked in the first 20 pages because I just can't accept this new version of her. I was beyond annoyed. If she was real and literally took a breath, I would've screamed at her.

Actual footage of me reading Dimple's parts :



Her character was everywhere. It was a hot mess and idk where to begin describing her character. I just want to know how I managed to continue reading without flinging the book across the Atlantic Ocean.

For Rishi, I actually liked the dude for more than 20 pages. He was okayish. I didn't mind him. Alright, I hated him a little. Most of the time, I was hopping between : "i like you" to "...bye"

oh, let's talk about the plot

where :) is :) it :)

It's like googling something and if it's not on the first page then that's it. It's not there. It's not anywhere. Just like this plot. Okay, it was there for a bit in the beginning. I could see it going somewhere but then it vanished. Or it literally got split up and went different directions. Or I simply couldn't focus because Dimple was being an annoying lil shit. Yup, I'm just going to blame her. It's easier. Or the fact that they kept kissing every 5 seconds; because I was distracted by disgust to pay attention to the plot.

what do you even like in this book, you say?

○ Indian culture
○ I was in it for the indian culture tbh

let's not forget the ending

Thank you for ending.


There's so many things I want to say about this book but then again, who wants to sit here and type about my 99 problems. I'm just over it. I'm done. And to those who loved this book, y'all are incredible. Thank you for loving this for me. I was hoping to join the fangirling over this book but nah i don't think i'm cut out for this.

Ugh.

I'm honestly upset that this book didn't live up to my expectations. It had everything but this book will not discourage me from picking up other books by Sandhya Menon . I still have faith you will create another book that will be 100000 times better than this one. I'm hoping you prove me right. Please just don't add another character who is like Dimple. One of her is enough. Two of her will actually make me hate Harry styles.

peace out suckas

*drops mic*

[s · Rating 1 out of 5]

EDIT: Please read my homegirl Tweebs review.

So I just checked and realized I've been reading this for 10 days???? It never takes me that long. This book...y'all this book was such a huge disappointment and I promised myself if it were to be one, I would draw bananas all over my exams. I was hoping to finish this cringe before my exams,,, but it's so gross, I legit dragged this one for like 10 days.

Not gonna lie, this was actually somewhat fun and cute towards the beginning. But then this one kid named Dimple came in with her rude ass attitude and abuse behavior and just....someone learn how to transport people into books because I want to teach her some manners.

I don't like Dimple. She's fucking abusive, rude and just full on annoying, literally go away, I hate her. She is disrespectful, filled with attitude and akdbsjfbdjhd. She literally talked so much shit to Rishi when he wasn't even responsible for half the shit she was saying to him??? Her sole purpose is to fucking bitch at people for no reason???

Oh and she's really fucking abusive. I noticed many times throughout the book, she'd be punching and hitting Rishi and he even complained to her to stop and it hurt. It doesn't matter if she's a girl?? Abuse is abuse. Hitting and punching him was wrong especially when it hurt him. If it were the other way around everyone would point it out. If Rishi punched her and she said it hurt, y'all would be screaming out abuse 😤😤. I'm so done with her. And some of y'all are making excuses for her and brushing it off as her being "a strong character." Uhhh no, that's A B U S E. Can't believe people were ignoring this, i'm disgusted.

※The writing is????????????????????????????????????? Um what the fuck even. Filled with cringe, cringe and cringe it was really bad. The kissing was literally described so horribly and the characters came off as whiny, immature and ridiculously annoying to me. (Even Rishi.)

※ummmmmmmm,,,,, the story line was boring me.

The only good thing about this book is learning more about Indian culture and traditions. It was informative and that's about all the good things in this book.

So like, overall, no.

➖
BUDDY READ WITH MY FAVORITE ASSHOLE SOLOMON

➖
*screams*

I JUST BOUGHT THE EBOOK FOR THIS AND IM SO READY

[Emily (Books with Emily Fox on Youtube) · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know what, I was about to force myself to finish this but no. Just no.

DNFing it because I promised myself I would stop torturing myself.

Dimple is pretty rude. Rishi had the biggest insta love feelings ever. App contest? what app contest? This is just Dimple hitting Rishi, them kissing and now there's a talent show?!

It's not a horrible read, it's just pointless for me to finish it.

[♛ may · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ohhhh, do I got a rant for this book.

When Dimple Met Rishi was supposed to be the book of my dreams. It was supposed to clear my acne and water my neglected plants. It was supposed to help get into a good university and build my self confidence. . .

But the only thing it actually did was make me silently cry fake tears bc I wasn’t even invested in it enough to spend actual emotions on it

:) :)

Pros
- Indian representation – I’m pretty familiar with the culture bc I’ve grown up around Indians my entire life and so when I got my hands on this book I was legit crying tears of joy (until I reached the second chapter and it fell to poop)
- Still gotta give it for the indian rep
- ummm
- there was some nerd talk going on but it was so overwhelmed by the kissing it was hard to concentrate on it
- well
- yeah that’s all I got

Cons
- effing everything
- we’ll start with Dimple
- this kid
- tHIS KID IS HERE TO RUIN MY LIFE
- shes effing annoying
- shes rood as hell
- she has NO RESPECT FOR ANYTHING OR ANYONE
- shes abusive for no bloody reason
-
Dimple punched him in the ribs, lighter than she wanted to, but he still winced. “Ow. You know, most girls just slap guys playfully on the arm or something. They don’t actually hurt them.”
“Well, maybe you need to expand your idea of how girls behave,” Dimple replied, grinning.
- Did she just pull a “I’m not like other girls” as a reason to why shes abusive ???
- “I’m not like other girls, im abusive”
- nice, love it
- next
- She. Is. So. Indecisive.
- “I wanna make out with you but I don’t actually wanna be with you bc I can’t let you blindsight my goals”
- “but no lets make out”
- Okay um ???
- NEXT
- THE WRITING
- Made waxing seem fun
- Let me tell you kids
- Its not
- My nephew is three years old and if I asked him to write me a story
- Im 110% sure he could create something with better writing
- Yes, im not exaggerating (okay maybe I am just a little bit)
- Hmmmmmmmm what else
- The fact that these kids were kissing more than they were working on THIS PLOT FOR THE BOOK MAYBE
- Who cares about what he tastes like oh my lord I don’t want to hear it spare me please
- Also
- Rishi this kid is cute man
- I like him
- I LIKED him until HE STARTED LIKING DIMPLE
- Like boi she treats you like garbage why are you doing this to yourself
- Have some self worth
- Finally
- HATING ON RICH PEOPLE
- BC THEYRE RICH
- STOP BLOODY DOING THAT its not cute

Anyways this book was a good try, a very good try and I appreciate the indian rep but like
These characters aren’t doing anything for a plot that is nonexistent

Sorry
:)

Also if you wanna check out another awesomesauce review that’s most definitely NOT racist, you can check out my Canadian sista, Tweebs

1.5 stars!! Blehhhh


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

this is literally the 3rd book I started today, not bc i have zero impulse control but bc i MESSED UP OUR BR DATES DAMN ME and im trying to rectify my mistakes

Buddy read with my Max and my Emmy

[Lala BooksandLala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh the preciousness

[Warda · Rating 4 out of 5]

[4.5]

Oh my goodness, what a whirlwind. It is one of those books, one of those stories that I'm unable to review properly. It is, without a doubt, one of the best feelings to see yourself, aspects of your personality and culture, within a character. To find hope, inspiration and resilience in them and applying it to your own life. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every single page of this wonderful book!

[Kathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to love When Dimple Met Rishi. I really did. I mean, romantic realistic fiction with two Indian leads rather than the standard, generic white couple? SIGN ME UP. TAKE MY MONEY. ALL OF IT. But here’s the funny thing about storytelling, to be an exceptional book you actually have to write an original plot.

When Dimple Met Rishi starts with a promising premise: two college-bound, Indian-American teens meet at a summer app design program. Their parents have already arranged their marriage. The catch? Rishi is fully aware of this fact BUT Dimple is not. Boy meets girl. Jokingly declares his matrimonial intentions…….girl throws iced coffee on boy’s head. That’s where the ingenuity ends.

When Dimple Met Rishi tries so hard to convince readers it’s different. It’s alternative. It isn’t like all those “OTHER” teen romances. But here’s the rub: it is. Inserting two Indian-American teens, then calling it a day doesn’t cut it. When a story is desperate to renounce the Rom-Com label, it actually has to back that shit up ON. THE. PAGE. When Dimple Met Rishi calls itself unique, then proceeds to follow the blueprint for Every. Single. Rom-com. Ever. Made.

First, we have Dimple. Dimple who’s Not Like Any Other Girl because she rejects her parents gender expectations and refuses to wear makeup--which, BTW, is mentioned soooo many times it’s ridiculous. Dimple’s workin' the whole emo teen “my parents don’t understand me” bit. She believes they want to transform her into a Dutiful Indian Daughter. And Dimple is anything but. Because…..repeat it with me now: She’s NOT. LIKE. ANY. OTHER. GIRL. Forget marriage and babies, she wants FREEDOM. Problem is: all this “not like any other girling” doesn’t make for an interesting character, Dimple simply comes across as uptight, rude, and pedantic.

What’s worse: the consistent attempts to shove Dimple’s sparkly, shiny, special unicorn-ness in our face degrades other women in the story. Seriously, Every. Other. Girl. in the book is portrayed as vapid, slutty, and unintelligent. Is this supposed to make Dimple’s manic pixiness shine brighter? Because…..NO. Celia, Dimple’s friend and roommate, is characterized as a ditzy, sex-crazed Valley Girl with poor judgment. For the entirety of the book she’s either sexting, pushing sexy clothes on simply-dressed Dimple, complaining about her endless boy problems, or hooking up with inappropriate people. Isabelle, the only other female featured of similar age is given the same treatment. Really, book? That’s the best you can do? Celia and Isabelle exist to prop up Dimple. They serve no legitimate purpose. And really, that’s what I find most frustrating. Celia, because she engages in stereotypically female pursuits like shopping and socializing, is depicted as vacuous. Make-up hating, plain-clothes wearing, fuck marriage Dimple is “better” because SHE’S NOT LIKE ANY OTHER GIRL???? Translation: traditional feminine behavior=bad. That’s sooooo problematic on multiple levels.

Rishi’s character is thankfully better. Unlike Dimple, Rishi has embraced his Indian culture. He perceives his parents traditional hopes, not as a millstone, but a blueprint. Familiar, comforting. Rishi is the 2 parents, 2 kids, and a dog guy. A romantic. Read: the complete opposite of Dimple. But what I love most about Rishi is his warmth. The man is like a golden retriever. Loveable and charming.

“You guys have such interesting names.”
The way she said “interesting” made it clear she meant “weird.”
Rishi looked up, feigning confusion, “You guys? You mean people at Insomnia Con? Because I haven’t noticed that.”

Even when throwing shade, Rishi is STILL a gem. He’s smart, intelligent, and endlessly patient.

But Rishi alone cannot save this book. For a story that ostensibly values originality, while eschewing the insta-love trope, When Dimple Met Rishi is a fill-in-the-blank rom-com. There’s the opposites attract couple featuring a lead that’s (again) Not-Like-Any-Other-Girl. You have the meet-cute, stereotypical makeover moment when self-described plain, Not-Like-Any-Other-Girl finally discovers how effortlessly GORGEOUS she is, epic dates complete with visits to high vantage points, and an airport scene. There’s even a TALENT SHOW. A talent show at a tech workshop. WTF??!! But don’t worry because ain’t nobody puttin’ Dimple in the corner. She’s gonna have the Time of Her Life.

And that time means apparently ignoring Insomnia Con completely. Because love, y’all. Dimple is purportedly career-driven, yet as soon as she starts dating Rishi there’s nary a mention of programming. Instead Dimple devolves into an empty-headed, shell of her former character (which I didn’t like either, but you know….consistency). Her determination and drive are replaced with….fluttery, floofy, giddiness. Sugar and spice and everything nice. A scowling girl no more, she now “smiles up from under her eyelashes.” WTF and WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH DIMPLE???!!! It’s like Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Actually, that might have been a better plot direction.

It gets worse. The tropey-tropeness abounds. Fellow caucasian classmates are all Rich and…...OBNOXIOUS. We’re talking straight from a John Hughes flick evil. Why one of them wasn’t named Blane or Stef I’ll never understand. MISSED OPPORTUNITY, PEOPLE. These “Aberzombies,” (so dubbed by Rishi) utter cliched frat-boy phrases such as: “bro, that was epic” while designing a talent performance consisting of bikini-clad women prancing on stage. Because being rich and obnoxious wasn’t enough. Let’s make them misogynistic dicks, as well.

Other characters get equally bad treatment. To sell Dimple & Rishi: The EPIC!LOVESTORY, randos are compelled to spout ridiculous statements like: “you guys are just, like, fated to be together, y’know?” Tell me, WHO TALKS LIKE THAT???? Even their poor TEACHER is subjected to this torment: “What I notice in a majority of these is a sense of easy camaraderie. As if your spirits are already friends.” THIS IS THEIR TEACHER. Why is he commenting on their relationship??? That’s not a thing. Period. And “spirits are already friends?” What sage-infused, new age hell did he crawl out from??? Just….MAKE. IT. STOP.

This is a book that condescendingly refers to “insta-love” and then proceeds to have its main characters fall in it. Smugly considers itself “not-like-any-other-teen-romance” yet embraces every rom-com trope. Loudly proclaims “girl power” while portraying 2/3rds of the featured females in a negative light. Just because it’s a rom-com wrapped in a guise of Indian-American culture doesn’t make it fresh and new. And I love a good rom-com as much as the next person. But even if you put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.

[jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay, this is a cute story and i understand its moderate popularity. i dont know much about arranged matches, so i was eager to see how it was portrayed. i enjoyed how both dimple and rishi are able to organically develop their relationship (even if dimple is a bit too abrasive for me, at times), while at the same time pursuing their own dreams. overall, this is your very standard YA contemporary romance.

that being said, something is definitely missing from this story, but i honestly have no idea what. i know that makes for a very underwhelming review, but i just cant shake the feeling that there could have been more to this book? i dont know how to describe it.

basically, this is a good story for some light entertainment, but its unfortunately nothing more than that.

↠ 3 stars

[Natalie Monroe · Rating 1 out of 5]

UNPOPULAR OPINION TIME: I honestly think this book got published purely due to its diversity factor.

Nothing else about it is appealing. NOTHING. Just the writing is enough to turn people off. It reads like the countless fanfiction you forced yourself through because a show's writers refused to make your ship canon, so now you have to wade through story after story of typos and grammar mistakes for resolution. But those authors aren't paid for their material. I'm the first to admit fanfiction is great for blossoming writers. My wallet did not have to suffer for lines like "Her eyes glittered with tears" or "The walls felt like they were holding their breath, like they'd inhaled but hadn't exhaled yet."



And Dimple. Oh ho ho, Dimple. Judgement is her mother tongue. She's plain rude and judges everyone based on their clothes or wealth bracket. Her inner monologue is like a livestream of Gordon Ramsey criticizing food. Plus, for a feminist—which she loves to bring up because it makes her DIFFERENT!!1!!—she sure loves slut-shaming other women. You can't open a tube of mascara in front of her without her launching in a tirade about it.

I suppose you could pin it on her Indian-American social background—Her mother forces her to wear makeup and look pretty to attract a husband. But you can't have it both ways. You can't label Dimple a feminist yet have her be so radically anti-feminine. Don't wear makeup, fine. Don't stop and judge others for doing so.

All this makes When Dimple Met Rishi seem extremely juvenile. The mean kids are literally called Aberzombies. Younger teens might sympathize with Dimple badmouthing her parents for clinging to their heritage and her "me against the world" mentality. As someone in her early twenties, it lacks appeal.



Rishi is so far up Dimple's ass, he might as well put down a mortgage. Page after page, he waxes on about her—her laugh, her beauty, her glasses, her lower lip... Yet she's done nothing but be horrible to him since they met.

He deserves better. Fuck kismet.

The format threw me off, too. Chapters had no particular length. Sometimes a POV chapter would be two paragraphs long, sometimes it'd go on for pages. And its third-person style is poorly written. It feels like (and I bet my liver it really happened) it was originally written in first-person, but then a beta reader said it was too hard to tell the POVs apart, and Menon panicked and immediately replaced every "I" with a person's name in Word without considering the subtle differences between these two styles.

Ending is a vat of nauseating cheese. Airports! Crying! Declarations of love while passersby stream by, secretly glaring at them because they're blocking the fucking road!



Points for diversity. But nothing else.

[Ninoska Goris · Rating 4 out of 5]

English - Español

I changed my mind. When I started this book the first thing I thought was: another over hyped book and more of the same.

And yes, it is more of the same but from another perspective and very well told. I loved it!

The protagonists Dimple and Rishi are Hindu-Americans, with parents very attached to their culture of origin. They both just finished high school and will study at Stanford and MIT, but first both are going to a summer camp, Dimple to gain more insight from her application design area and Rishi to meet the wife with whom his parents matched him. The problem? Dimple's parents didn't say anything.

Dimple wants to get away from everything that represents their culture, does not want to get married, use makeup, put on very colorful clothes, not even let her hair grow. What she wants is to be an independent woman with a university career.

Rishi is attached to their culture and respects and accepts what his parents say. That's why he decided to marry and study engineering, even though he is passionate about art.

The story of Dimple and Rishi is wonderful and a tremendous opportunity to learn to look for a second point of view to the things that come to your life and how everything can have a place if you really find it.

✨✨✨

Cambié de opinión. Cuando comencé este libro lo primero que pensé fue: otro libro más con mucha publicidad y más de lo mismo.

Y si, es más de lo mismo pero desde otra perspectiva y muy bien contado. Me encantó!

Los protagonistas Dimple y Rishi son hindúes-americanos, con padres muy apegados a su cultura de origen. Ambos recién terminaron el bachillerato y estudiarán en Stanford y MIT, pero antes van a un campamento de verano. Dimple para obtener más conocimiento de su área de diseño de aplicaciones y Rishi para conocer a la esposa con la que sus padres lo emparejaron. Él problema? Los padres de Dimple no le dijeron nada.

Dimple quiere alejarse de todo lo que representa su cultura, no quiere casarse, maquillarse, ponerse ropa muy vistosa, ni siquiera dejarse crecer el pelo. Lo que quiere es ser una mujer con carrera universitaria e independiente.

Rishi es apegado a su cultura y respeta y acepta lo que digan sus padres. Por eso decidió aceptar casarse y estudiar ingeniera, a pesar de que lo apasiona el arte.

La historia de Dimple y Rishi es maravillosa y una tremenda oportunidad de aprender a buscarle un segundo punto de vista a las cosas que se te presentan en la vida y de cómo todo puede tener un lugar si realmente se lo encontramos.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars
Find this review and others at A Thousand Lives of Frankie Lovely blog

Well ...
a lot of hype ... and ...
sort of meh at best actually

What I Liked

There were moments in this book that were extremely cute. The concept was adorable. I loved Rishi and Dimple’s first encounter. I actually really enjoyed this book until one specific scene where it all went downhill fast for me (see below). I loved Rishi and I enjoyed Dimple when she was being the Dimple from the beginning of the book (more on this later). I also really enjoyed the way that culture and society issues were handled in this book.

What I Did Not Like

Oh boy … Dimple. Dimple, Dimple, Dimple. I really thought Dimple was going to be the outspoken confident-in-her-own-skin sort of character I was craving! The beginning of this book gave me that and boy was it refreshing! I mean she stood up for her beliefs, did things confidently on her own, and refused to wear makeup for god's sake! Unfortunately Dimple’s characterization ended up being a bit unreliable. One moment she is standing up to people and speaking her mind not giving a fuck… then the next minute she is timid quiet they-are-looking-at-me Dimple. Like … pick a character and go with it because Dimple changed her personality like normal people change underwear! I hated it. I specifically hated whiny Dimple because outspoken down-for-whatever Dimple was definitely more relatable for me personally. And not that there is anything wrong with an introverted character. Some of my favorites have been introverts … but like … is it just me or is the unpopular introvert “ugly” girl who loves to read trope sort of exhausted in YA contemporary or what?! I feel like I need to read Lady Midnight to get an Emma Carstairs kickass extrovert fix after this!

But I digress …

Overall … it was not either personality that bothered me most … it was the sheer fact that it was not consistent AT ALL! And when I thought I was getting different ... I got cliché AF.

Speaking of tropes I am SO over … how about this …

NO to rich shaming
NO to popular shaming
NO to fraternity/sorority shaming

There was so much of these awful tropes in this book that I had to assume that the author’s high school experience must have made her bitter as fuck. Like I wasn’t any of those things … and my high school experience was really shitty (maybe I'll write a book about it later) … but I know a lot of private school rich popular kids who were normal non-douche bags. I mean for god’s sake … my husband was a fraternity boy and he is not an asshole misogynistic douche … most days :P (kidding, kidding).

Aside from a certain clique of these kids being portrayed as the devil’s spawn from the moment they stepped on the scene (and quite awkwardly so might I add) … but Dimple seriously didn’t even try to be nice to them. Maybe this is just me again … being a moderator personality … I like to find common ground with even the most unpleasant of humans … I at least TRY! There was one scene in particular that I spent maybe half a day bitching about to my innocent bystander of a friend. I'm just going to skim over my rant a bit because I could spend way too much time here to be honest. *MILD SPOILER*At one point Dimple and Rishi are to meet with with Dimple’s roommate and her “friends” (the rich assholes … I mean how dare they be rich … gods!) and they arrive early. Dimple talks about how she is going to give them a chance but it is obvious that she has resigned to being the weird bitchy girl glaring in the corner at best. Not a good way to start. The obviously-demon-spawn-private-school kids arrive and … Dimple is pretty much a bitch right off the bat. She corrects someone on the pronunciation of their own name, she insults one guy’s lack of cultural interest (um … wasn’t she just bitching about some cultural things in the beginning of this book?), she gets offended when one girl tries to lighten the mood and stop a fight, she insults the richy-rich-kids when they are talking about where they like to go on vacation (obviously places rich kids go … ug the nerve of them being rich!). And honestly Rishi isn’t much better! In fact he orchestrates a lot of it! He lets the situation get the best of him and becomes a bit of a dick himself. This seemed out of character for him actually and I feel like it may have been him reacting more to the fact that Dimple was feeling attacked. And yes … as it turns out these kids end up being pretty shitty humans … but that could have been developed a bit more naturally and with at least SOME effort on Dimple and Rishi’s part. But of course that brings me back to the point that I'm a little over this damn-you-rich-popular-kids trope.

I hated the fact that Dimple’s personality was all over the place and how stuck-up both her and Rishi were when it came to this one group of rich popular kids. How the author portrayed them immediately as the worst people in the world really irked me. This could have been developed better in my opinion. Also … can I rage about the fact that Dimple and Rishi said shit about fraternities and sororities and how it was “paying for friends” in a condescending conversation … because obviously they are too good for such groups. Um … it’s actually a club, a community, a sisterhood or brotherhood … something to have pride in. A group of similar individuals who do things for the college and the community. Yeah they party … but that’s not all they do! And like with all groups of people there are normal people and shitty people. But what is up with this societal misconception bullshit on fraternities and sororities?! STOP THIS TROPE OH MY GODS!!!

Ok … that’s out of my system. Now you feel sorry for my friend who had to listen to me bitch like this for hours don't you?

Another thing that really bothered me was the total abandonment of the plot I THOUGHT I was going to get. You know … kids up all night, coding shit, trying to make their dreams happen. But everyone seemed to have an awful lot of free time for something named “Insomnia Con” … like when were they even working on their project? It is only mentioned a very few times and never in detail. Like … they never worked on it! *MAJOR SPOILER*No wonder they didn’t win! They did spend a lot of time preparing for the talent show though which … um had nothing to do with coding AT ALL! Honestly, this shouldn't have even been in there. I think it was really just another opportunity for the author to show us what misogynistic assholes men are! ARG OVER IT! Just scrap the stupid talent show idea … it doesn't work here. Put that in another book and give us more coding. I mean we got a lot of Rishi and his passion of art and drawing (which I loved) … but poor Dimple and her passion was skated over in this plot (which I thought was the MAIN plot?) for no reason at all.

In Conclusion

Anyway … the book wrapped up nicely with it’s cutesie fairy-tale ending like everyone expects which was really pleasant and nice and cute … but I honestly could not enjoy this book fully. Even if these issues had not bothered me or occurred to me … this still would have been a decent book at best. It was by no means a super hype-worthy 5 star read. Oh well … on to the next one.

[Stacee · Rating 5 out of 5]

July 2017: yep. I still love this book with a sickness.

I absolutely loved this cover and after reading the synopsis, couldn't wait to get my greedy hands on it.

I loved Dimple and Rishi. They're both so smart and so alike and different at the same time. She's sort of rebelling against the traditional ways of her family and he's all for it and I was captivated by reading them figure it all out.

The plot for the story was delightful. I loved having them thrown into a situation away from home and becoming somewhat dependent on each other. It definitely made for some sweet swoony moments -- as well as some frustrating ones.

Overall, it was quick, fun, and mostly fluffy read. I loved seeing the culture represented and can't wait to get a finished copy on my bookshelf.

**Huge thanks to Simon Pulse for providing the arc free of charge**

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so fucking cute.

I don't know how the modern American/Indian family functions, but I think this was a very sweet romance that (maybe) gave a peek into the inner working of some of those families. And that, to me (<--white bread) was kinda cool. There is not only so much room for other viewpoints and experiences in romance, but a really need for them, as well. So, this was an amazing breath of fresh air.



The blurb tells you the gist of the plot, but it doesn't adequately explain how adorkable Dimple is or how loveable Rishi turns out to be.<-- Pssst! Very and very.
I'm not saying it was perfect, but it was sweet and fun.
Definitely Recommended!

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars!!!



This book was simply adorable! So, when I saw the title of this book, I knew I had to read it. I have dimples, and that has been a nick-name of mine for the longest time, so I felt like it was fate I pick this one up! When Dimple Met Rishi was a nice change of pace from the standard YA read. I loved both of the main characters and their story!

Dimple Shah is an Indian-American teenager. She is independent, self-reliant, and knows what she wants in life. What she wants for herself and what her parents want for her are two completely different things. When she goes to a summer program before she starts college and meets Rishi Patel, the unthinkable happens. She starts to fall for a guy that her parents would approve of *gasp* In fact, Rishi is exactly the boy the Shah’s would choose for their daughter.

There was something about people who were that secure; they made you feel better about yourself, like they accepted you for everything you were, imperfections and all.

Rishi Patel is much more… traditional than Dimple. He respects his parents and his culture, and he’s just one of those guys that is always trying to do the right thing. He and Dimple have the cutest first meeting. It seriously had me cracking up laughing!

Rishi is a fantastic character. He was very sweet, kind, and what I loved most about him, is he loved Dimple exactly the way she was and didn’t want to change her or have her be someone she wasn’t. Dimple was a great heroine as well. I liked how she was just herself always. She and Rishi made a great couple and I thought they had a great connection. They were sweet together.

If you’re looking for a cute read that will keep a smile on your face, I recommend giving this one a go! I enjoyed it very much.

[Korrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, that settles it. Dimple and Rishi are my new OTP.

[✨ jami ✨ · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It was his damn fool heart. Ever optimistic, always looking for a sliver of sunshine in a sky clotted with thunderclouds.”

im actually angry people made this book out to be SO HORRIBLE like yall were out here saying dimple was abusive like literally what the fuckgjjdfgd

I have 3 things to say

1: im convinced yall have never met men in your life bc im telling u if a random man came up to me and said hey future wife i would fLIP my shit too

2: rejecting traditional femininity yourself (ie. I don't wear makeup and think its dumb people want me to) is literally not the same as bashing girls who do wear makeup and going "im not like other girls" DIMPLE'S BEST FRIEND IS A BISEXUAL GIRL WHO LOVES DRESSING UP OWNS A DESIGNER WARDROBE AND WEARS MAKEUP FULL TIME AND DIMPLE SUPPORTS HER. SHE SUPPORTS HER AND NEVER SAYS SHE'S DUMB FOR DOING THOSE THINGS. READING COMPREHENSION oh my god people

3: Dimple is a cool, badass, take no shit woman and people are ALWAYS saying they want more strong, independent, badass girls but as soon as you get one you go off ??? the irony when the same people who hate Dimple love Lila Bard and Kaz and those girls from ToG qwhite interesting lmfaaooo

In conclusion: I have lost trust in some people here because there's a difference in saying why you didn't like a book and just randomly making shit up that didn't even happen IN THE BOOK to be super extra about bashing a book

actual review to come

[Layla · Rating 1 out of 5]

~1.25 stars~

I literally can't believe everything I read was real.

There were soooooo many things I didn't like. Did...no one proofread and edit this? Did no one one read this beforehand and say "this is a really problematic trope, so maybe don't add that"?

This book follows 2 Indian upcoming college kids and their love story that takes place in a summer camp. This discusses culture issues and it is own voices I believe, which was one of the only things I liked about it.

And it was faster paced and had short chapters.

But that's it. I basically hated everything else.



The things I disliked:

• Dimple: She is so insufferable that it's not even funny. She's rude, inconsiderate, and is a total not like other girls. Girl on girl hate is a trope we need to leave in the past .

First off the way she treats Rishi is absolutely unacceptable. You don't "play punch" people, know it hurt them, continue to do it, and then one day realize that you have punched them so much to the point that they are conditioned to the pain. That is a normalization of physical abuse. And I am not here for it. It's not funny or playful to straight up punch someone.

And Rishi said something about how most girls just slap a guy when something happens, and than Dimple says something about him not having met a real girl, or the right girl or something... Not that either form of violence is acceptable, because they both aren't, but curb your internalized misogyny love.

• Consent: We all know what this is right? Rishi wasn't totally into the idea of having sex yet, and before he agreed, she was pushing him and continued to kiss him, and telling him this is what she wanted, even though he wanted to stop. He said he wanted to wait until they had a proper conversation about it first, which is a valid thing. But Dimple basically pushed him into it. Even if he consented later, pressuring someone into it, because you want to, is a crappy thing to do. She literally just shrugged off his concern and said something like "oh, we are both adults, so what's the problem?". Anyways, I'm gonna stop before I combust from frustration.

• Now regarding the whole not like other girls things. It's constantly putting an emphasis how unlike others, she's ✨dIfFeReNt✨. She likes computers and when she was younger she gravitated there, while their pesky girly girls did stuff like reading and art.

She wears glasses and doesn't wear makeup, therefore she is ugly, but she doesn't care about about her looks. Much to the dismay of her helicopter mother, who she literally takes every chance she has to talk about how she sucks.

Dimple thinks that her mom only cares about marrying her off and doesn't love her because she is a disappointment (her words not mine...). Honestly her mother seems so overbearing and said so many terrible things, but that doesn't mean your mom doesn't love you. Your mother just knows one thing, and one way of life, and isn't able to look around it, it's cultural dissonance.

You don't have to cry about what a sucky person she is to every other person as if they are your therapist.

She also says some things about one of the characters choice in clothes, like how her booty shorts barley cover her butt, and also makes other comments about what other people wear. Mind your own business. If a person decides to dress modestly or cover up, that is their choice. If a person decides to flash their skin and show it off, than that is also their choice, and it doesn't effect you in any way.


• Rishi: Someone give this man a sense of humor and some self-awareness. Because the amount of times he said something stupid, or made a bad joke, was embarrassing. I literally wanted to crawl under my bedsheets and never come out after that marriage joke he made .5 seconds after seeing Dimple.

I like him better than Dimple, and he seems nice enough, but he is honestly still so boring. And plot twist, he's actually a struggling artist that was forced into engineering and has to bear the weight of his family as the older son based on the expectations his parents have. Okay....love the high school musical energy.

And then Dimple breaks up with him after everything he did for her, and she called him a coward for not perusing comic art , and for some reason he still wants to be with her. Does he have no self worth?

He is also constantly referring to himself in 3rd person by his full name unironically, and refers to Dimple half the time by her full name.


• Now to the worst romance trope ever..... insta love. 👏👏👏 You can't fall in love with someone after only knowing them for a month. And I suppose it was less than a month as they both thought about saying it before they did.

At least I like to think that you shouldn't because there is so much you don't know about them. What if they are secretly a serial killer? A psychopath? A bigot? Someone who chews their gum really loudly?!

She literally hated him and acted like a total snob at first, but of course, once she got to know him, she started catching feelings, and behold, a few days later and they're already are in a serious and committed relationship. And they are in lovvvveeee.

• The stereotypical bullies: *Gets flashbacks to that one Gabbie Hanna meme* They were so one dimensional. I don't think they really added anything to the story.

• The entire book they didn't do any programming or whatever they were supposed to do at that camp because I forgot. It literally only showed them working on their project once.

• The relationship between Cecelia and Ashish is not it. She is going into her first year of college and him to his junior year. The second she turns 18, she's catching a case. A minor cannot give consent to an adult.

And the fact that both Dimple and Rishi encouraged it, despite the fact that due to common sense, it wasn't going to work out, made me want to throw the book out the window. Especially Dimple, who made it her business, when it wasn't and acted as if it personally affected her.

• The writing was also lackluster. It had many sentences that were run on and made zero sense no matter how many times I read it. It also added long words unnaturally, and words that aren't commonly used in places that sounded weird. As someone who has done this before to spice up their essay, to finesse an A, I have a strong hunch that a thesaurus was used.

The writing is also repetitive and repeats phrases like to the point where it is annoying:

"She pushed up her glasses"
"She tucked a curl behind her ear"

• The switching of perspectives was annoying too. This is written in 3rd narrative, so why is it switching, uselessly in the middle of scenes. As if that makes a difference. All it does is confuse me.

• That ending was so terrible and unsatisfactory. The amount of books I have read, that have ended similarly like that, is not cool.



Overall this book was obviously not for me. I don't think I can really recommend this anyone. When things started opening up, I decided to go to my secondhand local bookstore, and I got both The Selection, and this one, so clearly the odds were not in my favor. The force was not with me. Really I'm just disappointed, but oh well. On to the next book.

[Maddie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever been so disappointed in a book. If it's shocking to you, it's shocking to me too because I thought I was going to love this. It was one of my most anticipated releases and I was so excited to read an #OwnVoices story about teenagers of Indian descent. And for the most part, the elements of Indian culture and passion for your own heritage was my favourite part of the book. It delivered that, but that was the ONLY thing it delivered for me.

So, let's just pros and cons everything about this book, from character to plot to actual writing:

PRO: Dimple wears glasses and is ambivalent towards make up. A girl with glasses? And she doesn't take them off, blink away her short sightedness and become more beautiful?? That trope can go and die. Dimple was like if Mia in The Princess Diaries movie didn't have her make-over and I was living for it.

CON: The number of bloody times I had to read the words 'Insomnia Con'. It's not even a good name! They have six weeks to code an app, not 24 hours. Speaking of which, when did they actually work on the app? I signed up for a book about a female protagonist interested in STEM subjects, and she and Rishi spent about 0.45% of the book actually talking about what they were there to do! Where was the montage? Where was the detail? I wanted Mary Kate and Ashley movie levels of commitment to the task, and got literally zip.

PRO: Online friendships. Celia and Dimple as best friends who met online was such a cute touch.

CON: Rishi being a dick about it. We're talking about a boy who wants to be in a relationship with a girl he hasn't seen in the flesh for ten years, and he's concerned about Dimple's safety when meeting a stranger? Look in the mirror, man. It's the same thing.

PRO: Indian culture and discussion of race. When the Rich White Girl made a comment about their 'unusual' names and Rishi just shut her down and made a fool of her disguised racism, I wanted to applaud.

CON: Talent contest in the middle of a tech event. Are you telling me that the winners of Insomnia Con are mostly chosen from the people that dance well?? What kind of nonsense was that? While I really liked the Bollywood dancing, it felt thrown in as a token Indian experience rather than being necessary to the plot.

CON: Little Comic Con. Not only is it another bad name, but it just added to the general sense of bittiness this plot had. Rishi wanted to have a traditional arranged marriage like his parents and was passionate about his culture but STILL managed to have the 'it's not my dream, it's yours' conversation with his parents when it came to his career path. Defying tropes and then falling back on them was odd.

CON: Setting up the romance. I despise, and I mean despise sentences like 'she didn't know why his absence made her heart hurt'. That's a paraphrase, but it comes up a few times and it's just lazy! I want characters to a r t i c u l a t e their feelings, regardless of how messy they are, not rely on sentences like this to make the reader put it together. (Okay, I went into my highlights and found an exact quote: 'Dimple wondered why that thought [Rishi dropping out of Insomnia Con] sat like a ball of lead in her stomach.'
I think D and R got together too quickly. By 50%, they're in a romantic place, and so some out-of-place things had to happen to keep the book going. Don't even get me started on the younger brother and Celia romance that came out of nowhere...

PRO: Dimple and Rishi remaining authentic to who they were before they met each other when they began their relationship.

CON: The writing style. This was the biggest let down, because it's so easy for romance contemporaries to become cheesy and stunted, and just a sequence of events rather than building to something. 'When Dimple Met Rishi' was a victim to all of that. The dialogue was terrible (when a character's speech act goes on for a whole page, something is wrong) and read like it hadn't been read aloud to see if it sounded genuine.
Examples of speech that made me laugh for all the wrong reasons:
a. 'You guys named a natural weather phenomenon?' - Oh, you mean like how the Met Office names every hurricane/tornado?? Is San Fransisco calling their fog Karl that weird?
b. 'It was Oscar-worthy. Or, you know, whatever the award was for costumes.' - Like the Oscar for Best Costume Design, perhaps?

I've probably written enough on all of this now, but it's safe to say, I didn't enjoy it. If you loved it, and disagree with every single word I've written, that's amazing and I wish we could swap places because nothing is worse than wanting to love a book SO much, and not clicking with it.

[Ashley Nuckles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so so so so so so SO cute. And hilarious. And perfect for the beginning of summer. AHH I NEEDED THIS IN MY LIFE.

[peachygirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a ridiculous, obnoxious snowflake.
I kept hoping someone would just tell Dimple that coming a middle class family and not wearing makeup DOES NOT make her unique. And being independent does not mean she has to trample her parents' wishes every chance she gets or criticize her mom's way of life. For a self-proclaimed modern woman of 21st century America, she certainly acts like a whiny judgemental diva.
I get it. I really do. Most Indian parents are overbearing. But the sheer number of times this girl bitches about her mom's apparent helicoptering made me want to scream at her for not seeing how privileged she was.
I'd have gladly DNF'd this book if not for the 5.8 feet of adorable goofiness by the name of Rishi, who deserved so much better than this brat. 2.5 stars, if only for my cutie.

[Caro · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful, refreshing book.

The novel follows Dimple and Rishi, two young Indian-American high-school graduates that are attending a pre-university course before starting college. The interesting part is that Dimple doesn't know Rishi exists and at the same time Rishi shows up ready to ask Dimple to marry her. Hilarity ensues.

One of the main themes of the novel is how the characters balance their own dreams with their family expectations and traditions. I loved both characters, well, that's a lie, I loved Rishi a lot more, he's just so cute, and smart, and polite, DREAM boyfriend.

The story is told from the alternating points of view of the main characters and takes place in current times. Their voices were well-drawn and distinct.

I listened to the audiobook and wished I had read the book instead, some of the sentences are in Hindi and (for a non-Hindi speaker like me) is easier to google the written comments. I'm not proficient in Hindi, my basic understanding is limited to han, nahin, namaste, -ji, baba and all the traditional food names (of course, haha).

Overall, I enjoyed this novel very much and recommend it to all readers of romance, YA, and contemporary fiction.

PS: I love watching Bollywood movies, I wrote a post of some of my favorite ones here

[Trina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very cute.

I loved the dynamic between the two main characters. They contrasted and complimented each other so well, and Rishi is a too good for this world cinnamon bun. I loved the hate-to-love element and watching both characters question themselves. I loved how relateable the feeling of wanting to break out of family obligations and watching your life plans change was. There's also a good brother relationship here, which is refreshing since we get a lot of emphasis on sisters in YA.

There are several romance cliches used throughout the book and the storyline is a little par for the course for the genre, so if you aren't a fan of contemporary romance I can see how you may not love this. I would recommend it overall, though, especially for the own voices aspect.

[Elle (ellexamines on TT & Substack)]

I don’t understand why y’all have such a deep and everlasting hate for this book but that being said, I have gone from Liking this book to Not Liking this book over the eleven days I have been reading it and am no longer interested in completing. the Drama is just so obviously there and the romance is going down a super obvious trajectory. and this is despite beginning with the most brilliant Meet Cute Idea ever, maybe [i do not understand how any one of you has hated on Dimple for throwing her iced coffee at Rishi. have you never interacted with a man in your life]

points for that one line about Snobby Atherton Kids because i go to school in Atherton and that is the most relatable Bay Area mood. also points for Sandhya Menon being both the classiest and most savage Twitter user I know and for my girlfriend being in her book acknowledgments. I’m so sorry @ girlfriend you didn’t deserve this I’m sorry

✨I am for some inconceivable reason in a Romantic mood and this exceptionally polarizing book will hopefully be Adorable

[Wren (fablesandwren) · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are needing some quirky girl and a love-struck boy to have a love story that keeps you giggling and grabs your attention (even if it is a little predictable), then you have come to the right book.

This book breaks away from a lot of the stereotypes that are out there for genders. Example, the girl is the one who wants the relationship or the boy is the one who never wants to settle down or the boy is the generous with technology and the girl is the cute artsy one.

I loved this book for what it truly was: a predictable love story that had me awe-ing and cheering for the couple to make it to the end.

“This is our life. We get to decide the rules. We get to say what goes and what stays, what matters and what doesn’t.”

There is a lot of other players in this, like rich kids who get what they want, someone who just wants to fit in with the popular crowd, someone who doesn’t want to follow in their families beliefs and life style, etc., and I feel as if those were really important to put in a book that wasn’t your typical young adult novel. The blend of culture and religion and reverse rolls was something that I found very enjoyable.

The only thing that knocked out a star was how predictable it was. I mean, if it didn’t end the way we all wanted it to, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be raved about as much as it has been. Sometimes though, predictable reads can be relaxing and fun because you don’t have to stress about it as a whole and can enjoy the ride to the last page.

Overall, this was super cute and super adorable and super fun. SUPER SUPER SUPER. Not sure what else you can expect from such a cute cover, am I right? I will definitely be reading more by this author.

- - -

That was disgustingly adorable I loved it. RTC.

- - -

So quick note: I completely understand the “strange name” thing. My name isn’t too strange, but I’ve been called “Rān” “Rēan” “Reba” (yeah, idk) “Wēan” “When” “Ron” (you think I’m kidding) “Rue” and literally some people who gave up and gave me a new name... it’s kind of... hurtful.

And, my name isn’t that “weird.” Just uncommon.

Just keep that in mind when you talk to someone who has a “strange” name. 🙃

- - -

Excited to finally dive into this book to see what all the fuss is about!

[Larry H · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

I’ve been meaning to read this for a few years; now that I devoured it in one night, I don’t know what took me so long. I loved this book and it totally captured my heart!!

Dimple Shah is ready to break away from her traditional parents, who seem to want nothing more than for her to marry an IIH (Ideal Indian Husband) and give them grandchildren. But seeing as she just graduated high school, she’s definitely not ready for that—if she ever will be. She doesn't believe that her value can only be determined by her looks or the type of man she marries; she knows she is intelligent and wants to make a real contribution to society.

Even though her parents let her go to Stanford she knows they’re just hoping she meets the right boy. All her mother is worried about is if she'll remember to wear makeup to class and fix her hair appropriately. But then her parents let her go to a summer web coding workshop, so perhaps they get her just a little, right?

Rishi Patel has the soul and talent of an artist, but as the oldest son, he knows he must do what is practical and pursue a career which will allow him to provide for a family and care for his parents someday. Even though some think them old-fashioned, he is actually enamored of many of the traditions of his culture and doesn't care if it seems weird to follow them.

When Rishi finds out his future wife will be attending a summer workshop, he decides to attend too so he can woo her. He has no idea what he's in for!

You can probably guess where things will go from here. Suffice it to say that When Dimple Met Rishi is a heartfelt, fun, romantic, and thought-provoking look at our obligations to our family and to our cultural traditions. It’s also a terrifically enjoyable, utterly engaging rom-com with memorable characters.

This book really hit the spot for me and I devoured it in a matter of hours. Could I pretty much chart what I thought would happen? Sure, but there were a few surprises, too. These characters had flaws and were so real and appealing, and Sandhya Menon makes you root for them.

Some people have really torn this book apart, particularly Rishi's character, because of his desire to adhere to the old-fashioned traditions. The truth is, there are some teenagers who do feel that way, so I felt that Menon's depiction was actually more realistic than going with the assumption that every teenager rebels against tradition.

When Dimple Met Rishi left me with a smile on my face and maybe a tear or two in my eyes. I’ll definitely be reading Menon’s follow-up now!!

See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Check out my list of the best books I read in 2018 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2018.html.

You can follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars

THIS. WAS. SO. CUTE.
I loved this so much and it was so awesome to see a contemporary taking place within another kind of culture and another kind of people than are the usual or majority. Also FEMINISM. TAKES PLACE AT A CODING SUMMER CAMP. HOPELESS ROMANTIC AND SUPER NICE MALE LEAD. ALL OF THESE FACTORS MAKE IT SO GOOD. Also comics !!! I just love how much good stuff was packed into this book, and it was all approached in a natural way, not a shove down your throats kind of way.
Basically the main reaction I had to this book was squealing or !!!!! And that's mostly what you need to know.
My only issue with this book was the lack of conflict. It's not as much that there wasn't any, more that it was mostly reserved for the last 50 pages. Things felt a bit insta-lovey and convenient (as with most contemporaries) but the lack of conflict magnified it more. It's just something to be aware of and honestly how cute and adorable and precious the book is mostly overshadows the issue.
Honestly everyone who loves contemporaries should read this book because you will NOT be disappointed. IT. IS. SO. FREAKING. GOOD.

[alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

i can't believe we've been blessed with a book that is equally cute as it is culturally diverse. i couldn't stop smiling while flying through this. :''')

full review to come~~