Review: From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

Title: From Twinkle, with Love Written by: Sandhya Menon Published: May 22, 2018 by Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: An aspiring teen filmmaker finds her voice and falls in love in this delightful romantic comedy from the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi.  Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy-a.k.a. Sahil's twin brother? Dream come true x 2.   When mystery man N begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it's Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she's fallen madly in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil. Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she's got is not the one she's scripted. But will it be enough? Told through the letters  Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, with Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you.

I loved When Dimple Met Rishi, and I am picky about contemporary romances, so when I saw she had a knew book I instantly added it to me TBR. So when I was looking for a new audiobook from the library I saw this one and snagged it. And I am really glad I did because this was a fantastic contemporary romance.

What surprised me most about this book was the romance. You guys know me, I am a cold-hearted romancephobe who is really hard to win over in the ship department. But this book won me over. For one thing it's a fantastic slowburn. The relationship between Twinkle and Sahil takes the entire book to really develop. When it starts , all it is is a crush from Sahil but the more time they spend together the more you can see how much Twinkle likes him. And honestly I just wanted to shake her and make her realizes that the guy she is looking for is right there. But the best part for me is that it wasn't perfect. They both make mistakes and end up screwing things up, which made the relationship feel even more realistic and enjoyable for me.

But so much of this book was about relationships and that expended beyond the romance. Both characters had interesting family dynamics where they felt like they weren't seen an appreciated by their family which connected them even more to one another and to each other. I could completely relate to Sahil in particular and the fact that he felt like he was living in his brother's shadow. I know Sahil isn't a middle child but he definitely had that feel. And for Twinkle, the struggle with her friendships was the most relateable. For her, a lot of what she is doing is because she's trying to win back her former best friend who is now much more popular that here. She wants to be cool but at the same time, I like she didn't sacrifice her identity and interests to do that. She felt very realistic and that is what made me like her.

While I wouldn't really call this a coming-of-age story, I do feel like there were some really good elements of that to this book. For both Twinkle and Sahil they want to be seen and appreciated for who they are and what they are interested in. Twinkle definitely has good character development throughout the book though. In the course of creating this film and working with people who she thinks look down on her she realizes that she is the one not giving them a chance. Twinkle is like that episode of 30 Rock where Liz Lemon goes to her 20 year reunion only to find out she was a bully and not the sassy unpopular girl she thought she was. But unlike Liz Lemon, she realizes the error of her ways and grows from it.

The only thing I didn't love about this book, however, was the format. It sounded like a fun concept at first, to be writing diary entries to the female directors that she admires, but overtime I just became frustrated with it. Each chapter starting with "Dear Ava DuVernay" or "Dear Sophia Coppola" became a distraction for me. It would pull me out of the book sometimes even making me wonder who the person was she was writing to. Maybe it wasn't that much of a big deal if you read the book but with the audio, it was kind of an issue for me. But honestly, that was just a small personal complaint.

On the whole, this was a really good book. It was a cute contemporary romance with a good relationship and realistic characters you wanted to see succeed. There was good character growth and complex relationships beyond just the romance. Which honestly is all I look for in a contemporary novel.

I give From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy. If you are a fan of contemporary romances and have not read Sandhya Menon you need to change that. And if you aren't a fan of the genre but are looking for one to read then I would still recommend it.

Have you read From Twinkle, with Love? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Audiobook Review: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Title: When Dimple Met Rishi Written by: Sandyha Menon Published: May 30, 2017 by Simon Pulse (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right?  Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself.  The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not?  Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

I know so many of you loved this book. It's one that I saw a lot of talk about when it came out in May. I wanted to let the hype die down a little bit before reading it. But then all the drama over the character came out and so I decided it was time. I don't read a ton of YA contemporaries but every once in awhile it's nice to take a break from the genre fiction and read a cute romance. And that's exactly what this book was, cute.

The story was built on the relationship between Dimple and Rishi so I have to start with the characters. As far as Dimple goes, I really liked her. She is a bit on the rebellious side wanting to be more of an American teenager and less of the Indian teenager her parents want her to be. She's sassy and tough, fiercely independent, and will do anything for the people she cares about. She's also incredibly ambitious, working hard to get what she wants. I respected her for this and rooting for her. Rishi on the other had is the traditional Indian teenager his parents want him to be. He's also incredibly sweet and kind but with a bit it mean streak that appreciated. I did however like Dimple way more than Rishi. I think Rishi was just too perfect. What's the male equivalent of a Mary Sue because that's what a Rishi was. I liked him so much better in the rare moments he did something that wasn't cautious and according to plan.

But honestly, so much of this book was about these characters realizing you can't entirely plan out your life because the unexpected could be much better than what you ever imagined. Both of them have great development throughout the book as they learn and grow into more well-rounded individuals. It felt very genuine and honest to see two teenagers feel conflicted about their futures, make mistakes, and figure what it was they really wanted. Not what their parents wanted for them or what was expected of them, what they wanted.

And of course I have to talk about the romance. It was incredibly cute. I am quite romancephobic and when it comes to romances it's often hard to please me. And if I am being entirely honest, this wasn't my favorite romance. It was very sweet. Like overly sweet at times which just isn't my thing. But in the end it won me over. I think because it didn't stay perfect the entire time. Even though it was a short span of time, this relationship definitely had its ups and downs and I appreciated that. This very easily could have been a wish fulfillment kind of relationship and at times it seemed like it was going there but in the end it was something more genuine and complex.

Before this review is over though I want to take a second to talk about the secondary characters. That is definitely another place where this book shined. First of all I really enjoyed Dimple and Rishi's parents. Both sets of parents were involved and invested in their children's lives. They cared so much for them and would do anything to see them happy. That's not super common in YA so I appreciate it when I see it. I also really like Ashish, Rishi's brother. They had such a realistic sibling relationship. Plus Ashish was hilarious and is already so likable. I hear he's getting his own book and I can't wait for him to get a little more depth.

I did enjoy this book but it didn't totally blow me away in the way it has for most people. I think just in general it's not my favorite kind of read. It was just a little on the sweet side for me. But it had great characters and the romance won me over in the end.

I give When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon 8 out of 10 stars

Buy.Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. If you like really cute YA contemporary romances and are looking for a new one to read definitely check this book out. It is totally adorable and I think will really appeal to fans of romance.

Have you read When Dimple Met Rishi? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!