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Review: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

When Dimple Met Rishi (Dimple and Rishi #1)
Sandhya Menon
Simon Pulse
Published May 30, 2017

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About When Dimple Met Rishi

Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family—and 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—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 gravitating 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.

My Review

I remember really wanting to read WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI when it came out. It seemed like this book was everywhere, and like everyone was talking about it. Obviously it took me a while to catch up, but by now I’ve read two other books by Sandhya Menon: OF CURSES AND KISSES and TEN THINGS I HATE ABOUT PINKY.

I think Pinky is my favorite so far. There’s something irresistible to me about a girl who adopts a wild opossum because it keeps fainting, I guess. Haha! I loved that story, though, so that only made me want to read WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI even more.

One thing I love about this book is the way that even though Dimple pushes toward her own independence from her family, she clearly loves and values them. I loved that the app she wants to build would help her dad manage his diabetes and how much care and thought she puts into that. I felt like that tug of war– Dimple’s desire to break away from traditions and live her own life versus her connections to and love for her parents– came across as very real and deepened her character a lot.

Another thing I love is the relationship between Rishi and his brother. At first, they are on two completely different pages, more rivals than friends. But as they begin to develop a relationship away from home and see new things about each other, their relationship changes. Those changes help them make better choices in their lives in other areas, too.

On the whole, I enjoyed the romance and relationships in WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI. I’m super glad I read it and hope to read more books by Sandhya Menon in the future.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Dimple and Rishi are both Indian American. Dimple’s roommate is Dominican American and has dated both girls and boys.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. References to sex. A group of performers go onstage in revealing outfits.

Spiritual Content
Some discussion of spiritual beliefs and traditions.

Violent Content
A group of boys get into a fist fight.

Drug Content
Dimple and Rishi attend a college party where there’s drinking.

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Review: Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,

Geekerella
Ashley Poston
Quirk Books
Published April 4, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

About GEEKERELLA

Geek girl Elle Wittimer lives and breathes Starfield, the classic science-fiction series she grew up watching with her late father. So when she sees a cosplay contest for a new Starfield movie, she has to enter. The prize? An invitation to the ExcelsiCon Cosplay Ball and a meet-and-greet with the actor slated to play Federation Prince Carmindor in the reboot. With savings from her gig at the Magic Pumpkin food truck and her dad’s old costume, Elle’s determined to win – unless her stepsisters get there first.

Teen actor Darien Freeman used to live for cons – before he was famous. Now they’re nothing but autographs and awkward meet-and-greets. Playing Carmindor is all he has ever wanted, but Starfield fandom has written him off as just another dumb heartthrob. As ExcelsiCon draws near, Darien feels more and more like a fake – until he meets a girl who shows him otherwise. But when she disappears at midnight, will he ever be able to find her again?

Part-romance, part-love letter to nerd culture, and all totally adorbs, Geekerella is a fairy tale for anyone who believes in the magic of fandom.

My Review

I’ve been seeing lots of love for GEEKERELLA on social media and other book blogs lately. From first glance, a lot of things appealed to me about GEEKERELLA: the sci-fi fan stuff (I loved this element of THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU), the re-imagined fairy tale (no magic, all contemporary, like IT STARTED WITH GOODBYE), and the comic con scenes. Plus, Elle’s a blogger! Yay! I loved seeing a character I could identify with in that way.

On the fairy tale retelling side, I felt like GEEKERELLA was both faithful to the original Cinderella story but also re-imagined it really creatively so that as I read, I felt like I was following both stories and loving every minute.

Several of the characters really shined and made their scenes extra great. I loved Darien’s bodyguard and Elle’s coworker at the Magic Pumpkin food truck. I also found it really moving the way so many of Elle’s memories of her dad were tied in with the Con and his love for Starfield. It made the contest so much more than just a hopeful fan wanting to win. It was like she needed to win as a nod to her dad and how much she missed him.

On the whole, I totally loved this book. I read it pretty quickly (and stayed up way too late– no regrets), and I’m super interested to check out Poston’s next book, THE PRINCESS AND THE FANGIRL, which is a retelling of the Prince and the Pauper.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Darien, who plays Prince Carmindor, is Indian on his mom’s side. Elle talks about how important it is that the role of Prince Carmindor gets played by a person of color, since that’s who he is. She worries that some white guy will get cast as Carmindor in the reboot, but that doesn’t happen. Two minor characters are lesbians.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
No profanity. A few crude remarks about some discomfort Darien experiences wearing gear for his stunts, and a director makes a crude comment meaning that he thinks Darien’s pretty brave.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Two girls have crushes on each other.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Some descriptions of Darien acting in fight scenes and doing dangerous stunts.

Drug Content 
None.