I first heard of this book on Twitter as there was a lot of pre-release talk about it so I requested an eARC without knowing much more than that it was a rom-com based on an arranged marriage. I fell in love with the story and characters immediately and pre-ordered the hardcover for my collection before I’d even finished reading. It turned out to be a super adorable YA contemporary love story and one of those books I’ll re-read each summer. I can’t gush about this book enough!

Sometimes you need a reminder that the world can be a good place and this book did that for me. I fell in love with the humour of Sandhya’s writing, and the opposites attract nature of Dimple and Rishi’s relationship. Dimple and Rishi are incredible characters – intelligent, funny, and so cute together. It was refreshing to read about a girl being focused on her career and aspirations in the traditionally male-dominated world of coding. And, of course, I fell in love with Rishi! He was adorable, very passionate and the perfect foil to Dimple. The love story between them was nuanced and believable, with each making the other a better person and helping them achieve their goals.

It was amazing to read about two Indian-American characters as they so rarely feature as the sole focus of a story. Hopefully now that When Dimple Met Rishi has become a bestseller, publishers will recognise how popular, wanted, and essential these stories are. If this is Sandhya’s debut novel, I can’t wait to see what she writes next and I’ll be pre-ordering without a second thought.

I was so looking forward to reading this as it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and probably one of the most hyped books of the year too. But I'm so deflated right now I totally wanted to love this but it just wasn't for me. I think the thing that let it down for me was that it really didn't have anything else going on in it other than a slow burning romance totally just my opinion and preference but I need a little more to a story/romance than what I got in when Dimple met Rishi.


Although I didn't like this on a massive scale I certainly liked things about it i loved Rishi and I loved that he wanted to keep his parents values/religious beliefs alive and I adored that he created comics. I also full on loved Ashish he was brilliant in this and I would definitely love to know more about his romance with Dimples roommate who's name has completely gone from my mind right now but I really did like there small part. To be honest I liked Dimple at times not all times especially towards the end I really didn't think much of her, but by the very very end I was back in board with her.

If your into slow burning summer romances you'll probably like this.

The blogosphere practically blew up when this started making the rounds, everyone loved it and I'm happy to say I did too! Therefore this will be quite a short review as I'm sure you've already heard how amazing and cute and romantic it is.

Dimple and Rishi weren't supposed to meet, but their parents conspired and pushed them together. Rishi went to the same summer programme as Dimple just to meet her but she only wanted to learn.

There was an overall great perspective of traditional Indian relationships. It was clear that Dimple identified as American but her parents desperately wanted her to be the perfect little Indian daughter. On the other hand, Rishi was more than happy to live up to his parents standards and was proud to carry on their ideals.

The progress of their relationship, especially after they agree to not go along with the arranged marriage, felt natural and equal. Even though Rishi wanted to settle down and expected Dimple to move her life around his, when they got to know each other, they both realised that they wanted something different. Dimple might have been all about her coding and her career but when she started to care for Rishi, she was willing to give things a try and I was really proud of her. Of both of them, actually, as they changed their dreams when someone new came into their lives.

As you can probably tell, I loved every second; it was so completely sweet I wanted to hug it! The story was brilliant, the romance was spot on and realistic and so easy to ship, and the characters, the diversity across races and sexualities and backgrounds, were all amazing to read about. One of my new favourite books, easy.

I went into this book expecting to love it. It sounded so good and there was so many glowing reviews, I thought there was no way I wouldn't love it. And it did get there in the end, but for the first two thirds of the book I really struggled to get through it.

But anyway, let's start with the positives: the characters.

Rishi? He was a little ball of adorable. I love seeing actual nice guy characters rather than "Nice Guys" (you know the ones...where they think they're good guys and we're supposed to think they're good guys but they're actually really not).

And Dimple? I loved her. I loved that she was strong and complex and realistic, I loved that she was a bit of a steel coated marshmallow at first (reminds me of my best friend in that way). I've seen a lot of people criticise her character for basically being a teenager, for being flawed and realistic, but those reasons many people had for not liking Dimple were a big part of the reason I did like her. I loved her and Rishi together, they were so cute and they balanced each other out.

The book also managed to make me laugh out loud quite a few times (the dancing scene was golden -- if I rated the book purely on that scene it'd be 5+ stars), which doesn't happen very often when I'm reading and I loved that Sandhya managed to make me laugh.

And I really loved that they were both Indian-American. There is countless YA romcoms featuring white protagonists but there's barely any Indian-American representation. That racial and cultural diversity matters, it is so important. It matters that Indian-American teens have books like this they can read and relate to because the characters reflect them positively and I hope to see more of them on the shelves soon.

The reasons I struggled so much with the first chunk of the book: a pet peeve of mine, and the plot.

The pet peeve? I really don't like stories, particularly romance based stories, with alternating POV's and unfortunately this book was not one of the rare exceptions (I wasn't a fan of the way it's done in this, with the POV switches often happening mid-scene, sometimes multiple times in one scene). So that one wasn't an issue with the book, it was just down to personal preference.

As for the plot, it just wasn't as strong as I expected it to be. The pacing felt a bit off, at times it bored me quite a bit. It took a long time to hook me. But again, this is down to personal preference. I'm okay with a romcom not having much to the plot beyond the romance, but the romance has to keep me interested for that to happen and romances that are primarily cute don't really hold my interest well, especially when the couple gets to that point really quickly.

I think my expectations for the coding aspect were a bit too high too, I wanted more from that than it delivered. I was happy about seeing a female character into coding and tech stuff but it fell a little flat there, it was very tell instead of show (Rishi's passion for art was shown much better).

In the last quarter of the book, I found the parts that started to draw me in the most were the scenes that weren't just focusing on the romance...like when Dimple would have chats with Celia or when they talked about their families, or scenes with Rishi and his brother. That was when the book really started to win me over (basically everything from the dance scene onward).

Anyway, I'd rate the book 4 stars out of 5. It didn't quite wow me to the same extent as it did other people, but I loved it in the end, it was absolutely adorable and such an important read. I definitely look forward to seeing what Sandhya writes next.

This book was stunning. I loved that it introduced vocabulary and a culture that I have heard about but not experienced. I also enjoyed the fact that arranged marriage was seen as an act of love rather than an act of control, and the sense of culture and duty was portrayed throughout the book. It was very refreshing that the male protagonist was pining after the female protagonist and not the other way around. The book was written in a very relaxed way that made me feel as though I was in the room with Dimple and Rishi. I loved it!

This is the book I was missing in my life! I have a feeling I’ll be saying this a LOT in the next few months (2017 is a great year for own voices/diverse books) but it felt so good to see a character that resembled me so closely. I can’t tell you how many times I was like “YES, SO MUCH YES!” throughout the whole book (it’s a wonder I don’t have a crick in my neck from all the nodding I was doing 😂)



When Dimple Met Rishi got me right out of my reading slump! I should’ve gone with this one before, because now I’m like “Reading slump? What reading slump?”



When Dimple Met Rishi was absolutely spot on and completely adorable! I would love to see this as a film (Hollywood or Bollywood either works), heck I’d even take a tv show I don’t care, I just know I need to see this on the big screen 😉



I love that Rishi isn’t your typical book hero (bulging muscles, captain of some sport but ultimately lonely/misunderstood despite the popularity, you know the one). In fact, he was so adorable (and awkward at times) that I smiled my way through all of his scenes in the book.


I just, I loved this book! It has more than lived up to the hype, in fact - I’ll go so far as to say it’s actually better than the hype was saying.

I do love myself a good YA contemporary, and this delivered. ‘When Dimple met Rishi’ has everything that you could want in a coming of age novel, it was diverse, there was romance, families, friendships and the difficulties of growing up.

I couldn’t believe this was Sandhya Menon’s debut novel as the characters felt so real and the writing was amazing.

Dimple Shah is 17 and looking forward to the prospect of college, she has enrolled for a course for computer programming and has so many ideas buzzing around her brain. Her mother has always wanted Dimple to get married and find the IIH (Ideal Indian Husband) than become a student. Dimple also wants to attend a summer camp where she can show off her programming skills and start making a name for herself, the course costs $1000 and is shocked when her parents allow her to go but what she doesn’t know is that they have other plans.

Rishi Patel wants to follow in his parents footsteps with his own arranged marriage. He too is to go to the same Summer camp where he is to meet his future bride, however when they come face to face he realises that Dimple’s parents have failed to mention the arrangement to her. Her future of computer programming seems to be slipping from her grasp at lightening speed.

This book was great it is told in dual perspective and the chapters are just the right length. The writing is easy to read and with the dual narrative you don’t get bored.

Going in to this book I had very little knowledge of Indian culture and arranged marriages as it’s not something that I have read about. This is a positive light on arranged marriages rather than the awful experiences that you hear about. I felt the impact that their culture had on these individuals to carry on with the traditions as expected of them.

I loved the characters Dimple and Rishi,they were different yet so right for each other. Dimple was head strong, determined to make a future out of something she loved and living her life as she wanted rather than expectations. She found her mother over-bearing at times as she was forceful in her suggestions. I loved that Dimple was a nerd, nowadays it’s cool to be one and be different from others and I see that now that I am older but not necessarily when I was a teenager.

Rishi was adorable, he was funny,nerdy and also really talented. He wanted to please his parents by doing what they thought best in his school work but when it came to LOVE, Rishi wanted to follow his culture, have an arranged marriage and children. This was firmly his decision and he such passion when he talked about his culture and the times he visited India.

There were a couple of reasons that I didn’t rate this book a 5 stars and they were; I didn’t really like Ashish’s storyline. The plot was a little predictable, it had great feels in the middle but then it fizzled out as I was getting frustrated with Dimples stubbornness.

This book was great it’s a perfect summer/beach read, I loved the characters, the feels that I got from Menon’s writing and the fulfillment of learning something new. I hope this isn’t the last we see from her as she can only continue to get better.

I rated this 4 out of 5 stars

1.5 Stars.

I had been looking forward to reading When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon since I heard it was being published in the UK. There's been so much hype around this book, and it sounded so good, I knew I was just going to love it. Unfortunately, I didn't.

I'm going to talk about what I liked about it first. I loved how feminist Dimple was, and how she was determined to fight back against what she considered to be patriarchal traditions of her culture. She hated how her mother would always criticise her for not trying to look pretty or for not wearing make-up, because how was she was supposed to get a husband otherwise? Dimple believed her mother thought a woman's role was to get married and have a family, but that's not what she wanted, she wanted a career, and a life on her own terms. I loved that about her, and I love how she fought for it.

At the same time, I also loved how traditional Rishi was, and how much respect he had for his parents and how he trusted them to find him a suitable match. I didn't always agree with him, but I didn't need to to respect him for placing value on his cultural heritage, and believing that an arranged marriage was what would ultimately bring him happiness. He didn't want romance, he wanted a long lasting bond, like his parents have.

I loved how passionate both Dimple and Rishi were - Dimple about coding, Rishi about his comic book art. But whereas Dimple was heading for her dream of becoming a coder, Rishi had decided to put aside his love of comic book art to pursue Engineering, a much more practical job that would earn him a good wage so he could look after his future family.

I loved the diversity of the book. Almost all the characters were people of colour; Dimple, Rishi and their families are Indian American, as is Hari, one of the "Aberzombies" - a clique Dimple and Rishi don't like. Rishi's family are Hindu, and I believe Dimple's are, too. Celia, Dimple's room mate, is half Dominican, and I bisexual, although no label is given. And Dimple's father has Diabetes.

However, I didn't feel Dimple and Rishi had any chemistry whatsoever. Yeah, they enjoyed each other's company and had a good time together, but they felt more like friends to me than two people who were falling in love with each other. And because I didn't feel it, I wasn't rooting for them - I just wasn't bothered. Not that it mattered really, because the story was so predictable. You knew exactly where things were going from the very beginning. Being so predictable may not have mattered so much if I felt there was something real between Dimple and Rishi, because then I would have just enjoyed watching things come about, but as I didn't, the predictability was so frustrating.

When Dimple Met Rishi is cute, everyone says so, and I agree - but I'd go so far as to say that it's too cute. There were so many moments that were just so cheesy, and I rolled my eyes more times than I could count. Although Dimple and Rishi's path to love isn't perfect, and definitely not easy, the book itself felt to me like a "perfect romance novel" - by which I mean that you know, while reading, that it's all going to be so cute, everything will work out, and there will be that happy ever after, there's no question about this - and so it felt fictional. It wasn't a story I could believe was real. I was very much aware that this was just a story the whole way through. It wasn't real enough to be believable for me.

And then there's the problem with not much actually happening. Once Dimple and Rishi get together, it's all mooning at each other and swooning. Nothing happens for them, not really. Not until pretty close to the end. And then a subplot around Rishi's brother Ashish comes out of left field, so suddenly, in to time at all, and it just felt like it was added in so that something was happening with someone, even if nothing was happening with Dimple and Rishi. It gave them something else to think about besides each other, I suppose.

Finally, there's Insomnia Con. Where Dimple and Rishi meet, a Summer course in coding that Dimple is over the moon to be going to, as it will help for when she starts at Stanford, and she may get to meet her hero Jenny Lindt. My problem is that I finished the book knowing as much about coding as did when I started - namely, nothing. Dimple is so passionate, but all she talks about is how much she loves it, the app she wants to create, and how she wants it to help her diabetic father. There is absolutely nothing about coding itself. There's nothing about why Dimple loves coding, not even something vaguely poetic about how awesome it is to write a piece of code, stringing characters together in this computer language that will translate into the big, bad boss guy getting closer to you if you haven't tracked your medication or food into the app. Nothing about how she got into coding, nothing about what they actually get taught in their classes, nothing about coding itself. It felt so lazy, like not enough research was done. I'm not expecting Menon to be a coding expert, but there should be something. Yes, this is a romance, but becoming a coder is Dimple's dream, this is what she's fighting for, fighting against her culture. It's so important to the overall plot, yet there's absolutely nothing about it. And while we're talking about Insomnia Con, what was going on with that talent show? Why was it even there? Why, at a convention for learning coding, would you have the students then put on a show for various talents that have nothing to do with coding, and make it a pivotal part of the course (because the winners win points for their overall score, but also a grand, which they can spend on working on their app)? It was so random. I really didn't get it. It broke up the swooning, and gave Ashish something to do while he was there, helping Dimple and Rishi choreograph a Bollywood dance, but it was just confusing and weird, and I didn't get it.

When Dimple Met Rishi was just hugely disappointing. Really just not for me. But there have been a lot of people who loved it, so do read other reviews before deciding whether to read it or not.

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton via NetGalley for the eProof.

This was a lovely, cute, quick read, really enjoyed it

Indian-American Dimple is smart, sassy and fiercely independent, and resistant to her families traditional ideas on arranged marriages. Enter Rishi who is the complete opposite-yes he's smart and funny, but he's happy to follow his parents' lead. What happens when the two are set up by their parents? I was utterly charmed by Dimple and Rishi. From the moment they meet (in a hilarious scene), I knew I was hooked! It was a book I didn't want to put down and I didn't want it to end. I laughed out loud, held my breath, hoped for certain outcomes and cheered at the ending. Dimple is a character I won't forget in a hurry.

This was a rather sweet love story about a young couple who meet while studying at a summer school. Dimple is a girl who is trying to rebel against her parents sense of tradition. She want to make her mark in the world, be independent and, above all, she doesn’t want to think about finding the IIM (ideal Indian man). Rishi is rather more traditional – he feels a great respect for his heritage and is happy for his parents to arrange a marriage for him – but he is torn between the need to make his family happy and the desire to follow his heart. Needless to say Dimple is not impressed when she realises that she is expected to marry Rishi and the sparks that fly between them are rather less romantic than he hoped. I rather liked both main characters – Dimple is bright and ambitious and totally aware that she is fighting against years of tradition; Rishi is sweet and a bit serious and far more romantic than Dimple. Their relationship progresses, in fits and starts, and they become good friends as well as team-mates on the key summer school project. Of course it doesn’t go smoothly (well, there’s no book in that, is there?) and they both have to make compromises in their own actions as well as in their interaction with their families.

This was a pleasant romance story and also one which I will feel happy to recommend to my customers. Many of them require that the books they read are compatible with their lifestyle – romantic but chaste, where modesty is maintained even when tradition is questioned. This one should fit the bill quite nicely – there is (slight spoiler alert), eventually, a physical relationship but there is no detailed description of much beyond kissing (really good kissing by the sound of it) and embraces. Both main characters do end up going against their parent’s wishes but they do this by discussing their issues rather than just through defiance. There is also a lot of humour in the book – Dimple in particular I found very amusing – and a fair bit about prejudice, fairness and bullying. I’d happily recommend this book for younger teens and anyone who enjoys good old-fashioned romance.

I was so prepared to love this book, but it really didn't work for me. The writing is clunky and, at times, a bit cringe inducing. Dimple is an extremely infuriating character. Rishi isn't much better. There wasn't really a huge amount of plot, and what plot there was was just too convenient.

It's nice to have diversity in YA, and it was great to find out something about another culture, but it doesn't make up for the fact that this just isn't a very good book.

Still, a lovely cover and a quick read!

This book is adorable! I knew I would probably (hopefully) love it but I was definitely a little wary going in because these is always the chance you will be the black sheep on these things.

When Dimple Met Rishi was not what I expected. I knew that the MCs had Indian parents and were involved in an arranged marriage but my idea of what this book would be like was very different to what I got and I was really impressed.

Dimple was so easy to like. She wasn't willing to give into her mother's wish for her to marry and find herself the 'Ideal Indian Husband'. She wasn't even willing to give in about wearing makeup and putting in her contacts just to entice a man. Instead, she id focused on pursuing web design. I loved her passion and her focus, even if I didn't fully understand it because I certainly didn't know what I what I wanted to do at eighteen. I think Dimple's focus and unwillingness to compromise herself for any reason that made me both like her and dislike her. She was far too unwilling to compromise when it comes to others. Even when it meant angering her friends and those close to her. It was her worst quality and was something which came between her and Rishi and it was annoying. I did like seeing her grow throughout the book, though.

And then there was Rishi. I didn't think I'd like him as much, I mean, he was close to his parents and willing to follow the path which they wished for him. He was willing to sacrifice a lot to do what was expected. He was awkward and cute and I loved him. I wasn't even overly bothered by the fact he had money and was privileged because he didn't flaunt it. He was just an adorable cinnamon roll and I think I loved him. I was just as frustrated by him as Dimple but I felt his reservations were far more logical. Wanting a secure future, whilst not totally believable for a teenager, is not a bad thing and so I got why he was so hesitant to pursue all of his dreams.

I found the whole book very adorable, though. And for both Dimple and Rishi their Indian heritage was obvious and I loved how Rishi honoured it so much and then Dimple was learning parts of her culture was ingrained because that was how she was raised. She considered how her parents would react to big decisions and even her quest to design an app was partially done to make her father proud of her.

I loved this, it was a brilliant YA and demonstrates the genre is totally growing. I want more diverse reads like this one. Fingers crossed this is the start of a trend.

This book is a delight from start to finish, beautifully exploring what it means to come from a strong tradition. Some find comfort upholding it while others need to break away and still others work to find a balance. It might make it sound like a heavy book but it is packaged in a fun, funny, romantic comedy and I defy anyone not to fall in love with Dimple and Rishi.

I’m a big fan of YA contemporaries, so when I saw all of the fantastic reviews for When Dimple Met Rishi I was so excited to get my hands on a copy. Unfortunately I think all of the hype around it may have been where it all went a bit wrong for me as it led to high expectations it couldn’t possibly live up to. There isn’t anything particularly bad about it but I think I just wanted more.

I do have to applaud the author for finally giving us a culturally diverse YA romance. I don’t know how accurate its portrayal of the Indian culture is (I suspect not completely given some of reviews I’ve seen) but I loved the way elements such as the language, importance of family, customs and even religion were woven into the story in a, for the most part, natural way.

I also loved that it was Dimple who was the driving force in the story. She’s the one who’s into computers and science and is determined to win the app design competition at all costs. It’s so good to see female characters in traditionally male dominated areas and also to have a female character who rates her career and future as more important than finding a boyfriend.

I do think though that the author could have taken this further with a bit more time spent on creating the app but instead the focus and the majority of the book is taken up with a scavenger hunt and preparing for a talent show, with everything else being brushed over. It would have been good as well to see at least one other female character who’s there to compete.

Dimple is also not the most likeable of characters. She is passionate and driven to succeed which I loved but had a bit of a tendency to throw a strop at the drop of a hat. She came across as unreasonable and immature a lot of the time and I hated the way she treated Rishi.

Rishi, is almost like the exact opposite of Dimple and I adored him. For him family and tradition are more important than what he wants. He’s proud of his background and his culture and speaks up for himself and others. He’s super sweet, generous, funny and a bit of a romantic. It definitely made for an interesting dynamic between the two of them.

The romance was quite cute and I loved how it started as an arranged marriage but other than that there wasn’t anything that really stood out about it. There was the odd moment that made me laugh however, it’s one of those stories that you quite enjoy at the time but more or less forget the moment you finish.

Overall, an enjoyable read which definitely gets a thumbs up for a strong female main character and lots of diversity but isn’t quite the stand out read I was hoping for.

My first impression was that this was a YA 'Sofia Khan is not obliged', without the funny bits. I liked both Rishi and Dimple just ok and I was very interested in reading about Dimple's struggle as an Indian-American who fully embraced the culture of the country she had been born in, but who also felt trapped by the culture of her parents and ancestors. Sadly, there was not much of that - there was plenty of moaning about her mother only valuing her by her looks and chances to catch a good husband, but no actual talk about the differences between the Indian and American cultures.

The book was mostly ok until about the 40% mark, and then everything went downhill so quickly that I'm still wondering what happened.

Suddenly both Dimple and Rishi are very much in love, with every conversation and soulful stare explained in excruciating and cheesy detail, then Rishi brother arrives and hooks up with Dimple's roommate in one of the most wtf? side-stories I've ever read in a book, then they lose Insomnia Con, they break-up, they make-up and all the while it's drama, drama, drama...

To be honest it might be just a case of me being too old for this book, but there were a few things that bothered me a lot beyond the bad case of insta-love.

First of all, there's a lot of talk about female empowerment in this book, but it didn't actually translate into action. Dimple is frustrated with her mom because she doesn't understand her passion about her career, but she happily threw Insomnia Con out of the window as soon as she hooked up with Rishi, only to break up with him after they lose the competition because she 'realised' that she couldn't have both. Excuse me, what?? It's heavily implied that they lost because the competition was rigged from the beginning, but given the amount of time they dedicated to their project, their losing shouldn't have come as such a surprise. So all the talk about not letting a boy get in the way of her dreams was just that, talk. And anyway, you can totally have a boyfriend and a career, you just need to, you know, actually do some work every once in a while.

Then we have Celia (Dimple's roommate). In the talent show portion of the competition (side note: this was supposed to be a competition to win the chance to have your app launched by a major company, so my reaction to this was WTF?? I'm still wondering wtf?. End of side note) she was forced by her male partner/boyfriend to do a really stupid sexy dance that involved her kissing another girl, while wearing only a bikini. So in the middle of the routine Celia realises she really doesn't want to do it and just storms off, which was cool, but what was the final result of the stunt? Celia bails out of Insomnia Con to avoid the guy but conveniently sticks around to hook up with Rishi's brother, who had met her the year before in a party and had never been able to forget her. At this point I didn't care what was going on anymore.

The other thing that appalled me was Dimple's incredibly irresponsible behaviour at the party. I get that she's trying to get Rishi to relax, and seriously, I don't think it's such a big deal for college boys/girls to have one beer at a party, but taking shots from a tray that was just passing your way and eating 'brownies' offered by a total stranger is a huge, huge deal. And she had the nerve to call Rishi paranoid. I'm sorry girl, but in the world we live in you have to be more careful than that, and not only because of potential rapists... one of those shots or brownies could have landed you in the hospital, or way, way worse.

So I'm sad to say that I don't recommend this book at all - not for someone my age, because they will probably won't be able to connect with the story either, and not for young adults either, because in my opinion it just sends the wrong message.

I was looking for a cute summery read to get me out of my reading slump, and after hearing so much love for When Dimple Met Rishi, I thought this would be the book to do it. But maybe my slump or my inexperience with entirely romance centred novels got in the way, because I don't think this book was for me.

The book had a really promising start. I struggled to get into the writing style for the first couple of chapters, and I have to admit that there continued to be something about it that never fully clicked with me throughout. But I was excited by what the book promised: an #ownvoices representation of South Asian people.

In the first few chapters alone we see the different relationships the two focal characters have with their families, as well as the relationship they each had with their culture. I think the book did a great job of showing that arranged marriages aren't necessarily forced and that they don't have to be oppressive or anti-feminist as history often suggests they are. And it was awesome to have the dual perspective on the idea - with Dimple being wholly against the tradition and Rishi strongly believing in it and finding true love.

The book was cute and funny to start with, and it being set in the summer after high school felt refreshingly different to the typical YA set up. But it quickly lost its shine for me, and I couldn't help but find it a little insta-lovey. Maybe it was just me, but I expected a slower burning romance rather than going from dislike to friendship to kissing all within a few days of knowing each other. I know the story is set over a few weeks, but because the romance was so focal, it felt like there was little in-between for the pair to be kissing by halfway through the book.

It did feel for the most part that there was no plot other than the romance. There is some talk about the app Dimple is designing, but it takes up so little focus that the story felt like it was moving very slowly for me. BUT I know this is a romance novel and I think I'm starting to realise the genre isn't really for me so this is a very 'it's me not you' thing.

There was some stuff going on other than Dimple and Rishi's love for each other, like the storylines for Celia and Ashish. But honestly I didn't really care for what happened to them at all and I found the side story kind of boring.

Again, maybe I'm in a reading slump where I'm bound to hate every book I touch and maybe I should just steer clear of contemporary romances. But from what I've heard the rep in this book is solid, and even though I didn't enjoy When Dimple Met Rishi I hope that some kids will be able to find themselves in their story.

Diversity Note: Indian-American protagonists

An ebook copy of this book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

This has to be one of the most cutest, dorkiest, geekiest and most brilliant book that I have read in a long while. I loved the social awkwardness of it all. The inability to fit in with the norm but at the same time being utterly true to themselves.

I had honestly been reading this book for ages, since I first heard of it. I've heard such good things about this book and have been excited to read this book for too long. And fortunately, unlike some hyped book I was not disappointed. I loved every moment and ever cute encounter. From the moment Rishi proclaims 'Hello future Wife' to the end.

I loved the geekiest of it all, Dimple is into Coding and Rishi is a brilliant comic book artist. Both of them do their own things. She is determined to live her life away from her parents. While Rishi wants to uphold his family's wishes. Both are passionate and fiery and willing to do whatever it takes.

I really loved how positive this book was on arranged marriage. I know that it is a cultural thing, but most, all, things that I've read about or seen on the TV have always been negative. The fact that both parents used Insomnia Con as a way for both parties to get know one another was a brilliant idea. There was no "you are getting married and that's the end of it". I also love that the Hindi language (please say I'm right!) that played a huge part in the story. It just made it so much more vibrant and beautiful

One thing that frustrated me was at the end Dimple's one way opinion. I love that she was sure of herself and determined to have a career. But the fact that she had something special with Rishi did not stop her pushing self destruct.

I also really wanted to know a lot more about Rishi brother - Ashish. I felt like this story was thrown into the mix. When really he could have his own book (and that's a massive hint by the way!). As a secondary character he was good and did all the right things. But he distracted me from the main thing.

Overall I loved the fact that this was a boy met girl and they fall in love story but with a twist. And looking at a cultural that from my experience is not normally portrayed. I loved every moment in this book and wish that I could spend eternity with Rishi and Dimple.

I have a kind of love-hate relationship with contemporaries but this one completely hit the spot. I adored Dimple from the start who feels completely pressured by her mother's wish for her to find a perfect Indian husband despite being just a teenager. She is way more focused on having a career.
Meanwhile Rishi is the opposite, he is interested in following his parents wishes, marrying young and giving up his dreams of working in comics for a more stable job.
I loved how the character's came together and influenced each other. The writing was wonderful and it is one of the best contemporaries I have read this year.