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.

After reading so many great reviews about this book I went into it with very high hopes. While I did enjoy reading about Dimple and Rishi, I think the hype surrounding this book did build up my expectations a little too much.

Dimple Shah is excited to attend the summer computer programming course because it meant that it was her chance to spread her wings and be free from her family. Dimple was also hoping that her family’s obsession of finding her an ‘ideal Indian Husband’ was forgotten about. But with the arrival of Rishi Patel on the computer programming course, and with Rishi knowing her name, Dimple thinks that perhaps her family’s obsession is all but forgotten.

When Dimple Met Rishi is told from both the perspectives of Dimple and Rishi, and I really enjoyed reading from both points of view, and reading about how they both dealt with their own problems. I have to say that I liked both Dimple and Rishi equally, and found them both to be very interesting characters to read about. It was nice to read about how their feelings for each other change as the story progresses, and I found that it made me care and become more invested for both of the characters.

With the all the hype and great reviews the book was getting I was expecting something new and different with the story, but I found it to be a little predictable and nothing new. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed reading the book and I found it very interesting, I did manage to read the book in just a couple of sittings. But I found the story to be lacking something different and something that would make it stand out from other YA contemporary books. Yes this book is diverse and something I would not find myself reading, which I found very refreshing, but I just wanted the story to be refreshing and original also.

Sandhya Menon’s writing is another reason why I really enjoyed reading this book. I found her writing to be very engaging and easy to read, which means you end up losing yourself into the story. I liked the bits of humour dotted throughout the story, and one some occasions it did make me chuckle while reading. Also I learnt quite a few new things as I was reading, but the information wasn’t just dumped on you, but instead woven into the plot.

Even thought I was little underwhelmed with the plot of this book I would still recommend this book for any readers of YA contemporary books. If you are looking for a diverse book with great writing, and interesting and engaging characters, then When Dimple met Rishi, is the perfect summer read.

I rate this book 4/5 stars

***I was sent a copy of this book to review. Everything in this review is my own honest opinions.***

When Dimple Met Rishi is a lovely little story about falling in love, pursuing your dreams and dealing with family and cultural traditions in the modern world. It was also great to have a female character pursuing a career in coding. I really enjoyed reading how their relationship unfurled, The only criticism I might have is that many of the Hindi phrases weren't translated and I felt I was missing out on the intricacies of the parents and children relationships because of that.

I love absolutely everything about this book. It is simply the cutest, most adorable and wonderful book I have read in a while, that made me swoon as well as laugh out loud all the way through,

I don’t gravitate towards YA Contemporary as often as I used to. Mainly since I became a huge fan of physiological thriller’s. However, after reading “When Dimple met Rishi” (and “Anna and the French kiss” in January) I am really starting to reevaluate my TBR shelf.

I’m not even sure how I am meant to put into words how brilliant and beautiful the plot and characters that the author Sandhya Menon has created.

Dimple is incredibly sweet but completely focused and extremely head strong. She has so many traits that most teen girls can relate too, but is also so driven and diverse. She is the kind of character I think everyone would want to be friends with.

Rishi is that family orientated, cute, romantic guy that most girls would love to meet. he is much calmer and I would like to say he is Dimple’s complete opposite, but in fact as the plot develops we learn so much more of Rishi as a character and I simple adore him!

The plot includes friendship, drama, romance, betrayal and so much more which is what made me want to keep reading. It met my expectations and so much more.

Although the main aspect of the story focused on Dimple and Rishi, I was also really impressed and hocked on the wonderful friendship element that was created between Dimple and Celia. I adored how the author created a friendship that was so similar to some that would have been created in a real life situation. It made it unbelievable relateable and I think so many teen girls (and boys) will find similarities in themselves.

I really loved how the book was written in alternating perspectives, and was character driven. I felt this gave so much more of an insight into what both of the main protagonists were thinking without given away too much.

Safe to say this was one of my most anticipated reads of the year I was constantly pestering publishers for an arc because I just could not wait. 

Dimple wants to be a computer something and is so jazzed when her parents agree for her to go to a camp at San Francisco for the summer when they've shown no interest in her studies prior to this. However Dimple finds out that her mother had an ulterior motive and is hoping she will spend time with a boy that she's set her up with who thinks that Dimple is going to be his wife. 

I adored that they had it the opposite of stereotypes of a het relationship. The girl not wanting any commitment because she wants to go to uni and the guy being so set on getting married was different to the cultural norm. 

This book was super sweet and I loved the majority of my time reading it, however the ending did feel quite rushed compared to the rest of the book. It kind of felt like Menon realised she needed to start wrapping it up and panicked. 

There was a lot of racism dealt with in this book and you got to see what it's like for Indian Americans. I could never understand what it's like for them as a white woman but I felt like this brought me pretty close to it. 

I loved how the book explored familial bonds, as well as racism and young love between to Indian Americans, Dimple was so caught up in her own goals that she struggled to see how proud of her her mother really was. She just thought that her mum wanted her to get married and live a quiet life and as the novel goes on you see Dimple learning that that's simply not the case. 

Now if you don't like instalove you might not like this book, but I always remember when I read YA with instalove how when I was a teen I would crush on people without even having a conversation with them so it doesn't ever bother me when I read fast feelings in YA because that's what teens are like. 

If you want a sweet diverse summer contemporary by an own voices author then this is the book for you. Who wouldn't want that though?

There is always a fear when a book starts to receive a lot of hype that it will never live up to the expectations that have been placed upon it. I had these very concerns over When Dimple Met Rishi but after many of my blogging friends urged me to read it, I decided to push the concerns aside and just get on with reading it. And I cannot be more grateful that I did. In the end, I fell head over heels in love with this book. There is so much to love about it but I don’t want to spoil it too much for you – or over-hype it! But essentially this is a book that has gone instantly on to my favourites shelf and is one that I am certain I will be reading time and time again.

When Dimple Met Rishi is the story of a girl who feels trapped in her circumstance and just wants some freedom from her parents and tradition. It’s a coming of age story both for her and the absolutely wonderful Rishi too. Sandhya Menon has done a truly marvelous job of creating characters that are believable, and easy to fall in love with. They’re three-dimensional and adorable. Strong but also weak. On top of all that, this is a character driven storyline and it as an exceptional one at that. It shows that we don’t always get the life we planned but that is okay. It has amazing themes of acceptance, feminism, family love, friendships and perseverance. Last, but certainly not least, Sandhya has created a story that is intensely cute.

With a diverse and fascinating cast of characters who are all well thought-out and realistic, Sandhya Menon makes it difficult to choose just one to love. Thus I want to tell you about the two main characters in this book. First, and definitely my absolute favourite, is Dimple. Dimple is strong-willed, passionate and fiery. I loved reading about her and I ultimately loved her journey in the book. Next up is the ever-wonderful Rishi. Rishi is artistic, funny, adorable and caring. The perfect balance for Dimple, of course.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It was incredibly cute, wonderfully addictive and filled me with lots of heart-warming feelings. It also had me quite emotional towards the ends – seems I was quite invested in the characters. The storyline may have been a little predictable but to me, that’s totally okay. This book is perfect just the way it is. It’s diverse and it celebrates that so well. It reads well and is just a wonderful story that I will definitely re-read at some point. It is a book that I would highly recommend, especially if you’re looking for something to fill your heart with hope and love.

This was such a cute book. I loved the concept other it. Even though it's an awful idea that Dimple's parents just sent this boy to meet her without telling her anything about it, it was just funny, the way it all played out and the way it was written. It showed a lot about both of the characters and I think definitely qualifies as a nice "meet cute" story to tell, even if it was rather upsetting for them when it was actually happening.

I think they showed the culture very well in this book. I had to google a lot of things, especially the clothing that was referenced so that I had an idea of what they were talking about. There were just small references in so much of it, which showed how much culture was involved in both Dimple and Rishi's lives.

The feelings that Dimple had were so real as well. Rishi was easy to empathise with as well, but Dimple's struggle between what she wants out of life and what her parents seem to want for her, how she can't see the middle ground because she's so sure that she wants to focus on her career rather than marrying or even dating boys, was just so real and interesting.

This book was funny, cute and really showed a wonderful snapshot of India culture in America.

Some characters are destined to be together. All the stars align, time stops and the only two people in this (fictional) world are your protagonists.

Or, in the case of Dimple and Rishi they have been set up by both sets of parents to fulfil the requirements set in their Indian culture to marry within the race. This is the set up of When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon. It is book that looks at how tradition plays part in modern society.

You have Dimple who is determined to break the mould, the glass ceiling, the…everything as long as she doesn’t have to conform to her parental expectations. Rishi is her total opposite in that he wants to carry on the tradition. He wants to be partnered with a good match, fall in love in a practical way. And even though they are worlds apart in their views, when they collide you cannot help but notice the chemistry.

When Dimple Met Rishi is brilliant. It is a modern twist on a will they won’t they story that just keeps giving. The only problem I had with Sandhya Menon’s fabulous YA novel is that 384 pages just wasn’t enough. I wanted more.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon is available now.

For more information regarding Sandhya Menon (@smenonboooks) please visit www.sandhyamenon.com.

For more information regarding Hodder & Stoughton (@HodderBooks) please visit www.hodder.co.uk.

I loved this book from start to finish! Super cute story, adorable characters and a generous sprinkling of laugh out loud moments.

Dimple is passionate about coding and has been dreaming of going to Insomnia Con, a summer program for aspiring web developers where the winner gets to meet Jenny Lindt – a successful woman in the technology buisness – an idol of Dimple. So when her parents agree to pay for this program, she finally starts to believe that her parents have finally come around to the idea that she isn’t ready for a husband yet. But then Rishi comes along. He is romantic, traditional, and artistic, but when he introduced himself jokily as her future husband, she throws her drink in his face. Turns out, her and Rishi’s parents arranged their meeting believing them to be a match…

When Dimple Met Rishi was, simply put, a lovely read. When Dimple Met Rishi was a fantastically written and fun arranged marriage YA romantic comedy. I think I’ll forever be recommending this book to anyone who is looking for a good romantic comedy. But not just that, I feel like it is also an incredibly important book. When Dimple Met Rishi features two Indian American protagonists falling in love. Something which is important so that young Indian girls and boys who can finally see themselves represented in a mainstream YA book. But that isn’t the only reason it’s a great book. For starters, the characters are great and I loved BOTH Dimple and Rishi.

Dimple was my favourite as she was spirited, carefree, and very ambitious. She was fighting against her parents and their traditions. She thought they only cared who she married and how she looked not who she was or what her dreams and ambitions were. I liked how she figured out that all they really wanted was her to be happy, and that they were proud of her and her accomplishments, and always have been. I also loved that Dimple was so passionate about technology, coding, and web development, I think that sends some really great messages to young people, as we need more women in technology, especially marginalised. I also really adored Rishi as he was traditional, artistic, and kind and out of the two, he was the hopeless romantic which is always nice to see. I also liked that Rishi was very traditional and that he wanted to keep up his family’s tradition and heritage, but I also liked how he developed throughout the book to decide what he wanted to do and follow his art rather than do what his parents wanted.

The romance played a central role in the book, which I’m not usually a big fan of but I enjoyed Dimple and Rishi so much individually it was hard not to love them together. I love how their personalities contrasted so well with each other, but they still got along so well. It was a lovely romance full of mutual support, encouragement and admiration.

Overall, definitely a book I’d recommend to any romance and contemporary lovers. This is a book not to miss.

I luuuuuurved this book! There were so many important themes in this book, from arranged marriage - personally, I didn't know this happened in Western countries and I'm very happy this book opened my eyes to it - to "every day" feminism (“Heyyy. We’re just as good as you guys.” “Well, maybe you need to expand your idea of how girls behave,” are just a couple of quotes I highlighted, and RISHI is so supportive as well and fully believes in all of the girls' ability in such a stereotypically male-dominated sector such as coding and I'm so appreciate of that 👏🏼 ) to anxiety, which I cannot express how delighted I was for the representation.

Dimple is definitely one of my favourite female characters of this year, she's her own person and SO. PETTY. Even though she's completely against the concept of having a boyfriend, never mind a fiancée, when she has so much more important things to think about (I can relate), she's not horribly mean to Rishi (okay... after that first incident she's not horribly mean to Rishi) which I am v happy about bc I LOVE Rishi.

Is there a fan club for Rishi yet?? I will be the one holding the light up sign saying something like "LOVE 4 RISHI" bc this boy, is what my dreams are made of. Even though Dimple clearly having no interest in him hurts him, he is ever the gentleman and is just there for her, but not pursuing her and waiting for her consent at every step of the way which is so important to me - more boys like that pls. I love how he refers to Dimple so passionately and he truly sees the best in her, "he could definitely see her being born with lava in her veins," who he wished he could "keep in his pocket." As well as his relationship with Dimple, his relations with his mother, father and brother are really telling - being the eldest, he feels responsibility to do what is right for the whole, not just for himself, and the character/relationship development between him and his brother was something I totally didn't expect (and should probably relate to me and my sister haha).

The plot was definitely fuelled by the romance and not the other way around, which I am not complaining about but just bare that in mind if you don't want sweet, blossoming romance between teens in a foreign city with a deadline on their days together ❤️

I would hope that being an own voices novel, Menon would provide characters and a culture that South Asian YA readers would feel comfortable in and be able to relate to - I am not South Asian so can't speak of how true the culture was, but with the abundant use of an Indian language (I'm not sure which? I know "Indian" isn't a language though), and the recurring themes of Bollywood, and the culture found in their love of foods etc, the culture seemed very immersive but fused with the more recognisable and less interesting American scene.

I'm so happy I read this book, thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so cute, I liked how both characters grew as people. and that it gave insight into how arranged marriages work, dimple and rishi kind of reminded me a little about my own relationship and how I was at first reluctant and scared to be in a relationship, and rishi is just so wonderful and reminds me so much of my own boyfriend, and how we both helped each other grwo

“But that was Rishi... he was like a pop song you thought you couldn't stand, but found yourself humming in the shower anyway.”

When Dimple met Rishi is a sweet little romance story about a girl called Dimple who comes from an Indian family, she is a bit of an outcast preferring to keep her hair short and not wear make up, she is obsessed with coding and when the chance comes to go to Insomnia Con a convention where you write and programme your own app with the winner having it produced and published Dimple jumps at the chance, what Dimple doesn't know that her parents have only agreed because they have set up an arranged marriage to a boy named Rishi who is travailing all the way to the convention to meet Dimple and the rest is history.

This was such a sickly sweet story. I loved the concept of following your dreams and being who you are, I felt that I learned lots about the Indian culture and it was handled very well throughout the whole novel, I couldn't rate this higher than a three star though because I felt that it was nothing I hadn't read before and the will they won't they aspect of the story got a bit annoying after a while.

Overall though I would recommend this book if you are looking for some light reading and a sweet little love story.

It's a hard task, to write a love story that's good-humoured, funny, truthful and sweet without being completely twee. In When Dimple Met Rishi, the story of two Indian-American teenagers from traditional backgrounds, Sandy Menon manages to pull off the feat. It's a touching story, full of wonderful funny moments as well as taking the reader on a voyage of discovery as both Dimple and Rishi prepare for their future lives - but will this be separate lives or together?

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review will contain very, very small spoilers.



There was so much hype surrounding When Dimple Met Rishi. It is the kind of book that YA readers have been crying out for ages, and Menon absolutely hit the nail on the head.

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 cannot express how much I absolutely adored this book. If there’s one book you must read this year, I urge you to run out and get a copy of When Dimple Met Rishi. It’s smart, sweet, and represents the conflicts that kids can undergo with their parents and the cultural clash between generations. I cannot speak to the accuracy of both Dimple and Rishi’s Indian backgrounds, home life, and the expectations that go with, but I can relate to the feelings of helplessness surrounding life after high school and one’s personal wants versus what is best for their future.

I went into this book fully expecting to relate most to Dimple, the whip-smart coding feminist who rebels against her mother’s desires for her to find the Ideal Indian Husband, but I came out of it relating most to Rishi. Rishi is the hopeless romantic who loves hearing tales of how his parents met, the oldest son in his family, and is eager to follow the path his parents lay out for him. I wont spoil the what Rishi wrestles with throughout the book, but his struggle really spoke to me. I see a lot of myself in him, and I can guarantee that many readers, particularly readers around his age, will feel the same.

The relationship that develops between Dimple and Rishi over their summer program is absolutely delightful. They are complete opposites, but learn to respect each other as they get to know each other. This book is more character driven than plot drive, so the summer program does take a backseat to their developing relationship, however this is not a bad thing. As a friendship emerges, they learn so much about each other and themselves.

I’ve already rambled on enough. I don’t want to say too much, except go get this book. This was an unexpected delight that will give you warm, fuzzy feelings. It is a frontrunner for favorite book of 2017.


Rating: 4.75/5


*copy courtesy of Goodreads

When Dimple met Rishi was so easy to get into, the writing style was wonderful. I loved that we got the perspectives of both Dimple and Rishi, it worked really well. Although, at first, I sometimes found the changes a little confusing while I was still getting used to their different voices. Regardless, I became attached to the two of them early on. Dimple is headstrong, she has a passion for coding and knows exactly what she wants to do with her life. Rishi is more traditional, a genuinely nice person, who wants to make people happy.

I adored how cute this book was. The progression of Dimple and Rishi's relationship as the got to know each other was wonderful. I especially liked how we got to see it from both points of view. This book made me giggle with glee, go all mushy at the cuteness and ultimately really root for the main characters. It's been a while since a book had me this invested in a romance, especially a stand alone novel. As well as cute, this book was also funny. The humour was strong throughout, which really added to my overall enjoyment.

Something I really appreciated was the complexity of the characters, especially the main four characters. They felt like real people, which only made me more invested. Of course I have to mention the diversity. While I myself am white, and as such cannot speak to the representation in this book, I have only heard positive responses thus far. Additionally I enjoyed seeing the culture and how Dimple and Rishi felt differently about their culture and identities. I also appreciated seeing their parents, and how those relationships varied, and developed for different characters. 

All in all, I loved this book. I want to read it again. I want to know what the characters do next, because I genuinely like them, and don't want to leave them. I've been reading a lot more YA contemporary novels recently, but this one is easily one of my favourites simply because of how quickly I became absorbed by the story, the characters, and how cute and funny the book was as a whole. When Dimple met Rishi easily deserves 5/5 Stars.

3.5 Stars (rounded up to 4)
I had some problems with the book - I wanted to shake Dimple a few times to stop her being an idiot. She was such a whirlwind of contradictions and so many decisions and actions were just downright wrong.

However I appreciated reading about a different culture and the way that culture and society issues were handled. I also enjoyed a female character who didn't give in to peer / mother pressure.

Overall despite some problems, I found it a mindless fun and fast read.

This book sounded like the perfect summer read. Two teens brought together by an arranged marriage of sorts, trying to dislike each other to spite their parents but that ultimately proving difficult. Everyone has been looking forward to reading the story of Dimple and Rishi, there was so much hype and very high expectations, myself included. Unfortunately this didn't meet my expectations and I was left a little disappointed. It was cute and fun as I had expected but just not enough, it fell flat for me.

With such a spotlight on diversity in books this year especially, I think much of the hype surrounding this book was due to the Indian American main characters and the fact that this story very much involved their culture. This was a large part of my attraction to this book and for me this was covered so well. I really loved all the discussions about their culture. I loved the little cultural references, the discussions about their parents and family members lives in India, I found it all so interesting. This was my favourite part of the book but more so because of how it was done. This book was diverse, but not in the way that focused on the difficulties of being, in this case, an Indian-American teen, it was just a cute story about two teens falling in love. I think we need more diverse books like this, that don't focus on how a person is "different" or the difficulties of being part of a minority, which of course are important topics too, but just deal with universal topics like first love or a fun summer with someone other than a white, heterosexual, cisgender protagonist.

The main characters, Dimple and Rishi, as can be seen from the title, were very much the main focus of this book. There was no crazy plot just some pretty great characters. Or at least great sounding characters. I think I liked the idea of Dimple more than the character herself. I was so excited to be reading about a female main character with a passion for something other than the typical singing, dancing, art, etc., but rather coding and app development. However, I ended up finding her a bit irritating and frustrating. I found myself wanting to scream at her through the pages (or rather through my kindle) because of the things she was doing and choices she was making.

While I may not have been the biggest fan of Dimple, I liked her relationship with Rishi. I thought the arranged marriage kind of scenario was really interesting but wish it had been more of a plot point instead of just being used to introduce the characters. I think I would have enjoyed just more of that storyline. I really liked Dimple and Rishi together, I thought they were an adorable couple and I loved how they supported each other. They had a very healthy relationship, which is great to portray in young adult books, but I did feel the relationship moved a bit too fast for my liking and it started to feel a little like insta-love.

Obviously from the title you can gather that this is Dimple and Rishi's love story and that is obviously the main focus. However, family also plays a big part in this story. I loved the importance of family within the story and to our main characters. Though they didn't always have the best relationships with their family members, I think it was very important that they were still talking on the phone with parents despite being away from home. This makes a difference from the usual perpetually absent parents in a lot of YA novels.

There are some really good aspects to this book but the biggest let down for me was the lack of talk about the actual camp they were attending. This coding summer program seemed like such a great setting but it was hardly mentioned, they could have been anywhere. I was waiting for great scenes of them creating their app together or at least something related to the whole reason they were together in the first place. However, for some reason this incredibly random talent show became a major plot point. I did not understand how a talent show was in any way related to creating an app or how winning said talent show would make you more likely to win the overall program. I liked that Bollywood dancing was featured and I liked that it allowed for Rishi's brother to become more involved in the story, but I saw absolutely no relevance in relation to the rest of the story and it did take up a large chunk of the book. I just didn't understand it.

Overall, I enjoyed the cute summer love story aspect of the book but it didn't meet my expectations. All of the aspects I was excited about, such as the arrange marriage plotline, the main character with a passion for coding, or them creating an app, just fell flat and I was left a little disappointed. I would definitely read more from Sandhya Menon in the future but I didn't fall in love with this book like I hoped I would.

Ok, I'll admit, at first I genuinely thought that this was a book that centred around two Indian lesbians meeting each other and falling in love. I was all about that life and it was one of the reasons why I was so excited to read it. Wow, how wrong was I?! If anything, this highlighted my ignorance towards Indian culture as I didn't realise that Rishi was actually a male name. However, even though I had found out that this was a heterosexual relationship book, I was still intrigued because of the diversity and because the female protagonist is a computer coder!

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.

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 fell in love with this book from the very first page. Even though Dimple sometimes came across as really unfair towards her parents and towards Rishi, I could see where she was coming from. She didn't want to follow the path that had already been laid out for her by her parents and by her culture. She wanted a career and not to be tied down as a domestic wife. But then this brings up the long-time feminist argument of: 'well, why CAN'T a woman have both a good career and a good home life? Why does she have to choose?' And I think that this book explores this notion very well. It's about both protagonists embracing their culture, but also about the struggles that they go through with their passions and also the struggles they go through in their relationship because of this.





"Seriously? That's what you think I should be relegating my brain space to? Looking nice? Like, if I don't make the effort to look beautiful, my entire existence is nullified? Nothing else matters - not my intellect, not my personality or my accomplishments; my hopes and dreams mean nothing if I'm not wearing eyeliner?"

― Sandhya Menon, When Dimple Met Rishi






Also, where did that story arc with Rishi's brother come from? It kind of just flew out of nowhere and smacked us in the face. It was so random and I'm not even sure it added anything to the story apart from Rishi respecting his brother more? I don't know. I don't think it was really needed. The character of Ashish itself was really well written though and I loved how he helped Dimple and Rishi with the dance routine, but it was his whole romance story arc that flew out of nowhere. If Menon had kept Ashish as just a secondary character who supports his brother and Dimple then that would have been better, in my opinion. What do you guys think?

I absolutely loved learning about Indian culture as well. Rishi explained it in such a romantic, educational and descriptive way that made me fall in love with the culture. It's about time that we saw Indian-American characters as the main protagonists in a YA contemporary. I am actually currently reading an episodic story that is also about the adventure that an Indian girl goes on when she goes to college. The episodic story is called The Sunshine Time and I actually highly recommend it! But anyway, back to When Dimple Met Rishi... The descriptions of the culture were amazing, I loved how the cultural appropriation was perfect, and I loved how Menon embraced Indian culture 100% and showed how wonderful it was to her readers.

If you can't tell already, I absolutely loved this book and even though I had a few very minor issues with it * , I still think it's an amazing contemporary that I really do think everyone should read because it's just that good!

*I rated it 4.5 stars as a whole but I decided to put it in the 5-star category

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review