I'm officially a Sandhya Menon groupie (is that even a thing for authors??) and I'm not ashamed!

I loved this book! It's funny, emotional, full of great messages, and was just cute all around. I loved Sweetie and Ashish both as individuals and as a couple. They still maintain their own personalities and are very upfront with each other about what they're going into the relationship with and what they want out of it. As much as I already loved Ashish going into this, I fell in love with Sweetie immediately. I also fell in love with the secondary characters like Samir, Oliver, Izzy, and both Ashish and Sweetie's parents. Each character has a purpose in the book, and I think they all got a fair amount of page time and influence in the plot and character development. I'll definitely be recommending this book to pretty much everyone I see.

I absolutely fell in love with this book! Sweetie was a strong female heroine, as so many of Sandhya Menon's characters are, and the book promoted body positivity and self confidence no matter how fat or thin one is. Ashish was sweet and amazing for Sweetie as well, and I highly enjoyed watching their romance play out.

I've read her other books and this one does not disappoint! I loved it! This was a wonderful story about showcasing different body types and I thought she did it fantastically.

Nursing a broken heart, former player Ashish Patel agrees to let his parents choose his next girlfriend. But when his mother singles out Sweetie Nair, a sweet girl who is an athlete like Ashish, her mother refuses to let the two date on the grounds that Sweetie needs to lose weight before she'll be in Ashish' league. Sweetie, who believes her weight should not define her, and who wishes to prove that she can be happy without being thin, contacts Ashish directly and they begin to date behind her parent's backs. When Ash's parents discover this- they come up with a plan. Ash and Sweetie will go on four predetermined dates to locations of THEIR choosing.

I honestly liked this book even more than I liked When Dimple Met Rishi. Sweetie and Ash are real and entirely likable characters, and their relationship develops in a real and honest way. I also liked their relationships with both parents, and how each character had a lot to learn about the others in the story. I will be recommending this book to all teens who like strong characters, real situations, and romance.

I wish I had had this book when I was younger, and I'm grateful to have Sweetie as a role model even now as an adult. Sweetie's strength and courage and vulnerability is inspiring. I particularly admire her persistence in her relationship with her mother and the sensitivity with which the author explores that dynamic--as well as the motivation behind Sweetie's mother's hurtful treatment of her daughter. As in Menon's other novels the romance is pitch perfect!

There are not enough words to describe how much I loved this book, but I'll try to summarize: diverse characters are at the top of this list. Indian Americans, a gay couple, a sassy overweight protagonist that shatters the illusion that fat means unhealthy... This book has something for anyone who has felt unaccepted, self conscious, or misunderstood by their parents.

I can't recommend it enough!

This book is my new favorite romcom of 2019! Sandhya Menon has captured the Indian-American lifestyle once again, with fantastic fat representation, in a heart-warming, fun and well paced YA book. I adored Sweetie and was so excited to read the romance that developed between her and Ashish. One of the best reads of 2019, hands down.

A sweet and empowering read. Easy to root for every single character in this story, and want the very best for them. Sweetie is gorgeous, talented, athletic, and fat, and her mother makes her feel less than she is. Ashish has it all but has lost his "mojo" after a rough break-up, and can't compete with his perfect and dutiful older brother. When their paths crossed due to an attempted parental set-up, they see how they can try something a little different, together. There's Something About Sweetie is a very Message-y book. The messages are all excellent, and I think there are so many kids (and adults) who would really feel seen by the challenges the characters face and the introspection and growth they all are able to make. There's comfort in wish fulfillment, and in your friends and family managing to truly listen to you. At times the teen characters read like future psychologists, who knew just how to inspire personal growth and breakthroughs in each other. Not all books need to be realistic, and the representation is so, so important here. I'm just not sure if 17-year-old me would be pumping the air through this book, or if it might ring a little false.

This was a mix between When Dimple Met Rishi and Dumplin' for me and while most parts worked, others fell flat. I felt like the secondary characters needed a boost and I didn't really get enough of setting and their homes. I will recommend that we purchase it though because we need more body positive books.

I think there was some mistake made in the fact that the first book I read by Sandhya Menon was <i>There's Something About Sweetie</i>. While I've heard a many great things about this author in the past, I've found that her latest book fell incredibly short of expectations, despite how utterly promising the premise of this book initially sounded. Ultimately, by the time I finished this book I was left feeling annoyed and disappointed despite all my best efforts to enjoy the reading. And I really, <i>really</i> wanted to like <i>There's Something About Sweetie.</i> Unfortunately, what I found instead was a book with a lot of potential that was trying far too hard to accomplish its goals. And it is that effort of trying too hard that really ended up ruining the entire novel.

<i>There's Something About Sweetie </i>is a story about a young Indian American boy, Ashish, whose heart has just been broken and whose parents believe he is turning his back on his heritage and a young Indian American girl called Sweetie who is, to put it simply, not thin and has to deal with the fallout of her mother's insistence that she is unhealthy, will get made fun of, and needs to lose weight and how, when Ashish turns to his parents to help him through the heartbreak by finding him someone to date, the two build a relationship. Basically, it's a love story between teenagers.

Now, I can certainly appreciate a teenage romance. I'm not generally incredibly fond of them when the romance is the entire focal point of the story, but I've found several over the years that I've enjoyed. What really turned this particular romance into one of annoyance and frustration was the level of cheesiness that was portrayed throughout and the utter lack of realism behind the characters. To begin, Sweetie was always frustratingly "all-knowing" in the sense that she somehow magically could give a quick <i>wise </i>speech to another character, whether it was Ashish or his friend Oliver, and change their minds almost entirely. In fact, literally all of Ashish's development came at the hand of some <i>sage-like</i> advice from his parent-chosen girlfriend. All Sweetie ever had to do was offer a differing opinion on a comment he made and suddenly every belief and personality quirk Ashish had was instantly changed. One comment and his growth became magically exponential. And it was just simply ridiculous. Character development like that takes time and needs to be portrayed in such a way, otherwise the characters are not believable in the slightest.

The degree of insta-love that existed in this novel was frustrating and, quite frankly, rather gross. The word love was thrown around <i>so</i> quickly in retrospect to how long the characters had been dating. And when the book tries to present this relationship as one that is going to last and result in a marriage, it left me with nothing more than to roll my eyes far too many times. Three dates and about a month of dating is not long enough to suddenly have fallen in love with someone.

I don't read romance novels for a reason and a lot of that has to do the excessive amount that the characters talk about how attracted they are to each other, regularly referencing their bodies and beauty. It's a realistic aspect to teenage life and life in general, but I don't want it in the books I read because I don't enjoy reading it. I also think, largely, we put an excessive amount of attention on looks and reading about characters who regularly think to themselves something along the lines of, "I am so lucky, such and such is SO gorgeous" annoys the heck out of me. It's not necessarily <i>wrong</i> and I know others enjoy reading these kinds of books, but for me it was excessive and irritating.

And finally, perhaps the most unfortunate of instances in which the novel was trying so hard to send a message, but failed entirely because of how the message was portrayed lies in Sweetie's struggle against her mother regarding her weight. The purpose of this comes from a good place, to show that weight is not an indicator of worth or beauty and we definitely need more books to portray this fact. It was one of the reasons why I was so excited when I was approved for this ARC. But unfortunately, despite best attempts, the issue of weight really was not properly addressed. With a goal of bringing to light the problems with fat shaming, the book isolates anyone of larger weight whose lifestyle is not active. Instead of supporting the message that weight does not determine your worth, the book muddles it by suggesting that weight does not determine one's worth when coupled alongside that person being the fastest runner on their track team. In fact, Sweetie even asks Ashish to meet up with her so she can show off her athletic prowess as a way to prove to him that her size doesn't have an effect on whether or not she is worthy of him, suggesting that if Sweetie <i>weren't</i> the fastest runner on her track team she would have no way to prove herself worthy. And that message is just not okay.

Now, this isn't to say that the entire novel is horrible. There were some things I genuinely and deeply enjoyed, particularly that surrounding Ashish's friends. The representation of a gay couple, both on the basketball team, and the home-schooled teen who struggled to fit in with the group, but eventually was able to work through the problems of his behavior were really great additions to the novel. The conversation that Sweetie had with her mom at the end of the novel was nice as well.

Overall, I wasn't the biggest fan of this book. The good pieces were minor subplots and hardly took up any of the novel as it was instead focused on Sweetie and Ashish, two characters I just couldn't get past my frustrations with. From the issues with insta-love, poor character development, and, though seemingly coming from a good place, an unfortunate take on issues of weight <i>There's Something About Sweetie</i> had a lot of problems.

<i>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Review will be posted on my blog (linked), Goodreads, Barnes and Noble, and Amazon within a month of the book's publication.

Set in the Dimple universe, There's Something About Sweetie, is just as tooth achingly adorable!

Sweetie is fat, and she's comfortable with that - she also happens to be the fastest runner at her school - probably the state. But her mom is always on her case about being overweight and is convinced Sweetie can't be truly happy unless she's thin.

Ashish (yes, Rishi's younger brother) is traditionally handsome and is being recruited by colleges for his prowess on the basketball court, but he's lost his mojo. Since his ex-girlfriend cheated on him, he can't play ball and he can't even talk to girls. So when he agrees to have his parents set him up he thinks nothing of it until he meets Sweetie and she is unlike any other girl he's ever liked.

Adorable ~ Believable ~ Amazing ~ Charming

tl;dr: Awesome people come in all sizes.

I love Menon, already. But, if you don't, yet, it's likely because you haven't picked up a book. So, do me a favor and grab this one. This is my favorite of her books. I feel as if her voice and characterizations have improved considerably. These characters feel so real I almost feel as if I would run into Sweetie IRL. This book is such a great body-positive story. The issues of fatism are pretty under the radar in literature, still, and what I love is that this book deals with that, without going all cheesy-after school special. Sweetie is an awesome human. Period. What a great message for anyone that awesome is not a function of size or appearance! Along with characterizations, the book has some quality dialogue. If Netflix needs a new series, option Menon's books. Overall, out of the park success. Only caveat I would have is to tell readers to pick an evening when you can read start to finish. You won't want to put this down.

Enormous thanks to Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book. I have read the author's first book, When Dimple met Rishi several times now. I loved being able to revisit some characters again in this book. Sandhya Menon knows how to write really likable and realistic characters. You will not want to put this book down!

I love the true and real setting in this contemporary YA fiction that is all about every-day life in a local high school -- while still providing a realistic perspective from a different ethnic and religious background.

I appreciated seeing life through a different perspective, one that holds families in high esteem, shows teens accepting of each other, and evidences the commonalities across cultural divides. All these aspects make this an excellent read for today's young adult readers who only want a book about their lives -- but who will gain so much more.

The pleasure of reading this third book by Menon (From Twinkle, With Love and When Dimple met Rishi, each linked but stand-alones as well) made me go back and explore the earlier titles that the author has given us. These are each engaging reads that might need a push or a book talk to get them going but will then take off.

Another great read from this author. Fun, lighthearted but still contains an awesome message, especially for young women that’s needed in this modern age. You can help but fall in love with the characters.

There's something sweet(ie) about this book!

There's Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon follows two athletic Indian-American teenagers who develop a romantic relationship despite cultural and societal expectations. Ashish Patel finds himself heartbroken after his first love cheats on him. Despite his reservations, he asks his parents to set him up with an Indian-American girl. Enter Sweetie Nair, a top-notch track star whose mom opposes the match since she believes her daughter weighs too much. As a result, Sweetie becomes determined to prove her mother wrong.

Sandhya Menon's books have been hit-or-miss for me. While I enjoyed When Dimple Met Rishi, it lacked the spark to make it one of my favorite contemporaries. On the other hand, I did not enjoy From Twinkle, With Love at all due to unlikable characters and an overdramatic plot. Going into There's Something About Sweetie, I was not sure what to expect. I'm happy to say this book exceeded my expectations and ranks as my favorite among this author's books.

I loved both Sweetie and Ashish because their personalities greatly differed from the characters in Menon's other stories. While I enjoyed Dimple's headstrong personality and Rishi's gentlemanly attitude, I found Twinkle and Sahil to be watered down versions of those two characters and less likable. Sweetie possesses the same strong beliefs as Dimple, but comes across a lot more reserved and intuitive to others' feelings. Rishi completely differs from Rishi or Sahil as he is portrayed as more "popular" and "cool." I dislike when I read books by the same author and all of the main characters and love interests across the stories read the same. I appreciated that Sweetie and Ashish were vastly different than Menon's other characters to set them apart.

If you have read Menon's other two books, they follow a fairly similar formula. Each character has their passion, which is mentioned, but never as integral to the story as it may seem. I would say this is only half true for this book. Based on the synopsis, Sweetie's track and "Sassy Sweetie Project" is mentioned, but there is a large focus on the dates that she goes on with Ashish as well. I would say the book holds true to the synopsis in this case. While the largest focus is placed on the arranged dates for Sweetie and Ashish, there is a large focus on Sweetie and how her weight is viewed through Indian culture as well. I think this will satisfy readers who were put off by the inaccurate synopses for some of Menon's other books.

There were several other aspects of this book that I really appreciated. In the author's note at the beginning of the story, Menon mentioned how her weight has fluctuated through the years and she has had vastly different experiences based on her weight at the time. She also mentioned that Sweetie describes herself as "fat" in the book because it is only a negative word because of societal connotations. However, she also acknowledges that some people, especially those bullied using this specific word, may feel uncomfortable when they see this word in the story and they are entitled to that feeling. I always appreciate reading about an author's connection to a story and I thought Menon's note before the story was incredibly thoughtful to those who may be triggered by the discrimination that Sweetie faces, especially since it often comes from close family members within this story. Just a warning: While this book does have a prevailing message of loving your body that although authentically portrays Sweetie's experience, it may be extremely uncomfortable for some readers who struggle with body image. Since there is a large amount of negative commentary regarding Sweetie's weight, you may want to skip this book if this triggers you.

Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was learning more about Indian culture. Sweetie and Ashish go on arranged dates by Ashish's parents that are described as "typically Indian." It was interesting to learn more about Indian culture and its influence in Indian-Americans' lives. I think the two main characters also provided other perspectives that we have not seen yet in Menon's books. Prior to this story, Ashish only dated white girls. Sweetie does not fit the stereotypical mold of the "perfect" Indian girl. It was interesting to read the conversations surrounding these topics in the story.

Overall, I really enjoyed There's Something About Sweetie. I really liked the main characters and learning about a culture different than my own. I give this book four out of five stars.

This was such a great book. Sandhya Menon is going to make me a romance reader. I don’t even like cute books!

But I love this one. Every teen should have this book on their TBR list.

It's no surprise that I love this book. I've loved everything by Sandhya Menon! Revisiting Ashish and seeing his character grow through this book was special too. This one will be loved by my romance readers, and I'm so looking forward to putting it in their hands!

Ashish Patel is 17, a star basketball player, and heartsick over his latest breakup. He starts to question why his relationships fail and wonder why he picks the wrong girls. His brother Rishi is in college and has found love thanks to his parents’ matchmaking. Rishi suggests to Ashish that he let their parents find a nice Indian girl for him to date for a change. Ashish is reluctant until he realizes his parents have chosen Sweetie Nair as a partner. Sweetie is a track star, funny, beautiful, and plus-size. Sweetie’s mother is constantly ridiculing Sweetie for her weight and lives in fear that she will be picked on for it. Sweetie and Ashish really click from their first meeting and start to date in secret, because Sweetie’s mom disapproves.

I liked this story a lot. First, I should mention it is a companion novel to “When Dimple Met Rishi”, about Ashish’s brother Rishi’s romance. I did not read that or know about it, and I felt this was a strong standalone novel. I liked the gentle romance, the set of friends, and a glimpse into Indian-American culture and values. I really liked the matchmaking by the parents, I felt that it was nice to see some tradition values and the children had a mutual respect with the parents.

Most of this novel focuses on Sweetie’s weight. As an American, it felt tough to see Sweetie’s mother and perfect strangers in her community criticize her for that. I’m glad that Sweetie was confident in herself, but you could easily see how to pressure and criticism would cause a different girl to develop an eating disorder. I wish that hadn’t been such a big focus of the book.

In general, I like this book and would read more by the author. I would recommend to fans of romance, intercultural stories, and young adult fiction. I would tend not to recommend this to teens or others that have issues with weight or body image. Special thanks to net galley for my complementary copy and return for my honest review.

There's Something About Sweetie is a rich, layered, nuanced and incredible book. The 3rd person dual POV is not something that one sees a lot of in YA, so that was a refreshing change.

I enjoy reading books about teens of color who are allowed to just be. Teens who embrace their heritage and find joy in their family's traditions. Teens who love their parents, even in the midst of hiccups and maybe not so great choices. Teens who aren't dwelling in some sort of cultural, tragic pain. Those books are important... but so are rom-coms!

Sweetie. What can I say about Sweetie, except that she is one of my absolute favorite YA heroines? Not only is she super kind, a literal sweetie, but her confidence and her attitude.... gah, she is perfect! She runs track, she can sing, she's amazing and I adore her.

Ashish. I loved reading about his heartbreak, and how deep down he just wanted to be a good person despite how he may have behaved in the past.

Ashish's parents. Phenomenal. Their love for their sons is palpable, and they were so much fun to read. I enjoyed reading a book where parents were present and there for both of the main characters. Refreshing, and their quirks made them entertaining as well.

I loved watching Sweetie and Ashish fall for each other. But the best was that Sweetie refused to take any crap from him or anything. Her strength will inspire so many readers, and I can't wait for it to get into their hands.

Overall, the book was full of heart and humor, and my favorite by Menon so far. I'm so excited this book gets to exist!