Review: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Published May 30th 2017

A laugh-out-loud, heartfelt YA romantic comedy, told in alternating perspectives, about two Indian-American teens whose parents have arranged for them to be married.

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.

Advanced Reader Copy was sent to me by the publisher

This book was so cute and I really enjoyed it. It gave me Kasie West vibes and was perfectly diverse.

I really loved the plot and how Dimple was so driven by her passion. She was very goal oriented, something I don’t see that often in contemporary books. I did really like Rishi as well but I didn’t quite connect to him like I did Dimple. I kind of wished Dimple was a little more open to her fellow girls. I felt like there was some (very slight) girl hate through out the book and I wish there would have been more uplifting and empowering girl friendships.
I also really loved how When Dimple Met Rishi was full of Indian culture and how organically it was incorporated into the story.

Overall, When Dimple Met Rishi was a really great, fluffy YA contemporary. I loved the plot and the writing was awesome. If you’re looking for a cute summer read, you’ll want to pick this book up.