Dimple and Rishi by Sandhya Menon Series: Dimple and Rishi #1
Published by Simon Pulse on May 30, 2017
Pages: 380 pages
Format: Hardcover
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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’ve been reading a lot of heavy high fantasies and dark historical fictions this year, and I was starting to feel some major Genre Burn-out – and my book slump has been bad enough as it is; I did NOT need Genre Burnout on top of everything else! So I decided it was time to pick up When Dimple Met Rishi. Everyone I know who has read this book has ADORED IT and absolutely GUSHED about it. And HOLY WOW, WERE THEY RIGHT!!! I’m SO sorry I didn’t read this sooner. It was an absolutely adorable romcom with amazing characters and an epic plot that had me laughing, crying, and cheering. The high stakes Insomnia Con element had my heart pounding in my throat the whole time.
Dimple was a fun, sassy, strong-willed character. I loved how fierce and opinionated she was, and the way she stood-up for what she wanted. She was also a fiercely loyal friend. Rishi was completely adorable. I felt so bad for him, the way he desperately wanted to draw but felt obligated to do what his parents expected of him. But I also understand and appreciate the fact that he felt very close to his culture and heritage, so pleasing his parents was something he WANTED to do, something that came naturally to him. I also loved how down-to-earth he was, despite being a rich kid (something Dimple takes note of, as well, when she finds out just how rich he really is).
There are many things in this book I don’t feel I can comment on because I don’t want to stray outside my lane and comment on a culture that I’m not intimately familiar with. But I’ve heard from many own voices bloggers and reviewers that this book was amazing and mirrored their experiences growing up – that that they were able to see themselves in this book and these characters. I think the best review I’ve read is from Alyssa over at The Eater of Books.
What I DO want to say is that I feel like I learned a lot by reading this book. I found myself googling a lot of things, trying to understand and better visualize what exactly was happening. I googled the different types of clothes they were wearing, what certain words meant, and some of the dances Dimple and Rishi were rehearsing.
The only negative thing I really have to say about this book is that, at times, the POV changing multiple times in one chapter was confusing. It made it a little hard to get into the flow of the story. But the more into the book I got, the easier the transition became.
Overall, this book was an adorable, fun, laugh-out-loud joy to read. I’m diving right into There’s Something About Sweetie, and I’m SO pumped for Ashish’s story. I can tell from what we saw of him in this book that we’ve only just begun to learn who he really is. And, of course, I’m excited to meet Sweetie, what with all the body positivity and well-done fat rep I’ve heard is in this book.
So yeah, I HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone looking to read an epic romcom, and anyone who wants a book with Indian rep in it. This book was just absolutely fantastic and you WON’T regret picking it up!