[Book Review] When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Dimple Shah is determined to kick start her career immediately now that she has graduated high school and plans to go to Sanford for web design. She convinces her parents to let her go to Insomnia Con, a technology program for six weeks. Her mother wants her to focus on finding an "Ideal Indian Husband" but finally agrees to allow Dimple to go. Dimple is shocked that she agrees, and is happy her parents are finally on board with her focusing more on her career than her love life. Rishi Patel is a charismatic hopeless romantic who's parents have told him that his future wife will be at Insomnia Con but he will have to woo her. Rishi believes in tradition, stability, and feels immense pressure to live up to his family's expectations. Even if that means putting aside his passions to focus on something more practical.

Dimple and Rishi think they have each other figured out, but when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

5 STARS 

When I think of light fluffy summer reads, its books like When Dimple Met Rishi that come to mind.Goodreads describes it as a rom-com, which is exactly what it is, but I think that rom-com can be referred to negatively, and that shouldn't be the case with this book.

"This is our life. We get to decide the rules. We get to say what goes and what stays, what matters and what doesn't." 

I absolutely loved the characters in this book. They were all so perfectly done and I just want more books revolving around them. Dimple is such a strong character who shuts down her mother's misogynistic beliefs. She doesn't like wearing makeup, she isn't interested in growing her hair long, and she doesn't care about getting married anytime soon. She's only eighteen, and she wants to focus on her passion of web design and coding. I love that she is unapologetically herself and she never loses that. She definitely grows as character, but she stays herself. Which I absolutely love because she is a great character to aspire to be. I want all high school female students to read this book just so they can aspire to be like Dimple.

 

Rishi is another character I absolutely loved. At first he comes on really strong, a bit too much cheese and optimism, especially compared to Dimple. I grew to love his character because of his generosity. Sure, he thought he was at Insomnia Con to meet his future wife, but he seems genuinely happy to have a new friend. I was worried that because he was described as hopelessly romantic in the synopsis, that he was going to be naive and a caricature. But he isn't, he has real problems and he surprised me a few times in this story. Just like I want high school female students to read this book for Dimple, I want all the high school male students to read this to be inspired by Rishi. He listens and respects Dimple's decisions, he doesn't try to force her to do something he feels like is best for her. He's a great friend and I absolutely loved him.

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

We don't get to see too much of Rishi's parents, but I thought they were cute. I really loved Dimple's parents, especially her father who was such a sweetheart. Her mother had me laughing, mostly because she is so headstrong like her daughter that them going head to head was sometimes comical. I love that the parents in this story are in their kid's lives so much. You can tell even from the handful of scenes with them that both pair of parents love their kids so much. I also loved Rishi's brother Ashish who was such a classic younger brother. I liked Rishi and Ashish's dynamic. Rishi genuinely just wanted his brother to be happy, and that went both ways with Ashish to Rishi.

I liked Dimple's roommate Celia, I think she had a really good character arc and I would have loved to get to know her a little more. She becomes friends with a handful of rich snobby kids who look down on Dimple, and I like that Celia grows by learning about the company she keeps. We don't get to know too much about the snobby kids, especially the two boys. However, I think it works for the story just fine. I didn't have any need to know more about their backgrounds. I believed that they behaved the way they were because of their upbringing. I do wish that they had more repercussions for their actions, but in the end that didn't matter.

"His eyes reminded her of old apothecary bottles, deep brown, when the sunlight hit them and turned them almost amber."

The romance was absolutely adorable. I don't typically go for romantic comedies because I am not the biggest fan of heavy romantic based plots. However, with all the hype this book was getting I had to pick it up and I am so happy I did. Dimple and Rishi had so much chemistry, from their friendship to their romance. I believed every moment of it. I rooted for their relationship and for them to do well with the Insomnia Con contest. I also liked that their personalities aren't exactly what you'd predict them to be. You'd assume that because Dimple is so focused on her career and working hard that she couldn't let go and have fun, but the reader is shown that she is definitely adventurous. Where Rishi is more reserved and cautious. I really liked that, and it was a nice change to the characters I was expecting. I also liked that Dimple didn't drop her initial beliefs just because she started feeling something for Rishi. She was still hesitant and unsure. She made it clear that she wasn't looking to marry and she wanted to focus on the Insomnia Con contest and then her studies.

I really loved that Dimple was so into web design, and I would have loved to see more of that. The way she talked about it you could just imagine the fire in her eyes, and I could see why Rishi was so drawn to her. Plus the scenes with them both working on the app were so great. I loved seeing them work together, and I would have loved to have more moments where they did. I also would have liked to see Dimple's parent's reactions to her app idea. Her father, because it was inspired by him, and her mother because maybe her mom would really understand how gifted Dimple is and maybe let up on the marriage talk.

I cannot speak to the Indian representation and how accurate it is, but I did enjoy learning more about the culture. Rishi and Dimple briefly talk about religion and also just traditions that are passed down through generations that I just found really educational. This is an Own Voices book, being that Sandhya Menon was born and raised in India. I cannot wait to read more by Menon, her writing was beautiful and simple. She got me invested so early on and controlled my emotions whether it be happy or tearful with her words.

Overall, I absolutely loved this book. My heart felt so light while reading the majority of it, and it sunk when something upsetting was happening. I teared up a handful of times and I found myself laughing out loud and grinning like a big dope. The humor is consistent and I was surprised with how funny this story was. I think that played off of the fact that the two main characters had so much great chemistry. This book just brings out your emotions in the best way. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is in the mood for a great summer romance with a heartwarming story with great characters.

Thanks for reading! 

What is a light fluffy summer book you recommend?