From Twinkle, With Love - Book Review

From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description from the Author

Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to longtime crush, Neil Roy—aka Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.

When mystery man ‘N’ begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she’s fallen in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil.

Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she’s got is not the one she scripted. But will it be enough?

Told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, With Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you.

My Review
Page Count: 
Genre: 
Stand-Alone Novel

This was a fun, sweet YA contemporary! I love that Twinkle is an aspiring filmmaker, a field in which there is a significant lack of diversity. Twinkle grows a lot in this book, and I enjoyed watching the journey she takes. Sandhya Menon has become one of my favorite YA authors, and I cannot wait to read her next book!

Other Books by Sandhya Menon

When Dimple Met Rishi

The YA rom-com everyone’s talking about! As seen in Teen Vogue, Bustle, and BookRiot—with a starred review from Kirkus Reviews—When Dimple Met Rishi follows two Indian-American teens whose parents conspire to arrange their marriage.

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. Read less

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.

There's Something About Sweetie

(Coming May 14, 2019)

The irresistible companion novel to the New York Times bestseller When Dimple Met Rishi, which follows Rishi’s brother, Ashish, and a confident fat athlete named Sweetie as they both discover what love means to them.

Ashish Patel didn’t know love could be so…sucky. After being dumped by his ex-girlfriend, his mojo goes AWOL. Even worse, his parents are annoyingly, smugly confident they could find him a better match. So, in a moment of weakness, Ash challenges them to set him up.

The Patels insist that Ashish date an Indian-American girl—under contract. Per subclause 1(a), he’ll be taking his date on “fun” excursions like visiting the Hindu temple and his eccentric Gita Auntie. Kill him now. How is this ever going to work?

Sweetie Nair is many things: a formidable track athlete who can outrun most people in California, a loyal friend, a shower-singing champion. Oh, and she’s also fat. To Sweetie’s traditional parents, this last detail is the kiss of death.

Sweetie loves her parents, but she’s so tired of being told she’s lacking because she’s fat. She decides it’s time to kick off the Sassy Sweetie Project, where she’ll show the world (and herself) what she’s really made of.

Ashish and Sweetie both have something to prove. But with each date they realize there’s an unexpected magic growing between them. Can they find their true selves without losing each other?

Make Up Break Up

(Coming June 2021)

NYT bestselling young adult author of When Dimple Met Rishi Sandhya Menon's Make Up Break Up an adult romcom featuring an ambitious young Indian-American entrepreneur whose traditional matchmaking business goes head-to-head with an up-an-coming break up app, dubbed "the Uber for break ups," helmed by her irritatingly handsome, arrogant rival.

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When Dimple Met Rishi

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Description from the Publisher

The rom-com everyone’s talking about! Eleanor & Park meets Bollywood in this hilarious and heartfelt novel about two Indian-American teens whose parents conspire to arrange their marriage.

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.

My Review
Page Count: 384 pages
Genre: YA Literature, YA Contemporary
CW: mild cursing, mild sensual scenes

The Good: 

• This book is so precious! I really appreciated the fact that the book is told from both Dimple's and Rishi's points of view. 
• Dimple is a girl who codes! She is very smart and independent, and does not like wearing makeup or conforming to what society tells her she should look like. 
• Rishi is a romantic and an artist. He is so innocent and endearing, that you cannot help but love him. 
• The protagonists are Indian-American, and, while I cannot speak for the accuracy of the representation, I didn't come across anything that seemed negative toward their culture. From the reviews I've seen, this book is pretty accurate, but please correct me if I am mistaken. 
• I enjoyed the aspects of Indian culture in this book. Many of the characters use Hindi phrases and terms of endearment and respect. I love that Dimple and Rishi embraced their culture during various Insomnia Con events. I did do a few Google searches for various phrases and terms that came up, and I feel like I have come away knowing a bit more about Indian culture. 
• The humor is constant. Dimple and Rishi's banter is cute and witty.
• Even though this is a romance, this book does not fall into the "insta-love" category. Dimple attends Insomnia Con with no intentions of meeting someone and falling in love. Her top priority is meeting a famous web designer so she can jump start her career and get her app into production. The romance was slow to build, but so worth it!

The Not-So-Good: 

• My one complaint is that I would really have liked to see more of the actual web design. During the last three weeks of Insomnia Con, it is crunch time for participants to complete their app designs, but that is where the book seems to steer away from the web design and more into the romance. Even though I enjoyed the romance, I wanted to see more of Dimple's ideas and how they actually produced the app. 

Overall, I LOVED this book! It is a sweet, fluffy, funny, contemporary, and I cannot wait to read more of Sandhya Menon's work! Go get this book now! 

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