When Dimple Met Rishi: Now on Netflix as 'Mismatched'

This book is adorable! I knew I would probably (hopefully) love it but I was definitely a little wary going in because these is always the chance you will be the black sheep on these things. When Dimple Met Rishi was not what I expected. I knew that the MCs had Indian parents and were involved in an arranged marriage but my idea of what this book would be like was very different to what I got and I was really impressed. Dimple was so easy to like. She wasn't willing to give into her mother's wish for her to marry and find herself the 'Ideal Indian Husband'. She wasn't even willing to give in about wearing makeup and putting in her contacts just to entice a man. Instead, she id focused on pursuing web design. I loved her passion and her focus, even if I didn't fully understand it because I certainly didn't know what I what I wanted to do at eighteen. I think Dimple's focus and unwillingness to compromise herself for any reason that made me both like her and dislike her. She was far too unwilling to compromise when it comes to others. Even when it meant angering her friends and those close to her. It was her worst quality and was something which came between her and Rishi and it was annoying. I did like seeing her grow throughout the book, though. And then there was Rishi. I didn't think I'd like him as much, I mean, he was close to his parents and willing to follow the path which they wished for him. He was willing to sacrifice a lot to do what was expected. He was awkward and cute and I loved him. I wasn't even overly bothered by the fact he had money and was privileged because he didn't flaunt it. He was just an adorable cinnamon roll and I think I loved him. I was just as frustrated by him as Dimple but I felt his reservations were far more logical. Wanting a secure future, whilst not totally believable for a teenager, is not a bad thing and so I got why he was so hesitant to pursue all of his dreams. I found the whole book very adorable, though. And for both Dimple and Rishi their Indian heritage was obvious and I loved how Rishi honoured it so much and then Dimple was learning parts of her culture was ingrained because that was how she was raised. She considered how her parents would react to big decisions and even her quest to design an app was partially done to make her father proud of her. I loved this, it was a brilliant YA and demonstrates the genre is totally growing. I want more diverse reads like this one. Fingers crossed this is the start of a trend.

I love the trope of people in an arranged marriage falling in love and I've never been able to understand why it isn't more popular. WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI really makes its premise work with an effective use of dual POV and its excellent main characters. This is exactly the kind of YA contemporary I've been looking for lately, when the characters are at the end of their high school careers and contemplating the future. But what was especially important to me was that WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI felt very focused on the now instead of spiralling about the future, I guess since I've been struggling with that myself lately. Dimple and Rishi do worry from time to time, but it was so wonderful to see them really focus on the summer, which is magical both because of their budding romance and the chance they have to seize their dreams. These two plots are well balanced and complement each other wonderfully. I'm not usually won over by contemporary allocishet romance, and I can't help comparing this to the last YA contemporary romance that I enjoyed (THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR), especially since they seem to follow the same pattern of a whip-smart, geeky, science-oriented and practical girl falling for an artistic, sensitive, and romantic boy. Aside from the romance not forcing Dimple’s and Rishi's other ambitions into the backseat, what I appreciated most about the romance was Menon's depiction of their vulnerability with each other. For me, this is absolutely key to a believable romance, and WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI more than did an adequate job. I only had a couple problems which prevented this being a five star read. The first is that, for a rom-com, I didn’t find it funny. This is an absolutely subjective thing, and I’m sure my sense of humour just didn’t mesh with this book’s. However, I did find it utterly charming and was smiling constantly throughout several scenes, so this wouldn’t have impacted my enjoyment of the book had I gone in with different expectations. Finally, a huge part of Dimple’s characterisation is feeling alienated due to having a different view of femininity than her mother, and seemingly anyone else. While I loved how quickly Dimple bonded with Celia and how Dimple never denigrated her for her traditionally feminine hobbies and presentation, I felt it was unlikely that Dimple couldn’t have ever encountered another teenage girl who wears casual clothes, doesn’t do anything with her hair, and doesn’t wear makeup, especially at Insomnia Con.

I loved the book. A perfect light romance read with everything a Bollywood movies has. Family drama , sizzling romance , fights between couple. Wowwww.. I felt soo good after reading this. It's absolutely perfect for one of your weekend read..

Fue una excelente inversión! porque me hizo pasar un tiempo muy agradable.

Um dos melhores casais que ja li em contemporâneos. A autora sabe escrever romance e sabe como fazer o mesmo avancar no tempo certo, sem ser aquele amor bobo à primeira vista, mas com uma construção que faz sentido. A cultura dos protagonistas também è um ponto alto na narrativa e deixa tudo mais interessante. E o modo como a autora explora o tema de gênero vs profissão è genial.

I had this book preordered from pretty much the moment that it was on sale. A non-angsty book about two Indian-American teenagers whose parents have arranged for them to get married. Oh, my God(s) I must have it! And for the most part, it lived up the intense inner hype. This is the book version of the dopey look you get on your face when you think about someone that you are falling in love with. Warm, funny, and full of heart. The book has an alternating third-person POV of Dimple and Rishi. The obvious choice would have probably been to go with the first person for this conceit. I am glad that Sandhya Menon did not choose to write the book that way because of all too often the voices of the two characters aren't distinct enough. With both POV having a single voice the change in perspective is still there, but the book still has a cohesive narrative voice. Very effective. Dimple and Rishi were both funny, awkward, and incredibly relatable. I loved them as a couple. They have a lot in common, but they also have different internal speeds which are interesting to watch bounce off of one another. Dimple is buzzing, intense, and ready to go all the time while Rishi is relaxed and smooth. Often when they say the wrong things to one another, it is because of this. Dimple reacts and speaks before reflecting, and Rishi has thought it through so much that he forgets that he didn't say it out loud. I love how real that makes them feel. There was a great balance between being Indian and having that be important to them and being two crazy kids falling in love. One part of their story is never sacrificed for the other. There is quite a bit of Hindi in the book. Most have to be gotten through context. I googled a lot of the words and looked up a cheat sheet to Indian clothing just because I like knowing exactly what is being talked about. Dimple is pulled between her love and appreciation for her parents on one hand and her desire to figure out who she is on her own on the other. Her frustration and outbursts are understandable but so is the closeness that she feels with her parents. Rishi is an interesting character. He has set his life up in a way that guarantees the path of least resistance. At first, I thought that he was just sort of lazy and only interested in being comfortable all the time. But as the book goes on you see that he has trapped himself with his own idea of who he is and who he should be. I loved his journey of overcoming self-imposed limitations. Let's not kid ourselves, though. We are all here for the cute. And, man, was this cute. The whole story was super sweet, but I never found it to be cheesy. The weakest part was the plotting. Not much happened outside of Dimple and Rishi. Well, stuff happened, but I was always waiting for them to be alone together again. I am wondering, as much as I loved this, if it would have been better set during the summer after college graduation rather than high school graduation. Maybe it is the marriage thing (although that is talked about in term of being ten years away even in theory) but the story seems more about that step into adulthood than going off to college. It didn't bother me as I was reading but it was something that I have been thinking about. When Dimple met Rishi is a great read for the summer. I smiled my way through it and will be looking for more from Sandhya Menon.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon is an exquisite piece of art that leaves a longing need to be a part of its story in the hearts of its readers. I am not much of a contemporary reader. It's quite obvious that I prefer a fantastical or Sci-Fi novel over any contemporary any day when one scrolls through my To-Read, Read or Bookstagram pages. Although, an exception to that is When Dimple Met Rishi. I adored the characters, their relationships, and the three-dimensionality to each one of them. VERY MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD As an Indian myself, I find it quite hard to confidently express my love for my heritage, my culture, my family's religion, and my Indian upbringing in Canada. What I loved about Rishi was how unapologetically Indian he was. He did not care if that made him 'un-cool' to the popular groups of people because he loved his culture too much to allow anyone to ruin his perception and his ties to his culture. I loved how Sandhya also showed how there were two types of Indians by introducing Hari Mehta. I won't go much into detail for him, but, I will say one thing: I hate that boy more than Dolores Umbridge. India, as not a lot of people know, is a country of many religions/mini-cultures. I am sure Hari's parents were the descendants of one of those religions/cultures, and how he insulted not only the one his family belonged to, and India as well by how insulted he felt even with his authentic, Indian name, infuriated me. Dimple was incredibly relatable to me. I read her and felt like I was reading about myself. She was basically me except for the fact that she was good at coding, went to some sort of summer camp, and is capable of intimacy without laughing at her significant other. Okay, maybe we're not exactly the same. I loved Dimple. Dimple was authentic to me. I am going to be eighteen soon, and I find Dimple's struggles incredibly realistic since me and my older sister, soon to be 25 years old, hear the same things from our parents. Although, that doesn't mean we don't love our parents, we do, but sometimes, like Dimple felt, the comments about marriage got annoying enough to snd us stomping off to our rooms. This book felt real. This book is where I saw a girl just like me, and for the very first time, I felt the protagonist's story pulse through my body. I understood her struggles, her passions--I understood her. I haven't really been able to say this about books I have read before and 100%meant it, but I found representation for myself, my family, and so many Indians I know in Canada, in this book. And boy, did it leave a mark. I would recommend this jewel of a book to everyone who wants to know more about Indians, or is an Indian. I assure you, this is the best western tribute to Bollywood, and India in general, I have seen to date, even if it wasn't meant to be the amazing tribute it became.