Review: When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

From Back Cover: Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family - and 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 Rating: 3 hearts 

Thoughts on the Novel: I’m back … and one of the books I read during my blogging break was Sandhya Menon’s When Dimple Met Rishi. I originally had no intention of reading this book because I generally avoid straight-up romances; but with people seeming to love it on Twitter and the fact that the protagonist is Desi, I figured I’d give it a try. Having read When Dimple Met Rishi now, I have mixed feelings about it.

On the one hand, I loved how I could relate to Dimple so much. Guys, the pressure to find a good husband is real, and the conversations Dimple has with her mom regarding marriage are definitely similar to ones that I’ve had with older female family members. I also loved how Menon blended Indian culture into the experience of a teen growing up in America. For example, Hindi is integrated seamlessly in conversations between Dimple or Rishi and their parents.

On the other hand, I wasn’t crazy about the romance, and was kind of disappointed that the coding aspect of the plot was overshadowed by it. I also found Dimple to be very self-righteous at times and didn’t like how quickly she judged others. For example, Dimple describes Isabelle as “the blond girl who wore a perpetual sneer as if she were too good for all of this” (p. 54) even before getting to know her.

Despite its flaws however, I’d recommend giving When Dimple Met Rishi a chance if only because of how authentic Dimple and Rishi’s voices felt as South Asian-American teens. When Dimple Met Rishi was released by Simon Pulse in May 2017.

Comments About the Cover: It makes the book seem like it’s a cute, cheesy contemporary.