When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

One of the most popular books of the summer, "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon was everywhere this August - and I scooped up a copy as soon as my library had it available. Keep reading to find out if I enjoyed this summers must read YA contemporary.

When Dimple Met Rishi
by Sandhya Menon

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The rom-com that 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.

Unique, enjoyable characters

I struggle generally when reading YA - it just isn't my favorite genre, but I also love giving books from this genre a chance! One thing that keeps me coming back for more are the characters, and "When Dimple Met Rishi" has two really likeable, and enjoyable to read, main characters. I found Dimple's character to be really relatable - for example, she has to stick to a budget while attending InsomniaCon. I also really enjoyed reading Rishi's character as well. He seems like a genuinely kind and thoughtful person who wants to do right by his friends and family, even if that sometimes means making unwise choices for himself. These two characters together made a really adorable combination, and while I predictably struggled with reading some parts of this book - I never felt like the characters took away from the story.

Really cool story concept

I picked up "When Dimple Met Rishi" because of the story concept. I found the idea of this old world value in arranged marriages meeting up against new world characters attending a conference to be a really interesting idea! Particularly as Dimple has no idea that that is why her parents allowed her to attend the InsomniaCon in the first place. I imagined all kinds of potential character development and relationship dynamics around the complications of arranged marriages, parental meddling, etc. And the book did explore a lot of these ideas...just not to the degree that it could have. Emotionally, I feel like this book missed the mark. Much of the book focused on the relationship developing between Dimple and Rishi, to the point that the reasons I was intrigued to read the book kind of melted away.

Watch the video below to see me sum up my thoughts on "When Dimple Met Rishi"in sixty seconds or less!

Have you read this book? Let me know what you thought of "When Dimple Met Rishi" below in the comments. Thinking about reading this book? Click here to find a copy at your local library, or click below to view the book on Amazon.