Ratings58
Average rating3.5
The inspiration for the Netflix original series Mismatched! A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) Everyone is talking about this New York Times bestselling rom-com that Mindy Kaling called “utterly charming!” 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.
Reviews with the most likes.
4.5 Stars
This book was an incredibly adorably dorky book that thrilled me in so many ways. I always love reading a contemporary book after I've immersed myself in so many fantasy and science fiction worlds. This book was even better because I got to immerse myself in Dimple and Rishi's adorkable romance. There were so many moments in this book that were so cheesy, I could not help but love them. Take for example our love birds first meeting involves one of them telling the other that they are their future husband/bride. It was so unbelievable but also so perfect for these characters.
I have two minor complaints with this book. First, these characters were supposed to be at a tech summer conference designing an app. But we got little to no insight into their 6-week project. To me it left that part of the story flat. I was expecting to have more technical references and more insight into the planning and designing phases of their app development. Second and this one is super minor but I think a glossary would have been helpful to differentiate some of the more common Hindi phrases throughout the book. Especially the names for various family members. There were times I had to read a sentence a few times to get what was said or who something was referring and I think a glossary would have been helpful.
Overall this was a fantastic read and I cannot wait to see what else Sandhya Menon writes in the future!
I've seen this book get raved about online, but it just didn't sound that exceptional - yet another young adult romance. Contemporary, at that. But I finally read it for the Year of the Asian Challenge, and I am SO. GLAD. I DID.
Rishi Patel stole my heart. Which, as a demisexual, is completely unexpected. But he's just the exact right combination of sweet, romantic, totally geeky, and confident. He is absolutely my favorite character in this book. I like Dimple. But I adore Rishi.
I loved that both Dimple and Rishi tried to help each other achieve their dreams. I wish they'd both been a little more communicative about how they did so, but it was still cute to see them so invested in each other's life goals, as a couple should be!
This is a super cute romance, and it deserves all the rave reviews it got. I definitely need to read the sequel (about Rishi's younger brother) now.
You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.
2.5/5 stars
People: this books is the worst lol don't read it Me: hahahah it can't be that badMe: is wrong
not
“Dimple punched him in the ribs, lighter than she wanted to, but he still winced.”
WHen Dimple was so upset when she didn't win, I WAS LITERALLY YELLING AT THE BOOK THAT MAYBE IF YOU ACTUALLY SPEND TIME ON FREAKIGN MAKIGN YOUR APP YOU WOULDN'T BE IN THIS POSITION ARHGAUSJD. Also, she was mad that the "aberzombies" won because of their zombie beer app and it wasn't as great as hers. Like seriously girl? You haven't seen their app. It could be effing amazing, and it applies to a bigger target audience then your app does. Just because you think someone is entitled and big-headed and won just bc they have money doesn't mean they didn't create an well-developed app.
Dimple, that entire scene:
very busy
Featured Series
3 primary books5 released booksDimple and Rishi is a 5-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2017 with contributions by Sandhya Menon.