**No Spoilers**
Dimple. Strong headed, career oriented, and fierce. A girl who aims to pursue her dreams. A techie at heart (coding actually), plans to attend Stanford, and escape her parents traditional Indian ways.
Rishi. The obedient son belonging to a rich Indian family. He wants to make his parents proud by eventually pursuing an engineering degree at MIT. A hopeless romantic at heart, with a belief in the traditional Indian ways.
Dimple wants to go to ‘Insomnia Con’ for the summer, which is a fabulous opportunity for her to learn from the biggest names in web development. Much to her surprise, her parents agree to let her spend the summer there.
As it turns out, they agreed to this, because their good friends ‘The Patels’, will be sending their son, Rishi there too. Both parents are hoping that their kids will hit it off and of course, eventually get married.
The story focuses on the relationship between Dimple and Rishi, who could not be more different from one another. But their interaction is nothing short of amusing and entertaining for the readers.
Rishi tries to sweep Dimple off her feet with his romantic gestures, which at times seemed a bit over the top. But nonetheless endearing.
Meanwhile we see Dimple pursue her ambition to win the competition at ‘Insomnia Con’. She is driven and competitive, which I admire quite a bit! Dimple doesn’t want to be termed ‘domestic’. She wants to make life changing applications, yet her mother insists, that she wear makeup, and look the ‘part’ so she can get married and get an ‘Ideal Indian Husband’.
It is interesting to see the arranged marriage theme explored with first generation Indian American teens. I have not come across many books, in the YA category with this theme. It is done in a light humorous way, which is enjoyable to read.
I felt the ending was a bit rushed and left something to be desired. However, this book is an easy read with entertaining dialogues and fast paced writing. It is not a book that will make you question, or think about complex issues. But it’s not meant to, It is a light-hearted story with some good young romcom.
I’ll leave you with my favorite quotes from the book.
“This is our life. We get to decide the rules. We get to say what goes and what stays, what matters and what doesn’t.”
“She refused to be one of those girls who gave up on everything they’d been planning simply because a boy entered the picture.”
“There was something about people who were that secure; they made you feel better about yourself, like they accepted you for everything you were, imperfections and all.”
Happy Reading!
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This does seem like a unique subject for a YA book. I don’t know that I’ve even read much of this in adult literature. Do you know how it’s doing with young adults? Since this is the first time I have heard about it, I just wonder how popular it is. It sounds like it should be. Good review. Thank you.
It is very popular Terri. It came highly recommended to me and I liked it, even though I don’t do much of YA.
Gayathri @ Musings Over Nothing
It is actually doing really well. It was on the NY Times best seller list as well. I found out about it through other book bloggers, who were raving about this on Instagram.
It is definitely different, as it features, two first generation American teens with Indian immigrant parents at the heart of the story.
If you pick it up, I hope you enjoy it!
I enjoted this book even though I wished there had been more about the actual coding portion. Great review, I agree about the ensing being rushed as well.
I thought about that too. I wish there had been some description of the actual app that they developed. But a fun read nonetheless.
“She refused to be one of those girls who gave up on everything they’d been planning simply because a boy entered the picture.” AMEN sister! I love notable quotables and I strong female character!
We need more strong female characters in books, specially in the YA genre. I’m so glad this came across well in this book.
I love the second quote! This book sounds like a cute and fun YA read.
I love a feisty gal – enjoyed your review!
Same here! Feisty, fierce and a feminist at heart. The best kind!
I’ve heard so much about this book…and your review just further convinces me that it needs to be added to my TBR
Good luck! I hope you enjoy this light-hearted read!
The rushed, light-hearted way it was handled seems to be pretty typical for YA. It makes it easier for teenagers to be exposed to different cultures without getting rebellious. Great review!
Thanks! It is great way for teenagers to understand the diverse culture that we should appreciate these days!
I’ll have to check this one out from my library- I have seen it a few times online and your review really made me want to give it a go.
Great! I hope you enjoy it. I had seen it on Instagram being posted by book bloggers, and the interestingly enough, the gorgeous cover really made me buy it!
I love lighthearted books. Will grab a copy tomz. Thanks for the recommendation.
I finally have my copy of this book! Now, I need to make time to read it! I can’t wait!