When Dimple Met Rishi

A YA book about two Indian-American kids who meet because their parents want them to get married. The wrinkle is that the girl, Dimple, is passionate about app development and wants to focus on winning a coding contest, not love. Yet they feel drawn to each other anyway. It's a desi take on what's otherwise a well-trod genre, sure, but so what if parts are a bit unbelievable? The characters are fiery and smart, and the chemistry really crackles. There's a fairy tale magic to this well-told romance. ( )

Dimple is a very intelligent, somewhat rebellious, extremely ambitious recent high school graduate. She's been accepted to an Ivy League college and just found out her parents will pay her admission to attend coding program that she's dying to attend.

Rishi is also a recent graduate but he's much more inclined to fulfill his parents' wishes.

Both Dimple and Rishi's parents want to arrange a marriage of their children.
Rishi knows this and is excited about the possibility. He's a romantic and seems to have all the faith in the world that his parents will pick the right wife for him.
Dimple, on the other hand, does not even know about her parents' plan until the day she actually meets Rishi at the coding camp.

It's definitely a meet cute.

I liked that Rishi is the one who wants to get married and Dimple wants to pursue her dreams. In fact, her career is so important to her that she actually has to fight against her feelings. Because like it or not, Dimple is falling for Rishi.

Sweet story.
I don't read much YA but had heard this one was good and decided to pick it up.
I felt like there were some interesting details in this story that made it unique and enjoyable. ( )

"She'd seen what his soul was made of. And she liked it" (pg 367).
STORY:
First, I really liked the cover (and the controversial "iced coffee" back cover) and the rom-com flare though I've to say I got tired of the constant kissing. You have to drizzle kisses into a story like sprinkle cheese, not too much. On another note, I just loved Dimple's name; it's so cute.

There's not much focus on the actual coding that takes place (it's lampshaded by Dimple herself). Instead, living up to parents' expectations, back-and-forth with Dimple/Rishi, and a dance contest takes up the bulk of the book. If you don't mind the lack of coding, you will probably enjoy the non-linear plot.

Also, I was amazed at YA fiction characters communicating about sex before having it, and even putting it off to a later date.

This book really missed the opportunity to have Dimple and Rishi break up amicably. Instead of getting back together, they should've just apologized to each other and went their separate ways. It might've even been cool to have an epilogue where they ended up marrying other people.
I like chick-flick, cliche romance, but I'm not so naive to think young couples always stay together. I mean Dimple made some valid points about not wanting to be in her first relationship forever and never experience anyone else.
Or, hey, they could've broken up and got back together years later a la "The Sun is Also a Star."

CHARACTERS:
Disclaimer: Yes, we know Dimple "took over too much", can't keep her fists to herself, and basically played yo-yo with her relationship. And thought she was a special snowflake. It's understood.

Dimple is a brash character that still is likable in some portions of the book. It's really hard to pull off characters like her because they usually come off as edgy jerks. However, that's not entirely the case here. If some of her narrative thoughts could've been tweaked a little, I think more readers would have liked her.

Rishi is a cinnamon roll. It's super-refreshing to have a male (romantic) lead, in a genre filled with angsty bad boys who can't communicate, that speaks his mind and is kind in a gentleman sort-of-way. I actually wanted him to find another girl who suited him better. Dimple, of course, wanted the best for him, but she forced him to make decisions often.

OVERALL:
I didn't hate this story. I rather liked some of the details and descriptions and diverse characters. Whoa. That's a lot of "d" words. Anyway, I don't feel as strongly as others, so I recommend you read it. ( )

Adorable. Funny. A romance.

Dimple is ready to leave her parents. She loves them, but it’s time to move out on her own and pursue her own dreams of being a successful web developer. Her mother’s dream is for Dimple to marry the ideal Indian husband. Dimple considers herself American and not so much Indian, much to her mother’s dismay. Dimple doesn’t find the traditions interesting or something that should dictate or be part of her life. Not wealthy, Dimple hesitates to ask if she can attend a summer program for web developers in San Francisco because it costs $1000, which is a lot of money. She is shocked when her parents agree after she casually mentions it. Six weeks working on developing an app that she thinks will help people has Dimple excited! If she wins the competition, she gets to work with a famous developer who will help develop and sell the app.

Rishi is a very traditional Indian young man who loves his cultures and wants to please his parents because his younger brother doesn’t seem to care about anyone but himself. Rishi needs to honor the family traditions. His parents tell him about a girl they’ve arranged for him to meet and give him a photo in hopes of it working out to be an arranged marriage. He’ll be attending a summer program in San Francisco. After arriving on campus for the program, Rishi sees his beloved. It doesn’t go well.

This novel made me laugh out loud several times, and I smiled almost the entire time I read it. A few times I felt character’s actions were out of character, but I forgive these moments because it’s just a fun read. It would be a perfect summer book. There is also mature content which I didn’t find necessary to the plot for people who had been dating a mere three weeks. The novel is longer than one would think and you will wonder, “What is going to happen?” Ms. Menon takes the novel through a complete arc for a romance. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to those wanting a mature romance. I’m not a huge fan of the cover. ( )

A fizzy charmer of a YA romance that has a lot of things going for it.

A few things to weigh you're considering for yourself or a YA reader:

Protagonists are older teens who've recently graduated from high school. The story is set in the summer before college (they already know the schools they'll be attending) at a competitive, weeklong summer coding camp.

There's seamless diversity of the characters that is integral to the plot. The book deals with parent/child relationships as the child comes of age, arranged-marriages, staying true to self and your gifts despite others' preconceptions of and expectations for you, and more in a really kind, nonjudgmental and true (vs. Afterschool special episode message) kind of way.

The main story revolves around two protagonists and is told from their alternating points of view:

Dimple, a super-smart and career-minded girl coder who believes her conventional Indian parents don't get or appreciate her and often rebels against them and what she *assumes* they expect from her.

Rishi comes from an affluent family, yet values tradition and the input of his parents, both in finding a wife and in his school/career choices.

Known to Rishi, but unbeknownst to Dimple, the two are intentionally sent to the coding workshop with their parents wanting them to meet in hopes that they're a match. Their first meeting doesn't go according to plan; but, then they're assigned as a team and have to work together to have a shot at winning the coding contest.

The characters are written as if they're real people, not at all one-dimensional. The trials and challenges ring very true to this stage of life - social norms, bullying, relationships, emotional connection and are handled in a sensitive way.

I'd give this book a pretty gentle PG rating. There's minimal cursing. There are a couple of sex 'scenes,' but these are both very non-graphic, age-appropriate, and respectfully treated. One of them, if anything, may be a little too reverent (not that it goes on too long or into too much detail, but it's maybe a bit more fairytale and not the way most teen boys/girls operate hormonally). Really, it's acceptable for any teen, but because of the age setting/lifestage of the characters, it probably makes the most sense for readers 15+.

Definitely recommended. ( )