When Dimple Met Rishi (Dimpleverse, #1)

by Sandhya Menon

Told in alternating perspectives, this heartfelt YA romantic comedy is about two Indian-American teens whose parents have arranged for them to be married.

• ISBN10: 1481478680
• ISBN13: 9781481478687
• Publish Date: 30 May 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Imprint: Simon Pulse
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Nessa Luna]

I think I might enjoy contemporary books a bit more if I stop being that person that’s like ‘well they’re going to end up together anyway so why should I bother?’. That being said, I ended up enjoying When Dimple met Rishi more than I had expected. I listened to the audiobook and the narrators really made it a lot better for me. I loved the dynamics between Dimple and Rishi and even though I wasn’t a fan of the whole arranged marriage part (I know it’s a big thing in India, yes, still don’t like it) I loved the way this book went. Will I pick up the sequel? Maybe, if they’re available as audiobooks.

CAWPILE: 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 (Avg: 6.86)

[nannah]

A good friend recommended this to me, and I'm SO sorry I didn't enjoy this as much as she did! The concept of the story was so much more unique and interesting than the actual execution.

Content warnings:
- in-book sexism and misogyny

When Dimple Met Rishi is a boy meets girl type story in which Dimple Shah, an Indian-American girl with very traditional parents, is in an arranged marriage with Rishi Patel, and meets him at a coding camp called Insomnia Con. The only problem? She doesn't know about the marriage at all.

I loved the insight into some of the Indian-American experience. I love the fact that the book is part of the #OWNvoices hashtag, lending a lot of authenticity to these characters. The first half, too, was original, fresh, and the dynamics between Dimple and her family were incredibly interesting to read.

Unfortunately, after the great moment when Dimple threw her iced coffee at Rishi (their first meeting; and if someone came up to me claiming to be my future husband I'd do the same thing!), things got a bit cliche and uninteresting.

The book takes place at a coding camp, because it's Dimple's huge dream to become a coder. Her idol will be present to help the winner with their app (which they'll be working on during the entire summer). You'd think this girl would want to spend some actual time coding. I was SO looking forward to some details about this because I have absolutely No experience with anything in this field. Plus, diverse ladies in STEM!

But what I got was literally a paragraph of them working on the app, and the rest of the book centered around the romance. I knew it was a romance coming in, but I expected at least some effort going into the actual coding part of the plot. To make things worse, for some reason that never made sense, in the middle of this CODING camp, they had a talent show that gave the winner $1000 towards their app? A talent show?? How does that relate to coding in any way? It's a cheap trick to make create more scenes for Rishi and Dimple to be closer physically, add some Bollywood dancing, and have them fall over each other, etc.

The characters also became unbearable at Insomnia Con. I know it's been said before, but Dimple ... Oh, Dimple. For a self-proclaimed feminist, or whatever, she sure loves to hate on women. She's a typical "not like other girls" girl, judging any other woman who wears too much makeup or wears booty shorts or does anything that she Doesn't Approve Of. There could be cultural things/upbringing at work here, but Dimple is the most judgey fictional character who is never actually checked for her attitude. She's also nearly abusive, hitting Rishi over and over, and when Rishi comments on it, Dimple actually says something like, "you need to change your idea about how girls behave." AKA, I'm not like other girls --> I hit/abuse people ?? What exactly is she trying to say here?

Anyway, besides all this, the ending is on par with most Hallmark Holiday specials, making me cringe and speed read through it so I wouldn't be embarrassed. This book simply isn't for me, or maybe I'm just not the audience for it. I wanted more STEM stuff!

[Kat @ Novels & Waffles]

I initially was going to give this book three stars, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn’t really enjoy it. Also, the number of times Dimple “playfully” punches Rishi could probably surpass the National Debt. (Okay mmaaaaaybe I’m exaggerating a bit here, but still. It was a lot.) Is that how all the young’uns flirt these days? Apparently, I’ve been doing it all wrong! (Shouts over my should to my husband: “Honey, come here so I can lovingly punch you!”)

[Rowena]

What a fun book! I adored Dimple and Rishi. The writing flowed nicely and I loved all of the culture. Will definitely be reading more from this author.

[Terri M. LeBlanc]

I enjoyed this book even if the romance was somewhat predictable. Dimple and Rishi's budding relationship reminded me of my own with my husband. It was delightful and funny to listen to!

[Amanda]

Freaking adorable.

[lisacee]

Why did it take me so long to read (listen) to this book? Dimple and Rishi are adorable and I love their story so much.

[alisoninbookland]

😎😍😎

Romances aren’t my thing. I’ll read them on occasion. I picked this up to see if I’d be interested in next month’s Owlcrate. I didn’t love it as much as everyone else but it was cute! The will-they-won’t-they aspect was entertaining enough. I also appreciated the role reversal and allowing Rishi to be the romantic. Dimple was a bit mean and a touch abusive for my taste. I really loved the diversity in the story. It was a nice element and was still accessible even if they didn’t define the terms.

[Sarah Says]

Oh, what awkward wonderfulness this story was. I'm still recovering from the warm and fuzzy overload.

Dimple is quite stubborn and has an intense desire to be free - free of other people's expectations.
Rishi feels his purpose in life is to please his parents.

Dimple is super excited to be out on her own attending a six-week coding workshop and has no idea her parents have set her up.

Rishi is super excited that he may be potentially meeting his future wife and will be getting the chance to get to know her during the six-week coding workshop they will be attending.

Cue hilarious meet cute that involves Dimple assaulting Rishi with an iced coffee. Wait… I don’t think I can put the words meet cute and assault together in a sentence. Hmm… was it assault… Nar self-defence, she thought he was crazy at the time.

There are bits of humour sprinkled all through this love story about juggling parental expectations, standing up for yourself, following your dreams and arranged marriages. I actually loved the positive examples of arranged marriage, as on my side of the world they can tend to be portrayed in a negative light.

Dimple and Rishi click with each other early on, but Dimple tries and *spoiler* fails to fight it. Yeah so maybe your parents did know what they were doing, hey Dimple!

My inner teenager found Dimple fairly relatable and immediately fell for Rishi.
All in all it is a cute and quick read that I’d happily read again.

[writehollydavis]

I can't count how many times I burst out laughing or squealed in delight from this story! Dimple and Rishi are both strong main characters, and Menon does an excellent job of making you care not just for each of them, but for both of them together as a couple. I loved all the nerd references, from One Piece to comic books, and all the Indian culture that I never get to read about in YA. Can't wait to read more books by Menon!