Review: There's Something About Sweetie (Dimple and Rishi #2) by Sandhya Menon
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Series: Dimple and Rishi #2
Author: Sandhya Menon
Published May 31st 2019 by Hodder Paperbacks
Goodreads Synopsis
The irresistible companion novel to the New York Times bestseller When Dimple Met Rishi, which follows Rishi’s brother, Ashish, and a confident fat athlete named Sweetie as they both discover what love means to them.
Ashish Patel didn’t know love could be so…sucky. After being dumped by his ex-girlfriend, his mojo goes AWOL. Even worse, his parents are annoyingly, smugly confident they could find him a better match. So, in a moment of weakness, Ash challenges them to set him up.
The Patels insist that Ashish date an Indian-American girl—under contract. Per subclause 1(a), he’ll be taking his date on “fun” excursions like visiting the Hindu temple and his eccentric Gita Auntie. Kill him now. How is this ever going to work?
Sweetie Nair is many things: a formidable track athlete who can outrun most people in California, a loyal friend, a shower-singing champion. Oh, and she’s also fat. To Sweetie’s traditional parents, this last detail is the kiss of death.
Sweetie loves her parents, but she’s so tired of being told she’s lacking because she’s fat. She decides it’s time to kick off the Sassy Sweetie Project, where she’ll show the world (and herself) what she’s really made of.
Ashish and Sweetie both have something to prove. But with each date they realize there’s an unexpected magic growing between them. Can they find their true selves without losing each other?
Goodreads
Review
I read the first book in this companion series, When Dimple Met Rishi, when it first came out, and for some reason, forgot that there would be more until very recently. I decided that because I had enjoyed WDMR so much, I would give the second book a go, especially when one of the main characters, Ashish, had intrigued me so much.
In There's Something About Sweetie, we follow the eponymous lead, Sweetie, as she deals with her self worth and identity. As a larger girl, she is often told that she is lacking because of her figure, mainly by her mam. For herself, she doesn't see it as an issue: she's a fantastic athlete, a friend, and daughter, and all she wants is to be allowed to wear the outfit she wants to her birthday present. Ashish is also struggling with his own self worth. Yeah, he's popular and from a well off family, but he's always felt like the outsider in the family, nothing like his older brother, Rishi, who just fit in perfectly. After breaking up with who he thought was his perfect girlfriend, but someone who used him, and wasn't kind, he finally relents, and allows his parents to find him a girl from a good Indian family. That's when Sweetie and Ashish come together. They are a good fit, and Ashish's family definitely think so, but again, Sweetie's mam is hung up on her weight, and refuses to allow them to meet or start dating. Sweetie, sick of all this, finds a way to contact Ash and they agree to try dating, with the support of the Patels, to show Sweetie's mam that she needs to get over her hang ups.
It's been so long since I read WDMR, but I did really enjoy it, and knew I wanted to read the sequels, whenever I managed to get around to it. I think that I enjoyed this book more than the first, as Sweetie was just so lovable. Nothing about her I disliked - she was kind, and funny, and so self deprecating, it was refreshing. I found myself loving her more and more as the pages passed, and hating her mother for the most part. I'm just glad she met Ashish, who clearly cared for her deeply, and allowed her to fully be comfortable in herself, and speak to her mother about how she felt. Ashish didn't grow on me as much as Sweetie had, but he was perfect for this book, and I couldn't have picked a better person as the love interest in this book. Having the cameo of Dimple and Rishi was a nice surprise, and I adored how the secondary characters, such as Ashish's friend, Pinky, who'll be the focus of book 3, played a role in the plot.
Dates Read:
October 28-29, 2019
Rating
4 Stars
October 28-29, 2019
Rating
4 Stars
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