I want to start this review by thanking NetGalley and the author for allowing me to read this book, and state that although this book was received for review it will not effect my opinions about it.

The book told the story of a teenage Indian girl, who's an aspiring programmer and wants to create an app to help diabetics, and a teenage Indian boy who's a talented artist whose going to be studying Architecture at college to keep his father happy. It was a beautiful well written coming of age story about love, ambition and arranged marriage.

Dimple and Rishi are both strong determined and independent people. They also both really believed in the faith they belonged to although Dimple was trying to fight against the arranged marriage part of her faith.

I really enjoyed seeing how their relationship developed and they develop and maintain relationships with others at the summer programming programme. I really enjoyed seeing how Dimple although questioning herself about her feelings for Rishi she gradually falls for him and can see herself spending her life with him.

The romance in this book did get a little over cooked in the end and it would have been nice to have a little bit more about the programming and Programme side of things. I will say that the way that the book ended left it open for there to be follow up to it and I would have liked to see how Dimple and Rishi's relationship grew further as well as how their time at college went and how successful her app. became once it was created.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who is a tehcie and who enjoys romances as well as has an intersect in the culture of Indians. It is for these reasons that I gave it a five star rating.

The most adorable arranged marriage geeky rom-com novel I've read. It's the perfect summer read!

Ok, I'm back with some actual detail. I absolutely fell in love with both these characters. STEM-focused Dimple, who is focused on going to college and not her parents' ideal life for her, and 'The Good Son' Rishi, who wants to please his parents by finding the perfect Indian girlfriend and but does he really want to be an engineer? Between them, they addressed the issue that Asian kids (myself included), who grew up in a largely Western-influenced society, had to wrestle with while growing up -- the balance between pleasing your parents and pleasing yourself. I definitely saw a lot of myself in Rishi.

I'm also a huge fan of the arranged marriage trope, the hate-like-love development and just all the other cute, geeky things thrown into this story. As for the issues regarding 'physical abuse', this may be a cultural thing as well, but I grew up in a very touchy feely environment, and the occasional playful punch or slap on the arm or push was just a sign of showing affection, so it honestly didn't bother me in the slightest.

This is easily one of the sweetest books I have ever read. It was the perfect book to read to cheer me up when I was incredibly busy and everything seemed to be going wrong.

Sandhya Menon’s debut novel is extraordinary and contains all the factors of an incredible romantic comedy. When Dimple Met Rishi doesn’t feel like a forced love story instead it feels true to real life.

Dimple has her sights set on being a web developer, she is ambitious and cannot wait to design her own app. Much to the despair of her mother, Dimple isn’t at all interested in looking for her IIH (ideal Indian husband), she just wants to prove she can somewhere by being a web developer.

Rishi is following in the footsteps of his father but is hiding his talent and what he has a passion for from everyone. He is quite the romantic and wants to please his parents and their traditions by finding an Indian wife.

Dimple and Rishi are completely different but when they meet by a twist of fate (or very clever parent planning) the story that occurs is beautiful.

When Dimple Met Rishi is a perfectly simple romantic comedy that contains all of the right aspects. Loveable characters that you can’t help but relate to, interesting character development, nerdy moments, diversity, friendship, an exploration of family and family traditions and a love story you cannot help but smile at! Menon has written a love story that is heart-warming, fun, exciting and emotionally satisfying. I came out of reading this book with the biggest smile on my face. This book is the perfect YA contemporary. When Dimple Met Rishi will make you cry, laughing and then cry laughing. I am certain that I will be reading his book again.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book to those who want something refreshing to read! If you are someone who loves contemporaries or wants a book to melt their heart then this is the book for you.

Thank you to Sandhya Menon, Hodder and Stoughton and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book from net galley in order for an honest review.

I don't quite know how I feel about this book, I enjoyed it, but I'm not ready to shout from the rooftops about it. I found Dimple to be quite an unlikeable character, and I found certain aspects of the book predictable and unrealistic. I however found it pleasant to read on an rare afternoon off, however I haven't got the 'book hangover' feeling from it.

3.5 stars

Dimple comes from a traditional family. Her mother wants her to marry a nice, Indian boy, but Dimple loves coding and wants a career.
Rishi is a romantic who is close to his parents and wants to be the dutiful first-born son and make them proud. His parents believe that Dimple would be a good wife for him, as do her own parents. Unknown to Dimple, they organise for Rishi and Dimple to attend the same summer program for aspiring web developers. The two meet but it doesn't go as Rishi plans.
Dimple doesn't want a relationship, but can Rishi persuade her otherwise?

When Dimple Met Rishi was a very cute read.
I enjoyed reading about an Indian protagonist(s) for a change. It was refreshing and interesting.
I really liked both Dimple and Rishi. They were relatable, believable and I wanted to be friends with both of them. I liked Celia and Rishi's brother as well.
The romance wasn't over the top and I thought Dimple and Rishi were adorable together.
The plot was good and held my attention, but I wasn't gripped. I found myself tearing up a few times (not good seeing as I was at work!).

Overall this was an enjoyable, unique read.

Amazingly diverse story! I love how the culture and religion was depicted and how unique the characters are too. It's great to see how that is balanced with their goals and how the story moved and flowed with them!

I adore the characters and how they worked through conflict and their feelings and fitting in when other people made them feel like they shouldn't. I value their strength and strength of character and hope to see more of them or more by this author!

I won't be reviewing this book this time, but thank you for approving me.

3.5 stars
I like that the book tackles some pretty important issues and that the characters are more diverse. I didn't completely get Dimple and Rishi's relationship, I felt it moved way to fast. I also wasn't a fan of the lack of actual coding app time that happens in the book, we get a little bit and then it just disappears only to reappear right at the end.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

This book has been one of my most anticipated debuts for this year, and I couldn't wait to have free time to read it. When I was deciding what to include in my holiday TBR, this was top of the list!

When Dimple Met Rishi tell the story of both Dimple and Rishi, from alternate POVs. They are both from Indian families, where arranged marriages are normal, and though Rishi is looking forward to marrying the women his parents chose, Dimple is decidedly not. She has no intention of even considering the possibility until she finishes university, and has a job. When she finds out there is a computing camp on in San Francisco over the summer, and the winner will get to meet one of her heroes, she immediately begs her parents to let her go, and, surprisingly, they do. What she doesn't know, though, is that Rishi, her prospective husband, will also be there, and it's the perfect opportunity for them to meet. Rishi, though a bit of a nerd, doesn't really care for computing, but knows that by going to San Francisco, he can meet Dimple, who he's heard all about. It's safe to say, however, that their first meeting does not go to plan.

Firstly, I loved learning about the different customs that both Dimple's and Rishi's family followed, and how both of them dealt with being a modern teenager in America, and still honouring their beliefs. Dimple's character was wonderful, and I don't understand how anyone can find anything wrong with actions. I mean, if someone walked up to me, and said he was my future husband, I would probably act in the same way - that is not a normal thing to do, no matter if you think Dimple knows about the arranged marriage. Rishi deserved being covered in coffee, and I don't have time for anyone who says otherwise. Also, Dimple was just normal - she didn't always have the best relationship with her parents, she enjoyed certain things more than others, and she had a plan for the future - a plan which was very commendable, and she should be applauded for it all.

Rishi was also really sweet. He knew from the moment he met Dimple that she wasn't on board for the marriage - I think the coffee was a bit of a giveaway - but he still wanted to be friends with her, and tried to help her win, anyway he could. He also found things that interested him, and a way to be able to do what he enjoyed, even though he never thought it was in the plan for him.

One thing I didn't really enjoy about the book were the secondary characters. Most of them were seriously annoying, and I wanted to punch them in the face, tbh. Rishi's brother, Ashish, was also a bit annoying, and I didn't really understand why he was in the book. Since reading it, I've discovered he'll be getting his own story, so I think he must've been there just to introduce him, but it didn't seem smooth, or right. Maybe I'll like him more in his own book?

Other than that, this book was a perfect summer read, and I loved the main characters. For a debut, I felt the book was amazing, and I can't wait to see more from the author.

This is a sweet book. It's incredibly cliche and predictable, but the storyline is a pretty easy read. While Dimple is an incredibly annoying character during the first half of the novel, I do like the friendship and relationship between Dimple and Rishi.

Also, how beautiful is the cover?? I think it's brilliant.

Dimple’s parents are keen on her finding a boyfriend when all she wants to do is focus on a career in coding. Rishi on the other hand is looking forward to settling down with a girl as per his parents’ wishes. So when the two meet at a summer camp and Rishi introduces himself as Dimple’s future husband you can imagine the chaos that ensues. I was really looking forward to reading this giving all the hype/praise it’s received over the past few months, however I have to admit to being a little disappointed in it. Yes it’s a cute summer contemporary with a good focus on technology and includes plenty of Hindi representation, but it was a bit too predictable and didn’t really offer anything special. I also struggled at times keeping up with the frequent switching between point of views within the same chapter.

Dimple Shah knows exactly what she wants to do the summer before starting college: go on this kick ass web developers summer programme. She wants to win the prize to meet her idol. The fact that it would get her away from her Mamma and her obsession with finding Dimple the perfect Indian husband. So she’s delighted when her parents allow her to go. Rishi Patel is also going on this programe, to meet the girl his parents are hoping to be his potential future wife. He’s excited to meet her but their first meeting doesn’t go to plan. Mainly because Dimple has NO idea who Rishi is and throws an iced drink in face! Will they get to know each other over the summer? Or will Dimple’s stubborness prevent her from warming to Rishi?

There has been a lot of hype around this book so I was excited to read it. I flew through it in two days because it was just so cute! I liked the characters, I’ve seen a lot of reviews complaining about Dimple but I thought she was strong, knew her own mind but yet grew too as the novel went on. Rishi is the perfect gentleman and is very sweet. I love that we get to see another point of view in this book when it comes to culture, it’s so refreshing to see diverse stories. This book has everything the perfect YA romance needs, a good plot, strong characters, humour and plenty of cute moments. Perfect summer contemporary!

An amusing romance for young adults dealing delicately with aspirations, career choices, arranged marriage, first love, competitiveness and family expectations. Though set in a San Francisco University summer school for keen teenage web developers, the technical content is dealt with lightly and the only language the reader may stumble over is (I think) Gujerati but the English meaning is always supplied.

It's been a long time coming for me to read this book. I've been excited, the worlds been excited about this book. If your a user of Twitter then you would have seen the hype around this book! After reading this book I can see what they're talking about when they say how good this book is!

I started When Dimple Met Rishi at the beginning of my New York trip and it was an absolutely perfect way to start it! This book  took me on a incredible journey through the lives of Dimple and Rishi making me laugh in places and informed in others.I learnt a lot about Indian culture while reading this book and it made it all the better. Another plus was that the families were present the whole way through the book

The writing of this book felt so carefree and easy to read, you couldn't possibly hate this book. From the moment Dimple met Rishi, this book had my heart.

This is an amazing debut that I would highly recommend and I cannot wait for the next book!

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ultimately this just wasn't for me. Partly it's that contemporary YA romance is usually outside my genre preference. partly it just wasn't very well executed.


I did actually like parts of this book, certainly enough that I kept reading. I disagree with the castgation of Dimple - if someone sent me off to meet an arranged husband without telling me, I would blow a gasket too. Yes she was self involved and at times not that likeable but she's driven by ambition, she's a teenager who's just working out who she is and under tgat she's utterly terrified of life and the fact she can't control everything. She's no worse than Rishi who while he has sweet moments, is actually kinda boring, staid, and a bit spineless.

And that is as developed as the characters get. The rest of the characters are 2D and could be replaced with furniture. There's next to no confluct to drive the plot and I honestly don't know what the two MCs have learned from each other by the end.

One criticism leveled at Dimple is the 'not like every other girl trope'. I find that a rather depthless interpretation. Dimple likes different things to the majority of her sex. She has refused to compromise on this. That makes her an outlier and more importantly an outsider. The fact that a girl is tomboyish and cast as the hero and doesn't understand why other girls like maje up and boys etc is not the same as rubbishing others interests. I keep seejng this complain in YA and it's bollocks. Someone not fitting in the pack does not invalidate the choices of those who do. If Dimple has a chip on her shoulder about it then that's an understandable reaction to being made an outsider. True she does herself no favours but we shouldn't be required to fit in. Until we gain more afult social finesse a kick back reaction of taking tom boyishness to extremes is not unusual. Basically it's ok to be girly. It's ok to be not. It's fine to be anything in between. Yes Rishi saying Dimple is not like other girls is annoying but don't we all think our first love is different? special? If we didn't why bother, right?

Anyway this book failed to get me on board. Fascile writing, head hopping and trite dialogue. Not sure why it's described as a laugh out loud rom com - it really wasn't. It suffered from the things that always make me want to put down a contemporary YA book - flat, cardboard characters, thinly veiled attempt by author to advance own political agenda, USP disguised as 'diversity' when in fact it's neither a USP nor especially diverse. Just not my cup of tea. Others may like it more.

I first heard of this book on Twitter as there was a lot of pre-release talk about it so I requested an eARC without knowing much more than that it was a rom-com based on an arranged marriage. I fell in love with the story and characters immediately and pre-ordered the hardcover for my collection before I’d even finished reading. It turned out to be a super adorable YA contemporary love story and one of those books I’ll re-read each summer. I can’t gush about this book enough!

Sometimes you need a reminder that the world can be a good place and this book did that for me. I fell in love with the humour of Sandhya’s writing, and the opposites attract nature of Dimple and Rishi’s relationship. Dimple and Rishi are incredible characters – intelligent, funny, and so cute together. It was refreshing to read about a girl being focused on her career and aspirations in the traditionally male-dominated world of coding. And, of course, I fell in love with Rishi! He was adorable, very passionate and the perfect foil to Dimple. The love story between them was nuanced and believable, with each making the other a better person and helping them achieve their goals.

It was amazing to read about two Indian-American characters as they so rarely feature as the sole focus of a story. Hopefully now that When Dimple Met Rishi has become a bestseller, publishers will recognise how popular, wanted, and essential these stories are. If this is Sandhya’s debut novel, I can’t wait to see what she writes next and I’ll be pre-ordering without a second thought.

I was so looking forward to reading this as it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and probably one of the most hyped books of the year too. But I'm so deflated right now I totally wanted to love this but it just wasn't for me. I think the thing that let it down for me was that it really didn't have anything else going on in it other than a slow burning romance totally just my opinion and preference but I need a little more to a story/romance than what I got in when Dimple met Rishi.


Although I didn't like this on a massive scale I certainly liked things about it i loved Rishi and I loved that he wanted to keep his parents values/religious beliefs alive and I adored that he created comics. I also full on loved Ashish he was brilliant in this and I would definitely love to know more about his romance with Dimples roommate who's name has completely gone from my mind right now but I really did like there small part. To be honest I liked Dimple at times not all times especially towards the end I really didn't think much of her, but by the very very end I was back in board with her.

If your into slow burning summer romances you'll probably like this.

The blogosphere practically blew up when this started making the rounds, everyone loved it and I'm happy to say I did too! Therefore this will be quite a short review as I'm sure you've already heard how amazing and cute and romantic it is.

Dimple and Rishi weren't supposed to meet, but their parents conspired and pushed them together. Rishi went to the same summer programme as Dimple just to meet her but she only wanted to learn.

There was an overall great perspective of traditional Indian relationships. It was clear that Dimple identified as American but her parents desperately wanted her to be the perfect little Indian daughter. On the other hand, Rishi was more than happy to live up to his parents standards and was proud to carry on their ideals.

The progress of their relationship, especially after they agree to not go along with the arranged marriage, felt natural and equal. Even though Rishi wanted to settle down and expected Dimple to move her life around his, when they got to know each other, they both realised that they wanted something different. Dimple might have been all about her coding and her career but when she started to care for Rishi, she was willing to give things a try and I was really proud of her. Of both of them, actually, as they changed their dreams when someone new came into their lives.

As you can probably tell, I loved every second; it was so completely sweet I wanted to hug it! The story was brilliant, the romance was spot on and realistic and so easy to ship, and the characters, the diversity across races and sexualities and backgrounds, were all amazing to read about. One of my new favourite books, easy.

I went into this book expecting to love it. It sounded so good and there was so many glowing reviews, I thought there was no way I wouldn't love it. And it did get there in the end, but for the first two thirds of the book I really struggled to get through it.

But anyway, let's start with the positives: the characters.

Rishi? He was a little ball of adorable. I love seeing actual nice guy characters rather than "Nice Guys" (you know the ones...where they think they're good guys and we're supposed to think they're good guys but they're actually really not).

And Dimple? I loved her. I loved that she was strong and complex and realistic, I loved that she was a bit of a steel coated marshmallow at first (reminds me of my best friend in that way). I've seen a lot of people criticise her character for basically being a teenager, for being flawed and realistic, but those reasons many people had for not liking Dimple were a big part of the reason I did like her. I loved her and Rishi together, they were so cute and they balanced each other out.

The book also managed to make me laugh out loud quite a few times (the dancing scene was golden -- if I rated the book purely on that scene it'd be 5+ stars), which doesn't happen very often when I'm reading and I loved that Sandhya managed to make me laugh.

And I really loved that they were both Indian-American. There is countless YA romcoms featuring white protagonists but there's barely any Indian-American representation. That racial and cultural diversity matters, it is so important. It matters that Indian-American teens have books like this they can read and relate to because the characters reflect them positively and I hope to see more of them on the shelves soon.

The reasons I struggled so much with the first chunk of the book: a pet peeve of mine, and the plot.

The pet peeve? I really don't like stories, particularly romance based stories, with alternating POV's and unfortunately this book was not one of the rare exceptions (I wasn't a fan of the way it's done in this, with the POV switches often happening mid-scene, sometimes multiple times in one scene). So that one wasn't an issue with the book, it was just down to personal preference.

As for the plot, it just wasn't as strong as I expected it to be. The pacing felt a bit off, at times it bored me quite a bit. It took a long time to hook me. But again, this is down to personal preference. I'm okay with a romcom not having much to the plot beyond the romance, but the romance has to keep me interested for that to happen and romances that are primarily cute don't really hold my interest well, especially when the couple gets to that point really quickly.

I think my expectations for the coding aspect were a bit too high too, I wanted more from that than it delivered. I was happy about seeing a female character into coding and tech stuff but it fell a little flat there, it was very tell instead of show (Rishi's passion for art was shown much better).

In the last quarter of the book, I found the parts that started to draw me in the most were the scenes that weren't just focusing on the romance...like when Dimple would have chats with Celia or when they talked about their families, or scenes with Rishi and his brother. That was when the book really started to win me over (basically everything from the dance scene onward).

Anyway, I'd rate the book 4 stars out of 5. It didn't quite wow me to the same extent as it did other people, but I loved it in the end, it was absolutely adorable and such an important read. I definitely look forward to seeing what Sandhya writes next.

I do love myself a good YA contemporary, and this delivered. ‘When Dimple met Rishi’ has everything that you could want in a coming of age novel, it was diverse, there was romance, families, friendships and the difficulties of growing up.

I couldn’t believe this was Sandhya Menon’s debut novel as the characters felt so real and the writing was amazing.

Dimple Shah is 17 and looking forward to the prospect of college, she has enrolled for a course for computer programming and has so many ideas buzzing around her brain. Her mother has always wanted Dimple to get married and find the IIH (Ideal Indian Husband) than become a student. Dimple also wants to attend a summer camp where she can show off her programming skills and start making a name for herself, the course costs $1000 and is shocked when her parents allow her to go but what she doesn’t know is that they have other plans.

Rishi Patel wants to follow in his parents footsteps with his own arranged marriage. He too is to go to the same Summer camp where he is to meet his future bride, however when they come face to face he realises that Dimple’s parents have failed to mention the arrangement to her. Her future of computer programming seems to be slipping from her grasp at lightening speed.

This book was great it is told in dual perspective and the chapters are just the right length. The writing is easy to read and with the dual narrative you don’t get bored.

Going in to this book I had very little knowledge of Indian culture and arranged marriages as it’s not something that I have read about. This is a positive light on arranged marriages rather than the awful experiences that you hear about. I felt the impact that their culture had on these individuals to carry on with the traditions as expected of them.

I loved the characters Dimple and Rishi,they were different yet so right for each other. Dimple was head strong, determined to make a future out of something she loved and living her life as she wanted rather than expectations. She found her mother over-bearing at times as she was forceful in her suggestions. I loved that Dimple was a nerd, nowadays it’s cool to be one and be different from others and I see that now that I am older but not necessarily when I was a teenager.

Rishi was adorable, he was funny,nerdy and also really talented. He wanted to please his parents by doing what they thought best in his school work but when it came to LOVE, Rishi wanted to follow his culture, have an arranged marriage and children. This was firmly his decision and he such passion when he talked about his culture and the times he visited India.

There were a couple of reasons that I didn’t rate this book a 5 stars and they were; I didn’t really like Ashish’s storyline. The plot was a little predictable, it had great feels in the middle but then it fizzled out as I was getting frustrated with Dimples stubbornness.

This book was great it’s a perfect summer/beach read, I loved the characters, the feels that I got from Menon’s writing and the fulfillment of learning something new. I hope this isn’t the last we see from her as she can only continue to get better.

I rated this 4 out of 5 stars