Menon's first book, when Dimple Met Rishi, was one of my favourite books of 2017, so i was very excited to meet Twinkle.

Full of ambition and ideas, Twinkle's dream is to be a famous film director. When her fellow film geek Sahil approaches her to make a film for the upcoming Summer Festival, it's a dream come true. Especially as Sahil's twin brother is Neil, the object of Twinkle's long-term crush.

It took me a little bit to warm up to Twinkle, but I was very fond of all the characters by the end of the book. Lots of humour, but with plenty of character development, this is a great read.

Twinkle fancies Neil so when she starts getting emails signed off from N and admirer she lokes to believe they're from him.



However, as she works with Sahil on a film project after he approached her, she finds herself realising Sahil isn't so bad, he's helped her when Hannah the mean girl makes a jibe at her and notices when her friend Maddie isn't sticking up for her.



The pair work on a film together and hope to enter it into a film festival as their chance of making it as director and producer.



The book deals with family issues, friendship woes, LGBTQ issues and relationships as well as the worry about does he/she like me which is a common YA trope. Twinkle's perspective is made up of written letters whilst Sahil features with blog posts and texts to his friends which show his feelings in their full glory. The final quarter of the book was thrilling to see what happened to all of the relationships in Twinkle's life and I particularly enjoyed a Romeo and Juliet style scene!



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

I read and loved When Dimple Met Rishi last year so I was eagerly anticipating this book, and whilst I didn't enjoy it quite as much that doesn't mean it's not delightful! Coming into the third week of a reading slump this was a joy to read. Funny and sweet, the story zips along at a nice pace without rushing the romance.

I've seen some negative comments about Twinkle in reviews but I found her completely relatable - who didn't have mixed feelings about boys or fantasise about revenge on the mean girls at that age?! (Sidenote: Much as I like Sahil, Twinkle doesn't owe him anything just because he's nice, and it saddens me that so many girls still absorb this toxic notion. Anyway, I digress!) I love her feminism, and in the post #MeToo era I hope we hear more stories from Twinkles and less of the dudebros who've dominated up to now.

I found a little of the conflict (romantic and friendly) slightly annoying, but it's absolutely true to the age of the protagonists and target audience, so it would be churlish to deduct a star! Plus, honestly, it's very typical of romances - if everything ran smoothly there wouldn't be a story!

My expectations for this book were lower than most people’s due to the fact that Sandhya Menon’s debut book When Simple Met Rishi left me feeling rather disappointed, but that’s a review for another time.

However this book, From Twinkle, With Love was such a cute, high school read. Yes it’s a young book, the characters are only sixteen, they’re deep in the middle of high school woes such as losing your best friend to someone else and first kisses. Think To All The Boys I Loved Before age wise. If you don’t enjoy reading about high school drama, this book isn’t for you.

Twinkle, such a cute name, is desperate to become a film director. But this path in life is looking rather unlikely due to the low number of current successful female, Indian film directors.

Cue the entrance of Sahil Roy, twin brother to popular boy Neil Roy a.k.a. Twinkle’s crush since forever. Now we all know where the storyline goes, it’s a cheesy high school contemporary romance. But of course, it’s not a smooth road to the end of the book.

Sahil and Twinkle embark on a mission to direct a film for an upcoming summer festival. Twinkle’s hidden agenda of leaving so called groundling status and joined the clique of feathered hats causes pressure on new relationships and friendships. It’s a personal journey of self-discovery for Twinkle, she needs to decide what is most important to her as a girl, as an aspiring director.

The format of this novel is unique and refreshingly modern. The book is written mostly in the format of letters from Twinkle to her favourite female directors as well as emails and texts by different characters.

It’s the perfect summer, light hearted read which will bring back high school memories.

I was a huge fan of Sandhya's first book, When Dimple Met Rishi. It was such a cute romance contemporary and so I had high expectations of her new book. From Twinkle, With Love follows aspiring filmmaker Twinkle. Whilst she has big dreams in her head, she is quite shy in person, especially since her best friend has started hanging out with the cool clique. She is also struggling with the boy that she thinks she likes, and the boy she thinks likes her.

Like Dimple, Twinkle is a strong character. She has her flaws, but she also stands up for what she wants and has great determination. It was also great to see a range of diversities, including a black gay side character, Twinkle as a women of colour with a Japanese-American friend. Real life is inclusive, and I'm glad YA books are starting to reflect that more and more.

There weren't really any surprises in this book. Sometimes that's okay. For me, I was a tad disappointed. Twinkle has a secret admirer, whom she hopes is the boy that she has had a crush on for ages. I guessed pretty early on who this could be, and the book played out as I expected.

The book is written in an interesting style. The epistolary format meant you really got to see Twinkle's thoughts and feelings directly on  the page, and I think it helped me to relate to her.

DNF at 26%

I am going to be pretty upfront about this: I didn't like Twinkle. She did not have the same kind of spark that Dimple had that made me love her. I found Twinkle to have very little personality of her own. I'm sure she learns a thing or 2 along the way with this story but I just wasn't feeling it.
I loved Sahil and honestly he was waaaay too good for Twinkle.
I thought even though I wasn't super into movies I would still get something out of that side of things but I'm not a movie buff so a lot of it went right over my head.
Every time I thought about picking the book up I just couldn't face it. I didn't care enough about what happened to Twinkle and her 'best friend' and Neil.
This doesn't change the fact that I adored When Dimple met Rishi and I will certainly give any future books written by Sandhya Menon a go.

I just really, super enjoyed this book. It was exactly what I needed at the time that I read it: a cosy, cute, fluffy read. I love that Sandhya Menon just creates these characters who feel SO real. I adored Twinkle and the way that her mind worked. This book has a fantastic depiction of friendship and a really gorgeous romance whilst also looking at social class struggles. That was an aspect I wasn’t expecting but it was possibly my favourite thing about the book. Seeing how Twinkle dealt with being different from her peers often had me feeling sympathetic towards her but was also a reminder that so many young people also feel the same way as her. I just adored this book; it was really like having a warm hug off a best friend.

Thanks to Netgalley, Hodder and Sandhya Menon for my advanced copy in exchange of a fair and honest review.

This book was more on the average YA romance style rather than being original. That's why it's kind of a let down after WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI. It's an OK book, but not as good and interesting as the previous.

The characters were not built as well, they were not so enchanting, I didn't get along with the diary structure too.
All in all, if you're looking for an ordinary, fun, YA romance book, you might enjoy it.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for granting a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Having devoured When Dimple Met Rishi, I was really looking forward to this book, and it didn't disappoint. It's pitched to a younger audience than Dimple I think; it's a sweet and funny book, but with some powerful messages. Twinkle is a great role model -she's smart, she wants equality for women and is just your typical teenager. I loved Sahil - I love a geek! He was the heart of the book for me and provided some wise words throughout. Delightful.

I really tried to like this. I read When Dimple Met Rishi last year and whilst I didn’t love it, it was an enjoyable read. But honestly, I felt like maybe I had outgrown the writing style in this one. The letter format read very childishly and I couldn’t get passed this, it made me irritated with the main character from the off. Which is such a shame, because I wanted to like her and see myself in her as I studied film.

From Twinkle, With Love was a great read. It was cute, funny and embarrassing. I cried a couple of times, during the emotional moments.

Twinkle Mehra is by far not my favourite character. Not even one of my favourites. She was funny, sometimes relatable, yet bitter, and somewhat obsessive. At first, I was alright with her, I actually liked her. Everyone has their imperfections, yes. But, I’m not sure when exactly, she started to worry me.

To say Twinkle behaved like that because no one cared about her…Dadi cared about her so much! Sahil even said he loved her and would never leave her. Sahil’s friends, Aaron and Skid were kind towards her- in their own way. She had them, yet she still wasn’t satisfied. She still wanted to chase the so-called-best-friend-slash-sister who left her for the popular crowd, and she still wanted to fulfil her weird fantasy of coupling with Neil. Twinkle was obsessed! It wasn’t like the whole school hated her. She could’ve made friends with other people, instead she was too caught up in trying to get back Maddie, who I must say was a pretty crap friend.
Twinkle is pretty slow. I mean, she kept comparing Sahil to his brother, when it was so obvious he hated it. Who’d like being compared to their siblings? I get that Twinkle was an only child, but still. No one likes being compared to anyone. Period. I felt sorry for Sahil. He was so precious, so adorable and so kind. I LOVE HIM. Neil got nothing on Sahil.

Honestly, it was frustrating! My main motivation for reading this book was Sahil and knowing somewhere near the end there will be heartbreak…how sadistic of me. This book was overall bright and cute- except for when Twinkle got stressed and bitter. There were so many cute moments!! I know I rant on for quite a bit about Twinkle, but don’t let that put you off! It was definitely worth the read! It’ll make you giggle, laugh, cry, and cringe so bad. I regret nothing.

WOW!

That was a rollercoaster! And so Sandhya Menon has done it again, folks!
The characters, the plot, the dialogue, everything was so perfect. It was like Sandhya had reached into the teenage mind and grabbed at all the tiny details that I as a teenager used to think about. AND IT WAS AMAZING! I loved the movie/ book references, and dare I say, I loved this one even more than When Dimple met Rishi!

The relationship between the two main characters Twinkle and Sahil is sooooooo swoonworthy. I loved all their moments together, the good and the bad. However, Dadi has to be one of my fave characters of all time. She is both funny and serious under the right circumstances, and I loved her bits of advice.

Thank you Sandhya Menon for such an amazing read, I can't wait for more!!

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY FOR AN EARLY COPY OF THIS BOOK!

Twinkle is a girl who knows exactly what she wants for her future, it's her present that is a little more confusing. In many ways, the relationship at the heart of this book is not between Twinkle and any boy, but between her and her best friend, Maddie. Twinkle's despair at her best friend finding a new group of friends who don't really get Twinkle is something that I'm sure a lot of teenagers will relate to, and it's great to see a teen story in which friendship is the driving force behind much of the action. Even Twinkle's crush on Neil, and her reluctance to fall for his brother, Sahil, are largely down to the fact that she thinks Maddie's new friends will accept her if she's Neil's girlfriend. It's not a great reason to date someone, but that's something Twinkle has to learn herself.

Twinkle makes a lot of mistakes, in fact, not just thinking that Neil is her ticket to being Maddie's best friend again, but she learns from every one of them, and that's a great thing to see in a story like this. Twinkle becomes so focused on what this film could mean for her that she forgets about the friends she's making along the way, and when Twinkle lets her pride in her film go to her head and she starts to treat her actors a little less than kindly, she soon learns that being good at something is no excuse to treat other people badly, and that there are right and wrong ways for a film to make an impact. Given that the film is such a crucial part of the story's plot, it's a shame that the reader doesn't experience more of the scenes actually being shot, but the real story here is in Twinkle's relationships, not least the strained ones she has with her parents, who never seem to be around for her in the way that she wants them to be.

Twinkle is a girl with a lot of ambition, and this is truly a story of her making mistakes and learning how to fix them, and that's a plot I can get behind. The fact that she makes some excellent friends and gets to have a heartwarming romance, while she gets a head start on making her dreams come true, is just icing on an already delicious cake.

Well this was just a delight of a book. I know it doesn't do to compare but I think I loved this one even more than I love When Dimple Met Rishi and I really loved that one so... This book has the same kick-ass female lead, a girl who is strong and sassy and just brilliant to read about. It also has a whole diverse group of characters who do things real teenagers do and have the same concerns real teenagers have. In terms of the characters in this book, Sandhya Menon just nailed it!



I loved Twinkle because she isn't perfect and she knows that. She has doubts and worries, just like the rest of us and just like the average teenage girl. But Twinkle has dreams and ambitions and she knows that she is going to have to work hard to make those happen. She really and truly cares about her friends and would do anything to help them out and she really cares about her family. I mean I loved the fact that she is from Colorado as well because I could totally picture the places that she was talking about. As a budding director, though, Twinkle is just spot on because she knows what she wants, and with time, she isn't afraid to ask for it!



I loved the premise behind this film as well, it has all the tropes I love. I really liked the fact that, once again, this author has not shied away from the use of technology in her novel. The world of film making and the power of YouTube is a great topic and I love the fact that all of the characters involved in Twinkle's potential film making are so passionate about films and the classic films in particular!



There is some gloriously cute romance in this book as well. Its not just Twinkle who is involved in a a 'will they/won't they?' situation, there are so many in this book, and wonderfully, this author really does make you wait until the very end for any kind of big reveal or satisfying conclusion. I was racing through the pages towards the end, desperately trying to find out how it was all going to turn out.



This book is just perfect to add to your summer reading pile because it is just so sweet and so romantic but it has a real message of family and friendship in there, as well as a strong heroine who will encourage you to really chase your dreams!

As much as I loved Sandhya Menon's debut, this book just wasn't as fun as I expected. And the ending was far too good to be true, but despite that there were lovely scenes and interesting characters in this story.

I’m sort of disappointed, as I didn’t end up enjoying From Twinkle, with Love as much as When Dimple Met Rishi, which is a shame, as I had high hopes for this book. I think one of the main reasons for this is because a lot of the characters didn’t work out for me, like to begin with I really liked Twinkle’s character, yeah, I felt that she didn’t speak her mind a lot and was a little reserved. But then as the story progressed, I didn’t like the direction in her character went in, yes you could say it wasn’t all her fault, as other characters led you to believe, but I really wasn’t a fan. I wasn’t also a fan of other characters too, and I really need that connection with characters in order to make a book work for me. But luckily there were others who made this book for me such as Sahil and Dadi, they were refreshingly fun to be around! Twinkle’s dadi reminded of my own gran a lot, with her quirkiness and out there ideas. And sweet Sahil, so many people had overlooked his character and I felt so sorry for him for being in the shadow of his brother, when was it going to be his time to shine? He was super talented, thoroughly loyal and just a genuinely nice guy! I also liked how there was other characters who I didn’t expect to like who came through too. The main story I also approved of too, I wanted to know how Twinkle’s debut show as a director would go, how well would it be received? and with everything going on, would she ever be able to make things right again? I also enjoyed the humour along the way, From Twinkle, with Love was a really funny book, I liked Twinkle’s dry sense of humour and how she was always to the point. Overall From Twinkle, with Love, was a fun read, I was able to guess a few things along the way, but this didn’t take the enjoyment of the story away from me.

It's time to accept that Sandhya Menon is not for me.
I wanted to love When Dimple Met Rishi and was disappointed. However, I was determined, for whatever reason, that I would love the next book she published. Sadly, I really did not like From Twinkle, With Love. Therefore, I think I have to accept that she is not an author whose books I fall in love with.

Everything about this book annoyed me.
I want to say nice things about this book but I was just constantly annoyed the whole time I was reading. Whether that was down to the characters and their actions or whatever was happening in the plot, something always got to me.

The characters were frustrating.
To me, the characters all seemed much younger than they were. They were all very immature and often their actions did not seem like those of young people their age. Twinkle, especially, seemed like a young 14-year-old in the way she was behaving and I found her incredibly annoying. There was also a lot of unnecessary drama and girl-hate, which added to the younger feel. I found the majority of the characters annoying, and those that didn't annoy me were not particularly well developed.

Film-making was supposed to be a more integral part of the story.
As with the coding aspect of When Dimple Met Rishi, Twinkle's passion for film-making was much less prominent in the story than I would have liked. It was used as a way of introducing characters and to facilitate some of the drama but it seemed to blend into the background as all of the boy and friend drama became the main focus of the story. It was such an important part of Twinkle's life and, for the majority of the book, it became simply a way to get the boy and reconnect with her friend.

I still don't understand what a 'groundling' is.
Twinkle was obsessed with the idea that no one liked her because she was a 'groundling' and everyone else was rich and had big houses. For me, this was probably the most annoying part of the whole book. She lost her best friend because she wasn't rich and had a small house, yet to me it just seemed like she was jealous that her 'best friend' had dared to make other friends so pushed her away. Also, all of the spoilt rich kids were terrible and she wasn't one of those terrible people, but neither was Sahil who was rich and lived in a huge house. It just doesn't make sense to me and didn't seem essential to the story.

Did we really need a love square?
Speaking of things that weren't essential to the story; a love triangle just wasn't enough. I was already not loving the love triangle with Twinkle and the two brothers and then this random email admirer, N, was introduced and I wanted to scream. I found this strange as it didn't even last long enough to be properly developed. It didn't become a major part of the story as they were arranging a meeting only a few pages after the first email was mentioned. For me, it needed to either be a love triangle involving a more developed email admirer and Sahil, or no email admirer at all.

It didn't need to be written in letter/diary format.
A book written in the form of letters, if only that had been done before! The idea of Twinkle writing letters in her diary to inspirational female film-makers is nice. It's a nice idea, but it didn't work. It added nothing to have the book written this way and it read no differently to a book written normally.

Overall, I was extremely disappointed as I had really hoped to enjoy this book. Sandhya Menon seems to be a much loved new author but her books are not for me. I found most of this book annoying and much of the content felt unnecessary. I would definitely recommend When Dimple Met Rishi over this book but I doubt I will be reading more from this author in the future.

This book was honestly the cutest thing I think I’ve read this year! I loved how it was told in letters and texts, and we got to know the characters better because of it. Sahil is an absolute babe and I loved getting to know him and Twinkle. Basically a super adorable YA rom com, that is more than worth a read.

I loved Sandhya Menon’s previous book When Dimple met Rishi so I was really exited when I was accepted for this one and I’m glad to say it didn’t disappoint. this was such a fun and cute read.
This book follows Twinkle Mehra an Indian-American high school student who’s dream is to become a filmmaker so when fellow classmate Sahil asks her to join him in producing a film for the Summer Festival she jumps at the change not only to help get her name out there but she also sees this as the perfect opportunity to get close to his twin brother Neil who she has a massive crush on. She also sees this as a way of losing her wallflower status and rekindling with her best friend Maddie. However, throughout working on the movie she starts to fall for Sahil but is also receiving emails from the mysterious N. who she believes to be Neil and doesn’t know whether she should follow hr heart or hold on to the dream she’s had for years.
I really liked the character of Twinkle she is a really complex character who is fed up sitting on the side-lines and being overlooked by everyone in her life which leads to her making bad decisions and it’s interesting to read about how she deals with these. I my younger teen self really related to her as i was the wallflower at school and would avoid confrontation at all costs.
I also loved Sahil, he is so sweet and geeky and it was interesting to see how he struggles with being in the shadow of his twin Neil who is a star athlete, popular and smart.
The romance within this is very swoon worthy and I loved watching it grow throughout the book and I loved that her family is involved throughout and found it really interesting to read about the dynamics between Twinkle, her mum, dad and Dadi.
I loved the diversity throughout this book as we have several Indian-American characters, Twinkles best friend Maddie is Japanese-American and Sahil’s friend Aaron is African-American and gay. We also have a bisexual character.
The book is written in the format of a diary as Twinkle is writing to her favourite female directors about her life. It is also told through texts which allow you to get an insight into Sahil thoughts. I really enjoyed this style and feel like I was able to fly through the book.
Overall, this was a really cute story with a swoon worthy romance that I really enjoyed and feel is the perfect summer read.

2.5 stars.

I was really hoping to like this book, especially as I think the author, Sandyha Menon, seems like a really lovely woman. However, I just didn't like it.

The first problem for me was the format of the book. Twinkle writes the book as a journal. Letters to filmmakers. She writes in the present tense; in the car on the way to somewhere, etc. Nobody else in her life seems to ever acknowledge that she has this journal she's constantly writing in. Then the filmmaker's she's writing to; it seemed totally pointless. Added in just to try and flesh out the 'Twinkle loves films/filmmakers' part of the book. I also found the chapter breaks throughout the book to be in really random places.

Twinkle herself. Didn't like her one bit. She was so up herself from the start. There was such an 'us vs. them' vibe with the 'groundlings' and 'silk feather hats'. In trying to get away from groundling status she just ends up even worse. She's mean. She arrogant. There was little about her that was redeemable. I will say one thing I did like was that Twinkle was her honesty with Sahil about how she needed time to figure things out before getting into anything. Which brings me to my next point. The love interests.

Twinkle has had a crush on Neil Roy, the swimmer, since forever. She see's him as her ticket out of groundling-dom. Do we know anything else about Neil? No. Do we see anything of Neil? Right at the end of the book, and we still don't know anything more about him. I struggled so hard to understand the crush Twinkle had on him because the guy had 0 substance in this book. He was flat. He was a name on a page.

Neil's twin brother Sahil; love interest #2. Sahil has a massive crush on Twinkle. He's kind, gentle, reasonable and tries to bring out the better qualities in Twinkle. He's always been in his brother's shadow. Sahil's journey through this book I did actually enjoy. He finds himself. He starts to see his own potential. I just felt annoyed with how 'soft' he was with Twinkle when she was being a brat.

We also have a secret admirer, N. N e-mails Twinkle to say how much he likes her. I'm not going to spoil, but for me, it was 100% obvious who it was from the start. Twinkle tries to meet up with N at one point in the book. At a carnival. This brings me to my next point. Friendship.

Victoria. Victoria showed up, like a fairy godmother, to help Twinkle in her hour of need. To get ready for what she hoped would be the meeting of N. Victoria was kind. She offered fresh insights to Twinkle when she needed them because she was having trouble with her best friend Maddie. Victoria, it seemed, just wanted to bring people together. She was a good soul in this book.

The best friend. That wasn't a good friend. Maddie. Utterly spineless character. She finds new friends and ditches Twinkle because a girl from the new group, Hannah, doesn't like to share. Screw the long-standing friendship. She keeps letting Hannah talk trash about Twinkle. Not cool, Maddie. Not cool.

There were also some side character's that became a couple. One was gay, the other bisexual. A comment was made (which I can't remember now) but it led to the acknowledgment of how hard it is to be gay and black. An apology was made. I really liked that this was added in. Both the rep and the apology.

The family elements I really liked. Twinkle's Dadi, her Grandmother, was eccentric and incredibly loving and supportive of Twinkle. Which she needed, as her parents weren't there for her much. Sahil's parents were very welcoming and kind, too.

The filmmaking itself was a bit of a let down for me in this book too. In Menon's debut novel, When Dimple Met Rishi, there was a total lack of the hobby/interest there. This book did improve on that, but it just didn't feel very fleshed out. I felt there could have been more. Everything was so easy and convenient when it happened too.

The wrap up felt too neat for me too. Everything was quickly resolved. Felt too fake. Not realistic at all, in my opinion.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. At this point, I'm thinking that as much as I like Menon as a person, her writing just may not be for me. I do wish her every success in her writing career though.

As a final note, I just want to add that I was sent an e-arc from Net-Galley and there were a few formatting issues with the book. There were new 'breaks' in the middle of sentences that carried on a line or two lower. There were parts where the font was meant to be a few shades lighter for blog entries but the text changed back to regular halfway through the blog posts. I've genuinely got no idea about the process of producing an e-book and making sure everything is formatted correctly, if it's based on what e-arks get sent out, or what, but it felt important to mention it needs fixing up. As a disclaimer, I'll say the formatting of the e-ark did not play any part in my rating.