This book was a breath of fresh air, it was funny and kept me reading the whole way through. It was brilliantly written, full of diversity, just what YA books should be today! :)

I am so grateful to NetGalley and the Publishers, Hodder & Stoughton, for giving me a copy of From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon.

I sped through this book, I was admittedly slightly worried about reading From Twinkle, with Love because I read another Sandhya Menon book last year, When Dimple Met Rishi and I adored it! It was my quite possibly my favourite book of 2017. So you can see why I was slightly worried about reading this book

Well I fear no more! Because for me, From Twinkle, with Love stood firm to my expectations and I love this book a lot! The characters are amazingly diverse and not in a way that feels forced but in a way that feels natural and that they are real people that exist.

The Love Story, it was obvious that this wasn't going to be an easy road for Twinkle considering the blurb alone, but I was excited to travel it with her. Plus along with dealing with love, she had old friendships, new friendships, enemies, plus filming and directing her first ever film!

This book never slows down and feels so real in the way the characters speak, down to the minor characters that pop up throughout the book. I love "Skid" and Aaron because their friendship with Sahil is so fun and they are so supportive of each other.

Twinkle writes her passages in a series of diary entries to other female film directors who inspire her, but once I read the first line of where she is, etc, I soon forgot about the "diary" aspect because I found myself propelled into the story.

Whereas Sahil's entries are shown via Text Messages between "Skid, Aaron, and himself. Which I love because no only does it help to differentiate between the two characters but it also helps to develop the characters further in who they are.

In the end, you can probably guess what happens for Twinkle, but I will not spoil for you. All I can say is: Read. This. Book.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me an e-book ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Okay, I was asked to give an honest review, so I figured I would do just that, even though I’m gritting my teeth a little bit at the prospect of it. Menon’s debut novel, When Dimple Met Rishi was one of my favourite contemporary novels of last year. I thought it was very funny and clever, and just a huge fluff-ball of awk-cute.

From Twinkle, With Love… not so much.

It started out pretty promising. I laughed at lots of moments, and I thought Sahil was very swoon-worthy. It seemed to be going in a good direction, one where I’d cheer for the two main characters and cross my fingers that they’d wind up together [even though it’s very obvious they will] and I’ll do my little tea-kettle squeal whenever they had an awkward interaction or first kiss.

And then Twinkle happened, and I just couldn’t like the book anymore. She starts out as an okay character, something of an every-man/underdog with a talent that makes her a huge nerd in school and a genius in college. I loved that the novel was told through letters to her female-director icons, and I liked how issues of class and culture weren’t ignored through Twinkle’s POV. It made me cheer for her for a while. And then somewhere down the line she turned into a kind of monster. She became really annoying and shallow, determined to get into the ‘popular’ group that she complained about because they’d stolen her friend away. And she wanted to do this by getting the perfect popular jock boyfriend, even though she knew nothing about him and clearly didn’t have anything other than a passing-glance kinda crush for him. It seemed a bit shallow and a poorly-conceived plan at the start, but then when Sahil shows up and he’s being incredibly sweet and she obviously has feelings for him, she still refuses to accept it because she wants to be part of the in-crowd. It was around here that I stopped liking her character. Actually, I wanted the ending to resolve with Sahil moving on from his feelings for Twinkle because he recognized she wasn’t a nice person. I mean, I don’t really know how you can move on from someone fancying your brother and spending time with you to get to them.

But Twinkle got worse. I don’t want to get too spoiler-y but she really morphs into the kind of character I can’t stand. And while there’s a resolution at the end which explains and fixes this, I just can’t get away with a book where I actively dislike the main character.

As a result, I’m giving From Twinkle, With Love a 4/10. Which is a shame, because I really liked When Dimple Met Rishi and I was hoping for some more meet-cute adorableness, but I was left feeling a little frustrated instead.

I am so grateful to @hodderbooks and @netgalley for approving my ARC copy of this book. After reading When Dimple Met Rishi in April I was so excited to get my hands on more of Menon’s writing. While I wasn’t as invested in the characters in this one I still enjoyed the story. I loved the characters of Sahil and Twinkle’s grandma. I loved the plot line about Twinkle and Maddie’s relationship. I also loved the relationship development between Twinkle and her Mum, it made me cry and I wish more time had been spent on it. I loved all the interactions between the characters, sometimes teen characters are written so overly wise and mature but these felt realistic. I liked that Twinkle was a flawed character but that she learnt from her mistakes in the end. I did enjoy the letter format but I wish you got to hear more of the story from Sahil’s point of view. For me, that was one of the biggest strengths for WDMR, and in this I really missed it. You get to see some of his perspective through text messages but these are few and far between and honestly, they were some of my favourite parts. That said, I understand if Menon doesn’t want to be pigeonholed into a certain style so I’ll just have to adjust my expectations for her next book!! All in all, I think if you like YA romances with feisty female leads and abundant pop culture references, do yourself a favour and check this out when it’s published in the U.K. on the 22nd May!

I wasn't able to finish From Twinkle With Love. I reached about 10%, but I couldn't connect to the characters. This is probably because of the format of the story - it's written in a chat and message style, which meant I wasn't able to get to know the characters like I wanted.

I read When Dimple Met Rishi last year after hearing the editor talk about it at a work event and thought it sounded right up my street. I wasn’t disappointed - it was one of my favourite books of the year! So when I saw this on Netgalley, I didn’t hesitate to request it! It took me a bit longer to get into, and I think this is largely because it’s set back in high school rather than having slightly older protagonists. That was something I really enjoyed about Dimple. I also found the format of the letters (though not the texts) and Twinkle’s teenage angst about 2/3 of the way through really jarring. Nevertheless, the book is full of Menon’s signature swoonworthy love interests and heated moments which kept me interested until the end! I also was kept guessing about the mysterious elements until Twinkle was - something that NEVER happens so I was pretty happy! Just would have preferred older protagonists who I could identify with more! Thank you so much for the opportunity to read, I had a great time!

Absolutely loved this story. It had real believable, relatable heart. From the imperfection of the characters to the occasionally awkward dialogue it was perfect as a true reflection of a budding romance you could really root for.

Sunny, delightful, uplifting - everything I expect from Sandhya Menon and more. I loved When Dimple Met Rishi and so was very happy to be approved for this title, and not disappointed

If you loved When Dimple Met Rishi, then you will adore From Twinkle, With Love! I fell completely in love with Sandhya Menon's first book and I didn't know how her second could touch me in quite the same way, but it really did live up to expectations.

From Twinkle, With Love is full of new, vibrant characters for you to fall in love with, especially Sahil (Twinkle's producer) who is amazingly adorable! Twinkle is an engaging central character, however, I did find myself getting very frustrated with her in parts.

From twinkle with love, follows our main character Twinkle who wants to tell stories and so when a guy called Sahil Roy partners up with her to direct and create a film for the summer festival she is ecstatic. But the only thing is, she has a massive crush on sahil’s brother, and sahil has a massive crush on her. Talk about unrequited love. So when an email comes through from an admirer called ‘n’ she automatically thinks it’s Neil. But in the meantime she falls for Sahil and it’s just this big love triangle. Kind of a cliché I know but Neill doesn’t even know about it. The story is also told in the form of letters to amazing female filmmakers and one day I hope to be among those names because it’s exactly what I want to do so this book really resonated with me on a personal level.

4 out of 5 stars.

The book is about Twinkle, a junior student/aspiring director who navigates the world of relationships (family, friends, love) as she directs a film to be entered at her school's Midsummer Night Festival. There's Maddie, her best friend who seems to be spending less time with her. There's also Neil, her crush. Lastly, there's Sahil, Neil's twin brother whom Twinkle might be actually falling for.

I was already hooked with the filmmaking arc, but this was a wonderful story. There was a lot to unpack as Twinkle discovers more about herself and her demons. She had a lot of insecurities, most which were addressed and resolved one way or another. I love her chemistry with Sahil and her relationship with Dadi. Her friendship with Maddie was very important to her, and I liked how it was handled. This also has a variety of characters involved; my favorite supporting character is Victoria. I also liked how she was writing to female directors. I felt that this was one way to inform people of their work (after a bit of research) and make a more conscious effort to watch more films directed by women.

I did find some parts to be tied up too neatly, but it doesn't deter from the reading experience. This was an enjoyable contemporary novel to read, and had more than what I expected it to have.

This story is so awe inspiring that talks about chasing your dreams and goals, no matter if you think you won't be able to do it unless you try your hardest and your best. It's also empowering for women and especially for a POC since the character is going over the horizon to make a difference in society—to be able to be seen by the people around her.

Twinkle is such a lovable character that only wants the best for herself and though she don't mention it, wants the best for the people around her too. Yes, conflicts between friends may appear but it would be for the best most of the time to be the better person.

It's so nice to see for a change that the boy, Sahil Roy has a crush on the girl, Twinkle for as long as he can remember. Gradually, Twinkle starts to love him for who he is instead of just making a reality for her idea where she dates Neil and manage to be seen by everyone. I'm so glad that she snapped back into reality and make a deserved change for herself instead of hoping for something that could never happen.

I'm so glad I gave the author, Sandhya Menon a second chance because this book is now on my favourites list and a story that I would love to recommend to everyone!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

As someone who hasn't yet read When Dimple Met Rishi but has heard all the good things about it I could resist requesting this ARC and I was not disappointed.

I absolutely loved it, the characters were fun to follow and so easy to get to grips with. Twinkle was an amazing character and getting to see how she developed through out was fun to see.

This novel was made even better by the fact that it was told in letters to her favourite female authors. The whole story was told in a unique format that made it all the more amazing. I loved the fact that the letters were to some of the brightest women directors in the world. Having it told like this was a fantastic and is so amazing for the world we now live in where Female directors are gaining more and more recognition. Having such an inspiring story was amazing and inspiring.

Plus the small snippets through emails and texts adds to the modern side of the novel.

Anyone who loved When Dimple Met Rishi will definitely love this novel. I would highly recommend to anyone!

I didn't think When Dimple met Rishi could be outdone on the meetcute scale...boy was I wrong! From Twinkle, With Love is perfect for fans of Holly Bourne or anyone who enjoys feminist contemporary YA books. The romance is enormously endearing, but my favourite thing about this book was Twinkle's ambition and brains! The diverse cast was a breath of fresh air and I laughed my way through every moment of this book. Will 100% re-read!

This book was fun to read, and so swoony, but at the same time I found it frustrating and annoying at times too.

It was nice to see Twinkle grow over the book and realise she doesn't need to change herself at all.

Also Sahil is such a sweetheart.

IN SUMMARY: Proving Menon’s ability to write fun, diverse, laugh-out-loud rom-coms with drama to taste, FROM TWINKLE, WITH LOVE features unique narration, an authentic voice, and a heart-warming read about friendship and love worth every word.

MY THOUGHTS:

I was always a little wary about reading this because, funnily enough, I know someone eeriely similar to a character in this book. I'm glad I forgot that though, because I loved the narration style, the voice, the humour and, most importantly, I thought Sahil was a great worthy love interest, and should be the standard for teenage romances. Some parts I did find implausible enough to get leery, but on the whole, this book delivered a satisfying and endearing conclusion.

Definitely recommended for anyone who enjoyed WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI!

WILL I READ MORE FROM THIS AUTHOR? Yes!

Sometimes in life you just need to let yourself read a fluffy, happy, sunshiney contemporary book and last year my favourite contemporary read was "When Dimple met Rishi". I loved it so much as soon as "From Twinkle, with Love" was announced I pre-ordered it straight away. I still couldn't resist requesting it on Netgalley as well and I definitely did a happy dance when I got the notification that I was approved.

"From Twinkle, with Love" follows Twinkle Mehra, an aspiring filmmaker with a huge amount of ambition and talent and a massive crush on swim-superstar Neil Roy, but when she is approached by Neil's twin brother Sahil to direct a film for the upcoming Summer festival, Twinkle starts to fall for the other Roy brother.

I loved how cute this book was. The characters all seemed genuinely high school age, they weren't trying to be older than they are and the things they were concerned with were all refreshingly normal.

Twinkle's family dynamic was also a strong factor to the book, helping to explain the attitude problem she has at times. Whilst her relationship with her parents was complicated, the constant unwavering love from Dadi was beautiful and she stole the scene whenever she appeared.

The romance between Twinkle and Sahil was heart meltingly adorable and I read most of the book desperate for Twinkle to come to her senses and drop her fixation with boring athlete Neil and fall head over heels for nerdy, film obssessed, devoted Sahil instead.

The cultural identity of this book is so strong, as it was for "Dimple", and whilst it's not Sandhya Menon's job to teach us about Indian culture, I enjoy being able to read a book in which the culture is so integral to the story because you do end up learning a lot. More importantly, it's so vital and wonderful that many young people will see themselves represented in this book where previously they haven't been.

"From Twinkle, with Love" is a must read book for the summer if you love fun, flirty contemporary reads.

Very very cliche in parts, but aren't all good romance novels?! I have to admit, not as good as Dimple, and I felt like the story could have been wrapped up a whole lot sooner. I was even shocked when I checked the percentage of my reading and found there was a whole lot left! I feel like Twinkle was a good character, and I completely understood her hatred for Hannah who was a complete bitch. (Side note though, wouldn't it have been a lot better if it was revealed that Hannah had a crush on Maddie??)

This is the second book from the author of When Dimple Meet Rishi, and as soon as I saw it I knew I had to read it. This book was so good Twinkle is a lovely and flawed character who makes mistakes throughout the book, but learned from them and made me love her character more and had me rooting for her. That being said I do prefer Dimple as Twinkle did feel a little younger.
Overall I would highly recommend this book and you have not read When Dimple Meet Rishi I would recommend reading that as well.