10 Things I Hate About Pinky

A sparky, fun summer romance novel. The classic enemies-to-lovers/opposites attract tropes are really well handled, as Pinky and Samir spark off one another and learn to appreciate what makes the other special. Having avoided what I’ll call “privileged rich kid YA” for a while now due to its general lack of diversity, it was actually super fun to read a book about privileged rich kids in a fancy summer house (but with diversity). Low stakes, escapist drama is just what readers need at the moment and 10 Things I Hate About Pinky offers it in spades.

These books are exactly what I need right now in these strange times; comforting, sweet, funny, romantic and safe - you know that nothing too bad will happen, and all problems will be resolved by the end! They're like the book version of the Gilmore Girls (as in they're hot chocolate for the soul, I don't mean storyline wise)! This might not be my favourite of the series but it still hits the spot.

I've heard about the fake dating trope many times, but this is the first time I've actually read a book that uses that trope, and I absolutely loved it! Pinky is such a fiery and passionate character, I really enjoyed her antics and I wish I was a bit more like her. The relationships in this story are so well-written, and I felt so much empathy for Pinky and her mom, their relationship was so tempestuous and it was nice to see how things changed at the end. Dolly and Samir are wonderful characters and the way they were (almost) always there for Pinky was lovely. This was a pretty heartwarming story with a good amount of angst.

Funny romantic and the perfect thing to while away the weekend! I love a good fake dating trope and relationships between mothers and daughters so this is Another cracking hit from Sandhya Menon, I love her writing

10 Things I Hate About Pinky is the third novel in the Dimple and Rishi universe, following on from When Dimple Met Rishi & There's Something About Sweetie. I liked When Dimple Met Rishi, really enjoyed There's Something About Sweetie . . . and I loved this one.

10 Things I Hate About Pinky is told from the dual perspective of Pinky and Samir, as they both combat personal struggles over the course of a summer holiday. Pinky has a tense relationship with her mother, she feels as if she is never good enough for her parents, a constant disappointment . . . So she lives to that role, until she gets blamed for something she did not do one too many times . . .

This leads Pinky to inviting Samir to her holiday home, to pretend to be her fake boyfriend, to show her parents that she is not as much of a failure or disappointing as they think they are. (AHHH! Fake-dating trope!!!! Yes!!!!) Samir agrees to help Pinky. His internship in a prestigious law firm fell through, and its his hope, that by helping Pinky, he will gain an internship with her mother, who is known as 'The Shark'. But like Pinky, he also has to confront his own behaviour, and the relationship with his mother...

These two characters were brilliant together! There was so much chemistry in their relationship - in the way they bantered with each other, with how they confront, challenge and support each other. Absolutely brilliant. They are very much opposites that attract - who compliment each other wonderfully - and the Menon has the characters confront whether or not a real relationship between them can withstand their differences . . .
Pinky and Samir learn so much about each other, but also learn so much about themselves. Some scenes incredibly frustrated me - I found I wanted to yell at the characters for how mean they were to each other, or out of order. But I held it in, and continued reading, and these moments were explored and developed upon in a way that I felt satisfied with.

I really enjoyed the supporting characters, as well. It would have been nice to have more time spent with them. For example, a large part of Pinky's characterisation and struggle was to do with her relationship with her mother. Most of the novel concerned Pinky's feelings of distance, anger, and upset with her mother, yet there was not much time spent on the resolution. I was not unhappy with how the novel resolved their relationship, but I do wish we could have seen more of that. Similar with Samir. We saw him make a decision about how he wants to move forward, yet we never got to see that dynamic with his mother play out. I understand, because the novel was set in a singular place and his mother was in another, but I do wish there was more of his relationships explored.

Overall, I loved this book! I was in the midst of writing my final university assignments at this point, and it provided much needed escapism. And when I put it down to continue on, it provided motivation to hurry up and finish so I could get back to reading it.
For that, I give this 5 stars.

I just love Sandhya Menon, she writes with such heart and humour. I am such a sucker for a romance so this was right up my street.

Ever since reading From Twinkle, With Love Sandhya Menon has become an insta-buy author for me (although There's Something About Sweetie somehow passed me by last year, but I bought it about two minutes after finishing 10 Things). 10 Things I Hate About Pinky only reaffirmed my love for her work.

She writes kick ass young women who know what they want from the world and Pinky is no exception. Pinky is feisty, passionate, stubborn and she does *not* get along with her mother. One main trend in Sandhya Menon's work is characters learning more about themselves and re-evaluating their relationships. In this story we watch as Pinky fights for her right to be herself and struggles to understand her mother, she is guided in this process by fake-boyfriend Samir Jha who holds the other piece of the puzzle, what does "herself" really mean? Is she going to stick firm to her rebel values regardless or can she find love in the most unexpected, least Pinky, of places?

Romance isn't my go to genre but as usual Menon writes a story in which love enhances her characters' lives, rather than defining it which I think is so important. Additionally, the way Pinky and Samir fall for each other feels so natural even though they need to get out of their own way at times!

Definitely an excellent addition to the Dimpleverse!

Another feel-good romance from the master of swoon-worthy YA. Menon is one of the authors at the top of my auto-buy list as I know her stories will give me brilliant characters and lots of reasons to smile.

Pinky was a great protagonist. She's so passionate and determined and unwilling to let anything stand in her way. But she's also insecure and sensitive and Menon gives a brilliant insight into her thoughts throughout. I think teenage readers will really warm to her, thanks to her desire to change the world and never let her age hold her back from challenging social injustice. I also loved her complicated relationship with her mum and her strong bond with her step-dad.

Samir was another brilliant character. I loved how kind and caring he was. He spends most of the novel making plans and preparations to help him feel in control (which I completely identified with as I'm definitely more of a Samir than a Pinky). But he also had moments of startling confidence and wasn't afraid to push himself out of his comfort zone to do what's right.

Their romance had all the trademark strength of a Menon story. She describes emotion so well and captures the excitement and insecurities of new love perfectly. While Pinky and Samir have their differences and argue plenty, their relationship is based firmly on mutual respect and trust.

The setting, in hot, summertime Ellingsworth with its secluded lake and butterfly habitat was another huge draw.

I hope a Dolly novel is coming next - she could definitely carry her own stand-alone story and I would love to see her having more luck in love than she does in this story.

i am now pretty sure i am absolute trash for pinky and samir, and their angsty yet extremely passionate love story. i am in love with it, with every fiber of my body. i felt anger and love and sadness with the characters, and i have no words to express how much i enjoyed the pain.

obviously, i loved everything about this book, but here’s what stood out:
- the angst, GOD THE ANGST WAS UNBELIEVABLE. i have never felt so eager for two characters to kiss like i have felt it for these characters in such a long time. i have fought the urge to just push their heads together. their chemistry was just a+. they made me feel all kinds of intense feelings, from anger to joy to sadness, and i adored every second of it. also, the fake-dating trope? never disappoints.
- speaking of characters, they were not only adorable and precious, but also very passionate and flawed. oh so very flawed. and it’s what made them very human in my eyes. they were so annoyingly teenagers, and i was living for that. they also had great character development in my opinion, and i loved seeing them grow.
- sandhya menon’s writing improved yet again. after reading three of her books, i can safely say that i absolutely love how this author just keeps improving and giving us better and better content. the writing of 10 Things I Hate About Pinky was even better than her previous books in this series; it was so easy to get into, simple and effective, and i just loved it.
- i liked how the book actually handles its issues. in many books, issues are put out there but not really solved? and i just hate that. but 10 Things I Hate About Pinky finds a solution to every single one of them (at least there isn’t an unsolved issue in my memory).
it’s safe to say now that 10 Things I Hate About Pinky is now one of my favorite reads of the year. i have no words to express how in love i am with this story and its characters.

Did someboday say fake dating? Because that is one of my favourite things. Also, a summer romcom with fake dating? Mh, delicious. That being said, I loved this book about character-wise very different people going on vacation together.

Pinky and her parents go on summer holidays with her aunt, uncle and cousin every year. This year though, a few things are different: Dolly, Pinky’s perfect cousin, tries something new and not-so-perfect. And Pinky, who is known to be the black sheep of the family, finally tries something new and, in the eyes of her parents, very perfect. When Pinky accidentally says that she has a boyfriend, there has to be one asap. And who would be better suited than her frenemy Samir, a guy every parent would wish upon their daughter. They make a deal and Samir joins them on vacation but it doesn’t turn out as they both expected.

Pinky and Samir went into their deal with goals, but getting to know each other better along the way complicates things a lot. I loved reading about these two, I loved reading about their thoughts but I also loved reading about how the perception of the other changes in their eyes. They both have this picture of each other in their heads that has them colliding and argumenting time and time again. But they also realize that there is so much more to the other. The two of them start talking more and learning, about themselves, each other and their surroundings and their family members. Their evolving relationship was so beautifully written and explored. Their relationship had its ups and downs, but it seemed realistic and I enjoyed reading it a lot.

I loved Samir and Pinky as main characters individually as well. Where Pinky is headstrong and temperamental and passionate, Samir is calmer and a bit more down-to-earth. They each have problems to cope with. While they are quite different, they somehow balance each other out and can give the other one exactly what they need. I also enjoyed the rest of the characters, that were mostly Pinky’s family. Exploring their relationships and how they became the way they are was a wonderful reading experience for me.

The plot was also something I enjoyed immensely. Pinky is an activist, always having a new project she passionately works on. When such a project comes up this summer, both Pinky and Samir work together, both using their strength to bring it forward and to get other people to help them as well. The mix of romance and family drama and hot summer was so much fun.

What I also need to mention are topics that weren’t main themes of the book but were talked about shortly, but so well. For instance, the racism Pinky and her family experience and how they act in these situations. Another topic was mental health. I loved how mental health and getting psychological help was discussed throughout the story.

Overall, I loved this book so, so much. It was such a great summer romance. I’d definitely recommend it, especially if you’ve enjoyed Sandhya Menon’s previous books in the Dimpleverse!

Ahhh I love a Sandhya Menon novel and it was so wonderful being back in the Dimpleverse again. I loved seeing old characters raise their heads and explore some side characters we had only heard mention in previous books. You don't need to have read the other novels to enjoy this one but you might just get a couple of spoilers for some plot points in 'There's Something About Sweetie' just be warned.



I have to admit that this book got off to a slightly slow start for me, but once I had got past the initial couple of chapters and really got these characters established I couldn't put this story down. It was just so sweet and so fun it gave me butterflies and I was just excited to keep turning the pages.



I really loved the setting of this book, which I really didn't expect, I don't think I have read anything else like this set in and around cape cod. It meant for excellent settings with the sunset and the water and lots of drinking of lemonade around family game nights-so fun. I also really love the 'green' aspect of this novel. Pinky is very into conservation and recycling as well as looking out for the nature around her. I really loved this aspect of her character and it also means that we got to meet the wonderful opossum named Drama Queen-what could be better than that?



Pinky is just a great character all round. I loved how mature she was in her own mind but she turned into your classic stroppy teenager when she was around her parents. We also get to see her FOMO in action on every page, something else that all young people, and those of us who should know better, have to deal with. I love his intelligent she is, I feel like everyone in this novel was educated and also cared about bettering themselves. I think these characters would make good role model.



This book also explores what happens when we place certain expectations on ourselves and others. This includes things like ingrained racism within communities and even within families. I like the idea of turning those expectations on their heads and really pulling out why they are there in the first place. Sandhya Menon always does this is subtle and nuanced way whilst still riving the plot forwards and also creating these characters who are so easy to like and so easy to identify with.



This is the perfect summer read and I highly recommend adding this one to your summer TBR.

This is the first book by Sandhya Menon that I have read, but I will now be searching out all her previous works. I absolutely adored this, it’s nice for a change to read about YA privilege that isn’t white, finally some diversity and I tend to avoid those rich white kids novels, but this made me completely change my kind, well it will if it’s written by Sandhya in future. This is so funny, it’s charming, it touches your heart, it’s the perfect escapism and you love the characters, they are just so cute. The relationships are so well done, particularly the mother daughter ones. Everything in this book just feels so relatable and natural, highly recommended read and a new author for me to add to my got to read list. Fabulous


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

As you might know, I’m a huge Sandhya Menon fan and I’m even part of her street team, helping to spread the word about how great her books are. 10 Things I Hate about Pinky is the third book in the Dimpleverse series but can also be read as a standalone as it features a new couple – Pinky and Samir – who we met in the previous book. Pinky is a social-justice warrior rebelling against her conservative parents whilst Samir is an organised and tight-laced student with an overprotective mother. To win her mum’s approval, Pinky suggests that she and Samir fake date and so Samir spends his summer at Pinky’s lake house. That’s right – the romance gods have given us the fake dating trope as well as enemies-to-lovers.

Pinky is probably the least relatable of Sandhya’s female main characters for me (Sweetie remains my favourite) but it was much easier to identify with Samir’s need to control everything in order to impose order on his life. I appreciated the author addressing this mental health issue and also highlighting the stigma often experienced in the Indian-American community. Additionally, Pinky and Samir have difficult relationships with their respective parents and I was impressed by how Sandhya explored these problems in a nuanced manner, allowing the reader to emphasise with both children and parents. Whilst Pinky and Samir are two very different people, they share the same core values, and often challenge each other to become better, blossoming over their summer together.

Side characters are always memorable in Sandhya’s books and Dolly was no exception, with her good-girl-wanting-to-rebel character arc. I also have to mention Drama Queen, the most hilarious possum ever, with a penchant for dying at inopportune moments and providing a lot of comedy. For me, this book showed how Sandhya has grown as a writer. The writing style had a maturity and confidence to it and I think this is, objectively, her best work yet. I can’t wait to read whatever she writes next as I’m sure she’ll somehow surpass herself yet again. 10 Things I Hate about Pinky is the perfect book for summer, featuring two of my favourite tropes, a host of unforgettable characters, and a dramatic possum.