When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

4 Stars

“This is our life. We get to decide the rules. We get to say what goes and what stays, what matters and what doesn’t.”

I really like this. I'm so excited that I finally got around to reading it. It feels like such a long time coming. It was cute. It was diverse. It was funny. I don't know what more you could ask for. 

I loved Dimple. She was such a strong character and so independent. Dimple is the kind of girl I aspire to be and I think I related to her a lot. I loved that she was all for carving out her own life. I think that was a great example to set. I also adored Rishi, who was almost Dimple's polar opposite. He was so sweet and gentle. I loved seeing that in a male character. 

I loved that Dimple was into coding. I think that's something we should begin to appreciate more because it is hard. I have a father who codes and does a wonderful job of it but he does get overwhelmed by it all. The results are terrific though, always. More appreciation for coders because I am useless at it. I think it's cool to bring in a hobby that defies the gender norm a bit, and important too. I'm so glad to see all these hobbies coming into books that we don't usually see much of.

I loved the diversity, that is what initially attracted me to this book so much. I definitely don't think I've read much with Indian characters, much less Indian main characters. I would love to see more of that. I really liked that, I think Menon slipped in some interesting cultural things in the story really naturally which I enjoyed.

It was such a cute book, literally just like reading a rom-com. I adored it. I know that so many of my fluffy contemporary loving friends will also just love this. I loved the characters. I loved the story. I loved the subject matter. I just thought it was such a cute and endearingly dorky book that I think anyone who enjoys a good contemporary will just eat up. 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

5 Stars

“Sometimes you can do everything right and things will still go wrong. The key is to never stop doing right.”


I am thrilled I finally got to read this. It has so much hype and it deserves every slice of it. It is such an important book. It does a fantastic job of tackling such an important and relevant topic. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone and everyone. In my review, I won't be hyper critical because I just think it's so important we finally have this highly important own voices book and I think it's important that it gets the praise it deserves. However, if you're interested in a bit more of a critical review, there's a few interesting ones on Goodreads, you might just have to sift through. 

I will just say quickly, do I think everything was perfect? No, I don't. But that's not why I'm giving it 5 stars. I'm giving it 5 stars because it's incredibly important and relevant and I think it brought up so many important things. This will definitely be one to leave you thinking. 

The thing I love about THUG so much, is that it is a YA book dealing with a huge issue. It's important for people to be talking about the big issues and this is a fantastic way to get people educated and talking, particularly young people. I would love to see more YA authors try to tackle big issues like these because I think it's incredibly important to speak out using whatever medium you feel right using. I love that Angie Thomas has done that. You can tell it's a topic she feels strongly about and she has used her voice and perspective, to talk about it. I love it, I fully support it. 

I loved Starr, I think she was really well written within her thought processes and whatnot and she felt like a really authentic character. You could tell it was an own voices author. She was strong and stubborn but still scared and had her flaws that she could acknowledge. I loved her family dynamic. I think it was so important to have such a gorgeous and supportive family. You all know by now that I adore some strong and loving families in YA. They were all really well written dimensional characters. They were really fleshy and I loved that. 

I loved that THUG shuts down and breaks down the stereotypes that we are fed through the media. It gives us a unique perspective and certainly one that particularly news outlets aren't going to let us see. Which I think is incredibly important because you can't give credit to a lot of the media. THUG encourages you to have a mind of your own and gives you this perspective as food for thought.

I think it definitely has a shock factor. I think for some people, it's going to be hard to take in the fact that this book isn't just one big hyperbole. I'm lucky enough to have a father that talks constantly about the police shootings and the unfairness and ridiculousness of it, to know that this stuff is happening. But, I know for a lot of people The Hate U Give might be hard to swallow but I think it's important you do because only then can you help make a change.

I must say I've never read anything quite like this. Which I almost feel ashamed to admit. It was so different and important and fresh. I think it was brilliant. I feel more educated and aware after reading it which I think is what Thomas was aiming for. I would love to see more books like this one. Definitely read it if for some reason you haven't already, definitely support it, show it some love. I think it was great. Once again, I would love to see more books like this. I hope this becomes a classic in the years to come.

Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han

5 Stars

“Never say no when you really want to say yes.”

I was SO excited to unwrap this Christmas day, I had been dying to read it practically since it was announced. I feel like anyone who has been here with me long enough will know that I adore Lara Jean and the To All The Boys trilogy. I absolutely loved it. I think this was the perfect conclusion to Lara Jean's story. 

I love that while it still focused on relationships, it focused on a different aspect of relationships that I think is often overlooked in YA because it might not necessarily be the part everyone wants to think about. Lara Jean had to make some interesting decisions about the future and I think that's relatable for a lot of people. And, Lara Jean has a hard time when things don't go exactly to plan.

I adore that it included so many more aspects of life. It really talked about so many more things in Lara Jean's life and I appreciated that. It focused of the changes happening to Lara Jean and how that affected the relationships she has with those around her. It wasn't just about her and Peter anymore, it was about a lot more which I think is reflective of how Lara Jean has grown as a character. 

Something I loved about this was seeing how Lara Jean had grown since the first book. Yet, she was still Lara Jean. She still has her charming naivety and optimistic nature. But there was definitely still some rock solid character development which I think was great because we didn't lose who Lara Jean is and what makes her so lovable but we still got to see her grow as a character.  

It was quite different in contrast to the first two books but I loved that. I think the relationship drama had been pretty exhausted at this point and I loved to see some other stuff happening with the Song girls. But, that being said, I think this book worked so well because we had the other two and we grew attached to Lara Jean and her family and friends. I don't think this would've worked as well as a stand alone. 

I think this was the perfect conclusion to the perfect trilogy. I absolutely adored it, I think it gave a really nice closure to everything. While I'm so sad that the Lara Jean saga has come to an end, I am so thrilled that it was done so well. I won't lie, I was a little bit worried about not liking this or not getting the ending I wanted or having it feel awkward. But, it closed things off, it didn't exhaust anything, it showed growth of characters. It was pretty much everything I could've wanted.