review: when dimple met rishi

Synopsis from Goodreads:

A laugh-out-loud, heartfelt YA romantic comedy, told in alternating perspectives, about two Indian-American teens whose parents have arranged for them to be married. 
Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family, from Mamma’s inexplicable obsession with her finding the “Ideal Indian Husband.” Ugh. Dimple knows they must respect her principles on some level, though. If they truly believed she needed a husband right now, they wouldn’t have paid for her to attend a summer program for aspiring web developers…right? 
Rishi Patel is a hopeless romantic. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him—wherein he’ll have to woo her—he’s totally on board. Because as silly as it sounds to most people in his life, Rishi wants to be arranged, believes in the power of tradition, stability, and being a part of something much bigger than himself. 
The Shahs and Patels didn’t mean to start turning the wheels on this “suggested arrangement” so early in their children’s lives, but when they noticed them both gravitate toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not? 
Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out. But when opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

I was so excited to read When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon when I first heard about it! A YA contemporary with POC main characters? COUNT ME IN. I quite enjoyed this book and i'm rating it a solid 4 out of 5 stars!

The general plot was fun and I was glad that it was written in dual perspective. It was definitely interesting to read about all the Indian culture references in this book, and to see how the characters still hold on to certain traditions or habits even though they live in the United States. The two main characters, Dimple and Rishi, had contrasting beliefs when it comes to making big decisions. Rishi was the one who saw importance in upholding certain traditions from the Indian culture, particularly in doing what was expected by his parents. Dimple on the other hand, was always determined to live adventurously and do what she was passionate about without being held back from romantic commitments, which wasn't what her parents had in mind for her. I loved seeing these two characters learn about one another and the way they tried to stay true to their own beliefs while also respecting each other's principles. They weren't always in agreement with one another, but it was nice to see them trying to work things out and supporting one another with their dreams.

I do wish that we could have gotten more background story about Dimple and Rishi's life before the summer program. I wanted to know what kind of people they were like during high school, who their friends were (it didn't seem like they had any friends from high school because nobody else was ever mentioned), what clubs they were in, who their past crushes or boyfriends/girlfriends were. Did they not miss high school anymore? Was it because they had a tough time? Were they straight A students? There were a lot of things I wanted to know and it could have given me more perspective about their lives before they met.

The romance was super cute and definitely very cliche. I can't say I loved the gushy-mushy moments that much, but I think that was just because of personal reasons. If i had read this book at a better time, I'm pretty sure i'd feel warm butterflies in my heart and blush all day like I normally would in other good YA contemporary romance. I really liked reading about the relationship between the Patel brothers though! I love reading sibling interaction in books. I also loved Dimple and Rishi's relationship with their parents.

I feel like When Dimple Met Rishi is just like other typical YA contemporary books, the only main difference being the diverse characters. I think this is great, and it shows that people from various cultures are similar to one another in certain ways that matter, and their differences don't make them weird or irrelevant. I'd love to see more books like this, and i'd recommend this book to everyone who enjoys reading contemporary books like Fangirl, Anna and the French Kiss, Since You've Been Gone and To All The Boys I've Loved Before.