Dimple Shah has it all figured out. With graduation behind her, she’s more than ready for a break from her family—and 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—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 gravitating 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.
It was very odd going into this one straight after reading The Love Hypothesis, because this one actually had a little bit of a reflection of the plot, in a way. Dimple and Rishi meet at a summer program before college, and the romance mixed with academia did remind me of a younger The Love Hypothesis.
When Dimple Met Rishi is actually one of the books that had been on my TBR for the longest, and I’ve probably had it sitting on my shelves for almost 5 years. Because of that, I have been quite hesitant to pick it up, as I just felt like this one would be too young for me. Although it does come across as quite young, I did still enjoy it more than I expected.
This is our life. We get to decide the rules.
I quickly found myself jumping into the story, and I really liked the summer program setting, which I could picture well and made it super easy to read – just what I needed. Delving into this one on long summer days was just perfect! The fact this one discusses arranged marriages and Indian traditions gave it an extra element too, and I liked having different sides from both Dimple and Rishi.
However, I did find this book quite predictable, and it also felt quite a lot older than it actually was. If I’d have guessed, I’d have imagined this book was released around 2010. I can’t pinpoint the reasons why, but I’ve seen more detailed reviews (like this one) calling out some issues such as sexism, which although I didn’t notice at the time per se, I can see on reflection and may be why it felt so dated to me.
We get to say what goes and what stays, what matters and what doesn’t.
Overall, I did enjoy this one but it wasn’t amazing. I can see why this book has a lot of fans, and it was a nice easy read when I needed something to dive into, but I don’t think I’ll be carrying on with the series.
★★★★
3.5 out of 5 stars
-Beth
May your shelves forever overflow with books! ☽
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