When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I have seen many people on Goodreads read this book and even though I have taken a step back from reading much of the YA genre these days, I was curious to see what it was all about.
It started out quite well, with the protagonist going against tradition and wanting to put her education and career aspirations ahead of her family’s traditional hopes for her. Introduced as a make-up avoiding, computer science enthusiast, Dimple had my hopes up high for an unconventional story that wouldn’t end the way most YA contemporary stories ended. She felt relatable and real and was a delight to read about…until about halfway through the book when all characters, including hers became the essence of stock, 2 dimensional and inconsistent, at times even contradicting.
As I just mentioned about the characters, up until the midpoint of the book the story felt refreshing and interesting, then it falls apart. The plot loses direction. It felt uncomfortable reading the story that became so predictable and cliched, it was almost painful.
The writing was easy enough and it was a quick read, but I lost interest when it began to feel like the author was just ticking off overly used “plot twists” and red herrings to make the story… longer? More interesting? Include a bit of everything, so no one would feel left out?
Overall, this story was the perfect example of how quickly a story can fall apart when consistency and clear direction go out the window. I would give this one a pass, although the beginning should receive honourable mention.
