Published: May 30, 2017 by: Simon Pulse
Pages: 380
Rating: 4/5 stars
Dimple Shah is ready to have the perfect summer: travelling to a highly-coveted convention for aspiring web-developers,the change to meet her absolute idol at said convention, and most importantly, away from her nagging mother who is insistent on finding her "the ideal Indian husband." But all this takes an unexpected turn when she meets Rishi Patel at the same convention, and he claims to be her arranged husband. While Dimple is upset with her parents for arranging their meeting, Rishi is excited at the chance to know Rishi, and believes that holding onto tradition is important. While their opinions clash, love will still manage to find its way in.
I was so happy to get my hands on this book! Everyone in the book community had been talking about it, and I thought it would be really cool to read such a diverse love story, rich in Indian culture and also with themes such as arranged marriages weaved in.
I like to think that I know a decent bit of Indian culture. My family is from Pakistan, and a lot of the traditions are quite similar, including that of arranged marriages. I feel like the perception of arranged marriages is always perceived to be quite negative in Western culture, which is why I think that this book did great in bringing both sides of the issue to the table. Dimple is strong-willed and independent, and Rishi is a traditionalist, and they find a way to make it both work. I really appreciated that.
I loved how this book had humor, romance, and also strong women doing great things in the world of tech. Dimple Shah could be a real girl hoping to do something good in the world with her talents, and I thought that was so bad ass.
The one issue I had with this book is that I thought it was a bit too long. For the storyline and how everything was going, things seemed to drag on longer than they should have and so I sometimes lost interest. It just needed to be shorter, that's all.
Overall, if you like Bollywood references, strong females, and a great love story, you will love this book.
Have you read When Dimple Met Rishi? What did you think?
Emily @ Paperback Princess
I am so excited to read this! Hopefully sometime in the future ;)
ReplyDeleteI adore the sound of Dimple, the diversity, and the culture, even if it's a bit on the long side. It really seems like an empowering, romantic, fun story. So glad you enjoyed it :)
Lovely review!
Amy @ A Magical World Of Words
Thanks Amy!! I hope you love it, it was very uplifting :D
DeleteI didn't realise your family's from Pakistan :)
ReplyDeleteI think in the West we tend to forget that arranged marriages were a thing here too - especially in middle-class and upper-class families - until the second half of the 20th Century. Girls would marry who their parents wanted them to marry - boys too, but to a lesser extent since they had more work opportunities.
Middle-class girls were also expected to bring a 'wedding gift' of land, money, or business stakes as a dowry to the marriage. And often terms were agreed before-hand (at least in the UK) by marriage bond.
This didn't apply to poor people, but poor girls were expected to save up a chest or drawer of linen and clothing. Poor girls also tended to have a little more choice, ironically, and there were always people who ran off and got married to someone even though their parents didn't want them to, of course.
A lot of the time there was a 'courting' period where they dated for a while, but if your parents really wanted the business connection, you didn't have much choice.
So yeah, it really pi**es me off when people see arranged marriages as something that only EVER happened in non-European cultures. Learn your own damned history!!!!
Arranged marriage is fine, as long as both parties agree and are adults. Forced marriage is not ok. It really is that simple!
(Sorry for the epically long comment!)
Haha yeah, a lot of people are surprised to know that because I have a lighter complexion... those stereotypes! But anyways, I totally agree, Cee! In history class we learnt a lot about arranged marriages in Europe, just because it's less common now in the West doesn't mean that it never or doesn't still happen! Any parent in any culture can want to set up their children with someone, so why is only one culture belittled for it? Ugh, it's pretty annoying.
DeletePreach! XD
DeleteI am so glad this has your seal of approval. I've been looking forward to this for so long. It sounds like something I am going to love. Great review as always!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Brooklyn! You'll definitely love it :)
DeleteI have heard so many great things about this book, so it makes me so happy to hear you liked it so much! :) Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! <3
ReplyDeleteThanks Zoe! I hope you will give it a go :)
DeleteAhhh I'm glad you loved it, Em! I loved the book for dealing with arranged marriage and in such a cute way at that. Rishi was my fave, tho I did love Dimple's spunk. Great review!
ReplyDeleteRishi was so adorable!! Ugh I just loved him. I'd love a sequel to this :)
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