When Dimple Met Rishi (Book Review)

Hey y’all! Time for another review. Look at me, actually reading books and whatnot. It must be something in the water.

I’m pretty sure this is the first book I’ve read by an Indian author. I remember when it first came out, I was going through a whole “I don’t like romances at all” phase so it just didn’t catch my eye back then. Now with my newfound need for ALL of the romances and the Indian Readathon going on, it was just the perfect time to finally pick up When Dimple Met Rishi.

StoryGraph Synopsis

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.

Trigger Warnings: bullying, mention of sex, microaggressions

Representation: Indian main characters, diabetic parent, Latina supporting character, side character in a wheelchair, deaf/hard of hearing side character

The Good

Dimple is really the kind of person that will tell you exactly what’s gonna happen if you make that bad decision and then she’s absolutely right. She doesn’t even tell you I told you so because she knows you already know. Are we the same person?

Dimple also reminds me a lot of Devi from Never Have I Ever on Netflix, especially when it comes to her relationship with her mother and the way she’s caught between cultures.

I love how connected Rishi is with his culture. It was really fun to learn about it and see how seriously he took it. I’m someone who takes my faith pretty seriously and it’s nice to see characters who practice their own religion in stories, without the author implying that it’s holding them back. I feel like a lot of times religion is seen negatively in a lot of mainstream books but this one showed a really nice balance.

The romance was so sweet. It’s interesting going from adult romance to YA romance because you can really feel the difference between the two.

The Not so Good

A few parts felt a little slow for me but nothing major. I was listening to the audiobook on CloudLibrary so I just sped up those parts.

All in All

I really liked this story and I’m happy I finally read it. The Indian Readathon was really fun, even if I did only get through one book. It reminded me of how it’s important to read from other cultures, especially those that don’t always come to mind for me as quickly. Diverse reading isn’t just reading one culture, it’s reading all of them (or as many as you can).

4/5 Stars

Have you read When Dimple Met Rishi?

Did you participate in the Indian Readathon?

What is your favorite book by an Indian author?

Let me know in the comments below, let’s chat!

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