When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Clues to describe this book: Arranged Marriages, Family, San Francisco, OppositesReview: I originally found this novel listed in some magazine and it piqued my interest because 1) it’s a novel from an Indian American author, 2) it’s about Indian culture, and 3) the novel discusses about arranged marriages in a modern way. This heartfelt story is about two Indian-American teenagers whose parents secretly plan to arrange their marriage. The premise of the story was intriguing and hopeful. But as I got deeper into the story, I ended up hating the main characters. The narrative alternates from Dimple, who resists her parents’ traditional ways and wants live life on her own, to Rishi, who loves the traditions of his family and actually wants to be arranged. Both narratives are dull and there isn’t a distinct change of voice. Dimple comes off as selfish and childish while Rishi is too passive for my liking and is too immature as well. Half way through the book I wanted to stop reading, but I had a hope that it would better and unfortunately, it wasn’t. I think had too high expectations of this book and then I ended up hating it. There are so many other books out there that portray Indian culture in a better ways. I would not recommend reading this book all.