Review: When Dimple Met Rishi

When Dimple Met Rishi

by Sandhya Menon

Age Range: 13 & up

Release Date: May 30, 2017

Simon Pulse

9781481478687

You never know when you’re going to fall in love. Just as mysterious a phenomenon is who you will fall in love with. When Dimple Shah’s parents agree to send her to a summer program for aspiring web developers, she thinks they’re finally starting to understand her. To care about her hopes and dreams. Maybe they’ve even dropped this whole “Ideal Indian Husband” nonsense. What she doesn’t expect is another family to be in cahoots with her parents, or for this family to send their oldest son to the same program with the goal of winning her over. And Rishi Patel is for it.

Dimple and Rishi are a delight. Dimple is ambitious and hardheaded, and when she discovers her family’s deception she refuses to take part. She did not come to this program to fall in love. She came to learn, and to win a shot at developing an app with her idol. Dimple is of the firm belief that you can’t have it all, especially as a woman trying to prove herself in a predominately male field. You choose love, or you choose your career, and it’s impossible to devote yourself to both things. She has already chosen career.

Although she is ambitious and knows what she wants from her future, it does not mean Dimple is one hundred percent sure of herself. There are outstanding moments where she stands up in defense of others, but there are just as many that portray the intense insecurity most teenage girls experience. This is an amazing conflict of traits to behold, because it is accurate. You can be a strong and independent woman, calling others out for being offensive, but outside judgment can still catch you off guard and make you shrink in on yourself. Dimple is, to put it simply, a realistic eighteen-year-old girl. I appreciate this about her. And what does a realistic eighteen-year-old girl do when a strange boy comes up to her joyously pronouncing the future they are going to have together? She throws coffee in his face and runs the other way. Because stranger danger is definitely still a thing. This hilarious moment even graces the back cover of the book:

Enter Rishi Patel. Rishi has no idea Dimple is unaware of their parents’ plans, and therefore is fully not expecting coffee thrown in his face. Rishi’s character is a lovely contrast to Dimple’s. He loves and honors cultural and familial tradition, and wants nothing more out of life then a happy, stable marriage and career. Except he loves to draw comic book art, which is certainly not his idea of stability. The conversations between Rishi and Dimple about this topic are some of my favorite moments. As Dimple says, “do what you love, what you’re passionate about.” Otherwise, what’s the point? Everyone can use this advice at some point in their life.

As Dimple and Rishi get to know each other, they also learn a great deal about themselves. For Rishi, it’s the futility of a standard “career” when he won’t be happy doing it. For Dimple, it’s about not closing yourself off, that it is possible to have the life you want and let another in to share it with you. For both, it is about finding that other person who supports you in the pursuit of your dreams. With 378 pages of fun, heartfelt joy, and plenty of life lessons along the way, When DimpleMet Rishi is everything you can want in a romantic comedy. Take it to the park, to the beach, or to your favorite reading chair, and enjoy yourself.