This is one of my favourite books. I love this entire story and the premise and meaning behind it. A really warming story.

I really enjoyed Menon's other novel, When Dimple Met Rishi, a lot more than I initially expected to, and while it would have been nice for this next work to follow in the same universe, I was still excited to dive in and see what story Menon would tell in this one. Despite the characters being younger this time around, 16 and 17 as opposed to just starting college, I found the writing style to be consistent and not juvenile in the slightest. I loved that Twinkle was an aspiring female filmmaker, and that the book took the form of her writing journal entries as letters to famous female directors. I thought it was a really nice touch and provided a unique way of telling the story. I really engaged with the story and read From Twinkle, with Love in a day, which is a testament to Menon's writing, but the characterisation of Twinkle did leave me frustrated at times with her lack of self-awareness.

3.5 stars

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

A diverse and feminist rom-com that promises to keep you hooked throughout, with the ever-favourite “secret admirer” trope, written in diary entries.

Another brilliant book from Sandhya Menon! When I read When Dimple Met Rishi last year, I enjoyed it so much, and Menon became one of my favourite new authors. So, when I got the chance to have an ARC of From Twinkle, with Love, I jumped at the chance and I read it straight away (which doesn’t happen often with me.)

Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy-a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.

When mystery man N begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she’s fallen madly in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil.

Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she’s got is not the one she’s scripted. But will it be enough?

“Sometimes I worry I don’t know who I really am. Sometimes I’m afraid nothing I do will ever be enough to set me apart.”
― Sandhya Menon, From Twinkle, with Love


I was extremely anxious reading From Twinkle, with Love, since I absolutely loved Sandhya’s previous book, and wasn’t sure what this one was going to be like. But I was left far from disappointed.

One of the things that I love about Sandhya Menon’s novels is that they are centred around Indian families. They teach me a lot about the culture and is something that I am very grateful for. Alongside this, they’re also just pretty amazing novels. Twinkle is from an Indian-American background, and the scenes where she spends time with her family just warmed my heart so much.

The whole premise of the beginning of the book was shallow and this is the reason why I’ve dropped the rating one star. So, there are two guys. The first one is Neil who is this popular high schooler, and the only reason she wants to be with him is so that can elevate her status in school, and when I was reading this, I was constantly rolling my eyes. Just no. There was also a time where I just wanted to shake Twinkle back into the real world when she became a director. It was at this point where she completely let the power get to her head and started bossing people around like there was no tomorrow. And let me just tell you: I definitely wasn’t here for it. But then again, whilst writing this, I guess that’s how high school/secondary school can be like. Some people want to be popular and be known, some people like wanting to be seen as powerful so… I don’t know. You do you, I guess?

“Geeks are smart and talented and passionate. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”
– Sandhya Menon, From Twinkle, With Love


Moving away from the negatives, I absolutely loved all of the film references. I’m a huge film nerd myself, so being able to pick up on all of the clues and all of the allusions to other types of media was so good to read. I also loved the way that the novel was written. The entire book was written in different media formats such as diary entries/letters/blog posts and text messages. I thought that the idea of Twinkle writing to strong women was empowering.

I know that I mentioned earlier that Twinkle wanted to be popular in school, and let me just tell you this: Sandhya Menon writes YA fiction very very well. She grasps how teenagers would feel in each situation beautifully, and even though some of the actions in the novel annoy me, I can’t deny that it’s probably because I’m 24 and I’ve moved past all of the high school behaviour. However, if I read this at 16, I would definitely be able to relate more to the power struggle Twinkle found herself in (obviously).

“We humans think we exist like this.” Dadi gestured to the powders in their individual bowls. “Apart. Single. Beautiful and vivid, but alone.”
― Sandhya Menon, From Twinkle, with Love


Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I hope that Sandhya Menon releases another book soon. I love reading her books whenever I’m feeling a little bit down as her great, upbeat writing style and her characters always tend to lift me up a little.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

This author is fantastic, and I will always read their books – they never disappoint. The voice is authentic and the story was perfectly paced.

A long time has passed without reviewing this title, and therefore will not be reviewing at this time.

Fun and sweet, but not quite as loveable as Simple and Rishi.
It felt a little samey, and I just preferred the other story.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Twinkle Mehra has always wanted to be a filmmaker, so when the upcoming Summer Festival is announced, she decides to work with fellow film lover, Sahil Roy, to create something to be aired during the festival. Working with Sahil is great, though they do clash at times, but the fact that his twin brother. Neil, is the person she's been crushing on for years, this could be her chance to get close to him. When anonymous letters and emails start coming in, signed off by N, Twinkle immediately thinks it could be Neil, and is overjoyed; but spending more time with Sahil makes her soon realise she might've been crushing on the wrong twin all along.

I love Sandhya's other books, so when this one became available to request, I knew I had to do it. And though I liked this book, I didn't like it as much as the others. Twinkle just wasn't a character I really warmed too, as I felt she was very immature and vain. She was neigh on obsessed with the idea of popularity, and it just got annoying the more she went on about it. I did like Sahil, and it was obvious he had a crush on Twinkle from an early part of the book. I liked their chemistry together, but the obsession over Neil, even though Twinkle knew it was hurting Sahil, detracted from it all. The filmmaking plot line was original, and I did love how we really saw how Twinkle and Sahil cared about their future and about films. All in all, a middling read.

I absolutely loved this book. Twinkle is such a sweet protagonist. She really is inspirational. While reading this book its obvious that Twinkle will not settle for what her parents have mapped out for her and so she shouldn't! This was a fantastic read and something that I feel like everyone should try. Even just to escape for a little while.

I am no longer interested in reading this book, I have heard good reviews regarding When Dimple Met Rishi but have still yet to read that book. I would consider reading this again once I have read Dimple.

This was okay. It wasn’t my fave. The writing style wasn’t my style but I am glad I was allowed the opportunity to read and review this book. I will keep trying with this author on the future, and maybe one of hers will click with me eventually.

Nothing special, just a quick, fun and easy read. Basic premise but still interesting and filled with a cute romance.

This was sweet and Menon never fails to create such adorable, soft boys but it just fell a little flat for me. Especially after how much I adored When Dimple Met Rishi, I think I just went in with super high expectations.

Another lovely and original story from Sandhya. I adored her first book and had high hopes for this one and luckily, it did not disappoint! Twinkle aspires to be a film-maker and will take any chance she can to learn, including working with the brother of the guy she has a crush on to create an inspiring film to win a Festival showcase. Super cute and fluffy, maybe not as addictive as "Dimple" but still a very fun and enjoyable read.

DNF. Could not get far into this story as it felt very same old same old for a YA romance. Such a shame!

I absolutely adored Sandhya Menon's first book When Dimple Met Rishi, so this is a book I was highly anticipating. I was fortunate enough to receive this book through NetGalley and devoured it last weekend. When Dimple Met Rishi is probably one of my favourite books of last year, and From Twinkle, With love has solidified Sandhya Menon as one of my new favourite authors.

I love the Indian culture which is seamlessly woven throughout both novels. The characters felt really well-developed and I enjoyed seeing the differing family dynamics.

Twinkle attends a private school which is full of rich and privileged people. In comparison, Twinkle is significantly less well off than her peers which she is acutely aware of. In fact, throughout the novel Twinkle brings up her "tiny house" and compares herself to her wealthier classmates.

I loved Twinkle's Didi. She was undoubtedly my favourite character (joint with Sahil I must admit). She was loving towards Twinkle which is not something that was seen much from Twinkle's parents. She was eccentric and I would have loved to have seen some of her more dangerous antics that were mentioned.

From Twinkle, With Love has a very different storyline to When Dimple Met Rishi however it is equally as lovable and highly adorkable. I'm already planning a re-read of them both before the release of There's Something About Sweetie.

Post Date: Saturday 16th March 2019
Blog URL: https://alexandraflorencebooks.wordpress.com
Review Link: https://alexandraflorencebooks.wordpress.com/2019/03/16/from-twinkle-with-love-review

I was initially interested in reading this book, however my tastes have shifted and I do not think I will be able to get to it now. Many thanks to the publisher for sending me a digital copy!

I was very excited to read this book as I read the authors first book, when simple met Rishi.

This story follows twinkle,,who loves to direct movies and is 'low' on the social scale. She gets an opportunity to direct a movie for an event,with Sahil,while wanting to date his brother,Neil. As you can tell from the description,this make a love triangle,but to make matters worse,she also starts getting emails from a secret admirer.It's told as Twinkle writing to her favourite female directors and her relating her linking her day to life to something they did in a movie or the like. I really liked this and it was interesting how she compared the two. I also liked the references to Supernatural!

I enjoyed the story a lot but i didn't like the love triangle or pentagon should I say, she has many love interests. I also didn't like the fact Twinkle was so obsessed with climbing the social scale. She didn't care about much else but how she would look socially. Climbing up the social ladder would also get her best friends back,or so she believed. She focuses on nothing else than this. I liked her for the first half of the book but it went downhill from a certain point onward.

I liked Sahil, I found him to be very relatable and a likeable character. He's a geek and I love him for it. He's obviously likes Twinkle and she remains oblivious to it.

Overall, the story was a good and it had an interesting story line but Twinkle's attitude and behaviour made me not like it as much as I wanted to.

3/5

*Thank you to Netgalley & Hodder & Stoughton for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

From Twinkle,with love follows a young girl that has her sights set on being a film producer. The time comes when she teams up with her crush's twin brother.
This book is told in diary format and is addressed to a famous female in the movie industry. The diary format makes it a very quick read. There were points in this book that I started to really dislike twinkle but she started redeeming herself towards the end. I didn't like this as much as 'when Dimple met rishi' but that could be that twinkle was younger.