I adored When Dimple Met Rishi, but I have to admit I'm really not into the style in which this is written. I feel as though I just can't get into the story or connect with the characters. I'm about 40% through it now and I've been putting off writing this review because I really want to love it. However I've been trying to push through this for months now and life is way too short for this! I may return to it in the future but probably not. I will be picking up more from Sandhya Menon because her writing and style is so quirky and she has so much potential. This sadly just wasn't for me.

So I knew that I wanted to read this book because I loved and adored When Dimple Met Rishi, both of these books feature cutesy characters and brilliant moments. 

I loved the fact that this story is told through the letters that Twinkle writes to old film stars. Women that she admires and wishes to be more like. But Twinkle is definitely a character we can all empathy with, after all, all of us have a bit of Twinkle in us? All of us have that super awkwardness about us.

All Twinkle wants is to be like everyone else, and when the mysterious 'N' starts emailing her, she hopes that the boy she's been crushing on for ages has finally taken notice. But will it end as she expects?

Twinkle also wants to be a film director and an opportunity arises for to stand in the spotlight and make the most of the opportunity. Will she arise to the challenge or will she need more help than she realised?

This is a coming of age story, that is filled with the angst of growing up, romance and over the top drama. I do feel that this was a book set for a much younger audience than anticipated. And for me this is the main reason as to why I haven't rated this book as highly as it deserves. 

Overall, this was a great read and one that put a smile on my face.

I loved Sandhya Menon's previous book and was expecting to feel the same about this book. Sadly, I did not. I felt a little let down with this book. Her writing is still extraordinary and I love it a lot. This book just didn't click with me and sadly I didn't enjoy the story as much. I will still be picking up any books Sandhya Menon writes in the future.

I found the main character, Twinkle, really juvenile and unlikable. Sahill deserved better than her as a romantic option. The film references were okay but they felt at times to be used without much attention to the context.

Twinkle loves films and dreams of being a famous director and someone that people look up to. Someone very different from the current Twinkle who is invisible and is losing her best friend, Maddie, to someone else.
When Sahil Roy, a classmate who shares Twinkle's love for films, approaches Twinkle with the chance for her to direct a film for the Summer Festival, she says yes. Twinkle hopes that directing the film will be an opportunity to show people her talent, and that it will also help her act on her longtime crush on Sahil's twin brother, Neil.
Then Twinkle starts receiving emails from a secret admirer called 'N', someone she's sure has to be Neil.
But as Twinkle spends more time with Sahil she finds herself falling for him instead.
Which brother is the right one for Twinkle?
Can Twinkle and Maddie's friendship go back to what it was before?

I enjoyed When Dimple Met Rishi so I was excited to read From Twinkle, With Love.
Twinkle was a good protagonist. I felt sorry for her at times and I liked that she wasn't perfect. She was relatable. I enjoyed reading about Twinkle's relationship with her grandmother.
I liked Sahil and several of the other characters.
The romance was sweet and didn't feel forced. It didn't over-power the rest of the story.
I liked that the story was told by Twinkle writing letters to her favourite female directors.
The plot was interesting but a little predictable. The writing style was easy to follow but I wasn't gripped.
I am slightly disappointed that I didn't enjoy this more.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.

I loved how authentic this book was. The Indian stuff was really cool even though I didn't understand most of it, it was just really nice to have a novel that wasn't completely white-washed. In fact I think most of the main characters were characters of colour which is awesome! We even had G and B of the LGBT crew and the G half was a black guy!

I loved Twinkle's voice and I loved seeing her growth through the novel and that she was willing to learn and admit her mistakes. I also loved her naivety regarding life and love and Sahil. Oh Sahil, what a sweetheart, it was so obvious from the start that he liked Twinkle yet she was so oblivious! The ending was perfect as well.

I was a HUGE fan of When Dimple Met Rishi, so this one was a must read. I really enjoyed the mix of diary entries, feminism and films. Pretty much ticks all the boxes for things I love in a book! It was fascinating for me to read and it really reminded me of when I was trying to find myself and work out friendships when I had just started university. This needs to be made into a film stat!

This book is written in the form of the main character Twinkle's journal entries, addressed to her favourite female film makers. It's a fun style that drops you right into the story, and allows Twinkle's voice to really shine through. It also allowed the book to maintain a fairly fast pace, as Twinkle journals about key events, and her feelings about them. There is also the occasional email, blog post and text message chains included between journal entries, which adds some insight into some of the other characters in the book.

Twinkle is tired of being invisible, she wants to be seen, she wants feel valued, and above all she wants to make films. She is a very realistic and flawed main character, and it is easy to relate to some of her feelings and struggles. She feels like she is losing her best friend to a group of popular girls, who either ignore her, or make her feel unwelcome.

Unfortunately my feelings about this book are mixed, I wanted to like it more than I actually did. I went into it feeling very positive and hopeful having previously loved When Dimple Met Rishi, and at first I did really enjoy it. I thought it was really cute and I read huge chunks of it with a big smile on my face. Sadly I didn't enjoy the middle of the book as much as the beginning, and I found myself feeling stressed and disappointed by the way the main character was treating people. At one point I even considered DNFing the book because I was getting anxious, and I did have to take a break from it. Thankfully I picked it back up, because things did improve, and the ending really made up for it. I liked how the story wrapped up, and how certain issues were addressed.

Overall, while I didn't love this book as much as I hoped I would, I did still enjoy it for the most part, the writing style was really easy to get into, and it does have a really cute romance. I think my issues with the middle of the book are more to do with me personally, rather than the book itself, and so I would still recommend you give this book a go, because for the most part, it really is great.

OH MY GOSH FROM TWINKLE WITH LOVE GAVE ME THE FEELINGS OKAY?! When I read When Dimple Met Rishi, I actually listened to the audiobook and it was marvellous! It made the experience so immersive and delightful. I got accepted for From Twinkle on Netgalley so I couldn’t listen this time, but it was honestly just as good.

If you’ve read When Dimple Met Rishi, then you’ll love this. Sandhya Menon has a way with words, okay?

“From Twinkle With Love is a heart wrenching tale about teenage friendships, challenging the norms of how we treat each other, and how we justify those decisions.”

This story got a hold of me straight away and I couldn’t stop reading! I finished in a few days and I actually cried when I finished it. I think it felt very real to me as I’ve recently gone through some changes in my frienships so I understood where Twinkle came from but then at the same time could see things she was doing that weren’t helping her situation. This is a spoiler free review so I will avoid going into more detail here but trust me it was emotional!

I had some thoughts on the fact that she wanted to be a director and that it was perpetuated throughout the story that the director was in essence the most important part of the film process. I have to disagree. As someone who studied filmmaking at uni and then went on to try and find a career in it – I hate this. I particularly loved editing a film, and in my opinion, editing is CRUCIAL to how a film will come out at the end. Give raw footage to two people and they can make two completely different films. I’ll give her some credit she did shoot a lot of it herself but still, she’s a self shooting dp not a director in that case.

Anyway that’s just a bug bear of mine XD I still loved the book and it was only whilst writing this I just wanted to see what you all thought about that too?

I really loved the way this story was told. I was debating listening to it on audible but I went with an ebook and it was so fun! The story was told predominantly from Twinkle’s point of view via letters she’s written to people she admires, so it’s like diary type entires. There are also a few group chat messages from Sahil and his group. It really added a fun quality to the story, and also aided in execution as it was quite important to mainly get Twinkle’s point of view.

I really Twinkle’s development, she really grew as a character, and not just in good ways. She struggled like we all do, more so than most in fact. It felt more like the inner monologue of a teenager which, I have to admit was annoying at times. But, then again, I think anyone listening to my thoughts would be annoyed! So I actually found it a credit to the writing. I really loved her family dynamic, it just made me warm and fuzzy at times (and sad in others, again no spoilers). I really enjoyed the fact that the dogs in the book where real people’s dogs who won a competition! So cute.

I don’t think any of the characters weren’t well developed. I thought it was really interesting that considering we constantly heard about Neil we didn’t really see him at all. It really added to it.

content warnings: enbyphobia (the main plot in this story surrounds a “genderswapped” version of Dracula)

Thank you to netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I love Sandhya Menon and her writing. I love romcoms, and I love reading diverse books put that all together and you’re onto a winner for me, and that’s what Sandhya’s books are.

Twinkle wants to be a filmmaker, and when the chance comes to create a film for the Summer Festival she snatches that chance up in a heartbeat. In creating the film she becomes close to Sahil whom she’s working on the film with, but when things start to become romantic with them she is stuck because she’s been messaging a mystery man “N” who she believes to be Sahil’s super hot brother Neil.

I loved that Twinkle wasn’t your perfect girl. She messes up a lot in this book but she’s always called out for it and she does learn from it and I think we need to see that a lot more in YA. The teen audience needs to see that it’s human to be a hot mess and the important part is apologising and learning from your mistakes.

Neil was just a big sweetheart to be honest and I wish I’d known a boy like him when I was a teenager. Most of the boys I knew were annoying or weird (if you were one of those boys and have somehow stumbled on this, I’m sorry, but it’s true).

Menon’s writing is just getting better with each book. Reading this felt like I was watching one of the classic rom coms that I grew up watching, that would have Hilary Duff et al. in them, except this one had an Indian girl as the main character and wasn’t the whitest thing ever like those films were. I just want more diverse YA rom coms to be honest. I also really liked the style this book was written as it was like a diary, this made it so easy to read. I know some people don’t like this format but I really love something that is easy to read given how little time I seem to have for reading these days.

I just think what I really liked was this book felt real. There are some moments that are a bit classic YA romcom, like mean girls and stuff but hey that’s life, as much as I wished girls were all nice to each other, that’s not always the case. All the characters were fleshed out, there wasn’t a character who it felt like was just there.

Menon’s next book is the companion to When Dimple Met Rishi and I am so flipping excited for it, I just think her writing is going to be even better.

From the author of When Dimple Met Rishi, we have a fun new YA rom-com and this was seriously cute af.

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?
Told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, with Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you.

I am loving all the diverse YA we're getting at the moment, From Twinkle With Love is so cute and fluffy, but has a lot more substance than that, it has a brilliant diverse cast and does a great job at calling out stereotypes, Twinkle often points out assumptions that people make about her because of her ethnicity and the book does this without being preachy or obvious.

Twinkle was a great character, she knows what she wants and although she is nervous about achieving her dreams and whether or not she is good enough she talks about and works through those fears and ends up having a great time. I found that even though I am white and she is Desi that I did relate to that aspect of her character a lot and I loved it. I also found myself being like SAME when she talks about her relationship with Maddie. Girl, we all got friends like that, it sucks.

This reminded me a lot of Love, Hate and Other Filters, which also featured a girl that loved movies and documentaries and realised that making memories is just as important as recording them. Plus there were also cute romances in that one! The added romance and the twin thing made this a more interesting rom com and of course, the narration was cute and fluffy and was just what I needed!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an e-arc to read!

YOU GUYS. THIS BOOK IS ABOUT FILMMAKERS - MAINLY FEMALE DIRECTORS AND I AM LIVING. If you know me, you know sometimes I go off on tangents, and one of those tangents is about how unequal the ration of male to female directors in big screen Hollywood films are. Like I think this year there's only something like 3?? The director of the Darkest Minds, that wrinkle in time and blockers?? (This is in studio films - not counting Netflix films or indies). And that's crazy. It's like 3.3% are women. So I LOVED seeing this book highlight that women can and are great film makers.

I loved that Twinkle constantly wrote to her favourite female directors instead of "dear Journal" I think that added a cool, more personal touch to her diary entries. I thought I'd get annoyed with the fact that this story was mainly told through Twinkle's diary entries, but after a while I forgot about it, and just really enjoyed the structure of diary entries, e-mails, note passing and text messages. I thought it was a nice way to tell the story and it flowed well.

I really enjoyed the female friendships in this, and how they weren't always smooth, but no one person was demonised. In the end they all hashed it out and jumped over these stereotypes of what it is to be rich / pretty etc. I do think this could've been worked on better regarding more of how Dimple viewed herself (a groundling) but towards the end it was certainly hinted to.

I did just really enjoy this book - the filmmaking aspects, the characters, the romance, the plot. Definitely an improvement from When Dimple Met Rishi.

Once again something that I won't be fully reviewing because I'm currently ill.

I wish I could give this a 3.5 star rating.
Why:

- Some of the characters annoyed me slightly, maybe because I think it read younger than what I expected? (If that makes sense)
- Unnecessary drama

I liked:
- The message to stay humble
- It was light and fluffy and what I needed
- References

From Twinkle, With Love is a bit cheesy at first glance. It uses the typical secret admirer plotline that we've seen in so many books and movies. However, I realized as I got further into the book how different it was to any other contemporary teen romance I'd read before, and it reminded me of what I liked in When Dimple Met Rishi.

I had a bit of trouble with From Twinkle, With Love because of the pacing, but it really picked up after 40 pages, and it was worth the time I invested. The novel has many great spunky diverse characters, and I adored Sahil in particular. Talk about a swoon-worthy book boyfriend! As for Twinkle, I mostly liked her as well. To be honest, some of her mistakes annoyed me, and she seemed kind of immature at times, but I think that that made her portrayal more real and believable. Overall, she's a well-rounded and very original character.

I also loved the supporting characters of this book and how it portrayed friendship and family. Sandhya Menon's books are very unique in the YA contemporary genre! Her writing has surprisingly illustrious details despite being a contemporary. (I normally find YA teen contemporaries to focus more on plot and therefore I feel like they tend to have bland writing.) I loved the ending, it was so beautiful and perfect. And I especially loved how Menon incorporated elements from Indian culture such as the language, and also in general about the struggles of minorities in western countries and communities.

Overall, if you're looking for a fun, original and romantic summer read, definitely check this one out! And I'd also absolutely recommend When Dimple Met Rishi if you want another diverse teen read.

First things first, this cover is adorable and I want it painted on my wall.

Moving on to the actual story. Twinkle has wanted to be a director for years and she is finally getting her chance. Not only that, but working with Sahil as her producer she might be able to spend more time with his twin Brother Neil aka her eternal crush.

This book is all things sweet wrapped up in a pink bow, it's an adorable bubblegum read.

Twinkle is such a geeky and endearing character. Her incredibly awkward 16 year old self did make me have flashbacks to when I was as trip-over-your-own-feet awkward.

If I had read this a few years ago I think I would have enjoyed it far more. When I saw the synopsis for this book I had the sneaking suspicion I might not be into YA contemporary books anymore, and I was right. I do think it was well written and if you're into this genre you will love it.

The story's ending was incredibly cute and cliched, but I liked it and I nearly cried (although that may have been too much gin oops).

I can't really think of anything bad to say about this book. I did skim read some of the longer paragraphs, not due to a negative reason. I just felt like I didn't need to give every single word my full attention to get the story.

Overall, I'm giving it 3/5 stars as I did enjoy it.

I know what you’re all thinking, I DNF-ed From Twinkle With Love?! What’s wrong with me? I was just as excited as everyone else for a new Sandhya Menon release. I thought it sounded so interesting and was totally a book I was excited to read.

And then I started it and I was still optimistic.

And then I was about 20% of the way in and I was making excuses to not read and I finally had to accept DNF-ing was the only way forward. I was not enjoying myself and I’ve always believed in DNF-ing when I’m not enjoying it.

I admit, I normally prefer to read a little bit further into a book before DNF-ing as I so believe in giving a book a fair chance… especially as a lot of books can get better the further in you get, they just need a little time to warm up. That might have been the chase for this one, but I wasn’t waiting around to find out.

The biggest problems for me were the characters. I didn’t like Twinkle all that much. I didn’t like her friend. I wasn’t even interested in Neil. And Sahil? He looked like he had the potential to be adorable just like Rishi was in his book… but I didn’t like Twinkle so I didn't stay to find out. I know Twinkle probably would have grown and developed into someone I liked but I just don’t know. I am not known for my patience and I just kept rolling my eyes at Twinkle and thinking ‘seriously’. I was probably too harsh on her really, there were things which I liked about her… but my annoyance at her overshadowed all of that.

I also didn’t like the diary style of writing. It was a diary/letter type storytelling and I didn’t realise that going in (because who has time to read book summaries nowadays?) and I think because I was expecting standard storytelling that threw me a little. And it was cute, but it also made it more difficult to connect with all the characters. Maybe this book would have worked better for me as an audiobook or something? I don’t know, but I think the writing style probably put me off a little too. It just wasn’t for me.

The book wasn’t bad. It’s not like there was anything bad about it, but it was a case of it not being for me. I think a combination of small things all piled together to make it so I simply couldn’t get into the book and had to put it to one side. It sucks, maybe the hype was too high. I’ll still be checking out Menon’s next book, though.

Hey guys I have been in a review writing slump but I am back now. Today I am bringing you a ARC Review of From Twinkle with Love.
Well the story is of Twinkle ,a 16 years old Indian -American girl .She is a Grounding in Shakespeare language ,more kind of wallflower. She has stories to tell through her filmmaking. But soon she gets to make a film and that to bring her in equation with the Silk Feathered Hats i.e the popular kids of the school. What follows is that she falls for a wrong twin ,Sahil.
The above was my interpretation of story . The book reminds me of Masala Bollywood Entertainers, thus book has so much going . I mean Twinkle's life becomes such a mess. Plus the book has lots of elements,Romance, Lots of catfights,BFF turning -enemy-turning friends again, playing Cup is etc. Between all thus I would surely say this is perfect Young Adult Contemporary of 2018. Well the Best part of the book was the simple and lucid writing style of Sandhya Menon, which hooked me to the story till the end .
What I enjoyed:
©A Indian Protagonist and I was literally jumping on the bed (Proud to be Indian) . Also Twinkle journey from being nobody to turning into somebody is captivating.
© Sahil Roy ,Twinkle' s Love Interest and a Perfect Boyfriend material.
What I disliked :
© At last few pages Twinkle turns into a annoying main character and that is something I disliked.

The book at times seems cliche but at end I enjoyed the beautiful book and it's beautiful cover and I go with 3.5 STARS for this book.

Twinkle is an aspiring film maker, she is also one of the invisible, wallflower kids at her high school. So she's also aspiring to be a popular girl. Her best friend has broken the ranks and made it up the social ladder, leaving Twinkle behind. Let's not forget that she has a massive crush on Neil, the all-star swimmer. His twin brother Sahil has a massive crush on her.

Her life begins to change when Sahil suggests they make a film together for the Midsummer festival. She gains confidence and realises Sahil is the brother she really wants in her life.

It's a cute story. Sandya Menon is very good at developing romantic relationships step by step. I did feel like the whole 'I want to get my message out there' was a bit repetitive and it wasn't really that clear what the message was. But female empowerment is always a good message to push.

I loved When Dimple Met Rishi, so I couldn’t wait to read From Twinkle, With Love.

Like one of my favourite YA novels, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, Twinkle starts chatting with a boy via email who says he’s in love with her, and she cannot help but try to figure out who it is. And then there’s the romance between Twinkle and Sahil, the nerdy twin brother of her current crush. Will she pick Sahil, his brother, or the mystery boy?!

I enjoyed Twinkle’s passion for film, especially for her favourite female film-makers, and the story is told through letters that she writes to them. I would’ve preferred a narration like Dimple, but I did enjoy that this was a huge part of the story, and would’ve loved to see even more film fangirling – I loved seeing Sahil and Twinkle shop for film costumes!

Full review: https://prettybooks.co.uk/2018/07/06/mini-book-reviews-skylarks-the-astonishing-colour-of-after-from-twinkle-with-love/

This was a sweet contemporary book that is perfect for some summer days and speedy reading. Twinkle is very infectious, and fun and it's easy to get on board with her enthusiasm for film, and all things movies.

I enjoyed this story even though there were parts that were quite cliched (the kiss in the cabin in the woods in the rain). Sandhya Menon has a great way of bringing in some of the old romantic movie cliches into her books and making them work in fresh ways. Sometimes you can't help but be swept up in the simple chemistry of two characters and Twinkle and Sahil definitely had that. I also really like that Sandhya's books don't drag out kisses and romantic feeling outbursts until the very end of the book. Twinkle and Sahil kissed about 40% though and then they built up their relationship for the rest of the book, with some bumps along the way of course, but I really like that as I think it's realistic and healthy. I found Dimple and Rishi's relationship the same.

Twinkle's friendship and popularity woes is probably something that a lot of teenage readers may identify with,and I definitely felt really sorry for her at times, and infuriated by other characters. I did want to shake Twinkle sometimes and prove to her she was better with Skid, Aaron and Sahil then with Maddie and Hannah. Maddie was a very annoying friend at times, and while you can almost understand her actions, a lot of what she did was wrong and mean and I don't think she really gave Twinkle a proper apology at the end.

Twinkle did act a bit badly at times too but she was also so naive at times in this book, almost a little bit too naive to be believable. It was so obvious from the start who her email admirer was, and come on - in what world would it have ever been Neil? I also found it a bit unbelievable that she would be 16/17 years old and not have a cell phone. She had some secondhand cameras but no cell phone?

It's also made fairly obvious at times in the book that her mother is suffering from depression following the death of Twinkle's grandmother, and Twinkle does not deal with this well at all - in fact, she deals with it very selfishly in blaming her mother for not wanting to spend time with her. It was odd to m that Twinkle wouldn't be more worried about her mother, especially when she would go off by herself for hours and no-one would know where she was. I don't think this was addressed as well as it could have been in the book (and personally, I don't think a trip to India is going to magically fiix her mom's feelings, and low thoughts).

I really did enjoy this though. It was what I wanted in a contemporary and I will continue to read anything Sandhya Menon writes because I've loved both her books so far.