10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon – ARC Review

I was sent this arc by the author in exchange for an honest review.

I love all the books in the Dimpleverse and you can read my review of Dimple here and of Sweetie here.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Pinky Kumar wears the social justice warrior badge with pride. From raccoon hospitals to persecuted rock stars, no cause is too esoteric for her to champion. But a teeny-tiny part of her also really enjoys making her conservative, buttoned-up corporate lawyer parents cringe.

Samir Jha might have a few . . . quirks remaining from the time he had to take care of his sick mother, like the endless lists he makes in his planner and the way he schedules every minute of every day, but those are good things. They make life predictable and steady.

Pinky loves lazy summers at her parents’ Cape Cod lake house, but after listening to them harangue her about the poor decisions (aka boyfriends) she’s made, she hatches a plan. Get her sorta-friend-sorta-enemy, Samir—who is a total Harvard-bound Mama’s boy—to pose as her perfect boyfriend for the summer. As they bicker their way through lighthouses and butterfly habitats, sparks fly, and they both realize this will be a summer they’ll never forget. 

This book was hilarious and sweet and there was so, much, angst! I loved it! I had already started shipping Pinky and Samir in There’s Something About Sweetie so when this was announced I was so excited!

The tension and angst between Pinky and Samir was just *chefs kisses* and how they slowly started developing feelings for each other but adamantly denied their feelings because this is fake dating and they both important reasons for this so it can’t possibly be real was just amazing!

They both have assumptions about each other which makes them bicker a lot but they slowly realise that maybe there is more to the other person than they first thought. They seem like total opposites but then they actually start to get along really well and see past the outer layers and get to know each other and I just loved watching them slowly take down their barriers with each other.

They both have such wonderful character development. Pinky has a difficult relationship with her parents, especially her mother but it was really great seeing how they both acted out of love but because they didn’t communicate they each misunderstood the other and how they slowly started to understand each other better especially once Pinky starts to learn more about her mother. I really related to Pinky and how her mother holds her to such high standards and doesn’t always believe her and I am so glad we get to see these complicated relationships in the book.

Samir’s relationship with his mother is the opposite of Pinky’s to the point of stifling and that his life revolves around his mother and it was also really interesting to see such opposite relationships with parents. I especially loved how they both helped each other with coming to terms with things they don’t want to admit to themselves and help each other improve their relationships with their parents.

It was so much fun reading how their fake dating slowly gave way to real feelings and it made me just want to read one more chapter because the angst and tension build up was so good! I really loved how they were both true to themselves and had passions in life that were so important to them. It was also great to see how they supported each other in each others passions. Though they both have different approaches in how to deal with things. Pinky is all fire where as Samir is always calm.

I really loved this book and how Sandhya wove some really important issues into the story but also still kept it fun and hilarious with an equal helping of sass and angst. I think everyone should go read this book and all three books in the dimpleverse as they’re all amazing!