There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon – Book Review

I thought When Dimple Met Rishi was adorable but this was phenomenal! I absolutely ADORED this book!

Rating: 5/5

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Ashish Patel didn’t know love could be so…sucky. After he’s dumped by his ex-girlfriend, his mojo goes AWOL. Even worse, his parents are annoyingly, smugly confident they could find him a better match. So, in a moment of weakness, Ash challenges them to set him up.

The Patels insist that Ashish date an Indian-American girl—under contract. Per subclause 1(a), he’ll be taking his date on “fun” excursions like visiting the Hindu temple and his eccentric Gita Auntie. Kill him now. How is this ever going to work?

Sweetie Nair is many things: a formidable track athlete who can outrun most people in California, a loyal friend, a shower-singing champion. Oh, and she’s also fat. To Sweetie’s traditional parents, this last detail is the kiss of death.

Sweetie loves her parents, but she’s so tired of being told she’s lacking because she’s fat. She decides it’s time to kick off the Sassy Sweetie Project, where she’ll show the world (and herself) what she’s really made of.

Ashish and Sweetie both have something to prove. But with each date they realize there’s an unexpected magic growing between them. Can they find their true selves without losing each other?

Ashish and Sweetie are my newest OTP! I love love love them! They were so adorable and cute and omg I could not stop grinning as I read this book!

I loved Sweetie so much! She is such a wonderful character and I loved seeing how despite her not being the dress size her parents want her to be, she lives life to the fullest. The body positivity in this book was so wonderful to see. I loved seeing how this harmful and awful obsession with being ‘skinny’ was deconstructed. I really hope that as young girls read this they will see that their dress size does not determine what they can do in life. Sweetie is an athlete and has a wonderful group of friends who fully support her, the female empowerment in the book was so great to see.

“He though, Life can’t get any more perfect than this. But they were young, and it did.”

Ashish was such a great character, he was absolutely adorable with Sweetie and how he does the cutest things to make her feel special and loved. I also loved seeing his friends and how they all are so different yet get along. I also really enjoyed seeing how friends sometimes fight but that they can work through it.

It was so interesting and fun to see how Ashish and Sweetie were falling for each other and yet they were denying it because of their own baggage and wanting to prove a point. They each had their own issues to deal with and I loved seeing how they overcame their own problems.

Again this book is unapologetically desi, from the wonderful parts of desi culture to the not so great parts. I loved how the community supports each other and the wonderful food and clothes. And also how people can be judgemental and base your worth on your looks and dress size. But it was great to see how Sandhya totally obliterated that. I hate that part of desi culture, I have personally seen how much damage it can cause to young girls.

I absolutely adored this book and it has fast become my favourite of Sandhya’s books. It was adorable and cute and the exact type of book I needed to read right now. Bollywood really needs to make this into a film!

Bollywood Romantic Comedies Recommendations

It was Valentine’s Day yesterday but I was a little late getting this written but hey, Valentine’s shouldn’t be just one day! So whether you want to celebrate with someone special or your friends or even have a chilling evening with you and only you I thought I would share my favourite Bollywood rom coms to watch! Bollywood films are some of my faves because I am telling you no one does rom coms like Bollywood.

They are my absolute favourites to watch and I can watch them again and again and still cackle at how over dramatic and hilarious they are. I live for the Bollywood dramatics!

So here are some of my favourite Bollywood rom coms that you should all watch:

Jab we Met – This film is one of my all time faves and Kareena is especially amazing in this!
Synopsis: Aditya, a heartbroken tycoon on the verge of committing suicide, aimlessly boards a train. He meets Geet, a high-spirited girl who plans to elope with her lover, and finds himself pulled into her crazy life.

Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani – This film has me in hysterics, every single time I watch it. It’s ridiculous and one hell of a feel good film.
Synopsis: Prem falls for Jenny, a woman who is already in love with a man named Rahul. Despite this, he agrees to help her marry him and gets into various comical situations as a result.

Om Shanti Om – I loved this story so much! It will make you and cry and will have you dancing along to the dance numbers
Synopsis: Om, a junior film artist, is smitten by Shantipriya, a renowned actress, but is killed while trying to save her from a fire accident. Thirty years later, he is reborn and sets out to avenge her death.

Kal Ho Na Ho – Crying sobbing mess. But will also make you laugh. What more do you need?
Synopsis: Naina, a girl living a dreary life, finds a new meaning to her life when she meets Aman. Even though she loves him, Aman claims to be a married man and convinces Rohit, her friend, to woo her.

Kuch Kuch Hota Hai – My absolute fave film as a teen and still such a wonderful film to watch.
Synopsis: After reading the letter her mother had written for her before she died, Anjali decides to bring together her widowed father, Rahul, with his true love who is also named Anjali.

Be warned that thses are the newest of Bollywood films but they are ones that I love watching. And still vividly remember even if it’s been a long time since I last watched them.