3.5 stars

I wanted to love this book. I thought I was going to love this book. I didn’t love this book.

After reading When Dimple Met Rishi, I was super excited to move onto this in hopes of another 5 star. However, this book was a little lack luster. It felt slightly untrue to high school. The characters weren’t as vibrant and as well developed as I would have liked them to be. And my over all enjoyment of the book was dampened by how rude and unappreciative Twinkle was. There were many times for her to “see the light” and “learn a lesson,” and yet she did the same act over and over which frustrated me. I understand she is a teenager and naive, but those attributes do not condone being rude or condescending.

What saved this book was Sahil, I really enjoyed his character and felt bad for him. He was his own true person, pursuing what he wanted in the midst of his brothers shadow and what society was expecting of him. He was true to himself and for that, I am grateful.

I would like to read a book possibly from one of Menon’s male characters, because they truly are the characters I have been adoring so far!

Yet another winner from Sandhya Menon! And I’m doubly impressed because I’m usually not into the whole epistolary format thing but I really liked this (Dimple is still my fave though). The beginning was a bit touch and go, at least for me, as we're thrown headfirst in Twinkle Mehra's life through her first journal entry. Twinkle is an aspiring filmmaker and journals the ongoings of her day-to-day through letters to her favorite female filmmakers. We find out that she sees herself as an unpopular wallflower, is struggling to hold onto her best friend who is popular, and she's crushing on Neil Roy. But it’s his twin brother Sahil who approaches her to collaborate on a movie to submit to the Summer Festival. Of course Twinkle says yes and that’s when it really starts to pick up. The story starts to unfold rather predictably as Twinkle falls for Sahil (I mean, who wouldn’t? I loved him!) and she begins to truly look at herself and who and what she wants. But Menon also explores balancing new and old friends, growing up, family struggles, identity and first love in such an honest and earnest way. And it was the latter – not to mention the fun filmmaking stuff – that I enjoyed the most!

Do I recommend? I do! So far I’ve enjoyed both of Menon’s books and I can’t wait for her next one!

love the cover and the diversity pls more books with unique and fun protagonists thanks i'm happy with most of the book but it didn't really blow me away or anything like that

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

After loving Sandhya Menon’s debut, When Dimple Met Rishi, last year, I knew I would continue to pick up new releases from her. From Twinkle, With Love follows an Indian-American teenager, Twinkle, who dreams of becoming a filmmaker and telling her stories through films. One unique element of this book is that it’s told through an epistolary format, specifically through Twinkle’s diary entries. Twinkle uses her diary to write to female filmmakers who inspire her. I thought this format worked well for the story! It really allowed the reader to get inside Twinkle’s head– which, can I just say, was a refreshingly realistic teenage mind. Twinkle isn’t perfect; she makes mistakes and hurts the people she loves and sometimes struggles to believe in herself. But this just made her feel all the more approachable and real.

The romance was, as expected, adorable. It features the friends-to-lovers trope, which is a personal favorite of mine. Twinkle and Sahil don’t have a fairytale romance: they’re awkward, they aren’t always on the same page, and they both have personal things to work on that impact their relationships with others. Again, though, it felt realistic. I wish more YA portrayed relationships like theirs.

I also really enjoyed the friendships and family relationships in From Twinkle, too! Like with Menon’s debut, we get glimpses into Indian culture and life as an Indian-American teen, and I’m so glad this representation is out there. Of course, filmmaking and movies both play huge roles in this story, and that was a nice touch. Twinkle’s passion for film definitely shines through. I loved reading about the film she made over the course of the book, too! If you’re a film buff, you’ll absolutely enjoy this one.

Overall, From Twinkle, With Love gave me exactly the cuteness I expected, and also provided fresh, realistic characters and relationship dynamics. This has cemented Sandhya Menon as an auto-buy author for me. Highly recommend this book to anyone looking for an adorable, diverse contemporary!

The voice of Twinkle did not suffer at all from the diary format which happens sometimes. I was invested in her story and thoughts (and now I have a list of directors to view). However I felt like the 0-RAGE!!!! plot event was a little abrupt. The secondary characters were not all needed. I will continue to read Menon; I'm curious if this was the first book to build a universe with all of the other hook ups mentioned.

Not my favourite Sandhya Menon but important to the YA contemporary book selection. Reviewed on my channel in my monthly wrap up https://youtu.be/7Czh4h-tMfc?t=3m40s

From Twinkle, With Love is written by the same author who wrote When Dimple Met Rishi, which is one of my favorite books of all time! From Twinkle, With Love tells the story of Twinkle, a teenage girl who aspires to make life-changing films that reach more people than her YouTube videos which only have a low number of views. Twinkle is asked to make a short film for an upcoming school event so she is working with the twin brother of her longtime crush! Will she be able to make a great film and also have a cute boyfriend after the school event? Read to find out!

I was expecting From Twinkle, With Love to just be light-hearted, fluffy summer read. While it was light-hearted at times, this book was so much more than that. There were times when I laughed out loud and moments that made me tear up. I kind of wish I had a time travel machine so I could give high school me this one.

From Twinkle, With Love was told through letters, text messages, and emails. While I absolutely love this form of storytelling in books, I know not all readers do. It really works well here though so I wouldn't let the atypical style stop you from reading this one. I also loved how Twinkle pursued her dream with a single minded focus. Sandhya Menon did an excellent job of showing how and why Twinkle fought for her dream.

In general, the characters felt very realistic and like actual teenagers. So many of Twinkle's missteps were entirely relatable. I particularly liked her friendship with Maddie and how the two of them struggled to communicate despite a lifetime of knowing each other. The romance storyline was full of miscommunications, misunderstandings, and misperceptions. Essentially, it felt like a real high school romance. I did think that the dark Twinkle story arc was a bit overly dramatic. But it still worked and I liked how everything was resolved in the end.

From Twinkle, With Love was an absolutely charming book. I'd recommend this one if you're looking for a fun read that features some great humor, a feminist heroine, and a whole lot of heart.

*Disclaimer: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I absolutely adored Menon's debut novel, When Dimple Met Rishi, and I could not wait to read her latest novel, From Twinkle, With Love. Though I didn't love From Twinkle, With Love as much as I loved her debut novel, it was still thoroughly enjoyable and a delightfully sweet contemporary romance.

Twinkle Mehra is a self pronounced wallflower and groundling, a social status that complements her family's working class financial situation. Tired of being overlooked by her former best friend, Maddie, who has recently elevated her social status by hanging out with the popular crowd, and ignored by her busy working parents, Twinkle wants to be noticed by someone else besides her lovable, unconditionally supportive, and eccentric Dadi (her paternal grandmother). She is also an aspiring filmmaker who dreams of going to film school and becoming a great woman of color director. Twinkle fills her journal, given by Dadi, with entries dedicated to sorting out her feels and frustrations, addressed to her favorite female movie directors, among them Mira Nair, Sofia Coppola, Nora Ephron, and Ava DuVernay. The repetitiveness of directors that Twinkle writes to is indicative of the necessity of more female directors in the film industry.

Twinkle is a fun, flawed character who is also frustrating to read about because you want to shake her and tell her she is making big mistakes. She has tunnel vision of becoming a new shinier version of herself which features a confident girl who speaks up for herself and be in a relationship with Neil Roy, a biracial white-Indian golden boy, who can elevate her status. When an opportunity arises to make her mark for a local film festival with Sahil, Neil's awkward identical twin brother, she reluctantly accepts the challenge as a way to become close to Neil, realize her romantic ambitions, and thus improve her social standing at school. As she chronicles her journey on working with her film, Twinkle's relationship with Sahil changes which makes things complicated especially when she begins receiving admiring emails signed only “N,” she assumes her mystery fan to be Neil. Like any other romantic comedies, Sahil has had a crush on Twinkle for years and the true identity of her anonymous fan becomes a tantalizing mystery.

Menon knows how to write a romantic comedy. The budding relationship with Twinkle and Sahil is beyond adorable and grows throughout the book. It is agonizing to wait for Twinkle's light bulb to go off and realize that Sahil is the right person for her. Both characters share a love for film and are able to be themselves around each other. I really appreciated that the characters were able to show each other their good sides and bad sides instead of characters who just wear rosy tinted glasses because they are in love. I felt frustrated for Sahil when Twinkle would not be honest with him and fully commit to be with him. The inclusion of Sahil's anonymous blog and his text messages between his two best friends provide his viewpoint of his complicated relationship with Twinkle and made me laugh out loud several times.

The familial relationship is also done quite well, particularly with Twinkle and her Dadi. I loved how Dadi played an important role and constant in Twinkle's life. She was her confidant and support network when her parents were away. I also understood Twinkle's own feeling of neglected from her parents. I just wished we explored a bit more of her mother's mental health issues which were hinted in the book. I would have also loved to have seen more of Sahil's own insecurity of constantly being compared to Neil.

In addition to all the various relationships in the book, the theme of privilege is well handled in the book from the obvious comparing and contrasting the have and have-nots of Twinkle and her circle of friends, but also of Twinkle and the at-risk kids that her father works with is also highlighted in the book. Though this book covered a lot more themes than When Dimple Met Rishi, it read much younger to me which is not a bad thing just an observation. If you enjoyed Menon's debut novel you will really like From Twinkle, With Love. Menon is quickly becoming my auto-read author for romantic comedies and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

What’s not to love about From Twinkle, With Love? The title is adorable, the cover is STUNNING, and the epistolary format was really fun to read. In some ways, I loved Menon’s sophomore novel even more than her first, because it was just so much fun. Twinkle’s personality coupled with some of the tried and true YA tropes and laugh out loud writing had me itching to pick up the story at every spare moment I had the week I read it. However, there were a few elements that bothered me throughout the novel, a background sort of annoyance that I found hard to shake and ultimately lessened my enjoyment of the story a bit.

Unlike Menon’s debut novel which is set on a college campus, From Twinkle, With Love is very firmly a high school book, with the drama and tropes to go along with it. While I find I sometimes get bored with high school narratives, I found this one to be really funny, especially Twinkle’s internal dialogue which was cringe-y and hilarious- groundlings and silk feathered hats and all that. The variation in format was also really fun to read and helped the story keep up a quick and fun pace- the letters Twinkle writes combined with the text messages and emails from other characters helped really round out the story, and give the secondary characters some life and vibrancy (especially the guys- their texts were hilarious). I loved loved LOVED Sahil, and I think Menon has a talent for writing positive, respectful YA romances that are still swoony in their own way without being obvious. And I totally felt Twinkle’s angst about her feelings for Sahil- as a teenager you totally want to be with the popular, athletic, well known guy but by the time you’re in your mid-twenties you’re #TeamSahil all the way. I can see how Twinkle’s fickle heart may have irked some readers, but it’s actually not the part of the story I had a problem with.

My main issue with this book is I feel like there were a LOT of mean girl stereotypes and bullying that seemed rather one dimensional, or didn’t get the page time/context it deserved to make sense. At the beginning of the story, Twinkle is very blunt about having had a fall out with her lifelong BFF Maddie, and the whole premise of their now strained relationship felt really flimsy and took way too long to reveal. Honestly, in my opinion people were super mean to Twinkle and when she goes through her period toward the end of the book of self-righteousness I really didn’t mind considering how awful the other characters had been to her for so long. But then everyone blames her for not taking the high road. And I get it, as the protagonist in a YA, high school set novel it’s probably expected for the protagonist to be the bigger person and extend the olive branch, etc., but it just really irritated me that everyone sort of put the onus on Twinkle for that, like it was her responsibility. It was great and all that she chose to reconcile instead of being bitter, but I personally think that sometimes the expectation of the YA heroine being “nice” and doing the right thing in contemporary novels is tiring.

Other than Maddie and Hannah and all of the other mean girl drama, this book was a lot of fun to read. The gender-bent movie theme that Twinkle and Sahil go for is clever, and I love how coming together to create the film brought down a lot of the social barriers and boundaries at the school. I also of course loved seeing Twinkle’s Indian culture integrated into the story. While her culture wasn’t as central to the overall plot as in When Dimple Met Rishi, it was still woven into the story and I absolutely ADORED Twinkle’s Dadi and her fusion of Indian tradition and new age American mysticism (and YAY for books that feature grandparents!!)

Overall: From Twinkle, With Love is definitely fluff, but it’s the fun, feel good kind fluff that will warm you while reading and make you remember your groundling high school days a little more fondly.

Summary

This story follows Twinkle, who is a budding filmmaker. Along the way, she meets Sahil: the brother of her crush, Neil. She begins to receive e-mails from ‘N’, and is so sure that it is Neil. Unfortunately, she starts to develop feelings for Sahil and she is torn between which brother she finds herself truly in love with. The book is told through letters that Twinkle writes to her favorite famous female filmmakers with which she signs each ‘From, Twinkle’.

Likes

I truly enjoy Sandhya’s writing so much. I loved how Dimple was written and this has the same, lighthearted feel as that book does. These are not sequels or related stories by any means but they are similar in the elements of the characters that make them so lovable. Twinkle is one of my favorite contemporary characters: she is funny and quirky and smart. Her creative eye is so precise and I found her unique and creative takes on her project during the book to be interesting to read about. I was never bored reading this book and it kept me hooked the entire time. I also really enjoyed the character of Sahil. Sahil brought out the best in Twinkle and I loved seeing their friendship and further relationship develop over the course of the story. This is one of those love stories that was a little sappy but not one that I will tire of anytime soon.

Dislikes

I can’t really discount this book very much. I enjoyed it from cover to cover and it was an easy read. It was quite short and I thought it was the perfect length for a contemporary in between the many fantasy books that I tend to read. I didn’t give it 5 stars because I wasn’t completely head over heels, but I would read this book again and again!

Recommendation

I would suggest this book to anyone who is a fan of Dimple but also likes a wholehearted read. I also love it for #ownvoices and diversity is represented just as well in this novel, as it is in precious Menon novels!

Obvious comparisons to Dimple here but I just love the kickass ladies Menon writes! This was a super sweet romance all-around, the dialogue given to Sahil was so swoon worthy at times. He truly was her rock throughout the journey. I could not stop laughing at the secret admirer though, LOL! It was too funny. At first I thought it was Sahil (never thought it was Neil, for the record) but when it became clear who it was, I howled with laughter. Ah, so good. Thanks for the fun treat that is this book. I'd happily read it again.

*eARC kindly provided by Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing via NetGalley*

Refreshingly real and young adult. Twinkle is not a perfect person. She hurts people and makes mistakes and just can't ever seem to see her own worth. But she had to stumble through everything to learn that life and relationships are messy, and that you are the only one who can determine your own future and who you want to be. She's awkward, quiet, and doesn't always know how to speak up for herself, but it just endeared her to me, because I saw a lot of myself in her. And oh, the ship. It was ADORABLE. Sandhya seriously knows how to write the love and romance. I liked this a lot! The friendships were fun, I loved the movie they made, and it just had a lot of what it is being a teenager, and all the good and bad that comes with it.

Rating: 3.5 stars

I liked this way more than her first book, which was stilted and I didn't particularly care for the characters. Twinkle's story, however, is cute and fun and told in a really interesting way.

4.5 Twinkling Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟.5

This was a fun, adorable, sweet, YA contemporary that had me smiling the entire book.... there is something so readable about this author’s writing style.... in both this book and ”When Dimple Met Ricci” The characters were brought so amazingly to life....

Twinkle feels like lo woman on the social totem pole... in fact she refers to her self as a “groundling”... and the popular people are referred to as something to do with silk feathered hats.... Twinkle’s ultimate dream in life is to become a movie director, she idolizes all female movie directors... in fact this book is written in letter form, with twinkle writing letters to multiple different female movie directors... a epistolary novel...

Twinkle was a likable, real, naïve, and sometimes very frustrating teenage girl.... she somehow got herself into a love Square... Sahil the boy who has been crushing on her since he was 11, a secret admirer, and then the boy she has a crush on... Sahil’s twin brother Neil...Sahil was super adorable both inside and out, his twin on the other hand? Twinkle really drove me crazy in this situation... and the fact that she did not have a mother to talk to drove me even more crazy(The jury is still out on mom).... then we have supposed BFF Maddie... first of all I hate the mean girl trope... but Maddie was not being a good friend... and whose to blame?Maddie! not her new group of friends...Ugh! Twinkle really needed a big sister, because mom was so busy pouting or something.... drove me nuts! As I was reading this I was coming up with all kinds of brilliant words of wisdom I should pass on to Twinkle, if I ever were to have the chance.... The biggest of these things being high school is only four years of your life, so in the big scope of life it doesn’t matter who you sit by at lunch in high school... oh and probably more important... date the nice guy you have things in common with, not the hot guy you have nothing in common with! And in this case they are twins, so what’s the problem here?

As you can probably tell I got quite invested in Twinkle and her life... so do I recommend? Absolutely! Fabulous book with some lessons learned at the end, that I really appreciated! Things aren’t always as they seem and the popular feather hat wearing people have problems as well... if you are a parent I’d recommend for kids 12 and up, this is a very clean read...

*** many thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for my copy of this book ***

I really liked the story (even if it was a little cliched). But, I honestly feel pretty conflicted over this story. The main character was flawed and showed significant growth, but the writing was jumpy and that growth was told to the reader rather than shown. There were sections where it was clear that the author knew she had to give information to the reader, but that she didn't know how to give it without the characters giving an expository schpiel about their backstory and family history. I also didn't really understand the problems between Twinkle and Maddie and felt like there was no real explanation for Twinkle's extreme change in character.

On the other hand, I really liked watching the relationship between Sahil and Twinkle develop, and I thought the exploration of Twinkle's familial relationships was really interesting and valuable, particularly for teens who don't have good relationships with their mothers. I was also glad that there was complexity in Victoria's character, and that there were no scenes with Neil. I honestly think that that was one of the major strengths of the story--Twinkle realized Sahil was the right person without ever having to confront N (which was a weird storyline in and of itself--what girl in their right mind responds to an anonymous email from a "secret admirer" they know nothing about?? Sure, it could have been Neil or it could have been a serial killer, get real Twinkle) or talk to Neil. She realized it from within rather than depending on talking to someone else. Despite everything I was conflicted about in this book, Twinkle is such a strong character who is complicated and messy and pretty human, which is why I was really interested in finishing her story.

This book was exactly what I hoped it would be.  It was a fun, light book that is a perfect distraction.  We have teenage angst, love triangles and likable characters that are easy to read about.  A solid fluff read or a palate cleanser - because we definitely need those every once in a while. Thank you, Simon Pulse, for my copy of this book

Delightful! I just love Sandhya Menon and her bubbly, uplifting, feminist books. Twinkle is a smart, funny, and thoughtful teenager with big dreams of becoming a filmmaker. Her story of creating her first film and trying to discover the identity of her secret admirer is told in the form of letters to her idols, various female directors. The concept is well executed, and Twinkle made for a lovable protagonist. If you enjoyed When Dimple Met Rishi, you're sure to love From Twinkle, with Love.

Twinkle Mehra wants to be a film director more than anything in the world, and she has big plans to make that happen. One day, Sahil Roy, the brother of her longtime crush Neil, approaches her with an idea to make a movie for the Midsummer festival, and Twinkle agrees to the plan. As Twinkle and Sahil work on the movie together, they begin to deepen their relationship, and Twinkle finds herself falling for him instead of Neil. Relationships become more complicated as the summer progresses, and Twinkle begins to question everything she knows about herself and the people around her. Will Twinkle find success with her movie and her friends, or will she lose everything when the building tension snaps?
I thought this was a great coming of age story about a girl who has always felt like she belonged to the wallflower group, but eventually finds out that she was just thinking the worst about herself and others. I personally sympathized with Twinkle and her struggle with her perceptions of herself and others as the plot unfolded. The characters and their feelings seemed so real to me. I loved the use of humor in the story... I found myself laughing out loud many times as I read. I didn't care for the profanity or the heavy prevalence of teenage angst towards the end of the book, but I was very happy with the ending. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary YA fiction.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. A positive review was not required, and all opinions expressed are entirely my own.

This was a breath of fresh air. From Twinkle, with Love sounds like your normal teen novel with a predictable story line. Well, there wasn't much predictable about this one! Yes, you can see the romance a mile away. And yes, some of the story line isn't the most practical. That said, Twinkle, the lovable and highly relatetable protagonist, is written in a way that most teens or young adults can relate to - diary entries. Twinkle deals with your normal sort of high school drama, but what makes it standout is the inclusion of women of color, people of color, an ambitious high school film project, and of course young love.