Sandhya Menon is the queen of YA contemporaries. Merging diverse stories and representation, she creates a romantic comedy that is a delightful escape. It is quite cheesy and cookie cutter in it's execution, but I still found it enjoyable to read.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Simon Pulse for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I give this novel 4/5 stars. It is a great Y/A read that is as relatable for teens as it is for adults.

This feel-good, cleverly written YA novel is a delight to read. The novel follows Twinkle, an aspiring filmmaker, as she navigates high school and all that that entails: Love, friendship, and above all the search for identity. The diverse cast of characters are as believable as they are loveable and the diversity was extremely refreshing. There truly is a character for everyone to relate to in this gem. Readers will find themselves cheering on Twinkle as she finds herself facing constant life and peer challenges. Twinkle will stay with you long after the final page.

I had a fun time reading this novel ... but it wasn't as good as its predecessor. Now, before I comment on this, I do want to mention that When Dimple Met Rishi is not connected to this novel in any way whatsoever; From Twinkle, with Love  is NOT a sequel. That being said ... I just couldn't stop myself from comparing the two novels even though I knew I shouldn't. I'll get into more detail about this later on, but let me start off with some of the positives:

One thing I really liked about this book is that it features an Indian girl wanting to follow a career path that is very unconventional. Let me explain what I mean: Twinkle wants to be a filmmaker. It's fantastic seeing Indian characters pursuing artistic endeavours because, I'll be honest, Indian people tend to fit into the stereotype of always pursuing something STEM related. It is refreshing to see such an unconventional career be brought to the forefront and I wholly support it!

The plot was also very cute, just like with When Dimple Met Rishi. I love the lightness that the author brings to the story because it makes me smile and enjoy the ride. There are heartwarming moments, and scenes that make you really feel for the characters. I think that the different personalities that were developed here were great, and I got to connect with all of them very easily.

However, I didn't really love the way the story was written. The format was via journal entries addressed to Twinkle's idols as well as excerpts from text messages. For some reason, it just didn't work for me. I also wished that the story had been told from Sahil's perspective and not just Twinkle's; it would have made the romance come alive a bit more. As much as I like reading Twinkle's thoughts, it's always fun to see the other side of things. I also think the author was a bit ... heavy-handed with some of the themes she was trying to bring to the forefront. I won't say too much because it would spoil the story but at times, I felt like I was being bashed over the head and it was all a bit much.

Now, I want this criticism to be taken with a grain of salt. As I was reading this book - and as I'm writing this review - I was aware that I was comparing this novel to When Dimple Met Rishi. And the fact is.... this novel just wasn't as good. The characters were great, and the plot was interesting but the execution just wasn't at the same level as in the previous novel by this author. And that did colour my enjoyment of this novel. This is still a really cute story and a good novel. It's just that my expectations were quite high coming off of the previous novel. In any case, this is a good novel, and I would recommend it to people who enjoyed Sandhya Menon's other work. I'm giving it a solid 3/5 stars!

From Twinkle, With Love is a super cute rom-com. I struggle to get through romantic comedies sometimes, but on the whole, I liked reading this one. From Twinkle, With Love is definitely one of the more fun and heartwarming books I've read recently.

I really admire Sandhya Menon's leading ladies. Twinkle Mehra is so filled with ambition and passion for her filmmaking, which I adored throughout the movie - she's definitely an underdog you can't help but root for because all her intentions are so good. Twinkle is so into filmmaking because she wants to give people like her a voice. I could relate to her feeling ignored by everyone, so I was probably a bit more sympathetic than I should be because I wish I could stand up for myself like Twinkle did.

The romance was really cute. Sahil was precious as heck and frankly so was I was soooo frustrated that Twinkle kept putting off Sahil because of N, though, like, can't you see that boy loves you oh my god. I feel like it wasn't meaningful conflict. There was really good material about Twinkle's and Sahil's different views in film production, and I felt like the relationship conflict would have had some more weight if it wasn't Twinke's yearning to rise to popularity in the centre of it.

It was also really cool seeing such a huge and diverse range of characters. I can't speak on the representation, but it is an ownvoices novel and I've seen a bunch of folks who love it. There's also a ton of other POC and some LGBT representation too, which was really nice to see. The friendship vibes were great from this book, and it was sweet how Twinkle used her filmmaking to bring everyone together under unlikely circumstances. A lot of the conflict comes from Twinkle's struggle with groundlings (nerds) and silk feathered hats (popular kids) so seeing those boundaries break was nice.

Honestly, one of the biggest reasons why I struggled to connect with this book and rated it three stars was because the characters felt so much younger than sixteen and seventeen. How they spoke and acted was reminiscent of thirteen or fourteen year olds. I don't believe it's a bad thing, especially with the discussions on YA and teen readers going on recently. But personally, it made me struggle to connect with the characters.

From Twinkle, With Love is an adorable rom-com featuring an ambitious Indian-American aspiring filmmaker. If you like rom-coms, I definitely recommend this book.

This book was absolutely adorable. It follows 2 POVs, Twinkle, an aspiring filmmaker, and Sahil, the guy who is in love with Twinkle. The plot of this novel follows Twinkle making a film with Sahil while also emailing with a mysterious guy who she is hoping is her longtime crush and Sahil's twin.

I love the way that the relationships in this book were written. I thought Sahil and Twinkle were absolutely adorable together. I also really loved the subplot about growing out of touch with a friend. I feel like books don't touch on that enough and it was well done in this novel.

I personally felt that this book was a little young for me (Twinkle is 15 and really felt like a 15-year-old[but it's honestly refreshing to find a book whose character sounds like their age]) but that's probably because I'm in my 20s. I sometimes found Twinkle a little irritating because she cared a lot about status. I liked seeing her character growth by the end of the novel but it was a bit annoying at times.

All in all, this book is an easily devourable YA contemporary. I would highly recommend this book for younger YA readers or people okay with a YA book that reads a little younger.

This novel is absolutely adorable, yet cringe-worthy (but only in a relatable way), as it always seems to be the way with Sandhya Menon. Although I did want to slap some of the characters to make them think clearly at some point, I had a really great time reading this book and I’m officially sold on its author.

I want to love Sandhya’s books so bad. I really do. I liked When Dimple Met Rishi, but found it kind of forgettable. Turns out From Twinkle, With Love is way more forgettable as I really have to trudge through my thoughts to remember what happened. What I do remember is that the book was just kind of meh, and the way it was written (as letters to Twinkle’s favourite female movie directors) was weird because it didn’t work whatsoever. The writing would start as a letter and then read like a regular book and then remember it’s a letter. It was confusing, distracting, and unnecessary.

This is such a fun sweet read about becoming who you want to be, love and friendship.

I have recomended it to many friends and will continue to.

This is another amazing story from Sandhya Menon! I love how her books are about Indian characters. I love reading novels that feature different cultures, and Memon’s books are extra special.

There were a few moments in this story that reminded me of the book Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda. I also loved that book, so I liked these similarities. Twinkle has a secret admirer who emailed her, just like Simon and his secret crush, Blue. Also, Twinkle went to meet her secret admirer on a ferris wheel at a carnival, just like when Simon met Blue. I’m not sure if these similarities were intentional, but I enjoyed seeing Twinkle have some of the same experiences as Simon.

I loved the way that Twinkle writes to her favourite female filmmakers in her diary. One thing that I noticed right away was that she kept writing to the same women over and over. There are not many female filmmakers, so she didn’t have many to choose from. Hopefully, this book will inspire young girls to follow their dreams and create films, just like Twinkle.

I loved this book! I can’t wait to see what Sandhya Menon writes next!

After reading When Dimple Met Rishi, I was excited when I heard she was doing more books in the same world! Twinkle was just so hilarious and cute and full of fluff! I can't gush enough about how much I love these books.

From Twinkle, with Love stars Twinkle Mehra, an Indian-American girl who’s dreamed of being a filmmaker for her whole life. At the beginning of the book, she’s done a few YouTube videos, but nothing big.

That all changes when Sahil Roy – the nerdy brother of her crush, Neil – suggests that she create a movie for the upcoming Midsummer Night festival at school. He’ll produce, she’ll direct. It’s perfect – Twinkle will get to put herself out there (yikes) and she’ll also get to get closer to Neil – and to her old best friend Maddie who is currently hanging out with Neil’s cooler, “silk-feathered hat” crowd.

The problem? Twinkle’s starting to fall for Sahil. And she’s not sure whether she should be friends with Maddie anymore. And is all this getting in the way of her true dream of becoming a filmmaker who is seen and heard and respected?

From Twinkle, with Love is a classic romantic comedy. It starts with a cute premise and meet-cute, and then launches into a sort of unrequited love/looking for love in the wrong places storyline. There’s definitely touches of Shakespeare here, specifically the mixed-up romances and the “play within a play” of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

It’s also a rom-com that’s heavy on the romance. And the romance is definitely of the “made-for-each-other-written-in-the-stars” type, which I generally don’t love. But like with her debut, When Dimple Met Rishi, author Sandhya Menon makes it work and makes you believe in the perfection of Sahil and Twinkle together.

Part of the reason it works is because we’re really falling in love with Sahil right with Twinkle. Sahil has loved Twinkle for a long, long time, but it’s only when we see them interact that we realize just how much they support and complement each other. Between their joint love of film and their earnest niceness and enthusiasm, it’s just really hard NOT to root for them. The book read a little young for me to swoon too hard over Sahil, but I did really, really enjoy their romance.

What really kept me reading, though, were the threads of friendship and diversity that Menon weaves into the story. I loved how much we got into Twinkle and Maddie’s friendship – which started as a childhood best friendship but might be changing now that Maddie’s hanging out with cooler kids. Both Twinkle and Maddie navigate this new territory a bit immaturely (there’s definitely jealousy, resentment, and shame on both sides), but also with an authenticity that reminds me of myself as a young teenager. In fact, Twinkle’s crush on Neil is based on her idea that if she dates him, she’ll be able to fit in with Maddie’s new crowd. As naive as this idea is, I totally remember feeling the same way when I was 14, and I think Menon writes this friendship with a lot of honesty and respect.

That honesty and respect also threads through Twinkle’s family life, which is so much a part of this novel. Twinkle is adamant about becoming a filmmaker, but she also recognizes that this is not a profession that is easy for a female – or celebrated by her Indian family. It’s only her New Age-abiding grandmother who really appreciates Twinkle and her talent. And even though Twinkle loves her parents, she doesn’t get a lot of affection or positive reinforcement from them.

That’s part of the reason it was so inspiring to see Twinkle pursue her ambitions, in spite of her family. It matters to her that she’s not just a filmmaker, but one promoting feminist ideals. There’s a lot of “smash the patriarchy” going on, from Twinkle and Sahil’s idea to create a gender-swapped Dracula, to the way Twinkle stands up to people at school when they throw fem-shaming insults around. And her feminism is always intersectional – she’s always thinking about what it means to be Indian-American, her family and culture, and how that will play into her work. This is the part of Twinkle I related to the most – and I loved how effortlessly Menon brought it into the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed From Twinkle, With Love. For me, the only part that didn’t feel realistic was the fact that this book was epistolary. It just didn’t feel believable to me that she had the time and the memory to be able to recall all of the incidents in the novel. But it’s a minor quibble, because man, this was a fun read.

THE FINAL WORD:
Adorably geeky, authentically Indian, and incredibly feminist, From Twinkle, With Love is a super fast, super sweet read that I highly recommend for 12-15 year old teen readers, or anyone who likes diverse YA. It’s the ultimate diverse younger YA rom-com.

I really enjoyed this title. Twinkle was a character who resembled my younger self and I could connect to the story very well because of that.

Sandhya Menon impresses once again with YA magic, as she allows for more representation of the South Asian diaspora in meaningful references from multidimensional diverse characters!

From Twinkle, with Love is about staying true to yourself, finding love and friendship in unexpected places, and chasing your passions and dreams; I really enjoyed it. Sandhya Menon did a wonderful job with the voice of Twinkle; I found her to be a character I was rooting for, even when she was making choices I didn't like. I also really liked the storyline about her relationship with her family; I definitely got a little teary eyed a few times. I found the romance to be super cute and found myself smiling a whole lot while reading. A perfect summer read!

As soon as I saw From Twinkle, with Love on NetGalley I knew I had to have it. I had just finished reading When Dimple Met Rishi and was completely in love with Sandy Menon's writing style, descriptions and characters. Writing this review has been so hard for me. Nothing wants to flow and my rating has changed multiple times. Is it a 2, 2.5 or a 3? Ugh! I may not have loved From Twinkle, with Love as much as its predecessor, but I overall it was full of ups and downs. I liked the idea of the book and the beginning...it's the characters that make it hard for me to decide on a rating. 

The story revolves around Twinkle, an aspiring film director who wants more from life. She's desperately alone and basically an outcast in her school because people think that she's "weird". The story follows her time in high school and the challenges she faces such as her first love, losing friends and betrayal. The story is told in diary or letter format which allows the reader to thoroughly immerse themselves in Twinkle's world. 

I really enjoyed the beginning of the book. The first 15-20% of it was super cute and I smiled a lot while reading it. Then, things took a turn. I think my biggest issue with this book was Twinkle. I appreciated her drive and passion for film making, but that's about it. Her narration initially didn't bother me, however, as the book progressed I grew to dislike her. She came off as annoying, self-centred and selfish. It's so hard to like something when the main character, who is telling the story, is like that. I honestly struggled at times to keep on reading because it's told through Twinkle's diary entries. Would I have felt differently if the book used a different format? Perhaps? I don't know. 

I do appreciate how this book features diverse characters and features a woman of colour on the cover. It also has some very important messages that all teens should read about such as equality, peer pressure, cliques and respect. However, it just didn't end up being for me. I've said this in a dozen other reviews, but I need books where I can connect with the lead character, especially if that character is telling the story. I didn't have that with this book and it made it very difficult to read through. I think I was also expecting something very different...less love squares and more adorable dialogue similar to When Dimple Met Rishi. So, even though this book wasn't for me, I do think a lot of people, especially teens, will like it and identify with many of Twinkle's problems.

From Twinkle, with Love is an epistolary novel told through the eyes of Twinkle Mehra, an aspiring filmmaker. Each of her letters are addressed to famous female directors Twinkle has admired ever since she was young such a Sofia Coppola and Nora Ephron. The format reminded me a little of Stephen Chboksy's The Perks of Being a Wallflower, where the main character, Charlie, would address each of his letters/ diary entries to "friend." Twinkle is a wallflower herself who has just recently lost her best friend Maddie to the silk feathered hats (aka the popular girls). Twinkle refers to herself as a groundling, a reference to Shakespeare's time when the poor (who couldn't afford the balcony) had to stand on the ground for hours and watch the play.

When Sahil Roy, a film geek asks Twinkle to direct a movie for their school's festival, Twinkle sees it as her chance to finally leave her groundling status behind. Also, this gives her a perfect opportunity to get close to Sahil's twin brother, Neil, the boy she's had a crush on ever since she was young. As Twinkle begins to unleash her vision, she starts receiving anonymous emails from "N," who claims to have a huge crush on her, and Twinkle is sure that it must be Neil Roy. But, as Twinkle begins to spend more time around his brother, Sahil, Twinkle becomes conflicted. Should she give up her longtime dream of becoming Neil's girlfriend, or should she follow her heart?

From Twinkle, with Love is an adorable contemporary romance novel. I immediately adored how Twinkle's voice was able to shine through her letters. She is an optimistic aspiring film maker who is a bit unsure of herself. As Twinkle begins to create her dream film that will launch her to ultimate stardom, she begins to lose herself in her newfound power as a director. Twinkle's lack of self-confidence was explored in a very different way than many contemporary young adult novels. It isn't because she is concerned about her looks that she needs to receive validation from the most popular boy in school. Instead, Twinkle's struggle with self-esteem is much deeper and stems out of her relationship with her parents. I really liked how the author explored this dynamic.

All in all, I would recommend From Twinkle, with Love to fans of contemporary romance novels. It is well worth the read.

Twinkle feels like she has a message for the world that she wants to deliver through film, unfortunately she also feels like she is invisible and no one wants to hear what she has to say. Things start to change for her when Sahil encourages her to make a film with him for a movie festival at their school. She finds the confidence she craves and a group of friends that she never expected to have.
This novel touches on unrequited crushes, changing friendships, distant parents and so much more. This is a great novel for teens aged 12 and up.
This book was provided by net galley for review.

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

What a fun read! I really loved When Dimple met Rishi, so I was excited to read this next title from Sandhya Menon and it didn't disappoint. It was a little bit predictable, but I didn't mind and I really liked that Twinkle realized that she was also to blame for some of the issues she was facing. Can't wait for Ms Menon's next title!

From Twinkle, With Love takes place in June, Colorado Springs, told from the perspective of sixteen-year-old Twinkle Mehra, who feels like an invisible "wallflower".

A refreshing, modern, coming-of-age story about learning from mistakes and discovering your true self. This story has a diverse cast of characters, which is always nice to read. Sahil, the twin brother of Twinkle's crush Neil, is my favorite character. He's an adorable, ideal example of how young modern men should treat women.

I enjoyed the use of letters, text messages, emails, and blog posts to tell the story. It made for an interesting, quick-read, which is great for the hesitant reader.

Despite a few plot holes, From Twinkle, With Love is a light, funny, charming novel for readers 12 and up (no sex, drinking/drugs). A great summer read :)