WOW There's something about Sweetie is an adorable young adult romance that will have everyone swooning. Another great book by Sandhya Menon . You will fall in love with Sweetie and be rooting for this lovable girl till the end. OH and Ashish OMG talk about a GREAT Book boyfriend. GREAT BOOK GREAT MESSAGE

One of the most enjoyable ARCs I’ve ever received! I love Sweetie. Love her. She’s a fantastic teenager who has so much to offer and knows it. She has wonderful girl friends and my only complaint is not spending more time with them- but I guess books can only be so long.

Her relationship with her mother is well written and I love that it is presented as real relationships tend to be- multifaceted and complex. I related to much of what Sweetie goes through, and felt that we are made to understand her mother without wading too far into saccharine territory.

Ashish and Sweetie have a really cute romance with plenty of whimsical fun. This was one of the nicest books I’ve read in a while. Every now and then you need a book that will make you happy, and this is definitely one of them.

Sandhya Menon has become an auto-buy author for me both personally and professionally. Not simply because her stories feature diverse characters and give the reader a glimpse into Indian-American culture and family life, but because the stories are real and heartfelt without being overly sappy or angsty. Her female leads are strong without being closed off or too stubborn to be likeable. Her male leads are open to learning from their female counterparts and don't need fixing in the way some teen romance characters do.

This book picks up with Rishi Patel's brother, Ashish, whom we met in When Dimple Met Rishi. Ash had reconnected with Dimple's roommate at camp, Celia, and the two had been dating. The story picks up with Ash three months out of Celia cheating on him. His confidence, with girls and on the basketball court, is in shreds. After Celia makes her new relationship official, Ashish does the unthinkable: he allows his parents to choose a potential girlfriend, just like they did with Rishi.

Sweetie Nair is a track superstar. She's got great friends, excellent grades, and is on track (no pun intended) to be scouted for the college of her choice. Oh, and she's fat. None of the other stuff matters. Sweetie is fat. When Mrs. Patel tries to set her up with her son, Ashish, Sweetie's mother rejects the idea out of hand based on her desire to keep Sweetie from being mocked for being fat and dating handsome, acceptable, Ashish. Sweetie decides that for the first time in her life, she's going to stand up to her mother and dates Ashish without her knowing. What happens next is a wonderful romantic comedy about being accepted for yourself.

Menon's books usually have me sniffling and tearing up at the end, but this one caught me with wonderfully emotional moments, both funny and tender, the whole way through. While this is a love story, it's really Sweetie's story of showing the world that she accepts herself, so it's high time that they do too. I hope that secondary (tertiary?) character Samir gets the next story, though personally I'd like it to be someone other than Pinky.

My only complaints about this title is that some of the conflicts were not grounded in reality in regards to some of the arguments that back up characters' actions and feelings.

1) Sweetie's mother's insistence that her concerns are for Sweetie's health and feelings in her constant fat-shaming. If this were the case, why does she shame herself at 95 pounds so much? Why does she have such animosity for Sweetie's cousin Anjali and feel offended by her success? Shouldn't she be relieved that there's a chance Sweetie CAN succeed even while fat? Has she ever spoken to Sweetie's pediatrician about her 'concerns?' If her daughter is a state ranked athlete, surely her doctor could have some insight to her 'weight' problem.*' She flat out states that Ashish would only date Sweetie because he'd expect her to be an easy lay to make up for her fatness AND SAYS SO IN FRONT OF SWEETIE, ASHISH, AND HIS PARENTS! These aren't the actions of someone trying to protect anyone; they're guided by the deep seated belief that fat people are undeserving in society. Her cruelty and belief that Sweetie and others are indeed less than is rugswept and instead called a misguided attempt to spare her daughter from the cruelty of others.

2) The book pretends that the spaces that plus sized women have carved out for themselves simply don't exist. Sweetie laments there being a lack of plus sized clothing options in stores and while it might be more difficult in traditional Indian fashions, Torrid, a wonderful plus-size store for women has existed for 10+ years by the time the story takes place, and many stores have made headlines in attempting to expand their female size ranges. Torrid also holds a publicized nation wide search for plus sized models yearly.
Every time Sweetie mentions having to be fat on stage for a talent competition, she acts as if she's the first, the only, as if none of the others who have been there exist. Kelly Clarkson, famously belittled for her weight, was never once cited as a role model. There was one in passing mention of Adele. Ashish and his friends all cite how she'd never be on the SI Swimsuit cover when in fact, Ashley Graham and other plus size models headlined the Swimsuit edition in 2017. None of this changes the fact that Sweetie is often misjudged rudely and harshly for her size, but it's irritating to see the plot stick its head in the sand regarding progress that has been made and can empower Sweetie on her journey.

3) Celia's utter lack of common sense in attempting to publicly seduce Ashish. When they met, they were both minors. Celia is totally oblivious to the fact that she has crossed a line as far as legal age limits go and that sending a risque picture to his phone and setting up a replica of their first time in a public park just screams child porn charges.

All toll, the book was good. Solid 4-stars good. I just found the things mentioned above really frustrating as they could have helped move the story along better for the characters.

*Can we stop this YA trope of parents harassing their overweight kids without ever talking to their kids' doctor? It happens in Dumplin' too and everyone just talks about how 'concerned' the parents are while shaming their kids and placing them on unhealthy regimens and crash diets with no evidence that they're actually seeking sound medical advice that would be in their kids' best interest.

I am waiting for the MOBI version of this book since PDFs do not convert well to MOBIs through Calibre. I read solely on my Kindle. When I had originally requested this title, I was going to review is for USA Today Happy Ever After. However, since that has now shut down, I will be reviewing it for Frolic Media.

I have now received the MOBI version and will be writing a full review of it for Frolic. I will post a link to the review when the review publishes.