When Dimple Met Rishi ~ Sandhya Menon

Rating: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Back in 2016 this was on my nonexistent "2017 anticipated releases" shelve. I did have a different kind of reading taste back then, but it's always nice to come back to the cute contemporary stories I used to love.

Now that graduating high school is over with, Dimple Shah is more than ready for a break from her family. She is tired of her Mamma's obsession with finding her the "Ideal Indian Husband." Dimple wants to be more than an arranged marriage set up by her parents. She strives to be one of the futures best web developers; She is hoping that her parents respect her dreams enough to let her go to a summer program for aspiring web developers. So when they agree to let her go, she thinks that maybe they believe that she can do more than be a wife, they would've have paid for the program otherwise! Wrong. Rishi Patel is adamant about being the man his parents want him to be. He cherishes tradition and stability and being a part of something that, he believes, is bigger than himself. Rishi wants to live up to his parents expectations and become everything his brother is trying, desperately, not to be. So when his parents tell him that his future wife will be attending the same summer program as him, he is totally on board to woo her. The Shahs and Patels didn't mean to start turning the wheels on this "suggested arrangement" so early in their children's lives, but when they noticed they both started gravitating toward the same summer program, they figured, Why not? Dimple and Rishi may think they have each other figured out but when they come together, they might figure out that opposites clashing is love working hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.

This was a cute, refreshing contemporary story. I needed something exactly like this after finishing my previous book (People Kill People ~ Ellen Hopkins). These are the kind of stories I used to read, exclusively, all the time but then I discovered more thought provoking novels (thank god). However, When Dimple Met Rishi was still kind of different than the repeating plots I once read, it had different clichés and had diversity that the other novels lacked. This diversity was shown through a different language, representing their culture and really proving that the it wasn't just for show. Which I respect on a high level.

The one thing that I really didn't enjoy was that despite the setting of the book being at a web developers summer program for six whole weeks, there wasn't that much put into that aspect of the book. I would've enjoyed a background on why Dimple wanted to become a web developer (you could say it's because of her dad...) and what the camp taught her to help improve with her aspiring web developer dream. It would've made the story a bit lengthier but I think the book was really missing details form this and it would've made the story that much better. It would've taken away some of the cliché which could've helped it stand out among all of the contemporary novels like these.

If you want an enjoyable, contemporary, palette cleanser, I would recommend this story.

People Kill People ~ Ellen Hopkins

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I saw this on a new releases shelve a few months ago and knew that this would be an important read. Plus, it's by one of my favorite authors, which gave me even more reason to pick it up.

People Kill People. Guns just make it easier.

A gun is sold in the classifieds after a man accidentally killed his wife. It was bought by a teenager who needs protection. But which teenager was it? Each has the incentive to pick up a gun, to fire it. It could be Rand or Cami, married teenagers with a young son. Or Silas or Ashlyn, members of a white supremacist youth organization. Or maybe it was Daniel, who fears retaliation because of his race, and possessively cling to Grace, the love of his life. Or finally it could be Noelle, who lost everything after a devastating accident, and has sunk quietly into depression.

One tense week brings all six people into close contact in a town wrought with political and personal tensions. Someone will fire and someone will die. But who?

Ellen Hopkins knew exactly how to write this story. She knew that writing a one sided perspective on gun violence wouldn't get the attention it deserves, so she opted to write multiple perspectives conveying different opinions. I respect this choice because it's what made the story suspenseful and real. This was a difficult read because the topic is so controversial and sensitive due to the events that have happened within the past few years. However, I'm glad that I read this because the subject deserves attention, from everyone.

The plot twist at the end truly did surprise me because I was making predictions for the entire book and it wasn't who I thought and it didn't happen when I thought it would. The middle part of the story did kind of drag on, but once I got through that it definitely picked up and the suspense started to build. I also think some of the relationships could've been written better, especially Rand and Cami because I felt like I had very little background on them to work with. I understand the main point of this book was to convey the important topic of gun violence, but I still think that it would've been more impactful if the readers were more attached to the characters stories.

The Mermaid ~ Christina Henry

Rating: ⭐ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

This has been on my 'To Read' list for a while now, and I never really knew if or when I would pick it up. When it was handed to me at the library, I thought it was time to give it a try and I'm very glad I did.

A tail like this can only begin with, Once Upon a Time there was a mermaid. She longed to know what was beyond her ocean life. Beyond her home, her people, herself. But she was told that exploring would only cause trouble for if she were to get caught her mermaid life would be no more. But she didn't care what they said because she was captivated by the beauty that hovered on top of the water instead of below it. She always tried to keep her distance because she thought humans would never understand her kind and would only abuse her. This all changed when she got caught in a fisherman's net but he couldn't bear to keep her. She was shocked that he had let her go and knew she should swim far, far away from him. But, she was drawn in by his lonely eyes and seemed to be caught by more than his net. She had to meet him, to know him, to figure out why his eyes spoke to her in that way. So she evoked a magic that allowed her to walk upon the shore. The mermaid, Amelia, became his wife, and they lived on a cliff just above the ocean for years living happily together, until one day the fisherman rowed out to his beloved sea and did not return. He had to be out there and so she searched and searched, unaware than another fisherman had seen her true form, but never found him. She waited for him, desperately hoping the sea would give him back to her but it never did. Still she would wait by the ocean everyday and soon rumors began to linger down the coast that a mermaid lived up in Maine. This rumor traveled all the way to P.T. Barnum who was looking for magnificent, eye-drawing attractions for his American Museum. Once he'd heard the rumor of a mermaid who lived on a cliff by the sea, he knew she was the key to making a fortune. Amelia agreed to play the part as Barnum's mermaid but she believed she could leave any time. But once Barnum has the mermaid in his money-making scheme, he's determined to never let her go.

Everything about this book was great for me. First off, I love mermaids (being a red-head child and loving Ariel, it only makes sense) and second, it was a good, fast-paced, interesting book. It wasn't a childish story like I was expecting and I'm more than fine with that! If anything, it's better not being a children's book. Christina Henry made it a point in the novel to create the mermaid unlike the mermaids people usually expect, such as Ariel, which was refreshing and part of what made this book enjoyable.

The only reason this was a four star book instead of a five star was because of the ending. I enjoyed the rest of the story so much that when the book abruptly ended I was so disappointed. It could've been written much better and there are missing parts that should be there but aren't. This has nothing to do with the possible cliffhanger(?) but Henry could've written this ending out better so it didn't seem so abrupt to the reader.

I'm hoping there is a sequel to this since there was a kind of cliffhanger.