There's Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon
Ashish Patel didn’t know love could be so…sucky. After being 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?
So I was sold at temple dates, and let’s just say that Sandhya Menon fully lived up to her promises.
Ashish is an absolute mood, full of mood swings, drama, and more drama. He’s also a solid baller, and sometimes calls himself … Ash? Like the pokemon trainer? Like short for Aishwariya? Anyways, he’s a hot mess. He has a variety of problems, including, but not limited to: living up to his perfect brother, not sucking at basketball, sorting out friend drama, and planning dates at his auntie’s house.
Sweetie, on the other hand, falls a little flat. Everything in her life seems to circle around to her being fat. She can’t throw the birthday party she wants because she’s fat, she can’t bring up about her running prowess without talking about her weight, she can’t date Ashish because she’s fat. It gets a little monotonous because the reader knows how this is going to end.
The plot follows common rom com tropes, and it’s nothing super original. Still, the story is short and sweet, and Ashish shines as a new-and-improved version of himself. The nods to Dimple and Rishi are hilarious, but it was definitely the culture that made this a must-read. Sandhya Menon has figured out the dynamics of an Indian-American family in a way that no other YA author has, and I’m super grateful for that! Also, she speaks from the heart while chronicling Sweetie’s story, and parts of it do ring true.
Overall, this is a great light summery read, and it’s full of funny scenes while still sending a wholesome message.
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?
So I was sold at temple dates, and let’s just say that Sandhya Menon fully lived up to her promises.
Ashish is an absolute mood, full of mood swings, drama, and more drama. He’s also a solid baller, and sometimes calls himself … Ash? Like the pokemon trainer? Like short for Aishwariya? Anyways, he’s a hot mess. He has a variety of problems, including, but not limited to: living up to his perfect brother, not sucking at basketball, sorting out friend drama, and planning dates at his auntie’s house.
Sweetie, on the other hand, falls a little flat. Everything in her life seems to circle around to her being fat. She can’t throw the birthday party she wants because she’s fat, she can’t bring up about her running prowess without talking about her weight, she can’t date Ashish because she’s fat. It gets a little monotonous because the reader knows how this is going to end.
The plot follows common rom com tropes, and it’s nothing super original. Still, the story is short and sweet, and Ashish shines as a new-and-improved version of himself. The nods to Dimple and Rishi are hilarious, but it was definitely the culture that made this a must-read. Sandhya Menon has figured out the dynamics of an Indian-American family in a way that no other YA author has, and I’m super grateful for that! Also, she speaks from the heart while chronicling Sweetie’s story, and parts of it do ring true.
Overall, this is a great light summery read, and it’s full of funny scenes while still sending a wholesome message.
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