Name: Erin 's review of From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon
Item: From Twinkle, with Love
Rating: 5
Author: Erin

Sandhya Menon

“Utterly charming.” —NPR “Cinematic.” —Teen Vogue “Funny and sweet.” —Buzzfeed “Dazzling.” —Bustle Three starred reviews for this charming romantic comedy about an aspiring teen filmmaker who finds her voice and falls in love, from the New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi. Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy—a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2. When mystery man “N” begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she’s fallen madly in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil. Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she’s got is not the one she’s scripted. But will it be enough? Told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, with Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you.

From Twinkle, with Love

Erin 

Mel 

2.75 stars 
I didn’t love this at all but I didn’t hate it. It reads more like a middle grade to me than a YA novel. I found Twinkle to be annoying/superficial/immature. She just really grated on my nerves. I didn’t like her friendship with Maddie or Maddie either. The letter format was also very confusing and disorienting. The constant repetition of groundling and feathered whatever was not my favourite. This book also tried really hard to be current and address things like feminism, lack of diversity etc in a very stilted (almost like the author just popped these things in random places) manner. It just didn’t flow or feel very natural to me. She still gets a star for trying to address these problems. I didn’t think I was going to finish this book but the one thing or rather person that kept me going was Sahil. I found his character arc to be way more interesting than Twinkle’s. He was just the cutest and honestly the best thing about this book. So that’s why I’m giving this 2.75 stars.

Soha

3.75 stars 

I liked this book more than 'When Dimple Met Rishi'. 

The female protagonist is much more bearable than in WDMR. I think her character development is well written. I loved the warm fuzzy feeling this book gave me :) 

Sahil is very sweet and it didn't take me long to fall in love with that character. 

I think the friendship between Maddie and Twinkle was very realistically portrayed.

Also, I love Dadi and she reminded me of my own grandmother(s). Especially regarding the part where the Grandma always understands the kid's side and tries to be the mediator between the parents and the child. 

The story does rely on some tropes but I found it enjoyable nonetheless.

Overall, it was a cute and light read :)

Jazelle H

For Twinkle, high school is split into two worlds--the invisible "groundlings" and the popular "silk feathered hats." When she has the opportunity to show off her skill and gain an upgrade from groundling to the world of silks, Twinkle uses her skills as a budding director to merge the two worlds and make a masterpiece in the process. Unfortunately, one crush, one secret admirer, and one equally-passionate fellow groundling make that just a bit more complicated than Twinkle was hoping for.

The excitably passionate, aspiring director Twinkle Mehra has a distinct, energetic voice that moves the story forward from the first page. Her story is told through a series of journal entries to her favorite female filmmakers, emails, and text messages, which provides an aftermath recap of Twinkle's experiences. While it's easy to connect to Twinkle's point of view of high school and friendships as a "groundling," the story and Twinkle's adorkable charm eventually lose their steam. Twinkle's emotions run towards the dramatic as the story reaches its falling action, but then again, high school always has a flare of drama to begin with.

All in all, this story starts with a riveting, rushing pace that should keep readers moving to the last page. The adorkable, film-loving, passion-driven Twinkle is sure to snag your attention with a voice that lives right off the page.

alexandra

2.5/5 – i can't decide if i love it or hate it. the process of reading it was so frustrating, but i appreciated other aspects.

things i loved:
(1) the diversity!! okay, yeah, DUH. From Twinkle With Love has amazing indian-american rep and doesn't disappoint in this aspect. 
(2) twinkle's passion for films! i love seeing characters who are REALLY passionate about something because i feel like we rarely see that. it's usually a side comment in media. it's frustrating because my teen life revolved around What I Want to Be When I Grow Up but you never see that. but this!! was the star of the show.
(3) the last chapter aka the last four pages. they were so great!! but enough to redeem the other 300+? kinda questionable.

things i didn't love:
(1) twinkle. i'm more of a character-driven book type of person; if i don't like the main character, there's a problem. i couldn't get over twinkle's insecurities and obsession with wanting to be friends with someone because they're popular, or downgrading herself/others because they were unpopular. it all felt extremely sad and juvenile. especially since it was such a Big Thing in the book! at one point, i thought to myslef, "if i hear the word 'groundling' one more time..." it's so frustrating when twinkle is so oblivious to like, everything. at one point, i realized o really pitied twinkle for her opinions and actions and that made me reaaaaaaally sad.
(2) the rest of the characters?? i found it hard to connect with anyone and everyone just felt plastic. some things felt overdramatic and lacked depth. the romantic relationship was cute, but also very frustrating; the frienships were heartfelt, but also very frustrating. see a pattern?
(3) the unnecessary drama?? a lot of it felt so so childish. i can't tell if i'm growing out of YA (i AM getting old...) or if some of this just reads as middle-grade. some of the things felt really petty and left me thinking, "does this really happen? is it really that bad?" of course, it's meant to make the story more interesting, the characters grow more, etc etc but like??? yeah.

i'm really sad i didn't enjoy this more because i really REALLY wanted to like it. this was actually one of my most anticipated books of 2018. maybe my expectations were too high.

Gillian Rose

3.5 stars.

There was a lot I liked about this (how she was writing to female directors and was making films) but it felt extremely juvenile compared to Menon's previous book, When Dimple Met Rishi. I also didn't completely like Sahil. Oh well

jess

“Geeks are smart and talented and passionate. I don’t think that’s a bad thing.” 


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.

BLOG | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM

Lauren Tabor

I adored this book! Twinkle is so relatable, I just loved being in her head and hearing all her quirky remarks. This was such a cute story and just had really good principles. 5/5 so good

'There's something irresistible about Sandhya Menon's novels - the romances are sweet and winning, the humor is cheerful and sly, and the families are warm and complicated' Stephanie Perkins __________________________________________ Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle has stories to tell - if only the world would listen. So when nerdy classmate and fellow film-obsessive Sahil approaches her to direct a film for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle can't wait. The chance to showcase her artistic voice? Dream come true. The opportunity to get closer to longtime crush, Neil - aka Sahil's twin brother? Dream come even truer. When Twinkle receives an email from a secret admirer - the mysterious 'N' - she is sure it's Neil, finally ready for their happy ending. The only problem is that, in the course of their movie-making, she has found herself falling for Sahil - the wrong brother. Twinkle soon realises that resistance is futile: the romance she's got is not the one she scripted... But will it have a happy ever after anyway? __________________________________________ Praise for Sandhya Menon and From Twinkle With Love: 'The hug your heart most certainly needs' Book Riot 'Funny and sweet' Buzzfeed 'Sandhya Menon is a welcome and needed voice in YA' Katherine Webber

The funny heartwarming romcom from the bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi

From Twinkle, With Love

Saima A

another 'distract me from my life' read. Somewhat predictable. But yes! Finally! to the accurate portrayal

courtney garrison

I loved When Dimple Met Rishi so I was so excited to finally read this book. I’ve been I a mood for sweet, cute, romantic contemporary reads this past month and this one hit the spot. Sandhya is known for writing cute contemporaries, so you know there will be romance in this book too.

Your MC Twinkle has always felt invisible to everyone around her. Her best friend has made new friends and she thinks her parents hate her. She wants to be a filmmaker and be seen by everyone. When she gets the opportunity to film a remake of Dracula she cast most of her classmates that she thinks dislikes her. She is so caught up throughout the book thinking she is completely invisible that she doesn’t see the people looking right at her.

I do admit the writing was a bit different for me in this book because it is written in a journal format. For me this made the book seem more heartfelt and private like you were snooping through a siblings diary. You get to see all of Twinkle’s personal thoughts on things happening around her.

Now I did have a few things that I disliked. One was how unbearable Twinkle became after the first few chapters. She becomes the Director of her movie and completely just goes all out on a power trip and is rude to everyone. She is also extremely mean at times to Sahil and she even writes in her journal about how she’s being unfair to him but never apologizes for it. She is constantly comparing Sahil to his brother Neil, that’s just so low and uncalled for.

There is a ton of diversity in this book and I loved it. Twinkle is Indian American, but there are also characters that are Asian, Black, Catholic, and LGBTQIAP. I loved that there were so many different characters from all sorts of backgrounds, it was amazing.

Overall I did love the book, It was a super cute contemporary. It was just what I need to get me out of my reading slump. I just wish some aspects of the book had gone differently, especially how she treated Sahil. If you loved her first novel When dimple met Rishi you will love this one.

Nedu

Sahi K

You know what I have concluded after reading this book – Sandhya Menon is an expert in bringing smiles on our faces. I was just so happy while reading this one and didn’t put it down until I finishing the whole thing.

Twinkle is an aspiring filmmaker but has always felt invisible in life and is quite scared to standup for herself. Things get worse when her BFF Maddie seems to be drifting away towards a popular clique of girls. When Sahil, the twin brother of her long term crush Neil offers her a chance to direct a film for the school festival and Maddie agrees to be the main lead, Twinkle believes this would solve her friendship and love life problems. But she also has to fight her connection with Sahil and her secret email admirer, N.

Twinkle goes through a lot in this book. She is scared initially and doesn’t know how to be more assertive, but as she gets into the groove of being a director, we see how the power affects her. The idea of everyone listening to her definitely changes her a lot because it’s something that has never happened to her before. We see her go through different stages of confusion, first love, arrogance, heartbreak and realization and it was great to explore all these facets of her personality.

Sahil is the most precious, sweetest, cinnamon roll ever. He has his own insecurities about always being in the shadow of his super successful brother but he doesn’t let that affect his pursuit of Twinkle. He truly sees her for the kind hearted, ambitious artist that she is and is always there to support her in whatever way she needs him to. Even when she is in the wrong, he doesn’t condescend to her and just tries to nudge her to realize her follies herself. I was rooting for them since their first cutest interaction because they were just perfect for each other.

The side characters in this book are amazing. Dadi is quirky and eccentric and was always there for Twinkle even when her parents couldn’t be. I loved seeing Twinkle come out of her shell and become friends with Sahil’s buddies Aaron and Skid. All of their conversations felt very sweet and effortless. I also loved her budding friendship with Victoria, who didn’t really turn out to be the mean girl. We also get to see Maddie struggling to manage her new friendship with popular Hannah while not alienating Twinkle but it doesn’t always work out.

The writing of Sandhya is super funny and so easy to read. Though this book doesn’t explore the Indianness of the characters as much as When Dimple Met Rishi, there is this desi feel to the writing style that I totally dig. The idea of writing the book in the form of letters to Twinkle’s favorite female filmmakers was wonderful and I could see how there was a little change in the type of content of the letters based on it’s recipient (and their filmography).

Overall, I enjoyed reading this a lot and after months of waiting for it, I’m so glad I wasn’t let down. Definitely recommend to all lovers of romcoms. Read and fall in love with Twinkle and Sahil.

laura

I wound up really liking this read. I sruggled a bit the her first book but this book was one that i really enjoyed. I loved how this book was told through letters and you did some both the female character and also the crush to be and was able to get in both of their heads. I wish we got into the boy head a bit more often. I also loved how this book tackled the film industry, friendship drama and complicated family dyamanics. I also love the twin dymnanics that was featured. I also loved how this book focused on indian culture and loved learning more about it. I will admit the end of the book did make me tear up. I am so excited to read more by this author in the future.

Jelke Lenaerts

I really love Sandhya Menon's writting and this book was no exception to that. I really liked the fact that this book really read like Twinkle's diary. I feel like that's a thing books like this often don't really acomplish. I also liked the add ins of texts between Sahil and his friends. It was nice to be get a glimpse into his version of these events. This book did lose me a bit though because I got so annoyed by Twinkle at MANY parts throughout this novel, especially during the middle. I also just felt like it all got resolved a bit too easily in the end. I HATE the trope where the main character pushes everyone away but then because of the movie is so heartwarming everyone forgives them. I've seen it in a couple of places and I've never seen it done well and in a way that seems believable to me. I also just didn't like that whenever Twinkle was called out for her mean behaviour she turned to feminism and said "if I were a guy no one would say this to me". It just made me roll my eyes. You can't be mean to everyone you come across for no real reason and then hide behind feminism when people call you out on it. But overall I did like the discussion around friendships and family within this novel. The ending actually made me tear up a bit. And Sahil was one of the best love interests I've ever read about. He deserved so much better.

Becca Futrell

I’m just glad Twinkle finally got her shit & attitude together. 

Also, Sahil is the BEST man.

Stephanie dOtreppe

This book is bursting with adorable charm. Going into it, I had two different expectations - one that thought it would be filled with goodness, and another that it would be overhyped, would overpromise, and underserve. But it is so not deserving of that second expectation. There were just so many unique parts of this book that I feel really separate it from all the other YA books out there in the world. It is these little details that make it its own entity, and push it that one step further. The diversity of the characters, across all spectrums, was also pretty impressive and it goes to show that it really doesn't take that much of an effort to identify with different audiences. Yes it's a romance, but that is a secondary or companion plot to the main story, which is the best way to possibly function. This book is an excellent example to illustrate the idea that YA isn't a genre just for teenagers, but instead can appeal to all sorts of wide audiences no matter their age. Because of this, I will almost certainly go back and read When Dimple Met Rishi, and I look forward to Sandhya's books in the future.

This review also appears on my blog in a longer, more cohesive post (and is also probably a lot better than this rambling of words I quickly put together (but also probably not)) here.

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Manon van Heumen

This was an amazing book! I loved it from beginning to end.

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram

Review also found here at Booked J. 

Ah, Sandhya Menon just knows how to tug at my heart! I cannot recommend her work enough to fans of Jenny Han and Stephanie Perkins. Last year's When Dimple Met Rishi was such a fun read and I felt like Menon was only just getting started. Spoiler alert: she DEFINITELY was and brought on the fluffy, warm and fuzzies with her latest book. Right now, if you were to ask me which I preferred, I would flinch and then run and hide from the question because they are both so... fun.

Menon's prose is just as sweet and to the point as it was in When Dimple Met Rishi, showcasing a very different, but still sweet, story. From Twinkle, with Love pulled me in from the start and I genuinely loved the characters we met throughout. I loved, loved, LOVED, the brief letters scattered throughout the novel. I feel like whereas When Dimple Met Rishi was a little more serious, but still quite lighthearted, From Twinkle, with Love, was a bit more soft and feel good.

What I loved most about From Twinkle, with Love, was that the two main characters were exactly as you want them to be: passionate and alive, but still flawed teenagers. There were many moments in the book where I scoffed at their actions, and more than a few moments of secondhand embarrassment for them, and I loved it!

Twinkle and Sahil felt real.

Menon is really great at writing from a teenage stand point. All the angst, the hope, the dreams, the little mistakes and fears--everything that makes youth, well, youthful, is present and ready to remind older readers what it was like to be a teenager; and to remind teenagers that they aren't alone in their flaws and passions. From Twinkle, with Love explores a lot of topics that create a balance of sweet and serious--each transition seamless and full of life.

I saw that a lot of readers took issues with Twinkle acting exactly as she should. She! Is! A! Kid! So, of course she is going to come off as self-centered and flawed. Isn't that the point? Since when do we critic teenagers for acting like teenagers? It's sad.

(And if that's your reason for not liking Twinkle, then we're going to have to have a conversation.)

(Kidding. But, seriously.)

That being said, there was a lot to love about this contemporary. Not only was the romance a sweet, first love, type of story--there were a lot of very real topics tackled. I loved the relationship between Twinkle and Sahil just as much as I liked the two as individuals. Twinkle's insecurities involving her place in school, and where she stands with her best friend, felt very real and relatable; in contrast, Sahil has a very different kind of insecurity involving whether or not he measures up to his twin brother. 

Overall, I adored From Twinkle, with Love. It was adorable, romantic and easy to read. Sandhya Menon does it again!

Isabella Stocka

REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

Say hi to Twinkle. She calls herself an invisible wallflower and her biggest dream is to make movies that would touch people. Oh, and there is a certain boy on the school swim team, Neil Roy, who happens to be Twinkle's crush.

And then there is Sahil. A huge film fan and he has a crush on Twinkle since forever. Oh, and he is Neil's twin brother. 

Twinkle lives a quiet life with her parents and her grandmother and thinks that no one is taking note of her and that her parents do not love her. So she writes letters into her diary to famous female directors like Sofia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow and tells them about her dreams and feelings.
After her best friend Maddie spends more time with a new group of friends she made she feels more alone than ever and daydreams about being Neil's girlfriend.
One day she meets Sahil in a cafe and starts talking to him. The next day Sahil heard how she talked to Maddie about the school play of Midsummer Night. While Maddie encourages Twinkle to ask for permission to do a movie out of it, Sahil offers to be the producer of this project.

The book is written from the point of view of both of them - Twinkle and Sahid. So you learn fast that while Twinkle is caught up in the movie project and receiving e-mails from a secret admire called "N" of which she is hoping he turns out to be Neil you also learn that Sahid is madly in love with her since he was 11 and only thanks to his two best friends finds the courage to make the first step at the cafe to talk to her.

Sandhya Menon does it again. She takes you on a journey into a wonderful story with fun and a lot of nerdiness combine with a clash of American and Indian culture.
The story is perfect and I wish I could forget that I read it and read it again! 
I am absolutely in love with her books.

Kate

From Twinkle, With Love was utterly adorable and a delight to read. It was filled with uplifting, funny, inspiring, strong, well rounded, imperfect characters and relationships. It was incredibly easy to read and my heart feels a little lighter after doing so. It made me smile, stress and squee in equal amounts. Although I didn’t enjoy this as much as When Dimple Met Rishi and there were a few plot points I didn’t love quite so much, I throughly enjoyed this book. I loved the nod to women in film and Twinkle’s journey to accomplishing her dreams, whilst discovering who she is and learning to believe in herself. Each and every moment of this reading experience was a joy and I would without a doubt recommend it.

Erin &
From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

Reviews

Join the club

Erin &From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon

Reviews

Join the club

Erin &
From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon