Today’s theme is: Some Awesome YA! Be sure to check out the posts on Stephanie Perkins & Albertalli/Saeed too!
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT PINKY was my third Sandhya Menon title, and they are all delightful!
Menon has the ability to create truly engaging characters who are facing complicated life situations, and who use ingenuity and creativity to solve their problems while finding ways to stay true to themselves.
If they also find love with the person who comes to truly understand and appreciate them better than anyone else? All the better.
I don’t read many YA books, but when they are done well and with wit and heart, they stand toe to toe with the best books out there.
Menon is a special writer and her books are charming, entertaining reminders of what it is to be young, passionate and determined to make a mark in the world, while still trying to figure out how to navigate in that world and clarifying exactly who they are and what they’re willing to fight for.
These are incredibly bright and entertaining yet astute and insightful, too. Highly recommend.
Find the books: @Amazon
Sandhya Menon @Amazon
10 Things I Hate about Pinky @Amazon
10 THINGS I HATE ABOUT PINKY
The delightful follow-up to When Dimple Met Rishi and There’s Something about Sweetie, which follows Ashish’s friends Pinky and Samir as they pretend to date in order to achieve their individual goals, to disastrous and hilarious results.
Pinky Kumar wears the social justice warrior badge with pride. From raccoon hospitals to persecuted rock stars, no cause is too esoteric for her to champion. But a teeny tiny part of her also really enjoys making her conservative, buttoned-up corporate lawyer parents cringe.
Samir Jha might have a few…quirks remaining from the time he had to take care of his sick mother, like the endless lists he makes in his planner and the way he schedules every minute of every day, but those are good things. They make life predictable and steady.
Pinky loves lazy summers at her parents’ Cape Cod lake house, but after listening to them harangue her about the poor decisions she’s made (a.k.a. boyfriends she’s had), she hatches a plan. Get her sorta-friend-sorta-enemy—who is a total Harvard-bound Mama’s boy—to pose as her perfect boyfriend for the summer.
When Samir’s internship falls through, leaving him with an unplanned summer, he gets a text from Pinky asking if he’ll be her fake boyfriend in exchange for a new internship. He jumps at the opportunity; Pinky’s a weirdo, but he can survive a summer with her if there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
As they bicker their way through lighthouses and butterfly habitats, sparks fly, and they both realize this will be a summer they’ll never forget.
Happy reading!
(This review is part of Read-A-Romance Month. Hope you’ll come back every day to check out my book recommendations. You can find the calendar here. Also check out The Romance of Reading, a Facebook “book club” where we’ll have great authors guest hosting every week.)

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Enjoy!