Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

More Gossip Girl than Grimm’s

Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

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I had not read Sandhya Menon’s breakout hit When Dimple Met Rishi, but I’m a sucker for a fairytale retelling, so when this book appeared in my Libby app, I went ahead and decided to try it out. I’m always looking for something enjoyable to listen to when walking the dog, and this seemed like it’d do the trick. The setup is simple: it’s a retelling of Beauty & the Beast which shades of Romeo & Juliet. The Emerson and Rao families have been at odds […]

The ones that I couldn’t finish (NOT my double Cannonball!)

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

Trelegemeproblemet (The Three-Body Problem) by Liu Cixin

Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

American Demon by Kim Harrison

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Dear readers, I’m not going to lie, I’m racing against the clock to get all of my reviews finished in time for the CBR12 deadline (12 noon EST – or 6 pm Oslo time). I also need to finish 25% of the final novel I’m reviewing, co-parent my autocratic, demanding, and rather clingy almost-three-year-old, plan and prep a three-course New Year’s meal, and possibly do some last-minute shopping. No pressure, right? So when fellow Cannonballer Pixifer posted a review with all of her DNF’s for the year, […]

Youths, amiright?

The Distance Between Us by Kasie West

There's Something About Sweetie (Dimple and Rishi #2) by Sandhya Menon

Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren

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Okay, Twice in a Blue Moon isn’t YA but it also wasn’t very good so I’m shoving it in here. These were all middling to fair kissing books — two chaste YA novels and one sexier (but really, not very good) adult novel. (3 stars) The Distance Between Us by Kasie West “A lot of people don’t get my humor. My mom calls it dry humor. I think that means “not funny,” but it also means I’m the only one who ever knows it’s a […]

“If no one says, This is me, this is what I believe in, and this is why I’m different, and this is why that’s okay, then what’s the point?”

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

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Well, that was adorably sweet. YA that falls into New Adult Romance isn’t normally my thing, the characters are just so young (but I don’t mind them in movie format? To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before was very enjoyable on Netflix but I still don’t care to pick up the book). I know most authors land their endings on HFN for just that reason, but while I’ve enjoyed books like Anna and the French Kiss I generally tend to stay away. But the description […]

Didn’t really give me the feels

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

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Dimple Shah wants to avoid the usual expectations for a young woman in her family – namely she will very quickly find a suitable husband and settle down with a bunch of kids. For Dimple that is so far off in the future, but her parents don’t feel the same way. Amazingly they still let her attend Insomnia Con, a summer programme for coding with a competition aspect that may lead her to her idol. Dimple is thrilled, but of course there’s a catch. That […]

I didn’t love most of this. But I did love one part a whole lot.

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Last year, I was surprised and delighted by When Dimple Met Rishi. It was such a refreshing and adorable YA romance. I was excited about Sandhya Menon and the way she represented strong, independent, intelligent women growing up in households of Indian immigrants. I loved the way she described the balance between old cultures and new, and the way both Dimple and Rishi respected the old ways while trying to invent their own. I was thrilled when I got this book in a package from […]



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