A review by readivine
From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon
2.0
DNF at 58%
This was a surprise at first then turned out to be a chore which explains the DNF.
I love the idea of having an Indian American YA heroine to read for once and a budding director as well, this was a first time for me. Twinkle Mehra is a 16-year-old "groundling", as what she calls herself, and seems to make it a life goal to be promoted into the ranks of the "silk-feathered hats" aka Shakespearean highschool hierarchy 2.0.
Initially, I enjoyed her inner monologues/ letters to iconic female directors. She was spot on the insecure teenage dork and I was so excited to see her strip the wallflower status. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to see that because harharhar she could be pretty annoying and begrudgingly self-centered in her own way.
To say that I DNF'd a book because of the MC really is laughable. I really did want to finish this at first but I realized why should I even continue if I don't really care about the characters anymore? [b:From Twinkle, with Love|36373464|From Twinkle, with Love|Sandhya Menon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519633175s/36373464.jpg|51394148] has important points to convey but I think a younger audience might have liked this more than I did. For a 16-year-old MC her voice and those of others seem very young and not fit with their age. Idk, it's just me huhuhuh.
Here are some points that I find problematic:
1. Twinkle's inclination to film wasn't really my thing here. I don't want to be offensive or anything but, her idea of filming a gender-bender Dracula was just too disappointing. She was passionate for making her art and I thought she'd be doing an original. I get that she was trying to bring a feminist-inspired theme, but a retelling????? Nope. Nada. Aside from the cute premise of the romance here I really thought I get to see a deeper presentation of creating such an intimate art. I was just disappointed because I thought I'd get to learn a lot of things about filming here but it turned out to be like a faded backdrop for the romance and her obsession w/ the "silk-feathered hats"
2. She also manages to be freaking ungrateful w/ Sahil. By jove, HE PAID FOR EVERYTHING.
3. There's also a scene where she tried to speak out to Sahil about her problems w/ the cyclorama w/c is actually fine. But I think the author highlighted this part as Twinkle's "reawakening". That just because she's a girl, doesn't mean everybody can trap her mouth shut. I TOTALLY GET THAT. But honestly? To do this just because of a petty backdrop somehow relays to the readers that girls can freely flip the "girls-had-it-so-much-worse-than-you-guys" card for almost every petty thing. I just hoped Twinkle had spoken out more with important shifts in the story. NOT BECAUSE OF A CYCLORAMA.
4. The dialogues suck.
5. The neat accidental meetups w/ Sahil. I mean I love Sahil but sometimes the romance was kind of too orchestrated for me.
Things I love in this book
1. SAHIL
2.SAHIIIILLL
3. S A H I L R O Y
He was the most endearing and awkward male lead omooooo. I love his dorkiness and his overflowing support to Twinkle. Which reminds me that TWINKLE DOES NOT DESERVE THIS WONDERFUL GUY.
4. Babi? or Babbi? Dadi???? what Idk the spelling hahahahah (I've listened to the audiobook) but Twinkle's grandmother was also one of the likable characters here.
5. The initial monologues of Twinkle especially in the first few chapters. THAT'S ALL.
Other than the things I've listed above, I see no reason for me to finish this. I'm sssssooorrryyy but I can't.
This was a surprise at first then turned out to be a chore which explains the DNF.
I love the idea of having an Indian American YA heroine to read for once and a budding director as well, this was a first time for me. Twinkle Mehra is a 16-year-old "groundling", as what she calls herself, and seems to make it a life goal to be promoted into the ranks of the "silk-feathered hats" aka Shakespearean highschool hierarchy 2.0.
Initially, I enjoyed her inner monologues/ letters to iconic female directors. She was spot on the insecure teenage dork and I was so excited to see her strip the wallflower status. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to see that because harharhar she could be pretty annoying and begrudgingly self-centered in her own way.
To say that I DNF'd a book because of the MC really is laughable. I really did want to finish this at first but I realized why should I even continue if I don't really care about the characters anymore? [b:From Twinkle, with Love|36373464|From Twinkle, with Love|Sandhya Menon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1519633175s/36373464.jpg|51394148] has important points to convey but I think a younger audience might have liked this more than I did. For a 16-year-old MC her voice and those of others seem very young and not fit with their age. Idk, it's just me huhuhuh.
Here are some points that I find problematic:
Spoiler
1. Twinkle's inclination to film wasn't really my thing here. I don't want to be offensive or anything but, her idea of filming a gender-bender Dracula was just too disappointing. She was passionate for making her art and I thought she'd be doing an original. I get that she was trying to bring a feminist-inspired theme, but a retelling????? Nope. Nada. Aside from the cute premise of the romance here I really thought I get to see a deeper presentation of creating such an intimate art. I was just disappointed because I thought I'd get to learn a lot of things about filming here but it turned out to be like a faded backdrop for the romance and her obsession w/ the "silk-feathered hats"
2. She also manages to be freaking ungrateful w/ Sahil. By jove, HE PAID FOR EVERYTHING.
3. There's also a scene where she tried to speak out to Sahil about her problems w/ the cyclorama w/c is actually fine. But I think the author highlighted this part as Twinkle's "reawakening". That just because she's a girl, doesn't mean everybody can trap her mouth shut. I TOTALLY GET THAT. But honestly? To do this just because of a petty backdrop somehow relays to the readers that girls can freely flip the "girls-had-it-so-much-worse-than-you-guys" card for almost every petty thing. I just hoped Twinkle had spoken out more with important shifts in the story. NOT BECAUSE OF A CYCLORAMA.
4. The dialogues suck.
5. The neat accidental meetups w/ Sahil. I mean I love Sahil but sometimes the romance was kind of too orchestrated for me.
Things I love in this book
Spoiler
1. SAHIL
2.SAHIIIILLL
3. S A H I L R O Y
He was the most endearing and awkward male lead omooooo. I love his dorkiness and his overflowing support to Twinkle. Which reminds me that TWINKLE DOES NOT DESERVE THIS WONDERFUL GUY.
4. Babi? or Babbi? Dadi???? what Idk the spelling hahahahah (I've listened to the audiobook) but Twinkle's grandmother was also one of the likable characters here.
5. The initial monologues of Twinkle especially in the first few chapters. THAT'S ALL.
Other than the things I've listed above, I see no reason for me to finish this. I'm sssssooorrryyy but I can't.