I love 10 Things I Hate About You so of course I’m going to be intrigued by a book called 10 Things I Hate About Pinky. At the start of the year I read Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon but was pretty disappointed by it. Everyone seems to love the When Dimple met Rishi books so I decided to give Pinky a go! And I was not disappointed at all. Let’s dive into my review.
The follow-up to When Dimple Met Rishi and There’s Something about Sweetie follows Pinky and Samir as they pretend to date—with 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 (aka boyfriends) she’s made, she hatches a plan. Get her sorta-friend-sorta-enemy, Samir—who is a total Harvard-bound Mama’s boy—to pose as her perfect boyfriend for the summer. 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.
10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon
on 21/07/2020
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 368
Format: Audiobook, ARC
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads
I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Cover
Are you tired of me saying I don’t like people on covers? #sorrynotsorry. But I’ll admit, this one is really well done. You don’t see much of the girls face so you can still imagine her the way you want to. But at the same time she does capture the essence of Pinky so the cover fits the story really well. I love all the colours on the cover and think they did a pretty good job.
Review
I got an eARC through Netgalley but ended up listening to the audiobook on Storytel. It’s the end of summer and this is the prefect summer book. If you want to hold on to those summer feelings I’d suggest you pick this one up. I haven’t read the first two books in this series but I never felt like I missed anything. There was a cameo I think but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment.
This book deals with two of my favourite tropes; fake dating and a bit of enemies to lovers. Just throw any (or preferably both) of them my way and there’s a big chance I will enjoy the story. Pinky and Samir are completely different people and they both have their own reason for the fake relationship.
We all know where this story is going and the story was pretty predictable. But it didn’t really bother me, especially not since the characters were so well written and I was quite invested in them. With a book like this the characters are really the most important aspect and Sandhya did a great job in my opinion.
Pinky is a very different teenager than I was but I really enjoyed reading about her. She has a wonderful, sister like relationship with her cousin and I loved that about this book. They really support each other. Apart from Pinky’s (fake) relationship with Samir this book also focusses on her relationship with her mother. And I think that might even be my favourite part of the book.
Samir is a great and very steady character. I love his development and his banter with Pinky. While they are basically polar opposites, they do support each other and are exactly what the other one needs. I was laughing out loud so much while listening to this book and the banter was in large part the blame for that haha.
All in all this was an adorable summer contemporary and I really enjoyed it. I also quickly have to give a shoutout to DQ and the butterfly conservatory, both were excellent additions to the book!
