10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon

e-ARC, 368 pages
Release Date: July 21, 2020
Published by: Simon Pulse
Read from: July 15-24, 2020
Dimple & Rishi, #3
Source: Edelweiss/Netgalley (I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss/Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.) 
TW:
For fans of: Social Justice Warriors, Intense characters, Dual POVs, POC on covers, POC MCs, Companions, Contemporary, Romance, Diversity, Diverse Authors, Realistic Fiction, YA

      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.

*MY THOUGHTS*

If you’re familiar with my reviews, you know that I liked Dimple and Rishi and I absolutely ADORED Sweetie and Ashish, so I was expecting to really fall for Pinky and Samir. As it turns out, I only fell for one of them.

“Why are you corpsing… on my couch?”

2%

Pinky always tries to help those things that can’t help themselves. From raccoons to opossums, she tries to help them all. Another thing she loves is making her parents angry. Then there’s Samir. He’s completely nice, buttoned up and just a great individual. But when the two make up a plan to be fake boyfriend and girlfriend, they start realizing there is more to both of them than they let on.

“What was wrong with being passionate and fiery and outraged? What was wrong with wanting the world to change, to expand it’s collective mind, to dig a little deeper to find the last dregs of empathy it could muster up?”

21%

When I heard Samir was getting a book, I was SO HAPPY. I have liked him since Sweetie’s book. I remember writing in the review of Sweetie that I wanted a Samir book and then Menon made it happen! And this book made me all over again. I thought he was easy to get along with and just an all around good kid. I liked seeing him get his happy ending. As for Pinky, I was not a fan. She just seemed so mean and angry all the time and I didn’t like how she treated Samir. I mean it’s one thing to fake date, but even while doing that she was so mean to him. Idk, maybe enemies to lovers isn’t for me. Whatever the case may be, this one did not work for me.

“Pinky frowned and leaned against the handrail. It seemed she had onlt three expressions: smirk like a jerk, frown in disdain, or glare with intent to maim.”

211%

Then there was the plot. I feel like this book went on and on, but it was so repetitive that nothing happened. They kept doing the same things: go to the country club, fight/argue, get over it, repeat. Because of this I wasn’t as into it as the others. It took me 10 DAYS to read a book this size. I just kept picking it up and putting it down. I definitely didn’t think it was up to par with the others.

“Seriously, don’t you ever think the whole planner thing is a little on the control-freak side? “Samir leveled a gaze at her. Sometimes beingin control is the only thing you have going fr you.”

1%

The main plot point, the romance, was almost non-existant as well. I think this may be another reason I didn’t like Pinky. They argued all the way up until like 80%. And in that last 20% they did the break-up before the happy ending, and THEN they got together. And by that time, it was already the end of the book. I know we (readers) always say we want a slow burn, but we also want some romance in our romance. I think I would have been more ok with it had they been trying to get it right at like 60%.

“I am not wreaking havoc. I’m paraticing in the havoc.”

87%

This wasn’t as great as the others that I loved, but Menon just knows how to write a book to keep you entertained. This one wasn’t my favorite, but I still want to read anything Menon writes. I hope this isn’t the end of Dimple & Rishi’s universe!

Overall, I give this

Have you read these books? What did you think of this one? Am I the black sheep? Let me know in the comments!