From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon

ARC, 327 pages

Release Date: May 22, 2018

Published by: Simon Pulse 
Read from: May 18-21, 2018

Stand-alone

Source: TxLA

For fans of:  Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Diverse Reads, Diverse Authors, Sparkly Covers, Girl Power, YA

     Aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra has stories she wants to tell and universes she wants to explore, if only the world would listen. So when fellow film geek Sahil Roy approaches her to direct a movie for the upcoming Summer Festival, Twinkle is all over it. The chance to publicly showcase her voice as a director? Dream come true. The fact that it gets her closer to her longtime crush, Neil Roy—a.k.a. Sahil’s twin brother? Dream come true x 2.
     When mystery man “N” begins emailing her, Twinkle is sure it’s Neil, finally ready to begin their happily-ever-after. The only slightly inconvenient problem is that, in the course of movie-making, she’s fallen madly in love with the irresistibly adorkable Sahil.
     Twinkle soon realizes that resistance is futile: The romance she’s got is not the one she’s scripted. But will it be enough?
      Told through the letters Twinkle writes to her favorite female filmmakers, From Twinkle, with Love navigates big truths about friendship, family, and the unexpected places love can find you.

*MY THOUGHTS*

“I don’t know if this is going to sound gross, but his insides match mine. I don’t know how else to explain it. I see what he’s made of, and it’s the same stuff I’m made of too, I think.“

pg. 84

     Twinkle has always been a wallflower, but suddenly she is given the chance to change the world by making her dream of directing a movie come true. This is also the time when she begins getting anonymous emails from someone named “N.” Who can only be her long-time crush Neil right? But all the ideas she had about the way her life was going, things are not going as planned. But that doesn’t turn out so bad.

“Moserey loves studying econ together.“

pg. 114

     I LOVED the love interrest. That person was so amazing, even when they thought they weren’t. I super identified with them as well. They were always in the background and I know all too well how that feels. (I have 2 other siblings and as the middle child, I’ve always been in the background.) I was so super proud of them for finally becoming the person they should’ve been the entire book. As for Twinkle, I didn’t connect to her as much. For a larger part of the story she was a huge brat. I was not always impressed with her. In the end I was much happier with her discovering herself more and deciding to do what she did, but by then, I already wasn’t a fan. I also didn’t like how she listened to her love interest instead of her BFF that she’s known forever.

“Maybe she gets off on making people feel small. I don’t know. But you’re not small, Twinkle..“

pg. 120

     As for the plot, I wish I could have seen more of the actual movie filming that they did. I mean, that was the WHOLE point of the book. But it was still good that we go to see a small part of it. I aslo really liked the way it was told through letters. It wasn’t at all choppy or missing anything, which I find is sometimes the case in books written like this or novels in verse.

“[they] are like gentle sun on a winter’s day. You automatically want to turn your face to it and soak it up.“

pg. 177

     Being back with Menon’s writing and meeting new characters made me completely happy. I can’t wait to see what else she has in store!

Overall, I give this