10 Things I Hate About Pinky, by Sandhya Menon, Simon Pulse, July 21, 2020, Hardcover, $18.99 (young adult)
If you’re one of my regular followers, then you know that I’m a fan of author Sandhya Menon, especially her “Dimpleverse.” Starting with When Dimple Met Rishi then There’s Something about Sweetie and followed with her latest novel, 10 Things I Hate About Pinky, the Dimpleverse is YA romance perfection.
10 Things I Hate About Pinky stars Pinky and Samir, polar opposites who pretend to date in order to accomplish individual goals.
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 she’s made (a.k.a. boyfriends she’s had), she hatches a plan. Get her sorta-friend-sorta-enemy—who is a total Harvard-bound Mama’s boy—to pose as her perfect boyfriend for the summer.
When Samir’s internship falls through, leaving him with an unplanned summer, he gets a text from Pinky asking if he’ll be her fake boyfriend in exchange for a new internship. He jumps at the opportunity; Pinky’s a weirdo, but he can survive a summer with her if there’s light at the end of the tunnel.
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. —Synopsis provided by Simon Pulse
10 Things I Hate About Pinky features some familiar characters from Sandhya’s Dimpleverse, but isn’t dependent on previous books. It’s exactly what I’ve come to expect from Sandhya, and it’s a delight.
10 Things I Hate About Pinky is contemporary YA romance at its best. It’s funny, nuanced and authentic. It’s fast-paced and quirky and heartfelt. Pinky is a rebel with heart. She’s relatable and her flaws are what make her likeable. Samir is a little harder to read at first, but he’s perhaps even more complex than Pinky.
This — or any of the books in the Dimpleverse — are worth reading more than once.
