We bring things back to the Patal family about two years later with Ashish Patel suffering through the throes of the worst kind of hurt, heartbreak. Celia cheated on him and it seems his mojo is lost for good. He can’t flirt, can’t play basketball and he can’t even work up his Ash-smolder. Worse is that whenever he tries to put himself out there, he word-vomits to the hottest girl in school. He just feels that he won’t ever get over his heartbreak. What does it say about him that the one girl he ever loved didn’t love him back? Is there something about him that prevents him from forming a real connection?

Sweetie Nair sort of has a similar problem. The thing is she has never dated and her mom seems set on preventing her unless she gets thin. In fact a lot of things seem out of reach for Sweetie because she’s not thin enough accoridng to Amma which she knows is totally BS. If only she could get the courage to tell her mom that and move on from her internalized fatphobia to embrace everything she is. She’s the best athlete, a great singer, loyal friend, top student, she is all those things and her outward appearance shouldn’t define her.

So when her Amma says no to an arranged date with Ashish Patel because she feels Sweetie isn’t in his league, Sweetie’s done. She’s unleashing the Sassy Sweetie project to prove to herself that she can achieve happiness just the way she is.
As for Ashish, he is reluctant about this idea to allow his parents to arrange him up but it worked for Rishi. . . Only his ideas of his parents picking up a boring, traditional Indian girl to “tame him” are blown out of the water immediately when he meets Sweetie and she challenges to him a race that leaves him in the dust. She’s strong and insightful and beautiful but can he really give her the emotional connection she deserves with Celia clouding his thoughts?

Wow, I think I have found new insight to the mind of Ashish Patel and possibly an even sweeter love story! While Rishi and Dimple have a great miscommunication to love sort of arc, I really enjoyed the friendship and communication Ashish and Sweetie shared from the beginning. There was clear chemistry and it was wonderful to see it all unfold.

While Ashish was presented as a cocky player in the first book, he is completely off his game here which makes him sweetly vulnerable. In fact he sees himself as a cocky player and wants to go back to his “normal” but he really is so much more than his self-perception as the Americanized black sheep of his family. He’s compassionate, loyal and a good friend. Even though he can be selfish at times, he does work hard to make others know that he cares for them and they’re a priority. That’s what made his connection with Sweetie so . . (I know cliche) sweet.

He tried to present himself as honestly as he could an dnot once did he judge her for her appearance but her character. Plus I enjoyed the role reversal of the guy having his heat stomped on. I mean it sounds mean but I’ve read so many books with girls dealing with heartbreak but rarely from the guy’s POV and it is interesting to see how societal standards of manliness prevents Asish from acknowledging it fully. He thinks he’s lame for still hurting three months later and keeps telling himself to get over it. But as Sweetie said, Celia was important to him, he needs the time. I won’t spoil it but I enjoy how that conflict is resolved and how everyone comes out of it, not perfect but three-dimensionally enough.

As for Sweetie, she was a wonderful character. Insightful and self-aware, of herself as well others. She could be a great counselor if she ever decided to add another skill to her double threat of singing and running. She’s at once confident yet insecure which makes sense since there are so many people who judge and criticize chubbier people. But Sweetie was uplifting in that she knows better. She knows she’s capable of so much more and her body doesn’t define. Better yet, she takes steps to embrace herself and doesn’t stand for strangers trying to pull her down.

Menon wrote in her author’s note that she was using the body posivitivity movement as her mindset when writing this where the word is used as a descriptor just as Indian-American, girl and athelete are. They are words that describe Sweetie and while fat has negative connotations, that’s what society has put on the word. She chooses to ignore those connotations because she knows she’s healthy and it’s the body she inherited from her father’s side. It also helps that she has a wonderful support system in the form of her friend group (they are so cool and so supportive!).

Speaking of friend groups, Ashish has a booming one as well with their own romantic problems that serve as a subtle foil to Sweetie and Ashish’s blooming romance in regards to trust and communication. It also discreetly sets up the next book as I can see unresolved tension emmenating from Pinky and Samir.

But back to Sweetie and Ashish. Specifically, Sweetie. Her Amma serves a major character as a challenge for Sweetie to overcome in regards to her self-esteem. She feels that her Amma is ashamed of her and while Menon gives clear reasons for why Amma feels this way and the root of their different mindsets, she also clears the way for them to find some common ground even if there’s a lot of work to do. What I mean to say Amma is clearly wrong how she handles Sweetie and her feelings at times, but she isn’t completely villainzied.

Additionally, I love Ashish’s parents even more. They help Sweetie and Asish in “sneaking around” Sweetie’s parents by creating three sanctioned dates that involve Asish getting into his heritage that he has pretty much avoided like any rebellious teen. It was super cool to have the culture like mandir and the Holi Festival being woven into the story and have Ashish reconnect to it in his own way. Plus Holi just sounds super fun.

Also there’s a Battle of the Bands (yep lots of stuff going on in this book and it only takes place over a month) that serves as a truly triumphant moment for Sweetie. Oh and parrots, I won’t spoil that part but it’s very funny. Lots of witty dialogue and amusing moments in this book.

I must add that the pacing had improved from the first book which I mentioned it felt like the chapters were unecessarily short and the POVs changed too quickly between the two. Here it flowed well and kept the story engaging.

My one nitpick would be that sometimes Ashish seems too insightful for a teenage boy and in touch with his feelings but I also didn’t mind as maybe he was very reflective of himself during his break-up. Plus it’s romance, you got to love some self-awareness from the heroes that doesn’t come in a last minute epiphany.

Also a random thought but I could have sworn there was a hint of hidden depths from the superficial daughter of the mom-mean girl, Sheena and Tina (Yes, their names match. The mom is Tina, the daughter, Sheena. I totally bet she’s living vicariously through her daughter) when the mom cuts Sheena off before she speaks regarding who she’s taking from prom. With how Menon focuses on mother-daughter relationships I could totally see the mom micromanaging and arranging Sheena’s dates so the family can social-climb in the right circles. But that was one conversation and had no impact on anything else so I may have just take one thing and made up a whole backstory from it. The life of having a writer’s mind.

But still, I could totally see a story of the perfect popular girl breaking free of her mom’s controlling grasp and have a secret relationship with someone her mother doesn’t approve but allows her to be herself. Perhaps even an interracial one to just drive the teenage rebellion home.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic. Sweetie and Ashish’s relationship was heartwarming and I loved seeing it grow. I can’t wait for the next one in the series.

5 stars!