There's Something about Sweetie

Just like the first book, I loved this book from the beginning. I especially like the topics Menon decided to tackle through this book, one of them being weight and its correlation to likeability and how one is treated.She tackles this issue through the eyes of Sweetie who is perhaps the nicest and most thoughtful character I've ever "met". She is a star track athlete, Indian, and fat. In an attempt to prove to her mom, those in the Indian community, and herself that fat girls can do anything skinny girls can, she begins the Sassy Sweetie project. During this time, we get to see Sweetie grow into a girl who is confident in who she is and confident in how others perceive her.As a lovely companion to Sweetie, we get to learn more about Ashish. I wasn't sure what to think of him after finishing WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI, but I absolutely fell in love with him in this book. We see him fight against what he believes makes him inferior to his brother, strive to overcome his feelings for his ex, and work to become the guy he believes worthy of Sweetie.What I loved about this book, and it's something that I think we didn't see enough of in the first book, is the growth we see in both Sweetie and Ashish. They're each working towards different goals in their lives, but they're able to support and assist each other along the way.A couple of other things I loved about this include their friend groups and Ashish's healing time. Ashish and Sweetie both have "large" friend groups which, I'm guessing, can be hard for authors. They have to make sure that we readers get to know each member of these groups as individuals who have different personalities and different pasts. Menon did a great job with this. She would give us small scenes with the main character and one of their friends so we had a little more time to get to know the friend apart from the group. There was even some inner friend group drama to show us the friends' personalities a little better.Also, I loved that Ashish didn't just move on from his ex in the blink of an eye. He struggled to move one and was truthful with Sweetie about his struggles. This felt much more real than in some other books that I've read where the character is all-of-a-sudden over their ex with one look at their new love interest.Staying on the romance topic, I'm still a big fan of slow-burn romances so I wish I could have seen more of that. Or at least been able to simmer in the tension for a little while longer. Nevertheless, I still really enjoyed Sweetie and Ashish's relationship.Overall, it was another slam dunk from Menon, obviously. It was a beautiful romance, a story towards body-positivity, and learning to be yourself.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. And I do love the *idea* of this book. The message of self-acceptance and body positivity are ones I not only wholeheartedly embrace, but definitely want to see in media consumed by young people. Protagonists like Sweetie, who are fat and beautiful, accomplished, talented, athletic, are few and far between, and it was delightful to see her overcome obstacles both external and internal.I just wish the vehicle had more depth than an after school special. That’s about the level this story felt, with every conflict resolving tidily in the span of a chapter or two, every character responding more as the shiny, happy mannequin version we often wish people would be than the messy realities they are.I also had a hard time suspending disbelief about a couple of major plot points:1. Sweetie is the school’s top track star (really? She’s still F.A.T. while also being the fastest girl on the track team? Hard to believe.)2. Ashish, who has a history of dating “supermodel types” finds Sweetie incredibly attractive. In my experience, men are often drawn to a physical type, so if Ashish was programmed (by granted, very sexist and restrictive social standards) to be attracted to thin girls, to have him suddenly find a very different body type attractive strains credulity. I’m not saying it’s not possible, but I do find it unlikely, at least among the men I’ve known.On a less significant level to the plot, Sweetie’s cousin is an orthopedic surgeon, a rarity for a woman (I was surprised to discover from my own sports orthopedic surgeon), simply because of the intense physical effort involved in the work—hefting muscles, sawing bones, etc.All of this said, I must say I enjoyed the world that Menon created, loved learning about Indian culture, and would love to be part of Sweetie’s amazing gang of girlfriends!The story may have strained credulity, and been as flat as an after-school special, but it was still awfully sweet. I would like a world filled with more Sweeties and her friends!

Ahhhh! This book is so adorable and heartfelt and funny and awesome - my favorite rom-com (for any age group) that I've read in a long time. I adored both Sweetie and Ashish so much that after devouring the first 200 pages in a big gulp, I found myself slowing just because I loved them so much, I HATED the idea of them experiencing their inevitable black moment (that bit in every romance just before the end when everything seems to go wrong)...but I should have known better. They handle it perfectly, and so did Sandhya Menon, who has become one of my top 2 rom-com authors in the world (along with Lucy Parker).CW: Sweetie faces a lot of fatphobia from her mom, but she talks back to it in her head from the very beginning and I CHEERED for her empowerment throughout the book as she sets out to do everything she's been told (by her mother) that she can't do because of her weight. (Sweetie herself is profoundly body-positive from the very beginning, and a very emotional forward by the author talks about the ways in which Sweetie's experiences resonates with her own personal experiences as a teen - and how she wrote this book for every other girl facing those attitudes.)Sweetie is fabulous exactly as she is, Ashish sees that from the very beginning, and they are utterly adorable together - SO good for each other in every way. The painful relationship arc between Sweetie and her mom (who is a TERRIBLE parent in many ways - but is also believably driven towards those parenting attitudes by her own intense personal insecurities and fears, in a way that feels true and sad) is also a really powerful one.I love all the characters in this world so much. I would love to read more books about them! (I especially want Pinky's story.) When I finished this book, I felt like I was glowing internally, because I was so happy for Sweetie and Ashish - and now I really want to re-read When Dimple Met Rishi (about Ashish's older brother) now, immediately! The two books could be read in either order, and I think I love this one even more, but really, I just want to spend as much time with this family as possible. :)

Read this book as part of my 2021 POPSUGAR reading challenge - Body Positivity prompt. Loved this book and the way it tackled body positivity from a cultural aspect. Many times it’s within our own cultural stereotypes that body shaming and low self esteem comes from. I like that both main characters were athletes which is not the a-typical role of an Indian American.

this book is adorable. although second hand, it was in great condition. good price too

This is just the BEST book I've ever read. ♥️ Please, please get your hands on it and read it. I promise you the five hours you're going to spend reading Sweetie and Ashish's beautiful life story will be the most wholesome five hours ever. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll feel your heart melting and man, you're going to smile like you've been blessed by the sun itself. Just take my word for this and give this a read. It's one in a million. And I love it with all my heart! Beyond the multiverse. Sandhya, if you're reading this, please imagine me hugging you for ten minutes straight, sobbing like a baby and grinning like a fool. Thank YOU! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I love you. You've made me fall in love with myself.

Sandhya Menon writes brilliant romances! There's Something about Sweetie is heart warming, beautiful and so very empowering, especially to me because I'm like Sweetie too. Thank you Sandhya Menon for writing this adorable book!