So this review is going to be a giant, “you need to read this book because it was so fun and heart warming and moving” kind of thing. From Twinkle, With Love was exactly the fun romantic comedy I needed to read. It drew me out of my slump and kept me up way past my bedtime. You cannot help but read this book once you’ve started.
Summary
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?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this free book from Netgalley. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Reviews like these are so hard to write. It’s hard to write book reviews for the books you love. Your emotions are all over the place and days after finishing all you can think is, “can I press pause and read this book again?“. It’s all emotions and flailing and gushing and screaming. So to make sense of the chaos I’m going to list the reasons why I loved this book (there are many)
- The book is told in letters to Twinkle’s favorite filmmakers. Um, yes. This was amazing. It was like reading an epistolary novel but also love letters and confessionals. This was about bearing your soul to your role models, to people who you think share a piece of your soul. So. Darn. Wonderful.
- Here characters have a vivid personality from the very beginning of the book. They pick you up, sweep you off your feet, and instantly make themselves a home in your heart. Come on in Twinkle and Sahil!
- Female friendship is a big part of this book – mostly in the ‘how do you repair a friendship’ kind of way. I want more books about girls having to call each other out. They have a lot of work to do, bridges to repair, and tough conversations that need to happen. Maybe it’s because I really never learned how to do that. I know that calling someone out can be an act of love, but I never learned how to do this. So I loved that this is touched upon in the book.
- There is a wry humor to the writing. It’s definitely teenage in the best parts of the awkwardness, of the chasing dreams, and of the first crush variety.
- At the heart of the book is the challenge of marching to the best of our drum when we can’t hear the music.
- There’s a swoony romance aspect which is just so touching and heart warming.
- I liked Twinkle because she embodied these times we make mistakes and have a hard time owning it. It’s about when we get so wrapped up in the quest for happiness that we miss the point entirely. There’s a little bit of Twinkle in all of us – in the ways we make mistakes, ways we lash out, and the ways we need to make ammends.
The TLDR is you need to read this book. Go grab yourself a copy and check it out on Goodreads.