Match Made in Mehendi

As a woman in her 50s, I still enjoy reading books for other audiences - and this one was not only written for a more youthful audience but from a cultural perspective that is very unfamiliar to me. There were a few points where I found the introductions of cultural elements a little intrusive- not that Simi was surrounded by her culture, but the way the book translates it for her readers. I'd almost rather see a glossary! HOWEVER, while that approach threw me out of the story a few times early on, I found myself really caught in this story. Simi is a strong young woman, with an interesting friend group, and a loving, supportive, and sometimes annoying family. She's very relatable. The story had some serious intensity at points, but didn't let the tension.linger long enough to make it unpleasant. On the whole, I (woman in her 50s that I am) found it a real page-turner, and a charming, heart-warming one at that.One of my work friends is also Sikh, a fact I discovered after buying the book, and is also very interested in hearing my thoughts. I look forward to discussing it with her and will look for more opportunities to read this author!

Find a book. Read it’s synopsis. Picture it and deduct whether you’ll read it or not. Reading this book’s cover made me think “Oh this sounds cute but I doubt I’ll ever read it”. Miraculously, I ended up reading it and saying I was pleasantly surprised doesn’t do it justice…but telling you I read it in one sitting sparing only a few hours of my time would more than suffice.“People are people.” “and love is love”.Simi just wants to have a fresh new year in high school. Gain some status, make some new friends, and maintain her normal teenage life. One day she accidentally hooks her cousin up with an eligible bachelor her family thinks it’s time she join the family matchmaking business. She wants no parts of her mother’s old love matching ways, instead she, her brother, and her best friend Noah get together to start a quiz matching app to hook their high school peers up. Everything starts out good until they match up the most popular boy at school and a new girl.I am so happy I got an early copy of this. I am so happy took the time to read this! To say I simple enjoyed this book would be a massive understatement. I could relate to the characters, some of their motive, and actions. There tragic moments, touching moments, and even laughable ones as well but what captures me in the end was the camaraderie. Friends coming together to make things right! There’s a little bit of everyone for someone— lgbt friendly, cute quirky main character, adorable meet cutes, and a mean girl take down. I would definitely this to any everyone and I am a complete stan that can’t wait for a movie!!!

The reviews are right-- If you like "Born Confused," you'll LOVE Nandini Bajpai. She's created a world where the characters are brave and vulnerable, and the resolutions are deeply satisfying. Loved it!

This was such a sweet story, and it feels rare to find books these days that nest in the early YA category as we so often leap from middle grade into late high school. The 15-year-old voice here feels fully authentic as Simi struggles with questions about dating and school social dynamics and where her future might take her. Though a lot of the plot revolves around a matchmaking app, the heart of this story for me was in the love between friends and family members. It's the kind of book where the heroine is surrounded with such care and support, even her biggest threats seem conquerable. Her own romantic arc is quite cute as she grapples with the attentions of two very different boys. She also fights back against a school bully and helps her bestie find his own partnership. And it's all set within an environment filled with music, food, family history, art, and joy. Tons of fun.

Very engaging likeable characters. I enjoy the author’s way of telling their story keeping me engaged from start to finish. I love the details of the matchmaking family connection.

See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! Simi and her entire family are Indian, as is the family of her love interest Suraj Simi’s best friend Noah is gay There are a few same-sex relationships mentioned in passing and the app is inclusive of all sexual identitiesSeeing as I’m aro ace and haven’t met anyone worth being in any kind of relationship with (except in my dreams that one time, but that is its own story), I’m unlikely to ever see a matchmaker or use a dating app. However, many other people will and do. Matchmaking is the family business for our narrator Simi’s family and her adventure in making it her own by combining modern technology with old-school techniques nabs her the popularity she wants, plenty of trouble she doesn’t, and a cute boyfriend she wasn’t expecting.Accidental matchmaking is utterly charming and it’s also where our novel begins: with Simi breaking a vase in a furniture store, creating a meet-cute between her cousin and the store owner’s son. That and what she’s learning as a half-unwilling apprentice matchmaker to her mom and aunt gives her the grand idea of a dating app that uses her family’s techniques. It helps that her best friend Noah is also looking for the thing that will make them popular and her brother Navdeep already built most of such a dating app. All it takes from there is a little fine-tuning to make it exclusive to current attendees of their high school, some creative flourishes, and a little bit of promotion.Apps like Tinder and various dating websites have produced some horrific stories of rape and murder, but Simi supervises every meeting and has all of them meet in public in the school library. That way, she can intervene if something goes wrong. Matched! is a hopeful vision of what app- and web-based dating could be, though it’s only workable because it’s restricted to their 500ish-person high school. School staff and administration scrutinize them multiple times over, but Matched! and how it’s run is always above board.So the tech is good, but the people are not. Simi’s top match is her friend and crush Aiden, but she’s also starting to crush on the new kid Suraj. Anyone worried about a love triangle will be pleased to hear there isn’t one; things with Aiden quickly end when he tricks her and tries to take credit for work she did on his art class project. Simi has a shiny spine and isn’t afraid to use it, especially when it comes to Aiden’s attempted theft of her mehendi (henna) art and Amanda, the resident racist mean girl.The strongest match on all of Matched! is between soccer buffs Ethan and Tea, but Ethan is Amanda’s ex-boyfriend and she wants him back. Since Simi is why they broke up (read: Ethan dumped Amanda after she put a ton of chewed-up gum in Simi’s hair), Amanda takes not being matched with Ethan very personally. The girl goes wild. Stealing Simi’s stuff, TPing Tea’s home, forcibly outing Noah to the entire school–it’s bad and she nearly gets away with it thanks to white privilege.Still, Amanda is shown compassion toward the end of the novel when the pressure to live up to her brilliant older sisters is revealed. Readers may not feel that’s enough to excuse or explain Amanda’s racism, homophobia, or harassment, but it sounds like her sisters were just as awful. Maybe she was just emulating their behavior.Though it’s been controversial, Netflix’s new show Indian Matchmaking still has its fans and anyone who enjoys it will probably love the sweet, nuanced tale told by A Match Made in Mehendi. The engagement party that ends the novel is probably one of my favorite scenes in recent memory.

Thoroughly enjoyed it!