I loved Dimple and Hidier is an amazing writer. The imagery and language is so beautiful. The characters are really strong too–I loved the way Dimple & Gwyn’s friendship changes throughout the book, and the fact that Dimple’s relationship with her family & Gwyn is almost as important if not just as important as the romance. Really smart stuff about gender and cultural identity and art and growing up.

Dimple is American. Or Indian. I guess it all really depends on who you ask. Dimple herself isn't sure; she doesn't feel that she fits in anywhere.

Dimple misses her best friend, Gwyn, who isn't around much since having a boyfriend. And Dimple's parents set up a meeting for her with a suitable boy, which she wants nothing to do with. Turning 17 seems that it has only made life more complicated for Dimple.

I've seen this book on a number of different lists on Goodreads for quite a while now and I've thought that it looked interesting. When I saw there was a giveaway up for it, I decided to enter. I was very happy when I was notified that I won a copy of this from a goodreads giveaway.

I felt I could relate to Dimple in many ways. I had to find myself, to learn about my mixed heritage (Cherokee, Welsh and German) and for years try to fit in a box I thought everyone wanted me to fit into. Although Dimple isn't of a mixed heritage, I found our struggle the same. Trying to find where to fit in. It's definitely hard when you feel you're not enough of something, or even treated that way.

This book really got me to thinking about culture and heritage. Being a mixed Native and not even looking Native at all, I'd had my share of insults. Wannabe, for instance, and no heritage. I've found that Native Americans think that white people have no heritage, which is why they want to connect with Native culture.

Everyone has a heritage, but I think, at least when it comes to America, everyone also loses their heritage, their culture, if they don't try to hang onto it. You come to live in America, you're born here and well, you just do American things. I guess you could say American's own culture, own heritage just kind of takes over. 

We all have a heritage, a culture to go with it, but sometimes it's lost and it can happen to everyone. 

But finding yourself is a journey and this book definitely took me on a journey. I think this book is labeled as chick-lit, but it's much more than that. You won't find stereotypes here or cliches. All that is to be found is honesty; a character that I think many people (female or male) could relate to. 

Despite what her best friend Gwyn thinks, Dimple is not perfect. And while she may have a stable life, I don't think it is completely perfect either. Dimple's parents do care for her, but they do want her to be like them, because I think they figure she will be happy that way. To make it simple, there is a lot of misunderstanding between Dimple and her parents, which I could also relate to.

I liked Dimple; Gwyn too, even if at times I wasn't very happy with her. I understood why Gwyn did the things she did though. She wasn't a bad person, but like Dimple, she was lost too and just trying to find her way, a place to belong.

I can't say that I've ever read a chick-lit book before, but don't let that label put you off. This book is so much more than that. Sure, it has some dramatic parts. Maybe some would call it teen drama, but it's honestly deep and thought-provoking. This book has given me a lot to think about and I know this book will be one that stays with me.

I can't wait to read the sequel and hope it is as good as this one. 

I feel a little silly giving this book up seeing as I've read 200+ pages of it so far. But it's a library book. I have 10+ library books out right now. This one isn't holding my attention. I've read 200+ pages but it feels like nothing much has happened yet. In many ways it feels like I just reached the start of the plot. I'll give it another try some other time.

ETA: I really liked that the book was unapologetically Indian. By which I mean, not everything was explained to death. It's something I've noticed particularly in Korean YA books, but anything too Korean is explained again and again. It's annoying because it makes the books feel like they're written for outsiders (people reading the book won't know halmoni so I'll emphasize it's meaning ten times in two paragraphs) rather than Korean teens who would understand all of that without the explanations (unrelated note: I really want some kimchee now). 

Hidier avoids that which I loved, even if I was constantly looking things up while reading the book. 

Also, I have a love/hate relationship with Gywn (it seems like most readers really dislike her). Yes, she's annoying, but I liked some of the conversations she raised as the white friend (especially when she was talking about the invisibility of whiteness). I just feel like I've known a lot of people like Gwyn, so it was nice to see that reflected in a book. 

There was a lot to like about this book. I really enjoyed Dimple's voice as our protagonist, and Hidier did an amazing job at bringing this world to life. When we're in the club or Dimple is lost to her photography, I too, was completely immersed and right there with her. I also really liked that at its heart, beyond being about identity, this book was about love. Romantic, platonic, familial and self. I think there were some wonderful messages for readers to absorb but done in a way that was sweet and funny.

That said, there were a lot of things that drove me nuts. First off, it took a while for the book to get going. Once it did, I felt like it took off, but I waded through the first 30% wondering if it was all going to be talky musings about where Dimple fit in. Which brings me to my other peeve - I felt like too many things were presented in terms of extreme black and whites instead of subtler shades of grey. For instance, Devi, for all her talk of being caught between India and America, has a point where she starts to read about Hindu gods and the history of India. This threw me. I was raised Jewish in an extremely secular household, and yet, as a child, I had no choice but to listen to stories and histories about my heritage. Then, in her relationship with her parents, she knew nothing of their pasts. Not how they met, not that her mother loved to dance. Again, just going by my own experiences, and what I remember of talking with friends as a teen, we weren't totally clueless as to who our parents were.

The biggest bump for me, however was that Dimple had no backbone whatsoever. She was a total doormat and Gwyn, her best friend was a total bitch. We kept being told how amazing their friendship was, but I didn't see any evidence of it. It felt more like Gwyn being her only friend was someone Dimple had to hang on to or be left alone. Except that's not how it was framed. I was glad when there was at long last the inevitable fight, but even then, I didn't feel like it went far enough. Suddenly Gwyn was twisted into this sympathetic character that had Dimple apologizing for her own selfishness. 

Also, Gwyn and all blondes were just so idolized. I grew up in a place where I was very much regarded as "other". I had no references, no one else like myself to identify with. Not even in books or movies. I understand looking at/trying to work out my own relationship to the "ideal" - but the author again, so extremely just presented this one type as what Dimple strived for. This book was published in 2002? Perhaps by this point, Dimple's world could have been more complex and thus even more challenging than the simple "let the blonde reign as queen wherever she goes."

Happily though, there was a lot of very positive portrayals in this book. The central love story was very sweet and ultimately, I was glad to have read this book.

Thank you to Scholastic and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.