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mel_muses's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
”If you still recognize me, I must be doing something right. It means I haven’t changed so much that I’m no longer myself after all.”
IYSRM follows Elsie, a bi girl in the UK who has just one summer before starting at Cambridge for uni. Elsie is determined to use this summer to finally admit her crush on her Internet best friend, Ada. But then her childhood best friend comes back into the picture and Elsie’s summer turns into a whirlwind of evolving feelings, family secrets, and an attempt at reconnecting long-lost loves.
Elsie has so much of me: a queer girl who struggles to make friends, but when she does, it’s with her whole heart. An awkward person who uses fanfiction and fandom as an escape from her life, as something to keep her going. Even in our differences, there’s something about her that’s striking: where I’m obsessed with mounds of queer books, she’s obsessed with a queer-coded comic series. And as someone who is also academically-driven, I felt her need to escape into fiction in such a matter of fact way. Where I don’t crush on people, Elsie most certainly is in love with Ada. I can relate to that feeling of loving someone across thousands of miles, even if it isn’t romantic.
There are also so many parts of Elsie I don’t — and can’t — understand. I am not Chinese like Elsie, nor do I have trauma from a toxic relationship like she does. But the fact that she exists for other people too and has touched the lives of my friends — Meilin and Naomi, who I read this with, and Micah and Cel, who I associate with this story — makes this book needed.
But beyond the characters, I loved the journey Elsie goes on, trying to reconcile who she was with who she is with who she wants to be. The romance, the friendships, the family relationships are all handled with such nuance and care. There’s something so special about how feelings evolve, how they can bloom into something unexpected and make you realize some of the most personal discoveries.
This book is for all Elsies out there: I hope you find that there will always be someone who recognizes you.
Trigger Warnings: homophobia and biphobia (internalized, targeted, microaggressions), toxic relationship recounted, off-page grandparent death, off-page disownment, internalized racism, fetish for Asian women by an off-page side character
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Toxic relationship, and Homophobia
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Death
axel_p's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
this was the story that i needed at the moment.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Biphobia, Death of parent, Grief, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
purplesaturday's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Biphobia, Racism, and Lesbophobia
moodreaderlesbian's review
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
2.0
I dnf-ed this book in July but found it on my bookshelf today so I decided I'd give it another chance before the year ends but it didn't get better. There were too many things going on but none of them seemed too relevant and in the end quite a few plotlines seemed weird fillers to me that had little to no relevance to the story. I also found it boring, even though I was only looking for a beach read when I initially got it. Such a shame, I was so excited to read this book and it didn't live up to the hype about it on tiktok or my expectations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia and Biphobia
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