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sydnec's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexism
Minor: Abandonment
hazelgirl21's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Confinement and Abandonment
booklvrkat's review
emotional
funny
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
4.5
Absolutely a beautiful slow-burn romance with humor and family drama. I loved the character building, I loved the lessons of Amber, I even loved the corporate tension. For a debut author this story made my heart thump.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Classism
Minor: Sexism, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Alcohol
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Cultural appropriation, and Alcohol
Moderate: Confinement, Vomit, and Classism
Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Terminal illness, Violence, Excrement, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
paiges_on_pages's review against another edition
challenging
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Three cheers for the first Indigenous romance from a major publisher! Thank you Berkley for sending a copy my way.
Read if you 🩷:
• 💻 Workplace Romances
• 🌳 Found Family and Community
• 💜 Native American Representation
• 🦎 Lucky (But Ugly) Lizards
Unlike Ember, I have to be honest and admit that I have mixed feelings about this one. Danuwoa is the ULTIMATE book boyfriend. He’s a cat parent, his younger sister’s caretaker, and he’s flirtatious to no end. Plus, the man has a spine when it comes to the major conflict of the story! All in all, he’s the total package, and I would never want to get on his bad side. 💕
What I didn’t love so much was Ember and her constant lying. It got to the point that all of her fibs gave me anxiety the entire time I was reading! I went in thinking the only lie would be that she wasn’t mentioning her Native heritage on her job applications, but without spoiling too much, it’s a lot more than just that omission. If you like tension and the fear of getting caught, these scenes will be more for you than for me, but my little nervous heart could barely take it! 😅
💜 What kept me going was Danica Nava’s down-to-earth and detailed writing style. It truly feels like being in Ember’s head the entire time! Even without the author’s note near the end, it’s clear she pulled from her own personal experiences.
The truth, according to this reader, is that even with destructive pathological lying, there’s a lot of love, community, and passion in Nava’s debut novel. I hope this is just the first of many more romance novels from major publishers featuring Indigenous leads! 🥰
Read if you 🩷:
• 💻 Workplace Romances
• 🌳 Found Family and Community
• 💜 Native American Representation
• 🦎 Lucky (But Ugly) Lizards
Unlike Ember, I have to be honest and admit that I have mixed feelings about this one. Danuwoa is the ULTIMATE book boyfriend. He’s a cat parent, his younger sister’s caretaker, and he’s flirtatious to no end. Plus, the man has a spine when it comes to the major conflict of the story! All in all, he’s the total package, and I would never want to get on his bad side. 💕
What I didn’t love so much was Ember and her constant lying. It got to the point that all of her fibs gave me anxiety the entire time I was reading! I went in thinking the only lie would be that she wasn’t mentioning her Native heritage on her job applications, but without spoiling too much, it’s a lot more than just that omission. If you like tension and the fear of getting caught, these scenes will be more for you than for me, but my little nervous heart could barely take it! 😅
💜 What kept me going was Danica Nava’s down-to-earth and detailed writing style. It truly feels like being in Ember’s head the entire time! Even without the author’s note near the end, it’s clear she pulled from her own personal experiences.
The truth, according to this reader, is that even with destructive pathological lying, there’s a lot of love, community, and passion in Nava’s debut novel. I hope this is just the first of many more romance novels from major publishers featuring Indigenous leads! 🥰
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Abandonment
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, and Pregnancy
Minor: Drug use and Alcohol
bookishmillennial's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
This is a workplace / forbidden romance / forced proximity / there's only one bed indigenous romance, set in Oklahoma City. Ember, a Chickasaw woman, has had zero luck in her job search, so she finally changes her ethnicity on job applications to "white," and gets hired for an accounting role! She meets IT guy, Donuwoa (who she later calls "the Native daddy of my dreams" lmao get it girl!!!!), who is 100% off-limits due to the company dating policy. However, their tension continues to build, and they can't deny it any longer.
Beyond the romance, which I felt was a bit awkward and struggled in pacing (their first kiss felt very forced, and almost read as "insta love" to me), I appreciated the commentary on Ember's lived experience as a Chickasaw woman in a white corporate world. Though it may read as a bit heavy-handed to a more well-rounded and/or informed reader/human, I do recognize why authors include the racist, sexist, and classist micro-aggressions they do in their work.
I found the background of Ember's trauma to be written with great care and compassion, and think that is where Danica Nava's writing shone through brightest. I am excited to read more characters from her, as I do think she has got the character arc of her main character down very well.
Overall, this definitely reads to me as a debut novel because the writing felt a bit goofy, awkward, disjointed and relied heavily on exposition, but I think the author has promise and I have faith that Danica Nava's writing will improve with more experience.
With all that said though, I'm really excited to see this author's growth in her writing journey, and will definitely give her another chance.
steam rating: 2.5 out of 5
This is a workplace / forbidden romance / forced proximity / there's only one bed indigenous romance, set in Oklahoma City. Ember, a Chickasaw woman, has had zero luck in her job search, so she finally changes her ethnicity on job applications to "white," and gets hired for an accounting role! She meets IT guy, Donuwoa (who she later calls "the Native daddy of my dreams" lmao get it girl!!!!), who is 100% off-limits due to the company dating policy. However, their tension continues to build, and they can't deny it any longer.
Beyond the romance, which I felt was a bit awkward and struggled in pacing (their first kiss felt very forced, and almost read as "insta love" to me), I appreciated the commentary on Ember's lived experience as a Chickasaw woman in a white corporate world. Though it may read as a bit heavy-handed to a more well-rounded and/or informed reader/human, I do recognize why authors include the racist, sexist, and classist micro-aggressions they do in their work.
I found the background of Ember's trauma to be written with great care and compassion, and think that is where Danica Nava's writing shone through brightest. I am excited to read more characters from her, as I do think she has got the character arc of her main character down very well.
Overall, this definitely reads to me as a debut novel because the writing felt a bit goofy, awkward, disjointed and relied heavily on exposition, but I think the author has promise and I have faith that Danica Nava's writing will improve with more experience.
With all that said though, I'm really excited to see this author's growth in her writing journey, and will definitely give her another chance.
steam rating: 2.5 out of 5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Sexism, Sexual content, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism
kenrya's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Abandonment
Minor: Death of parent
thelibraryskeeper's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for this absolute delight of a debut novel.
The Truth According to Ember is a romantic comedy that handles generational trauma and cultural appropriation in a way that I do not think I have seen represented in a Native-told story before. The author remarked "Where are all the native romances?" and I asked the same thing. Nava lays out the story using a single POV (honestly not done often enough in the romance genre) from Ember. The main character has applied for jobs to try and move on up in the world to prove herself. After rejection after rejection, she concludes that maybe it's her on paper that is stopping her from getting where she wants to be. So begins the lies. Ember lies her way into her dream job and then some. Not to mention the literally Native Daddy of her dreams. But at what cost will her lies be? At what point will it be too much? The author mentions at the end of the book that a lot of what Ember went through was actual things she dealt with in her life. Reading this at the end of the book hit me with maximum impact. It's awful and it's real. Big congratulations to Nava on her debut - I can't wait to see what's next.
Themes: forced proximity, happily ever after, he falls first, forbidden romance
The Truth According to Ember is a romantic comedy that handles generational trauma and cultural appropriation in a way that I do not think I have seen represented in a Native-told story before. The author remarked "Where are all the native romances?" and I asked the same thing. Nava lays out the story using a single POV (honestly not done often enough in the romance genre) from Ember. The main character has applied for jobs to try and move on up in the world to prove herself. After rejection after rejection, she concludes that maybe it's her on paper that is stopping her from getting where she wants to be. So begins the lies. Ember lies her way into her dream job and then some. Not to mention the literally Native Daddy of her dreams. But at what cost will her lies be? At what point will it be too much? The author mentions at the end of the book that a lot of what Ember went through was actual things she dealt with in her life. Reading this at the end of the book hit me with maximum impact. It's awful and it's real. Big congratulations to Nava on her debut - I can't wait to see what's next.
Themes: forced proximity, happily ever after, he falls first, forbidden romance
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Abandonment and Classism
huichola's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
First off, tlazocamati to NetGalley and Berkley for this ARC!
I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was when I saw this book on NetGalley. I've been waiting my whole life for a NATIVE ROMANCE by a NATIVE AUTHOR!! And Danica Nava delivered!!!
It was so refreshing and special to be in these cultural references, the slang, the lived experiences of a mixed Native woman, and everything else that came with this novel. The story of Danuwoa and Ember was so cute, I was immediately hooked. The pacing was good and I stayed entertained throughout. I just at times felt it was a bit hard to suspend my disbelief with the plot, and I thought that the lie of Ember saying she was white for the job would factor into the story more but it didn't. I wish there had been a bit more in terms of convo around race, identity, assimilation, etc. through the lens of Ember's new experiences in a predominantly white space. She experienced a lot of microaggressions but I ultimately feel they were learning moments for the audience and didn't build towards much in the plot.
Overall, I think Danica Nava has some room to grow as a novelist but wow, what a debut. I really can't wait to see how she grows in her writing, her storytelling, and her artistry -- and I hope to see more romances (or even just fiction in general) from her in the near future!
I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was when I saw this book on NetGalley. I've been waiting my whole life for a NATIVE ROMANCE by a NATIVE AUTHOR!! And Danica Nava delivered!!!
It was so refreshing and special to be in these cultural references, the slang, the lived experiences of a mixed Native woman, and everything else that came with this novel. The story of Danuwoa and Ember was so cute, I was immediately hooked. The pacing was good and I stayed entertained throughout. I just at times felt it was a bit hard to suspend my disbelief with the plot, and I thought that the lie of Ember saying she was white for the job would factor into the story more but it didn't. I wish there had been a bit more in terms of convo around race, identity, assimilation, etc. through the lens of Ember's new experiences in a predominantly white space. She experienced a lot of microaggressions but I ultimately feel they were learning moments for the audience and didn't build towards much in the plot.
Overall, I think Danica Nava has some room to grow as a novelist but wow, what a debut. I really can't wait to see how she grows in her writing, her storytelling, and her artistry -- and I hope to see more romances (or even just fiction in general) from her in the near future!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Classism