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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
medium-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
Cute book, nice easy read, good for a vacation or feel-good kind of story. Bonus points because the characters are gay and it's not a Thing with their families
Extra bonus points for the lesbian aunts
Extra bonus points for the lesbian aunts
lighthearted
medium-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:
No
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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:
Complicated
Good book if you're looking for a simple lighthearted read! I appreciated the diversity in this book and I loved reading about all the food! It's not the most unique or captivating story though. I feel like the plot was very typical of a heterosexual Hallmark movie romance. Nothing necessarily wrong with this book, just didn't stand out very much to me. Still enjoyed myself though and big points for the wedding drama.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
sad
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
This book was cute, and I loved the cooking aspect of the story. Dylan and Theo's relationship development was good, and I liked the way the story played out. One thing that felt a little weird was how they were both seniors in high school, but this felt way more adult in the issues they had. Of course, the high school aspects showed with the reactions in their relationship, but it took me a little bit to get into the idea of their age in this situation. Overall cute, fun story, and I liked learning more about the Chinese and Singapore culture.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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:
Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
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:
No
This is such a sweet book with just a touch of Crazy Rich Asians! Loved the MCs and their relationship! Of course it’s fraught at times with miscommunication and outside pressures but I love how they are with each other!
The rich background of the restaurant Dylan’s aunt owns along with the titular mooncakes adds so much depth to the story and made me hungry!
This sweet romance is very chaste but still swoon worthy! Fake dating and rich MC/struggling business MC tropes along with a one bed moment make for a fun book!
The rich background of the restaurant Dylan’s aunt owns along with the titular mooncakes adds so much depth to the story and made me hungry!
This sweet romance is very chaste but still swoon worthy! Fake dating and rich MC/struggling business MC tropes along with a one bed moment make for a fun book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Grief, Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer, Car accident, Abandonment, Classism
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
considering that im not a fan of food in books, maybe i shouldn't have picked this up. while that definetly wasn't helping, i do actually have valid critique points that caused this low rating.
a lot of my discomfort stems from the imbalance that the romance has. theo was always the one who offered money, comfort, communication. hell, he even flew across half the world at the end of the book to make dylan happy although he irrationally broke up with him beforehand (ill get back to this later). all the while i felt like dylan was really giving nothing back/being almost passive inside their relationship, which is odd, considering he was so hell bent on not owing dylan. guess that‘s only important when its convenient for the plot because that lead to their fake dating scheme. its so weird to me that they were acting all couple in front of theo‘s dad and the public, while not even having defined their relationship (both of them should have known what that entails) and dylan only brings it up when it ended up being a problem during their fight.
but the characters dont feel all that well rounded anyways, and the time we spent on introducing the many unnecessary side characters that were added for the sake of drama, could have been reduced and spent on flashing out our leads and their relationship. which leads me to my next point: this book was so insta lovey and always talking about destiny, while i was not even getting why they cared for one another and if they even know the other person. i think the bad writing that lead to a lot of really poor done drama/tension and communication made this seem a lot worse than it would have otherwise, but it was bothering me to no end.
right now, dylan‘s ending seems so unearned to me and ive been at a point where ive felt sorry for theo because of dylan‘s lack of trust in him. all the while i was waiting to have this acknowledged in any shape, but the ending really just worsened it.
a lot of my discomfort stems from the imbalance that the romance has. theo was always the one who offered money, comfort, communication. hell, he even flew across half the world at the end of the book to make dylan happy although he irrationally broke up with him beforehand (ill get back to this later). all the while i felt like dylan was really giving nothing back/being almost passive inside their relationship, which is odd, considering he was so hell bent on not owing dylan. guess that‘s only important when its convenient for the plot because that lead to their fake dating scheme. its so weird to me that they were acting all couple in front of theo‘s dad and the public, while not even having defined their relationship (both of them should have known what that entails) and dylan only brings it up when it ended up being a problem during their fight.
but the characters dont feel all that well rounded anyways, and the time we spent on introducing the many unnecessary side characters that were added for the sake of drama, could have been reduced and spent on flashing out our leads and their relationship. which leads me to my next point: this book was so insta lovey and always talking about destiny, while i was not even getting why they cared for one another and if they even know the other person. i think the bad writing that lead to a lot of really poor done drama/tension and communication made this seem a lot worse than it would have otherwise, but it was bothering me to no end.
right now, dylan‘s ending seems so unearned to me and ive been at a point where ive felt sorry for theo because of dylan‘s lack of trust in him. all the while i was waiting to have this acknowledged in any shape, but the ending really just worsened it.
emotional
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes