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tatyanavogt's review against another edition
4.75
I really enjoyed this book. The first 24 pages hit me hard and I was invested. Then it shifted to your average-is YA contemporary/romance-ish coming of age novel and I was still pretty invested. Emotional and impactful moments surfacing here and there to remind me of the stakes at hand.
Simply put its a story about a girl who doesn't want to disappoint her parents but she wants to be a dancer and her parents want her to be a doctor. She is then forced to discover herself during a trip to Taipai that her parents set up so that she could learn the language and culture of her people.
I'm surprised more people aren't talking about this book. There are a lot of layers to it and I feel like the author did a great job weaving them all together.
Spoiler thoughts:
Spoiler
I personally found some of the over rebellious parts to be a little annoying, but it makes sense under the circumstances.
I did like that the moral of it all was to focus on what YOU want and not what other people wanted. Our main character lived her life doing what her parents wanted, then she started this trip doing what her friend told her and in the end she realized that she didn't want either of those extremes, instead she wanted to focus on doing what she wanted.
It did make me upset that the school got mad at here for the nude photo that went around. And of course I think it was super fucked up of her "friend" to give something like that out. Especially when it seemed pretty clear that the MC wasn't even used to wearing provocative stuff to begin with. I had MAD respect though about her reaction. The realization that she had become friends with all the people who were involved and that if any of that was true they would realize how fucked up it was to accept her photo without her permission.
I also think the artists obsession with drawing her was a bit weird. Like I get him drawing her a little bit, but DAMN bruh. Like his drawings were more like stalker photos than anything else. Granted I actually liked his character and the fact that he saw her happiness in the end and was cool with that or whatever. I did want a better ending for him and am a little sad that he didn't get one.
And yeah, thats all I can think of at the moment. Good book. I enjoyed it. It made me emotional.
Simply put its a story about a girl who doesn't want to disappoint her parents but she wants to be a dancer and her parents want her to be a doctor. She is then forced to discover herself during a trip to Taipai that her parents set up so that she could learn the language and culture of her people.
I'm surprised more people aren't talking about this book. There are a lot of layers to it and I feel like the author did a great job weaving them all together.
Spoiler thoughts:
Spoiler
I personally found some of the over rebellious parts to be a little annoying, but it makes sense under the circumstances.
I did like that the moral of it all was to focus on what YOU want and not what other people wanted. Our main character lived her life doing what her parents wanted, then she started this trip doing what her friend told her and in the end she realized that she didn't want either of those extremes, instead she wanted to focus on doing what she wanted.
It did make me upset that the school got mad at here for the nude photo that went around. And of course I think it was super fucked up of her "friend" to give something like that out. Especially when it seemed pretty clear that the MC wasn't even used to wearing provocative stuff to begin with. I had MAD respect though about her reaction. The realization that she had become friends with all the people who were involved and that if any of that was true they would realize how fucked up it was to accept her photo without her permission.
I also think the artists obsession with drawing her was a bit weird. Like I get him drawing her a little bit, but DAMN bruh. Like his drawings were more like stalker photos than anything else. Granted I actually liked his character and the fact that he saw her happiness in the end and was cool with that or whatever. I did want a better ending for him and am a little sad that he didn't get one.
And yeah, thats all I can think of at the moment. Good book. I enjoyed it. It made me emotional.
grace_muriithi's review against another edition
4.0
reread this because there's a movie coming out and I WILL be tuning in for the drama-
Honestly, I lowkey forgot how messy the romance was in this book (PLEASE) but I read every single moment of it. Like, Rick, Sophie, Xavier, and Ever?? With other people thrown in?? Love triangle doesn't even begin to cover the shapes this romance took. Outside of that, though, I found Ever's struggles with trying to pay homage to her roots both in Taiwan as well as the life her parents struggled to create for her in the U.S. quite relatable- immigrant child guilt is definitely real. I would give this book a 4/5 stars though because I forgot how absolutely awful Sophie was as a character...and it never really felt like she answered for what she did to Ever by the end of the novel (at least sincerely- Ever's SO MUCH better than me personally). Anyways, it was an enjoyable read and hopefully the movie also turns out well!!
**check trigger warnings before you read the book though!
Honestly, I lowkey forgot how messy the romance was in this book (PLEASE) but I read every single moment of it. Like, Rick, Sophie, Xavier, and Ever?? With other people thrown in?? Love triangle doesn't even begin to cover the shapes this romance took. Outside of that, though, I found Ever's struggles with trying to pay homage to her roots both in Taiwan as well as the life her parents struggled to create for her in the U.S. quite relatable- immigrant child guilt is definitely real. I would give this book a 4/5 stars though because I forgot how absolutely awful Sophie was as a character...and it never really felt like she answered for what she did to Ever by the end of the novel (at least sincerely- Ever's SO MUCH better than me personally). Anyways, it was an enjoyable read and hopefully the movie also turns out well!!
**check trigger warnings before you read the book though!
slsj_'s review against another edition
2.0
DNF at 80%. I was so close, but if I am being honest with myself I wasn’t really enjoying the book for the beginning, I was just along for the ride...until the ride started to leave a bad taste in my mouth. I really disliked the main character, and while the others were interesting her disregard for others and lack of moral judgement gives me enough reason to put the book down. And honestly, it’s 1 AM and I’m not ruining my sleep schedule to finish a book I’m not into. And I know if I stop here there is zero chance I’m picking it up again.
allygatr's review against another edition
3.0
tbh had strong dnf vibes at the beginning but I just continued to listen. there were definitely overused tropes of someone believing they HAVE TO follow their parent's path. sometimes they did touch on cultural identity which I liked but it was just such a vast range of topics
flwrkar's review against another edition
5.0
randomly typed the title into letterboxd and apparently there's a film coming? i'm excited
suvata's review
3.0
• ModernMrsDarcy.com 2020 Summer Reading Guide
Ever is a Chinese-American teenager who has plans of becoming a dancer. Her parents have loftier goals for her. So, they send her to a 8 week “educational camp” in Taipei for the purpose of learning culture and language. The camp is not nearly as strict as they were told. Everyone is very laissez-faire about the rules and pretty much do whatever they want. The girls are all boy crazy — the boys are there to score a hot girl. All that freedom combined with a little too little supervision and a lot of peer pressure makes for an interesting yet typical coming of age story.
Ever is a Chinese-American teenager who has plans of becoming a dancer. Her parents have loftier goals for her. So, they send her to a 8 week “educational camp” in Taipei for the purpose of learning culture and language. The camp is not nearly as strict as they were told. Everyone is very laissez-faire about the rules and pretty much do whatever they want. The girls are all boy crazy — the boys are there to score a hot girl. All that freedom combined with a little too little supervision and a lot of peer pressure makes for an interesting yet typical coming of age story.
elladee's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lightfoot33's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
A good YA book filled with everything you need - discovering yourself, boy and friend trouble, partying,etc. Nothing groundbreaking but still good. I still wish Ever chose Xavier though.
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
4/5
I’ve been seeing this book every time I would go to my local Barnes & Noble so it was only a matter of time before I bought it and read it for myself. I enjoyed going on the crazy adventures with the characters and the climax of the book definitely had me turning the pages, reading with anticipation to see how it would end.
I’ve been seeing this book every time I would go to my local Barnes & Noble so it was only a matter of time before I bought it and read it for myself. I enjoyed going on the crazy adventures with the characters and the climax of the book definitely had me turning the pages, reading with anticipation to see how it would end.
bookswithgin's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5