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boisdelaire's review against another edition
1.0
★ ─── 1.5 star read.
i was probably not the public this book was aiming at. i am maybe too old to read such childish books, but man, the synopsis was not that bad, it could have had potential and good things to evoke, to point at. but it all fell SO flat, that’s definitely the worst book i’ve read in 2023, i almost dnfed it everytime i picked it up but it helped me going through some days at my job when the shift was boring, i’ll grant it that.
i understand some people will know what frank is going through and i’m definitely not evoking this part of the book, it’s everyone’s own experience, especially if you deal with what he is dealing. but the author made it so hard to identify with the frank, because frank was a vision of young people that was… very old-fashioned. not true at all. not even remotely CLOSE to reality. there are not 50 synonyms for the word phone but strangely, the author found all of them ?? the main character was SO boring, SO irritating, he was just insufferable most of the time, i hated being in his point of view to be honest. he was not like the other kids, he didn’t want to receive his university’s acceptation through his computer because it made him entitled to its screen. he did not use social medias because it rendered him passive and not intelligent. he always associated to the sister of his best friend the word sexy and it’s.. omg stop it at one point, we got it the first time.
i was probably not the public this book was aiming at. i am maybe too old to read such childish books, but man, the synopsis was not that bad, it could have had potential and good things to evoke, to point at. but it all fell SO flat, that’s definitely the worst book i’ve read in 2023, i almost dnfed it everytime i picked it up but it helped me going through some days at my job when the shift was boring, i’ll grant it that.
i understand some people will know what frank is going through and i’m definitely not evoking this part of the book, it’s everyone’s own experience, especially if you deal with what he is dealing. but the author made it so hard to identify with the frank, because frank was a vision of young people that was… very old-fashioned. not true at all. not even remotely CLOSE to reality. there are not 50 synonyms for the word phone but strangely, the author found all of them ?? the main character was SO boring, SO irritating, he was just insufferable most of the time, i hated being in his point of view to be honest. he was not like the other kids, he didn’t want to receive his university’s acceptation through his computer because it made him entitled to its screen. he did not use social medias because it rendered him passive and not intelligent. he always associated to the sister of his best friend the word sexy and it’s.. omg stop it at one point, we got it the first time.
nikfernandez17177's review against another edition
3.0
This book felt like it was going through an identity crisis
joana_stormblessed's review against another edition
2.0
Actual rating 2.5
It was middle of the road for me. I didn't care for the romantic plot line, which is a big part of this book. I did not like the cheating aspect.
I did like the family dynamics and the commentary on immigration, race and belonging.
TW: cheating, racism, cancer, shooting
It was middle of the road for me. I didn't care for the romantic plot line, which is a big part of this book. I did not like the cheating aspect.
I did like the family dynamics and the commentary on immigration, race and belonging.
TW: cheating, racism, cancer, shooting
juanitad15's review against another edition
4.0
4-4.5 stars
I thought this book was gonna be a fun little dating scheme borne from a family dilemma that’d make me all happy and stuff... but no
It ended up being partly that but it’s mostly an interesting perspective on race and racism in America. I really appreciated the fresh take and I found myself resonating with a lot of the ideas explored in this book in relation to culture and race and ethnicity and all that good jazz. It made me kinda really sad, but it was still pretty good.
And honestly, looking back on it, I don’t like frank all too much. I do appreciate the frankly puns though.
I thought this book was gonna be a fun little dating scheme borne from a family dilemma that’d make me all happy and stuff... but no
It ended up being partly that but it’s mostly an interesting perspective on race and racism in America. I really appreciated the fresh take and I found myself resonating with a lot of the ideas explored in this book in relation to culture and race and ethnicity and all that good jazz. It made me kinda really sad, but it was still pretty good.
And honestly, looking back on it, I don’t like frank all too much. I do appreciate the frankly puns though.
izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition
2.0
2/5
First off, this book felt longer than it was. I felt like I had been reading it for weeks. I liked the characters at first, really. Then things got complicated. I found out while reading this his book that the author of this (David Yoon) and the author of The Sun is Also a Star (Nicola Yoon) are married! Aww! So I had pretty high hopes for this book.
|-| S P O I L E R S B E L O W |-|
What happened to Frank and Brit? There was obviously an overused use of F-bombs. Seriously, what is up with people who curse that much? I wanted to put down the book when I got around the 290 page. The only thing that ket me going is that I wanted to know how it ends.
First off, this book felt longer than it was. I felt like I had been reading it for weeks. I liked the characters at first, really. Then things got complicated. I found out while reading this his book that the author of this (David Yoon) and the author of The Sun is Also a Star (Nicola Yoon) are married! Aww! So I had pretty high hopes for this book.
|-| S P O I L E R S B E L O W |-|
What happened to Frank and Brit? There was obviously an overused use of F-bombs. Seriously, what is up with people who curse that much? I wanted to put down the book when I got around the 290 page. The only thing that ket me going is that I wanted to know how it ends.
shylaja_vijendren's review against another edition
4.0
This book is about less fake dating (as stated in trailer) a lot about self discovery. I did not expect anything from it so I enjoyed, though I have a couple problem. And Q for the win!
trappedinfandomland's review against another edition
emotional
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I feel like I am just not the target audience for this book. It was cute at times but super cringe and I really had to force myself to finish it.
beccabumgarner's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
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? No
4.5
alykat_reads's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.5
This was alright. It's a YA that covers a lot of deep topics - racism, cheating, a shooting, death. It is YA but it doesn't handle some of these topics well at all.
Frank just wasn't a very likeable or relatable character. He was a little strange, but nothing super unlikeable during the first half or so.. His getting a crush on Brit and the pact between him and Joy to fake date so they could both see their respective partners their parents don't approve of was enjoyable. It was typical high school in-love-after-a-week type of love, which whatever.. Brit made him laugh, made him feel like he could be himself (minus being able to tell his parents he was dating her), etc, etc..However, after only a few text exchanges, he's all of a sudden head over heels for Joy within a week.. because she made him laugh, made him feel like he could be himself.. wait, where have we heard this before..? Nothing bad really even happened between him and Brit, besides him hiding her from his parents and him not being able to tell her that. He then cheats on her with Joy and within a day they are "in love"? Ew. He got very unlikeable very quickly at this point and never had a redeeming moment. Both relationships were flimsy at best and I didn't feel the chemistry between either one. Also Brit was cast aside as a character after that, briefly mentioned here a couple times, but it was weird since she had class with Frank.
I also really did not like the way the Hannah storyline shook out. The author really could have done something impactful with that, with the dad having cancer and having pushed his daughter out of their lives for years all because she married a black man. Instead, he "tied it up" within just a sentence of "we are so ashamed we did that" a few days before the dad dies and THATS IT. Not even when he found out he had less than 6 months to live and that he could try to make up for lost time.. but instead they wait until a few days before he died. This was frustrating beyond the max.
I feel this could have been a much more powerful book had a few storylines got tied up in a different way, and if Frank could have had some 'come-to-Jesus' moments and done some self-reflection and growing. There was some growth in his relationship with his parents, but still not enough where he could ever call them out on their blatant racism against anyone who wasn't Korean.
Frank just wasn't a very likeable or relatable character. He was a little strange, but nothing super unlikeable during the first half or so.. His getting a crush on Brit and the pact between him and Joy to fake date so they could both see their respective partners their parents don't approve of was enjoyable. It was typical high school in-love-after-a-week type of love, which whatever.. Brit made him laugh, made him feel like he could be himself (minus being able to tell his parents he was dating her), etc, etc..
I also really did not like the way the Hannah storyline shook out. The author really could have done something impactful with that, with the dad having cancer and having pushed his daughter out of their lives for years all because she married a black man. Instead, he "tied it up" within just a sentence of "we are so ashamed we did that" a few days before the dad dies and THATS IT. Not even when he found out he had less than 6 months to live and that he could try to make up for lost time.. but instead they wait until a few days before he died. This was frustrating beyond the max.
I feel this could have been a much more powerful book had a few storylines got tied up in a different way, and if Frank could have had some 'come-to-Jesus' moments and done some self-reflection and growing. There was some growth in his relationship with his parents, but still not enough where he could ever call them out on their blatant racism against anyone who wasn't Korean.