Reviews

All The Right Notes by Dominic Lim

chachacenteno's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? N/A

5.0

Love this story! 

lynnthelibrarian's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thisboricuareader's review against another edition

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3.0

I guess I felt a slight disconnect with this book because I didn't like the narration in some parts. Especially in the parts where it distorted for some specific parts, like it being a whisper or when it was multiple people at the same time. 

I thought overall the story was cute and I enjoyed it. The narration just threw me off a bit. Don't let my review make you not want to pick this up. 

mamakayb's review

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emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

breezyruizy's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

5.0

kevinscorner's review against another edition

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4.0

All the Right Notes is a gay contemporary romcom about best friends and second chances by a Filipino-American author. Quito Cruz is a piano-playing prodigy who isn’t quite living his big NYC dream playing piano in bars and as a back-up or accompaniment. He lost his muse and best friend (and unrequited crush) Emmett Aoki after one terrible night in college years ago. Now, his dad wants him to come back home to lead a charity concert for his retirement with Emmett performing alongside him. The problem? Emmett is now a Hollywood heartthrob who is way out of his league. Quito must reconnect with Emmett, convince him to do the concert, and finally deal with their past.

I started out really loving this book as it told its story in two timelines—the past and present. I thought it was charming and cute (from their past not-so meet cute to Quito’s present life), but as that incident in the past was revealed, it really was not it for me.  I don’t understand why the author chose that to be the “incident”, and it didn’t sit right with me (probably just a personal preference of mine). Otherwise, I enjoyed the rest of the book—I had some laughs, I cried, and it still hit me in the feels.

I appreciated that both lead were Asian men. Quito is a second generation Filipino American immigrant while Emmett is a mixed race Japanese-American. The book also delivered distinctly Filipino culture elements (especially the food), but some of the Tagalog did feel forced. I liked their romance, although Quito definitely has some issues—he’s a bit of a mess IMO.

schweibertsm's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad slow-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? Yes

4.5

This book was so good, I love Quito's father so much and the flashbacks to how Emmett and Quito's friendship and relationship developed. This book had so many lovely moments, but there were also some moments I just wanted to skip past, mainly anything with Mark. I love that the audiobook had actual singing. This also would have been great have dual perspective. Definitely a favorite for this year.
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galena417's review against another edition

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emotional funny
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

whatsmichireading's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

2.5

skylar_chris22's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful slow-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? No

5.0