Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

All The Right Notes by Dominic Lim

26 reviews

knunderb's review against another edition

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

5.0

A beautiful, funny, lovely book. I truly enjoyed how the love story unfolded and how the characters grew over the novel. 
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cleo_reads's review against another edition

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  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Emotionally compelling debut gay romance between a Filipino American pianist and his former high school bff / secret crush turned mega famous movie star. 

The pacing was a little off. And it’s definitely heavier than the light hearted cover implies. 
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20sidedbi's review against another edition

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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
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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nina_readsbooks's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful sad slow-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

3.0

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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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caitevans7's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

2.75

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paulineerika's review against another edition

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

3.5

I was so excited for this book when I first heard of it and even more excited after a friend recommended the audiobook to me, because of the music featured in the audiobook. When Spotify Premium began offering free audiobooks, I jumped at the chance to listen.

Unfortunately, a few things keep me from rating it higher:

  • I hate the miscommunication trope and this particular miscommunication that separated Quito and Emmett for so long didn't justify the length of that separation. 
  • The flashbacks took up too much of the book. I liked them in the beginning, but it dragged on too long and took too much away from the present-day story.
  • I couldn't really buy that Quito was 38. He came off as a lot younger.
  • Quito himself was problematic in so many ways. He was incredibly self-absorbed, insecure and anxious to the point where it felt like he constantly needed to have his hand held and be told things were okay (which, as someone with anxiety and depression, I totally understand, but his seemed to go overboard and actually start affecting his relationships with others by making them all about him), judgmental of everyone (including poor Celeste, which was not cool), and oblivious to so much.
    When Milton confided in him, it seemed pretty obvious where that part of the story was going, but Quito stubbornly stuck to traditional gender roles and had to be educated by Ujima, which feels like putting a lot of emotional labor on someone else.
  • I hated the death. It didn't feel necessary to me, especially for a book that was supposed to be about joy.
  • Also, as a smaller note, I wanted to hear more music in the audiobook. 

All that being said, this book has so much heart and love, which is its absolute strength. Even if I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to, I know it will mean so much to other people and I love that about it. 
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ricreyes's review against another edition

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

4.0

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madisongturner's review against another edition

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4.5

This was a really strong start to my 2024 reading. This book made me laugh and cry within minutes. This is a great love story that finds a way no matter what obstacles and years are in the way. I love the diverse cast of characters, the Then vs. Now storytelling, and the use of music as an instrument of emotion. If you are at all musically inclined (especially for the piano and/or choir) this will be a comforting and familiar story to you. The ending was unexpected, but I enjoyed it overall. 
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itsinthewords's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful 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

I find that the stories I tend to really enjoy are the ones where the MCs don't start off as perfect. And I don't mean the kind of imperfect that is cute, or meant to be a little twee. I mean people who let their anxiety get the better of them, whose prejudices are on display to us, the audience, but not to them.

The story is a single person POV, flashing back between the past and the present in Quito Cruz's life and his relationship with Emmett Aoiki when they were teenagers, through the incident that caused a rift between them in college, and then their reuniting as adults. Quito felt like someone I knew, like I had met him before. Lim does a great job of giving us hints about the flaws in Quito's POV while still having us love him. The story has a meddling father, some wonderful sweet and tender moments between the two MCs, and a really profound and wonderful message at the end about sticking true to who you are. I am very excited for the next book in the series, but this one was precious and will hold a place in my heart.
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