Reviews

All The Right Notes by Dominic Lim

amberdlewis's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.75

This book was so beautiful and I could not put it down. It pulled me so quickly and I immediately fell in love. Normally I'm not a fan of books that flip between the last and present, but I didn't mind it at all with this one. Despite the split timeline, the story felt seamless. 

kingtchalla83's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

4.0

pawtory's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

I thought this was a really solid romance and one of the best audiobooks I've heard, loved the incorporation of actual music. I do hope it gets a stage musical version some day. Appreciated the diversity - AAPI & neurodivergent MCs, Black trans best friend. It was written to be a romcom tho (according to author coda) and I didn't really find myself laughing much. Also the MC could be randomly critical of (unimportant) things that made me dislike him a bit. He was flawed but not really given much character growth for addressing the flaws? And there was enough sad stuff in it (mind the triggers) that it really didn't feel like a romcom. Overall well written and I think more people should check it out.
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tbronmyshelf's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-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? It's complicated

3.0

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.