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daenerystargaryen's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying and Abandonment
Minor: Alcohol and Medical content
chichisode's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Alcohol, Bullying, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
bujo_bellel's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Racism, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Body shaming, Abandonment, and Cursing
Minor: Medical content, Death, and Alcohol
evelynyle_88's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I love the idea that we have Eliza Lin; the imperfect indigenous main character. She's imperfect yes. But, somehow she gets back on her feet and finally can solve her own problems.
I love this story so much. I fall in love with the dynamics and banters between Eliza and Caz. Thank you for the heartfelt sweet story, Ann. I will continue with I Hope This Doesn't Find You next!
5⭐ worthy. Ciao!
Graphic: Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism
Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, and Body shaming
Minor: Death, Alcohol, and Medical content
bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
3.0
“And this, I think, is my ultimate fatal flaw. Missing people who don’t miss me back. Clinging on to strands of string that shouldn’t mean half as much as they do. It takes so little for me to love someone, yet so long for me to move on.”
➽ This Time It's Real is about aspiring writer Eliza, who accidentally goes viral with an essay she made up! I liked the premise, as Eliza is in big trouble for writing an essay about a boyfriend she doesn't have - now people are invested in a relationship that she made up. Even worse, she's got the internship opportunity of a lifetime from a prestigious publisher. In order to keep up the charade, she fake dates a popular C-Drama actor from her school: the aloof, gorgeous Caz. As always, I loved the fact that this story is set in Beijing, it's great that the author is incorporating the setting into all of her books! I like reading stories that are set somewhere outside of the US!
➽ Eliza and her struggles with loneliness & feeling like she didn't belong were relatable. Her family has been moving around a lot due to her mother's job and she has gotten tired of always being the new girl. In between all the schools, it's hard to keep up friendships and the only person who always stayed was Zoe. Eliza struggles a lot with her self-worth as everyone ends up forgetting about her and moving on with her life, once she's gone. I really felt for her heartbreak and her loneliness. It's hard to feel at home if you're always moving and Eliza hasn't bothered to make new friends with anyone in Beijing. My favorite dynamic was between Eliza and her best friend Zoe. Eliza could always count on her, but she's beginning to fear that her friend is also forgetting her and getting to know cool new people. I always appreciate when books focus on how important friendships can be!
➽ However, the romance just didn't do it for me. I'm sad because I loved If You Could See the Sun and wanted to like another story by Ann Liang. One of my issues was that Caz remained shallow as most of his struggles and insecurities were only hinted at. I never fully got his character and it was hard to understand why he built up his aloof and perfect facade. I wished we had gotten a deeper insight into his acting career and found out why he struggles so much to always tough things out. I also didn't feel the romantic chemistry between Eliza and Caz. One reason was that Eliza's insecurities took over in almost every scene and there was so much miscommunication. She assumes a lot of things about Caz's intentions and her constant conviction that he was just acting grated on me. I don't know why the author put her in so many embarrassing situations, it made me cringe. I don't feel like Eliza and Caz gained a deep connection due to all of this. Eliza's self-sabotage was too much for me.
➽ The premise could have been executed better. I was hoping to see more of Eliza's internship and the impact of dating someone famous! I also hoped her finding some friends outside of Caz would have been a bigger plot point. The ending was too rushed and used some tropes I don't like.
Minor: Injury/Injury detail and Medical content
katievallin's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Bullying
Moderate: Grief and Racism
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Cursing
_book_girl_82_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
It was so so sweet and yet so emotional ❤️.
Beautiful ending.
My only problem is that it wasn't long enough 😂, other than that perfection.
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Body shaming and Injury/Injury detail
serendipity421's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Racism, Bullying, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Abandonment and Body shaming
Minor: Alcohol
dogoodwithbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Audiobook/Narration Rating: 2/5
Final Verdict: 3/5
After being swayed by all the hype surrounding Ann Liang's second novel, This Time It's Real on GoodReads, I was able to check out an audiobook version of this title through my local library. While this book does meet some of the hype that several people on here have acclaimed, that hype was not translated into the audiobook version.
For the audiobook version, I was not impressed. I didn't particularly cared for the narrator and she simply just read the book in an almost monotone voice. There were times that I got lost in the book because there was no way to differentiate each of the characters when she's reading for them since she just reads it all the same. The end result is that you have a monotone narration that seems to drag out the over 9.5 hour length of the audiobook.
I feel that if the narrator was able to provide some distinction between the characters she reads for or if there was another narrator to help offset the distinction between each characters' voice, I feel like this would have been better listening experience for me.
Now, the actual content of the book I didn't had an issue with. Liang is able to write a sweet romance that provides a sort of escapism for readers and I did like Eliza and Caz's relationship. You can tell that Liang is talented as a writer and is able to connect with readers throughout the book.
Overall, while I did like This Time It's Real and feel that it's perfect for any hopeless romantic out there, I believe that you're better off reading the print/e-book version instead of listening on audio if given the choice.
Graphic: Racism and Bullying
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
shelvesofivy's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail and Racism
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Alcohol and Body shaming
graphic description of past injury