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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
This book really over explained everything. It had too much going on and not enough focus on anything. Wouldn't recommend
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I just found this books incredibly unrealistic. Not about stuff like racism because I really can't speak what that is like at all. But the characters just felt not real. The things they say, their thought processes, everything they did was just not something actual people do. I'm not saying this book is bad. But it is certainly below average in my opinion. P.s. The main character talks as if now that she has said sorry she just suddenly isn't racist anymore. Like she talk about it past tense but that not how subconscious biases work girlie.
Although it felt like a very light read, many serieus problems were portrayed and even discussed. 3 stars since the ending was rather short and sudden.
lighthearted
medium-paced
I wanted to like this so bad, and I think I will when I go back to it. The protagonist is a queer Asian girl, and the love interest is Mexican, so hurray for diversity! However, I was quite exhausted and uncomfortable with the amount of racism and stereotyping these girls have to put up with. That's absolutely nothing against the book, and it's just my white privilege speaking, but when I have a Chinese born sister, it makes my heart hurt a whole lot more. This is one I definitely will return to- just not when I'm already stressed with finals. A good summer read. :)
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-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
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“in Japan, the gay can’t be out of the cabinet”
this line made me CACKLE.
WHEW!! this book was quite the wild ride. i didn’t give it a rating because i honestly don’t know how i feel about it. i honestly don’t think i can squish all of my thoughts into a singular, flat rating.
so let me just tell you everything!!!!!!!!!! :)
this line made me CACKLE.
WHEW!! this book was quite the wild ride. i didn’t give it a rating because i honestly don’t know how i feel about it. i honestly don’t think i can squish all of my thoughts into a singular, flat rating.
so let me just tell you everything!!!!!!!!!! :)
*spoiler-free*
I apologize for all spelling errors in names, I listened to the audiobook (which is fantastic).
Ughhhhhhhh I haven't finished a book in soo loong.
So I had exams for the past several months, on and off again, while getting ready to graduate. But now that I have graduated (oh my God, what am I doing with my life), I'm trying to get back into reading. This was the first book I managed to finish.
So, another reason why I wasn't reading was the fact that I was breaking up with someone while exams were going on and I felt guilty and terrible. I guess I'm reading mainly queer books with a lesbian love story to make myself feel worse because I just got out of one.
Okay, I can talk about this book.
I've wanted to read this book ever since I found it randomly one day on Goodreads. There are way too few queer books with two women in the lead, and if you have any favorites, please tell me about them.
Things I liked:
-Caleb. He was really nice and made me laugh almost every time he appeared.
-the High School setting in California and how it contrasted to Sana's old school
-that it included several forms of representation: there were Jaimie and her friends, and Sana and her friends. The book made a distinction between how people are treated given the way they looked, which is sadly true but often gets overlooked, and also how different cultures exist in modern America.
-the poetry aspect. I like poetry.
Things I didn't like:
-the relationships in this book seemed very unhealthy. That's the best I can do on a spoiler-free basis
-attempted conversion, even if it was "fun" and "harmless" (huge air quotes)
-some people and plot lines just stopped in the middle of the book, never to be seen or resolved again.
-some things (like racism) were addressed but not really concluded: the person in question admits that they were wrong but is never seen trying to better themselves: same goes for the unhealthy relationships
All in all this seemed like a solid four-star-book, but there is one thing in particular I want to talk about. This will get rambly: feel free to skip it.
I relate to Sana a little more than is healthy (in the way she keeps most things secret): she sees a message from another woman on her father's phone at twelve and pretends it never happened. She feels hurt in her relationship sometimes but never actually says anything, always hoping it will simply blow over so that she can go back to her life. I am like that.
I talk a lot and always (which is why my reviews are mostly ramblings), but I never say anything if something bothers me. It took me about three weeks to talk to my partner about the fact that I was not comfortable in our relationship: I never told her why. I couldn't say stuff like, you condescend to me and talk over me all the time and it makes me feel inadequate, or: you don't respect my opinions at all, or simply, I don't feel the way I used to feel about you anymore. All of these things could be fixed or at least explained by talking which I never did. I waited until my mental health was basically torn to shreds and at that point, I only wanted out.
I regret the way I broke up very much. If she'll ever speak to me again, I'll tell her that, but she won't. Just like Sana, I tried to postpone problems and ignore them, hoping that they'll go away on their own, but they don't. If you have a problem, especially if it includes someone else, talk to them. Don't let it build or else the problem will get bigger and you'll have an even harder time dealing with it, and you might regret the way you do. This is a message that the book gives too: be honest about your problems. It helps.
Okay. That's that. That was incredibly personal and probably boring and I didn't talk about the book much.
But if you want a cute queer female-lead romance with a few deeper, more personal parts, do read this book. It's good. I liked it.
I apologize for all spelling errors in names, I listened to the audiobook (which is fantastic).
Ughhhhhhhh I haven't finished a book in soo loong.
So I had exams for the past several months, on and off again, while getting ready to graduate. But now that I have graduated (oh my God, what am I doing with my life), I'm trying to get back into reading. This was the first book I managed to finish.
So, another reason why I wasn't reading was the fact that I was breaking up with someone while exams were going on and I felt guilty and terrible. I guess I'm reading mainly queer books with a lesbian love story to make myself feel worse because I just got out of one.
Okay, I can talk about this book.
I've wanted to read this book ever since I found it randomly one day on Goodreads. There are way too few queer books with two women in the lead, and if you have any favorites, please tell me about them.
Things I liked:
-Caleb. He was really nice and made me laugh almost every time he appeared.
-the High School setting in California and how it contrasted to Sana's old school
-that it included several forms of representation: there were Jaimie and her friends, and Sana and her friends. The book made a distinction between how people are treated given the way they looked, which is sadly true but often gets overlooked, and also how different cultures exist in modern America.
-the poetry aspect. I like poetry.
Things I didn't like:
-the relationships in this book seemed very unhealthy. That's the best I can do on a spoiler-free basis
-attempted conversion, even if it was "fun" and "harmless" (huge air quotes)
-some people and plot lines just stopped in the middle of the book, never to be seen or resolved again.
-some things (like racism) were addressed but not really concluded: the person in question admits that they were wrong but is never seen trying to better themselves: same goes for the unhealthy relationships
All in all this seemed like a solid four-star-book, but there is one thing in particular I want to talk about. This will get rambly: feel free to skip it.
I relate to Sana a little more than is healthy (in the way she keeps most things secret): she sees a message from another woman on her father's phone at twelve and pretends it never happened. She feels hurt in her relationship sometimes but never actually says anything, always hoping it will simply blow over so that she can go back to her life. I am like that.
I talk a lot and always (which is why my reviews are mostly ramblings), but I never say anything if something bothers me. It took me about three weeks to talk to my partner about the fact that I was not comfortable in our relationship: I never told her why. I couldn't say stuff like, you condescend to me and talk over me all the time and it makes me feel inadequate, or: you don't respect my opinions at all, or simply, I don't feel the way I used to feel about you anymore. All of these things could be fixed or at least explained by talking which I never did. I waited until my mental health was basically torn to shreds and at that point, I only wanted out.
I regret the way I broke up very much. If she'll ever speak to me again, I'll tell her that, but she won't. Just like Sana, I tried to postpone problems and ignore them, hoping that they'll go away on their own, but they don't. If you have a problem, especially if it includes someone else, talk to them. Don't let it build or else the problem will get bigger and you'll have an even harder time dealing with it, and you might regret the way you do. This is a message that the book gives too: be honest about your problems. It helps.
Okay. That's that. That was incredibly personal and probably boring and I didn't talk about the book much.
But if you want a cute queer female-lead romance with a few deeper, more personal parts, do read this book. It's good. I liked it.