Reviews

Kind of mid icl

Edit:
On reflection it was definitely mid.

Tom was annoying
Best part was their time in Malaysia

But honestly the book was boring & I thought it was going to go somewhere super interesting and push forth, but it didn’t.

Powered through for my book club otherwise I would definitely DNF or even DNS

vypham's review

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emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.25

bravebarnacle's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? Yes

3.75

I am having a hard time rating this book. I loved it

but the last 70 pages really ruined it for me. Rob's death felt like a cheap way to get the story moving and jump over a lot things. I didn't like how the death was used to grow Ming's character. I felt there could have been a better character arch for Ming. It was like the jump from being okay in New York to feeling guilty about writing the play happened really quickly.

Ming's thought process felt kind of a big question mark and I would have wanted to learn more about it. I think Tom's character developed much better over the course of the book. There was time to see his feelings develop and to understand his thought process. That's why it was a disappointment not to have Ming's character developed as well as Tom's.

The book left me wanting more, especially because I loved Dinan's writing style. It felt sad and yet, comforting at the same time. Like a gut punch with a hug.

dullhilarity's review

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3.0

This was a debut and it felt like it, I'm afraid. I think the problem was that I just didn't care, and there were a lot of things that weren't properly explored. It wasn't what I thought it was, and I hated that

the main couple broke up, and that we didn't really understand why, just that Tom mentions near the end that he cheated on Ming. Like what???

Maybe I would have liked this more if I hadn't been insanely busy while reading it, I don't know

nadia_salawu's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

amaliaparas's review

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emotional inspiring reflective 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

4.25

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