Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - It's Not Like It's a Secret

Following Sana as she navigates her new life in California, learning she is attracted to girls, and having to carry around the weighted expectations of her family and the secret of her father's affair were all such compelling plot points that were really well executed in the first half of the story. It was great to watch Sana make friends at her new school, find solidarity with other Asian students that she never had with her white friends back in the Midwest, and develop a friendship (and eventual relationship) with Jamie.

But as the story went on and Sana continued digging herself into holes, there were never any consequences for her actions. For example, when she's being blatantly and extremely racist toward Jamie and her friends, all that happens is Sana is pulled aside and talked to by Jamie, and the issue is never brought up again. Then the next time we see Sana interact with Jamie's friends at the end of the book, everything is fine between them. The group of friends is never allowed closure with Sana's racist views of Mexicans.

And the entire storyline with Sana cheating on Jamie with [his name is slipping my mind, I think it was Caleb but I'm not sure] made me absolutely furious to the point I was pacing around listening to the audio book wondering how the hell this story was going to wrap up. Sana hurt the feelings of her two best friends, made them both believe she was in a relationship with them, and then by the end of the book they're all fine? I'm not going to lie, I was almost hoping Jamie wouldn't take her back. There was resolution, but it felt too unrealistic - the forgiveness happened so fast and it didn't seem like it should've happened at all.

On a more positive note, it was great to read from the perspective of a young girl of color trying to understand herself more and learn from the mistakes of herself, her peers, and her parents.

Given that this is an own-voices novel, my opinions should be taken with a grain of salt. Overall stellar beginning, but the resolutions fell flat and weren't satisfying.

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zoesh's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-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

3.75

The middle of the book was a bit slow, but the ending was moving and I cried in the last little bit. The characters all developed, but it did feel somewhat sudden (especially the family members)! I liked the references to other poems and writers throughout the book. I really liked learning more about Japanese culture through this book. I found the main character a bit naive and immature at times (but I'm 26 years old reading a YA novel, so that's to be expected), but it was great to see how the main character grew into the person who she wanted to be.

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featheredturtle's review

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emotional lighthearted tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The Good
– #ownvoices Japanese main character
– Sana discovering solidarity and kinship with other Asian students
– Explores nuances of racism and prejudice between different minority groups
– First half has the hallmarks of a cute romance
– Approachable, readable, conversational writing style
– Poems as a style of communication!
– The highs and lows were at the right moments (they just weren’t fun to read tho)

The Bad
– Drama relies on Sana’s sudden out-of-character bouts
– Second half was cringeworthy on a majestic scale
– Literally no one likes cheating storylines
– Lesbian character kissing a guy
– Relationship timeskips
– Some telling over showing
– Overuse of omigod

It’s Not Like It’s A Secret begins as a cute, promising romance mixed with more serious themes; it veers off the rails when Sana suddenly “can’t stop” the racist tirade coming from her mouth.

Story—★★★☆☆ (2.5 Stars)
Sana moves from lily-white where she was the only kid of colour to California, which boasts a more diverse population. She finally has Asian friends who Get It, even if they’re straight. But, if the text messages she’s found on his phone for the past four years are any indication, she’s pretty sure her dad’s cheating on her mom.

Also, her parents don’t know she’s gay.

Also, racism is more nuanced when it’s more than just you and a crowd of white kids.

It’s Not Like It’s A Secret has a lot going on. This is part of its problem. It starts off on a strong enough note, balancing Sana’s new friendships, her worry over where her father is when he’s out doing something late “for work,” and her growing closeness with her crush, Jamie. It was fun to read about Sana connecting with other Asian students and their schemes to maneuver around their strict parents, and to read about Sana and Jamie sharing their favourite poems with each other and growing closer. It’s easy to sympathize with Sana when she worries about her father.

Then, halfway through, Sana starts making some bad choices and the whole story gets irritating. Sana suddenly “can’t help herself” as she racially profiles Jamie’s friends in a rant about how the latine students just need to work harder. She kisses a guy when her girlfriend doesn’t text her back. It’s a big ol’ mess. These moments were forced and unnatural. They weren’t good drama, they weren’t fun to read, they were glaringly bad choices.

The best subplot was easily the one about her father’s mysterious texts/possible affair. It’s not a black-and-white situation, and she gets to see and understand the core her parents’ values. Sana grows closer to them as a result, and it’s well-rounded in its execution.

In direct contrast are the storylines featuring her own mistakes, which are hastily swept up with a timeskip and a “Whoops! Sorry about that.”

Characters—★★★☆☆
Sana: I really liked Sana is a first. She’s awkward and her narration is humourous, plus her strict parents and her first crush on her clueless straight best friend make her sympathetic. But once we cross that middle bump and she starts up with the really bad decisions? Listen, I’m all for main characters screwing up, making mistakes, being impulsive, etc., but there’s screwing up, and then there’s the frustrating, sudden out of character moments that only happen for the drama of it all, like Sana going on a tirade stereotyping Mexican Americans or cheating on her girlfriend. Readers hate when characters do something stupid for no good reason, and most readers hate cheating story lines. Especially when the main character a) is in a situation where it’s easy to avoid cheating, and b) had the entire weekend to clear things up with her girlfriend and friends.

Jamie: It’s super cute how Jamie and Sana bond over poetry, sharing and recommending poems for each other. But once they have their cute first kiss, it’s a lot of timeskips, some real bad communication on both ends, and the relationship in general mostly winds up on the back-burner.

The rest: The supporting cast was solidly characterized, and although the reader frequently encounters different groups of characters, it’s easy to tell everyone apart. No one felt same-y. I particularly liked Sana’s relationship with her parents. In the last section, I found Caleb really annoying and melodramatic. So what? The girl you kissed once, literally a few days ago, is gay. It sucks, but there’s no need to be an angsty baby for weeks.

Writing Style—★★★★☆ (3.5 Stars)
It’s Not Like It’s A Secret is written in first person, present tense from Sana’s point of view. Chapters are occasionally interspersed with Sana’s commentary on certain poems.

Sugiura wrote It’s Not Like It’s A Secret in a bright, conversational style. It’s decently polished for a debut book: it has a natural flow and is very readable. Although Sugiura captures emotional well at times (Sana’s bathroom stall breakdown was perfect!) there’s also a lot of telling over showing in some key spots that effectively kneecap a scene emotionally. Also: the use of omigod as an exclamation once or twice is fair, but using it over two dozen times is grating.

Themes and Representation—★★★☆☆
It’s Not Like It’s A Secret has an #ownvoices Japanese American protagonist, Sana, who is also a lesbian. Her immediate friend group is also Asian, specifically Vietnamese and Chinese from Hong Kong. Jamie, her girlfriend, is Mexican American and implied to be a lesbian. There are numerous supporting Mexican American characters from Jamie’s friend group, as well. It’s Not Like It’s A Secret often deals with the generation and cultural difference between Sana and her parents, particularly with how they approach things like secrets and truth. This last part is quite nice and one of the highlights of the book.

But… On one hand we have all this wonderful representation present on the page; on the other, we have a lesbian main character—specifically lesbian, not bi or pan or ambiguously queer or sapphic—who cheats on her girlfriend by kissing a guy. And readers also have to endure Sana regurgitating some unpleasant Mexican American stereotypes, which wouldn’t make any Mexican American or other latine readers feel great.

Overall—★★★☆☆ (3.25 Stars)

Recommended For…
Readers looking for YA books tackling stereotyping and racism between minority communities; readers looking for authentic Japanese American representation.

Content Warnings