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katiemcgregor's review against another edition
emotional
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
3.5
I appreciate the Asian Readathon for encouraging me to seek out a book by a Bangladeshi author because I think Bhuiyan's writing has a lot of charm. Lately teenage characters have been driving me crazy because of the "all logic out the window" plots that appear in their stories. I don't expect (or want) teenage characters to be fully realized. They're teenagers. But I do think they can be flawed and still have a reasonable thought process behind the decisions they make.
Bhuiyan navigated this nicely. While some of the deception could have been solved in a much simpler way, I feel like Liana's reasoning made sense for her character. I appreciated that the pop culture references were done tastefully and the writing flowed well and was easy to get through.
I maybe wish that things were a little more developed regarding the other characters (they were but they weren't?) and I'm not sure how I feel about the conclusion with the family issues. I do understand the choice of an open ended conclusion rather than a perfect one because I think it's more realistic for this type of conflict, but maybe a little more on-page progress would have been nice? Some sort of coming-to-an-understanding? I don't know. It's fine as is, but I'd be curious to see different routes explored.
Looking forward to reading more of Bhuiyan's work.
Bhuiyan navigated this nicely. While some of the deception could have been solved in a much simpler way, I feel like Liana's reasoning made sense for her character. I appreciated that the pop culture references were done tastefully and the writing flowed well and was easy to get through.
I maybe wish that things were a little more developed regarding the other characters (they were but they weren't?) and I'm not sure how I feel about the conclusion with the family issues. I do understand the choice of an open ended conclusion rather than a perfect one because I think it's more realistic for this type of conflict, but maybe a little more on-page progress would have been nice? Some sort of coming-to-an-understanding? I don't know. It's fine as is, but I'd be curious to see different routes explored.
Looking forward to reading more of Bhuiyan's work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Self harm and Suicide
anyaemilie's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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
4.5
Another super cute YA romance ❤️ Tashie Bhuiyan is a favorite of mine and she deserves more attention from fans of contemporary YA readers. Her love of music always shows through in her books as well, especially this one--I really liked the addition of the playlists throughout this book.
Mental health rep is something that Tashie Bhuiyan does well, and this book is no exception. Lia has depression and anxiety (which she notes are undiagnosed, but which doesn't make them any less real) and she there are many external factors that affect both. Her mother has passed away (before the events of the book), and her relationship with her father has fallen apart since. Both of them are grieving, but neither of them quite know how to deal with their feelings. Her father has decided to dive completely into his work which has basically broken his relationship with his daughter. Lia really just needs her father and he can't understand why him providing materially for her isn't enough.
The only way Lia knows how to connect to her father is through music, since is job as a music executive seems to be the only thing he cares about. She got her love of music from him, and it's really the only thing they have left since Lia's mother died.
Besides the exploration of Lia's mental health and her relationship with her father, I also really liked Lia's relationships with the boys of Third Eye. It definitely had self-insert fanfic vibes (which I do NOT mean in a dismissive or condescending way!). The author mentioned in her note at the beginning how important One Direction was in forming many of her friendships and the fanfic community is strong around that band, so I'm just inferring some things here 😊 Honestly what teenage girl didn't dream of becoming bffs with a band as they rise to fame? It's the stuff every good fanfic is made of.
The romance was very sweet and super slow burn, which I love in YA. Lots of hurdles to get to the HEA, but totally worth it. From the misconceptions of Skyler at the beginning to slowly finding out that Lia and Skyler had a lot more in common than they thought, to the scene at the music competition (shh no spoilers 🤫), I really loved how their relationship progressed throughout the book.
Also I loved the epilogue.Lia and Skyler get their HEA, but Lia's life isn't magically perfect. She still needs to work on her mental health, which her dad basically wants know part in. But Lia has taken the initiative once she's left home for college to see a therapist to try to improve her quality of life, which is extremely powerful. She knows she needs to take this upon herself because her dad isn't there for her. And that relationship is also discussed in therapy, where she realizes that her dad neglecting her is a form of abuse. Lia luckily has a support system with the boys of Third Eye and her cousin so she isn't completely alone, but I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to have essentially lost both her parents. I just really liked that even though Lia got her happy ending with Skyler, the author made a point to show that romance doesn't magically fix everything. You still need to deal with the rest of the problems in your life to keep the romance healthy.
Another awesome book by Tashie Bhuiyan. I'm on a roll with the YA books in 2024 so hopefully my streak continues!!
Mental health rep is something that Tashie Bhuiyan does well, and this book is no exception. Lia has depression and anxiety (which she notes are undiagnosed, but which doesn't make them any less real) and she there are many external factors that affect both. Her mother has passed away (before the events of the book), and her relationship with her father has fallen apart since. Both of them are grieving, but neither of them quite know how to deal with their feelings. Her father has decided to dive completely into his work which has basically broken his relationship with his daughter. Lia really just needs her father and he can't understand why him providing materially for her isn't enough.
The only way Lia knows how to connect to her father is through music, since is job as a music executive seems to be the only thing he cares about. She got her love of music from him, and it's really the only thing they have left since Lia's mother died.
Besides the exploration of Lia's mental health and her relationship with her father, I also really liked Lia's relationships with the boys of Third Eye. It definitely had self-insert fanfic vibes (which I do NOT mean in a dismissive or condescending way!). The author mentioned in her note at the beginning how important One Direction was in forming many of her friendships and the fanfic community is strong around that band, so I'm just inferring some things here 😊 Honestly what teenage girl didn't dream of becoming bffs with a band as they rise to fame? It's the stuff every good fanfic is made of.
The romance was very sweet and super slow burn, which I love in YA. Lots of hurdles to get to the HEA, but totally worth it. From the misconceptions of Skyler at the beginning to slowly finding out that Lia and Skyler had a lot more in common than they thought, to the scene at the music competition (shh no spoilers 🤫), I really loved how their relationship progressed throughout the book.
Also I loved the epilogue.
Another awesome book by Tashie Bhuiyan. I'm on a roll with the YA books in 2024 so hopefully my streak continues!!
Content Warnings
Minor: Self harm, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts
Death of a parent occurs before the events of the book. MC has undiagnosed depression and anxiety. She briefly mentions having had suicidal thoughts and thoughts about self harm in the past, but does not act on either of these. She has a terrible relationship with her father, who neglects her in favor of his job. He treats her as a nuisance in most of their interactions and she feels (justifiably) abandoned by him, especially after the death of her mother.
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