You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
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
I ended up loving this book so much more than I thought I would- I don’t usually annotate books in this style because in my head they’re just fluffy light reads, but about three chapters in, I had to start. I found it so engaging and I related to Penny enough that I worried briefly about what that says about me as an adult. Burned through in two days, will definitely picking up another Mary H.K Choi book in the near future.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Racism
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
It remains a mystery to me as to how Emergency Contact received so much hype. The dialogue was terribly cringey; Mary H.K. Choi demonstrates a god-awful attempt at replicating teen speak. Mental Illness is romanticized and the main character slut shames her own mother on multiple occasions.
The Plot
Penny Lee is getting ready to leave for college to become a writer. Also, did I mention that her life is real difficult? Yeah. She “wished, not for the first time, that her mom would stop wearing crop tops. Especially with leggings...Having a MILF for a mom was garbage” (page 3-4!!!)
Then, Penny meets a guy named Sam, they start texting regularly and become each other’s ‘Emergency contact’ and from there on the story loses all substance, not that it had much to begin with.
The Many Problems
So, the obvious first offence is that three pages in, Penny is slut shaming her mother. Penny was an obnoxious character, her holier-than-thou attitude and completely judgemental behaviour had me disliking her from the get-go.
Next, there are several instances where either Sam or Penny internally body shame themselves, but the topic is never addressed in depth. I felt that Mary H.K. Choi had a great opportunity to dive deeper into such a sensitive topic, but it bothered me that there was nothing past the randomly thrown in self hate remarks.
For example: “Penny wondered if she could borrow a special rich-people girdle for her thighs. She hated her thick legs. Her mom called them “athletic”, which, unless you’re an athlete, was more of an insult.”
Such throwaway internal dialogue like this was off putting for me.
Next is the fact that Mary H.K. Choi tried way too hard to replicate what she perceived as teen speak or teen lingo. It was cringey and at times almost unbearably inaccurate, the tone and writing felt terribly unnatural. It felt as if the author was censoring her natural writing style in attempt at catering to a younger audience, or to appeal ‘cool/woke’.
Take two prime examples of this:
“The girl inspected Penny’s lipstick again ‘Wait. I’m obsessed with how matte this is. What is it?’
‘Isn’t it fabulous?’ Penny enthused, reaching for the tube in her bag. ‘Too Thot to Trot?’ She read off the sticker on the bottom. Christ, she felt as if saying makeup names out loud set women’s rights back several decades.”
“Penny knew emoji hearts were flying out of her eyes. She was smitten mittens kittens.”
Oooookay? Being a teen myself, dialogue like this was quite literally laughable. Sorry to break it to ya, but this is not at all how we speak. Hopefully that was decipherable enough from the quotes above.
Finally, possibly the most obvious point, mental illness is not something to be romanticized. I could type out an entire essay based on the problematic side of Emergency Contact, but quite frankly it’d be self torture.
Here’s a little snippet of the issue:
Penny met Sam one time, and thought “wow he’s hot”. No problem there.
The next time they meet, Penny finds Sam having a panic attack. They exchange numbers and start to become a sort of support system for each other while Penny continues to fantasize about Sam. Essentially, their relationship jumped from “I see hot guy, I want hot guy,” to “I’m going to quite literally serve as your emotional crutch”.
There’s much more to be said on that topic, as I mentioned, but my main message is that this book sucks. The writing is terrible. The protagonist is conceded and judgemental. Heavy topics are brushed over, and others are mishandled.
Save yourself the time, and don’t get caught up in the hype surrounding this book. It’s not worth it, man.
The Plot
Penny Lee is getting ready to leave for college to become a writer. Also, did I mention that her life is real difficult? Yeah. She “wished, not for the first time, that her mom would stop wearing crop tops. Especially with leggings...Having a MILF for a mom was garbage” (page 3-4!!!)
Then, Penny meets a guy named Sam, they start texting regularly and become each other’s ‘Emergency contact’ and from there on the story loses all substance, not that it had much to begin with.
The Many Problems
So, the obvious first offence is that three pages in, Penny is slut shaming her mother. Penny was an obnoxious character, her holier-than-thou attitude and completely judgemental behaviour had me disliking her from the get-go.
Next, there are several instances where either Sam or Penny internally body shame themselves, but the topic is never addressed in depth. I felt that Mary H.K. Choi had a great opportunity to dive deeper into such a sensitive topic, but it bothered me that there was nothing past the randomly thrown in self hate remarks.
For example: “Penny wondered if she could borrow a special rich-people girdle for her thighs. She hated her thick legs. Her mom called them “athletic”, which, unless you’re an athlete, was more of an insult.”
Such throwaway internal dialogue like this was off putting for me.
Next is the fact that Mary H.K. Choi tried way too hard to replicate what she perceived as teen speak or teen lingo. It was cringey and at times almost unbearably inaccurate, the tone and writing felt terribly unnatural. It felt as if the author was censoring her natural writing style in attempt at catering to a younger audience, or to appeal ‘cool/woke’.
Take two prime examples of this:
“The girl inspected Penny’s lipstick again ‘Wait. I’m obsessed with how matte this is. What is it?’
‘Isn’t it fabulous?’ Penny enthused, reaching for the tube in her bag. ‘Too Thot to Trot?’ She read off the sticker on the bottom. Christ, she felt as if saying makeup names out loud set women’s rights back several decades.”
“Penny knew emoji hearts were flying out of her eyes. She was smitten mittens kittens.”
Oooookay? Being a teen myself, dialogue like this was quite literally laughable. Sorry to break it to ya, but this is not at all how we speak. Hopefully that was decipherable enough from the quotes above.
Finally, possibly the most obvious point, mental illness is not something to be romanticized. I could type out an entire essay based on the problematic side of Emergency Contact, but quite frankly it’d be self torture.
Here’s a little snippet of the issue:
Penny met Sam one time, and thought “wow he’s hot”. No problem there.
The next time they meet, Penny finds Sam having a panic attack. They exchange numbers and start to become a sort of support system for each other while Penny continues to fantasize about Sam. Essentially, their relationship jumped from “I see hot guy, I want hot guy,” to “I’m going to quite literally serve as your emotional crutch”.
There’s much more to be said on that topic, as I mentioned, but my main message is that this book sucks. The writing is terrible. The protagonist is conceded and judgemental. Heavy topics are brushed over, and others are mishandled.
Save yourself the time, and don’t get caught up in the hype surrounding this book. It’s not worth it, man.
slow-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
Actually had a really good time despite this being a book where mostly nothing happens. It probably helps that:
A) I had really low expectations based on some bad reviews
B) I never grew out of my teenage hard on for skinny guys with tattoos (which is an under-appreciated genre of man in romance books imo)
C) I listened to the audiobook and both the voice actors do a really great job
I would've probably gone nuts for this book in high school but even as an adult I found a lot to love. The dialogue is really good and the relationships are really sweet and surprisingly mature. I was worried early on that the main character's whole "not like other girls" shtick was going to be played straight but (minor spoiler?) it's not. Great book for a nice little palate cleanser if you don't need a plot-driven story.
A) I had really low expectations based on some bad reviews
B) I never grew out of my teenage hard on for skinny guys with tattoos (which is an under-appreciated genre of man in romance books imo)
C) I listened to the audiobook and both the voice actors do a really great job
I would've probably gone nuts for this book in high school but even as an adult I found a lot to love. The dialogue is really good and the relationships are really sweet and surprisingly mature. I was worried early on that the main character's whole "not like other girls" shtick was going to be played straight but (minor spoiler?) it's not. Great book for a nice little palate cleanser if you don't need a plot-driven story.
I finished Emergency Contact by Mary H.K Choi, and it was so sweet. The novel follows two young adults who met in an adorably awkward run in. They exchange numbers and stay in touch, conveniently reaching out in times of emergency. Over time, they start embracing the stability of their conversations and start developing feelings for each other. This book was written beautifully and was such an enjoyable read. I flew through it in less than a day. 5/5 stars.
Some of the banter was funny but overall it was too YA
emotional
funny
fast-paced
I liked this book a surprising amount, considering it's written by and for a different generation - about two youths who develop a relationship over text.
If you are into the whole angst between two characters story background + slow burn relationship then this book is for you.
◾family problems
◾Interracial couple
◾Mental health awareness
◾Angst
◾Dry & Sarcastic humor.
◾family problems
◾Interracial couple
◾Mental health awareness
◾Angst
◾Dry & Sarcastic humor.
This book was amazing and I absolutely love the writing style. My only criticism is that the end seemed to hit very abruptly - it would have been nice to perhaps have an epilogue but maybe I'm only thinking that because I fell in love with the characters and just wanted to stay in their world.