Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.25 AVERAGE
3.25 AVERAGE
I received an ARC to review. Thank you to Suzanne and Avon Books. My opinions are my own.
Sara has worked tirelessly on an app Upon My Death (UMD) where it sends personalized messages to whoever the user wants to receive them after they have passed. It's not quite ready yet and after a drunken night Sara set up messages in the app. The next day she finds out the messages were sent due to a bug. Of course there are repercussions like angry parents, but the upside was reconnecting with a high school crush.
Sara navigates her new venture after leaving the company and also working on her personal life. She's learning to set boundaries with her parents and professionally. Sara has grown a lot throughout the book, her development is wonderful.
I'm always delighted to read books with women in STEM. It's a space where women are very underrepresented in real life. Sara has experienced a lot of racism and misogyny and what I love is how she stands up for herself. Not letting others dictate how she should look or behave.
As an Asian woman myself, I could relate to a lot of Sara's challenges. And there's also the cultural and generational differences with her parents. I feel like every Asian American child has gone through this! The trauma is real.
The book touched on many issues Asian women face and it was balanced out well with the competition and reconnecting with a past crush. This was such an pleasure to read and I definitely recommend it!
Sara has worked tirelessly on an app Upon My Death (UMD) where it sends personalized messages to whoever the user wants to receive them after they have passed. It's not quite ready yet and after a drunken night Sara set up messages in the app. The next day she finds out the messages were sent due to a bug. Of course there are repercussions like angry parents, but the upside was reconnecting with a high school crush.
Sara navigates her new venture after leaving the company and also working on her personal life. She's learning to set boundaries with her parents and professionally. Sara has grown a lot throughout the book, her development is wonderful.
I'm always delighted to read books with women in STEM. It's a space where women are very underrepresented in real life. Sara has experienced a lot of racism and misogyny and what I love is how she stands up for herself. Not letting others dictate how she should look or behave.
As an Asian woman myself, I could relate to a lot of Sara's challenges. And there's also the cultural and generational differences with her parents. I feel like every Asian American child has gone through this! The trauma is real.
The book touched on many issues Asian women face and it was balanced out well with the competition and reconnecting with a past crush. This was such an pleasure to read and I definitely recommend it!
i liked this a lot, her parents really made me sad and it was so familiar at the same time, i'm so glad they actually tried in this book after getting the letter. i'm also happy that it had a focus on the fmc's career goals while giving her a personality. i also liked that she wasn't afraid to speak her mind tbh
i do wish that everyone who had been rude, sexist and terrible to her got their karma. i really disagree with how naomi acted, like yeah it was shitty of her to flake and prioritise work, but it's even shittier to ghost out of nowhere rather than talk about what was bothering you, especially with such a long friendship
i do wish that everyone who had been rude, sexist and terrible to her got their karma. i really disagree with how naomi acted, like yeah it was shitty of her to flake and prioritise work, but it's even shittier to ghost out of nowhere rather than talk about what was bothering you, especially with such a long friendship
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This was an interesting and the book was entertaining. Sara works in a male dominated field and is working to get her app off the ground. I like that even though the messages were sent in error and led to a lot of chaos for Sara, she ultimately repaired relationships.
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 rating
It was okay, a nice, easy read. I liked that this romance included some healthy communication between the FMC family and romantic interest. FMC is a bit awkward, but that's part of her personality. It makes for funny and awkward encounters. She honeslty could have handled the app mishap in a whole different way if she stuck to her OG avoidant response. The fact that she used the app mishap to take advantage of reconnecting and saying what she's really feeling, I think, is a good opportunity for character development. I liked seeing how the FMC's culture/ upbringing influenced her actions and interactions with her family and the pressure she feels to have a good job and find a husband, etc.
It was okay, a nice, easy read. I liked that this romance included some healthy communication between the FMC family and romantic interest. FMC is a bit awkward, but that's part of her personality. It makes for funny and awkward encounters. She honeslty could have handled the app mishap in a whole different way if she stuck to her OG avoidant response. The fact that she used the app mishap to take advantage of reconnecting and saying what she's really feeling, I think, is a good opportunity for character development. I liked seeing how the FMC's culture/ upbringing influenced her actions and interactions with her family and the pressure she feels to have a good job and find a husband, etc.
I have such mixed feelings about this one.
Sara is one of those characters that everything happens to, she doesn't do anything to cause any of this (eyeroll). Her and her best friend from high school (she's 34 btw) loose touch and she blames the other woman entirely, even though she says at one point that last time Naomi invited her out the last was too hard to get too, that's the lamest excuse.
She also put Harry on this pedestal, where he can do almost no wrong, her 15 year long crush making her blind to everything. She makes up a fake boyfriend because she's too embarrassed to say she's single (even though they literally just reconnected and there's no way he'd know she's been single for a long time). Then, when he confirms he's split from his ex she gets all worked up about how he doesn't wanna get married again, even though they aren't dating, haven't talked about dating, or anything, she instantly has this like "ughh why is he like that" attitude. It's understandable he might be a little gun-shy about getting married again after his marriage tohis high school sweetheart ended.
While I know this is a romance, I would have liked a lot more info on the app, not just like "ope we're working on it."
Overall, this book was fine. It's not one that I couldn't put down, often I had to make myself keep reading it and found myself skimming parts. Sara is so in her own head and always about the same things, it got really repetitive.
Thanks to NetGalley for the arc.
Sara is one of those characters that everything happens to, she doesn't do anything to cause any of this (eyeroll). Her and her best friend from high school (she's 34 btw) loose touch and she blames the other woman entirely, even though she says at one point that last time Naomi invited her out the last was too hard to get too, that's the lamest excuse.
She also put Harry on this pedestal, where he can do almost no wrong, her 15 year long crush making her blind to everything. She makes up a fake boyfriend because she's too embarrassed to say she's single (even though they literally just reconnected and there's no way he'd know she's been single for a long time). Then, when he confirms he's split from his ex she gets all worked up about how he doesn't wanna get married again, even though they aren't dating, haven't talked about dating, or anything, she instantly has this like "ughh why is he like that" attitude. It's understandable he might be a little gun-shy about getting married again after his marriage tohis high school sweetheart ended.
While I know this is a romance, I would have liked a lot more info on the app, not just like "ope we're working on it."
Overall, this book was fine. It's not one that I couldn't put down, often I had to make myself keep reading it and found myself skimming parts. Sara is so in her own head and always about the same things, it got really repetitive.
Thanks to NetGalley for the arc.
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
It was just underwhelming. The characters could use more depth.
Sara Chae's idea for an app is turned down by her bosses, so she decides to go out on her own to get it funded. Through some drunken message mishaps, she reconnects with her high school crush who happens to be a venture capitalist. I had a hard time getting excited to keep reading this one. There was a bit too much business. I also work in tech so I think I know too much about how app development really works. I do love the women in tech representation here!