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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
2024:
I changed my mind. I liked this book a lot and still think about it all these years later!
2022 review:
Feel like I was sold a false bill of goods on the whole “autistic female in STEM lead” angle. This book was silly, silly, silly. And juvenile. I could practically hear the 7th grade chorus of “oooooohs” during all of those spicy scenes. It makes sense that a 7th grader would get the most out of this (sorry, unknowing parents, that this book absolutely skyrocketed thanks to TikTok, age demo 10-14), since this is basically elevated YA.
Anyway. I know this is like a gender-flipped Pretty Woman, but does anyone even stop to think about how sad the “hooker with a heart of gold” stories really are? Point being, the material conditions that lead people to sex work are sad, even if the lead is Julia Roberts, or in this case, a sexy, sensitive wasian.
I changed my mind. I liked this book a lot and still think about it all these years later!
2022 review:
Feel like I was sold a false bill of goods on the whole “autistic female in STEM lead” angle. This book was silly, silly, silly. And juvenile. I could practically hear the 7th grade chorus of “oooooohs” during all of those spicy scenes. It makes sense that a 7th grader would get the most out of this (sorry, unknowing parents, that this book absolutely skyrocketed thanks to TikTok, age demo 10-14), since this is basically elevated YA.
Anyway. I know this is like a gender-flipped Pretty Woman, but does anyone even stop to think about how sad the “hooker with a heart of gold” stories really are? Point being, the material conditions that lead people to sex work are sad, even if the lead is Julia Roberts, or in this case, a sexy, sensitive wasian.
Finished it in a day, the representation of ASD in women was refreshing and it is a lovely romance novel.
I'm so happy to have gotten this book on my radar. I feel like a broken record, but I swear I don't normally like contemporary romance. I usually find them predictable, and worse boring.
However, this does the contemporary genre good. It is fresh, funny, hot, and I love a book that plays with traditional gender norms. Yay gender swapped Pretty Woman! I don't want to suggest that that is all this is. It's more than a reboot. This novel's heroine is autistic and for the life of me I cannot think of another book that I've read that has a diagnosed/self-identifying autistic female character. Autism so frequently seems like a male disorder because that's what we see in media and I am so much more readily attuned to the male symptoms/experience. What a service to her readers that Hoang has written a novel with a character based on her own perceptions as an autistic woman.
The portrayal of Michael as biracial and his Vietnamese family was also riveting. So often the romantic hero is one dimensional and driven solely by how he relates to the female character. It's refreshing to see a well rounded male protagonist who has a personality, past, friends, family, and work life outside of the key romance.
This book gets all the stars!
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Berkley for the copy I received for review.
#thekissquotient #netgalley
However, this does the contemporary genre good. It is fresh, funny, hot, and I love a book that plays with traditional gender norms. Yay gender swapped Pretty Woman! I don't want to suggest that that is all this is. It's more than a reboot. This novel's heroine is autistic and for the life of me I cannot think of another book that I've read that has a diagnosed/self-identifying autistic female character. Autism so frequently seems like a male disorder because that's what we see in media and I am so much more readily attuned to the male symptoms/experience. What a service to her readers that Hoang has written a novel with a character based on her own perceptions as an autistic woman.
The portrayal of Michael as biracial and his Vietnamese family was also riveting. So often the romantic hero is one dimensional and driven solely by how he relates to the female character. It's refreshing to see a well rounded male protagonist who has a personality, past, friends, family, and work life outside of the key romance.
This book gets all the stars!
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Berkley for the copy I received for review.
#thekissquotient #netgalley
i could not get enough of this book, and that is very apparent from the speed in which i read it 😂 i just couldn’t put it down!
i loved both michael and stella individually, but together they just had such amazing chemistry! i loved how understanding and patient michael was! i also really liked that we got to see his whole family - i think seeing him interact with his mother, his sisters and his cousins really fleshed out his character even more
when i finished it, i was thinking it was a five star read, but now that i’ve thought about it a little bit more, i think i’m bumping it down to a 4.5, just because i wanted some more emotional depth to stella and michael’s relationship, and the miscommunication near the end got on my nerves a little bit
if you loved this one, i would recommend you check out yes and i love you by roni loren!
i loved both michael and stella individually, but together they just had such amazing chemistry! i loved how understanding and patient michael was! i also really liked that we got to see his whole family - i think seeing him interact with his mother, his sisters and his cousins really fleshed out his character even more
when i finished it, i was thinking it was a five star read, but now that i’ve thought about it a little bit more, i think i’m bumping it down to a 4.5, just because i wanted some more emotional depth to stella and michael’s relationship, and the miscommunication near the end got on my nerves a little bit
if you loved this one, i would recommend you check out yes and i love you by roni loren!
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Initially, I found it a bit on the nose the way the Hoang described Stella and her condition in the start. But lateron, the mannerisms and the ways in which Asperger's manifests in her life and personality was interestingly written. It is clear that the writer has a personal affiliation with Stella which makes the character's narrative interesting. In many ways she shows what it's like to be a woman on the spectrum with a high-functioning mental illness.
As for Michael, I liked his backstory. I liked that Hoang kept unravelling it slowly. It does cater to the handsomely troubled and protective hero trope.
Overall, I enjoyed the tone and settings which added to the way the story felt. The only thing I found just a bit irritating was the repetition of it not being real. I'd be invested in their emotional revelations and they'd be repeating "it's not real... It's not real." But I guess that is how it can be irl.
As for Michael, I liked his backstory. I liked that Hoang kept unravelling it slowly. It does cater to the handsomely troubled and protective hero trope.
Overall, I enjoyed the tone and settings which added to the way the story felt. The only thing I found just a bit irritating was the repetition of it not being real. I'd be invested in their emotional revelations and they'd be repeating "it's not real... It's not real." But I guess that is how it can be irl.
This book is definitely my comfort book! I can't get enough of this book because it's so wholesome and cute (the chef's kiss). If someone asked me what my favorite rom-com was, I'd say this book without hesitation.
leve vergonha de ter gostado tanto hahahahha é bem besta, gente