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displacedcactus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Personally, I found the book to be a little too fast-paced. I wanted more time both to get to know Dylan, our MC, and Theo, our love interest. I wanted more time to absorb the emotional impact of some of the major plot-beats. But at around 200 pages, this book has no time to waste and goes pretty quickly from point to point until we screech to the finish line of a happy ending.
Also, I'm generally not a fan of the "rich boyfriend" style of romance. I'd rather daydream of a world where we fix the societal issues, rather than having a hot, rich guy throw money at my personal problems. I wouldn't have picked this book up at all, except that I am contractually obligated to read any book I see with a corgi on the cover.
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Racism
Both halves of the couple have lost parents and there is frequent mention of this, but the parental deaths do not take place on the page.piperclover's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
1) The tidbits of Chinese/ Singaporean/ immigrant cultures. Facts about gift giving traditions or why certain things are named the way they are, etc are woven very seamlessly throughout the narrative so I didn't feel it was an info dump but I was constantly learning fun little bits and pieces.
2) There's a fair bit of Chinese but the author is really good about giving you context clues or translating it into English so I never felt confused. In a recent book I read, there was a fair bit of Spanish but often it wasn't translated and there were no context clues so if you didn't know enough to understand what was being said, you were a little los. This book was the complete opposite and I appreciated it so much. Along with that, the narrator is fantastic and he seemed to speak Chinese so it felt real and was nice to hear the Chinese on audio.
3) I think the summary is a little misleading bc the cooking challenge portion of this is fairly small, about 25%? Maybe less even. I actually really appreciated that bc I don't like those kinds of books but was going to sit through it anyway.
The things I disliked:
1) This was a solid 3.75/4 stars until chapter 19 and then it got stupid and convoluted. This is your typical loved but poor/working class kid meets rich but neglected kid and while I wasn't thrilled by that shallowness, it was fine. But when chapter 19 came, I was remarkably more annoyed and less content. The shallow cliche trope mixed with this plot introduced in ch 19 was suddenly equally clich but too much for me.
2) I desperately needed this to be dual pov or at the very least, Theo's solo pov. The trope described above has been done soooo many times and since this wasn't an new take on it, I was desperately wishing for Theo's pov so we could at least have a slightly new perspective rather than the same old "average Joe meets crazy rich person and feels inferior but still wants to be together".
3)This is so slow burn it feels monotonous. I don't need full sex scenes to be fulfilled (also bc these are minors so I don't want that anyway) but seriously dragging this out until the literal end of the book was irritating and drags the pacing way down.
4) A side character has a history of
Graphic: Alcoholism
thelostartofsecretkeeping's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Moderate: Cancer, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Death of parent
thelittlestmermaid's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
I picked up Fake Dates and Mooncakes, hoping for a light-hearted read, and that is exactly what I got. This book is fluffy and sweet - with the exact right amount of family drama to spice things up.
Also, after reading this book, I am incredibly hungry. The main character describes many dishes in wonderful detail, which is amazing and sad for me because I live in a place where I am unable to locate any authentic Singaporean food. :')
The characters are all so loveable (with the exception of a few...) and realistic. I adore the chemistry between Theo and Dylan. And their friends and family were also so much fun to read about. I looooved Theo's cousin, Terri. She's just a great character.
Honestly, I don't really have anything critical to say, other than I wish their trip to the Hamptons had been longer. The juicy family gossip and rich person parties were quite fun to read. This book delivered exactly what I wanted it to.
I would highly highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a sweet, romantic book to read.
4.5 stars
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcoholism, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Xenophobia
analenegrace's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer and Car accident
ezwolf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I'm very hit or miss with YA and with romance, but something about this one made me very interested. This book does go through the motions of the usual romance tropes, but they didn't bother me the way use of those tropes usually do. There were some moments where I had to suspend my disbelief, but this book is fiction and maybe some of it can be written off as that's just how rich people are.
Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
Graphic: Grief, Toxic friendship, and Racism
Moderate: Alcohol, Death of parent, and Cancer
Minor: Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism
obscurepages's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Have to admit some parts were already a bit predictable (especially if you're a fan of Crazy Rich Asians 😂), some themes could have been explored more, and the romance could have had more to it, but I just enjoyed reading this a lot. I think it's because the writing style and the humor was just excellent.
Big thanks to Fully Booked PH and Get Underlined for sending over an e-arc my way! (This, of course, did not affect my overall opinion of the book.)
Find me elsewhere: <a href="http://www.instagram.com/obscure.pages/">Instagram</a> | <a href="http://www.twitter.com/lxndrnae">Twitter</a> | <a href="https://enthralledbookworm.wordpress.com/">Blog</a>
Marking this book as part of reading challenge: <a href="https://app.thestorygraph.com/reading_challenges/de133357-4196-421b-8d50-0445bfec4ec3/">#ReadQueerly2023</a>.
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Sexual content and Racism
A minor characterbetweentheshelves's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Car accident
Minor: Addiction, Racism, and Dementia
trippyotter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Through a chance encounter, Theo is determined to make things right with Drew for his best friends theatrics.
Theo finds himself smitten with Drew and his family, but things get a little awkward when Theo "secretly" helps, which leaves Drew feeling obligated to return the favor.
Despite the differences in their social classes and family drama, Theo and Drew bond over their shared grief and cultural history.
For a debut novel, this is everything I needed and so much more, from the fake-boyfriend ploy to the culinary references and everything in between.
I can't wait to read more from Sher!
Graphic: Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Classism, Alcohol, and Grief
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent, and Car accident
ramunepocky's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I really loved our protagonist and his journey as he sets out to honour his recently deceased mother's memory by entering the Mooncakes contest that she wanted to. This book is very much about family, about the lengths we go to for the ones we love, and how, even in the face of devastation, family keeps us going. I really loved Dylan's family and how much they supported him, but also everything he was willing to sacrifice and all the effort he puts in to support them too. I also really loved all the references to Singaporean culture and how much of the food was intigrated into the whole story too.
Fake dating is my all time favourite trope, its always so much fun and I love the barely concealed pining, and I feel like this book did it okay, but it fell a little flat in places. It felt a little rushed and glossed over and like the two protagonists barely discussed the parameters of their fake dating to make it convincing to Theo's family and Theo did just throw Dylan in the deep end by not telling him a single thing about his family and the current legal situation with his Aunt and Father, or his motivations behind wanting to fake date him until it had become a problemâ„¢, a problem that could have been avoided if he'd just communicated with Dylan.
I liked the romance, I do think it was sweet, even if it was a tad bit rushed, there were so many sweet moments between the two of them that I absolutely adored.
The last part of the book, primarily the Mooncakes contest and the parts after made me sob uncontrollably until the end. I just thought the whole rembrance and memorial of Dylan's mother was absolutely beautiful, and its so sweet after to see things FINALLY go Aunt Jade's way after all her hard work and all the hardships that had befallen her
Graphic: Death of parent and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Car accident