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dizzymissruby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Cancer and Death of parent
melist6'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? No
4.0
Graphic: Classism and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Death of parent
martigas's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Cancer, and Dementia
Minor: Car accident
yasidiaz'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
5.0
What aspect I absolutely adored about this book is how we got to see two gay teens love each other without the homophobia. There is nothing wrong with those books (my favorite book has a forced outing) but there is so much merit to stories that don't focus on our suffering. Dylan's family loves him as he is and despite Theo's complications with his, him being gay wasn't one of them. Stories like this are just as important as the ones that touch the bigotry and suffering our community suffers, it shows queer teens that is so much more than our suffering.
It's lighthearted and funny but also filled with so much heart. I honestly love this book so much that I might get a physical copy. I need this to sit next to my favorite romcoms.
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Alcoholism
bruhbruh'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? It's complicated
3.0
- A gay book without homophobia.
- An adorable family and wonderful depiction of their relationships
- As a non chinese person, I discovered a lot of the culture
- Silly
- Cring cringe CRINGE mega Cringe.
- Bland love interest
Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, and Death of parent
Minor: Forced institutionalization and Car accident
its_vendetta'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? Yes
5.0
I loved the conflicts and how both Dylan and Theo had to resolve issues, instead of it just being a one sided conflict. It really makes the story more realistic and interesting.
Honestly i’m sure there are flaws im forgetting to bring up, but the book just made me happy! I looked forward to reading it and it left me feeling cozy and giggly and that’s what really matters! My only wish was that it was longer, I wanted to stay with the characters more.
My favorite quote:
Graphic: Death of parent and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Cancer, Car accident, and Alcohol
Minor: Animal cruelty, Abandonment, and Dementia
12dejamoo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
And like, a hell of a lot happens. Normally I'd be rating this low and saying it rushed through things and tried to pile too many ideas into one book, but it had this undeniable charm which just made me forgive any of its flaws.
I guess really ideally this would be a bit longer, if only to spend more time with these two. But just in general it was so great.
I loved Dylan and Theo. They were both such distinctive, rich characters. And the supporting cast were also all excellent. Terri and Megan and Aunt Jade and Tim, hell, even Adrian. They were just great and so well characterised. Okay, yes, Aidrian was a bit of a caricature, but in a fun way. I liked all the scenes of cooking. Even though the mooncake competition doesn't take much of the book runtime, the multiple scenes of them prepping and discussing and planning mean the mooncake storyline is present throughout and it doesn't feel like it was tacked on the end.
Throughout the book you get these explanations of Malaysian and Chinese culture, about food and cooking, about running the shop etc. which just mean you are never in the dark about things and honestly you're kind of learning but in a fun, easily packaged way.
I do really appreciate that they didn't spend one thousand years dancing around one another. Like, yes, it was a 'fake date' in the strictest sense, but they both quite obviously liked one another from the start. It was a breath of fresh air in the fake dating genre.
I'm sure there are more flaws that I'm missing but honestly I don't care because I had a good time and this book made me happy.
Moderate: Death of parent and Alcoholism
Bad/absent parenting, flooding, money troubles, almost drowningmaki576's review against another edition
4.5
It was very sweet and cute, at some moments I even laughed out loud💕
Made me smile,laugh,cry and look at the non existence camera in my room with a shocked expression
I’m a sucker for cute familial relationships an this was a 10/10 on that scale
Only reason it’s not a 5⭐️ is because I wish it was longer. The start felt rushed and I wish we saw the characters become friends before they started fake dating.
I found it a bit odd how the characters saw each other like one time and then went to a wedding as fake boyfriends😐
Idk man that just made me annoyed but the rest of the story made up for it🤭
Moderate: Grief, Death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Addiction, Car accident, Death of parent, Dementia, and Mental illness
ka_schulze's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I enjoyed the premise of the book but there were just a few things that didn’t work. Overall I enjoyed the development of Dylan and Theo and how they were able to make their relationship work.
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Xenophobia and Toxic friendship
mspilesofpaper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Fake Dates and Mooncakes is an adorable YA achillean contemporary romance novel, set in NYC (Brooklyn), and based on the tropes: fake dating, one bed. While there is instant love, it is well-handed in my opinion. Of course, it isn't a masterpiece of literature but it is cute, easy to read and the characters are likeable. Sometimes that's all I need from a book. A few things are glossed over and could have been explored more (like the theme of grief and loss of a parent, which is something that both boys deal with).
The only two things that annoyed me were the stereotypical 3rd act break-up and Theo's best friend Adrian (in combination with the butler). Something that I hate more than instant lust/love is the 3rd act break-up (no matter if it's based on miscommunication, an outside influence or something else). It's unnecessary and in this case, it could have been resolved if Dylan and Theo had talked with each other (and if Theo had talked with his father). Adrian was just an asshole that was not required at any point. He didn't add anything to the story aside from having two scenes where he causes issues (and the reader never knows why Theo is actually friends with him aside from 'I know him since I was a child').
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief