You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
blueberry0531's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Death of parent
aglittercobra's review
4.0
Overall,
This was a very cute easy to read YA mm romance about two teens from different worlds coming together. Leaning heavily into the Singaporean and Hong Kong heritage of the characters, there is a lot to learn about tradition and family. The book was sweet with a dose of some heavier topics. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in broadening their horizons. Also, for real where do I find moon cakes? The description of the food in this book made me so hungry and i desperately want to try them!
Minor: Death of parent
fanboyriot's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Spice Level: n/a
Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
jackieyvette's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
Would love to read more from this author.
Crying Score: yes, on multiple scenes
Graphic: Death of parent
Minor: Xenophobia
reading__redhead's review
- 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
3.5
I didn’t like most of Theo’s family, especially his father.
When they broke up, I was genuinely sad, which doesn’t happen often to me. But I got mad at the fact that Theo clearly ignore Dylan’s concerns and helped him during the contest! Sure, it was the big romantic gesture of the story, but then the author had to make something up so that Mr. Somers would change his mind in order to create a happy ending.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Grief, Abandonment, and Classism
Minor: Dementia and Death of parent
thirdeyeangel23's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Minor: Death of parent
anniesbooknook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Toxic friendship and Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer, Dementia, Car accident, and Alcohol
panic_at_the_bookshelf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It was also interesting to read more about parts of Chinese and specifically Singaporean culture.
Moderate: Addiction, Terminal illness, and Alcohol
Minor: Xenophobia, Car accident, and Death of parent
abitofcourage'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
Moderate: Alcoholism, Racism, and Death of parent
wrongdecision's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I enjoyed this book very much for it's easy conversations, the friendships and the importance of family.
It was comforting to read for the most part and the characters were sweet and easily lovable.
While the social media, pop and meme references were a little too much for me at times, mostly they fit in and weren't too on the nose.
What I really, really enjoyed were actually the many little tid bits of information on Chinese culture, in reference to food but also traditions and beliefs as well as do's and dont's!
It was super interesting!
Sadly, I think the main part of this book, the romance itself, fell flat.
If the author had just gone a little bit more into detail about feelings it could have worked much better.
There is a lot of tell instead of show, partially a result of it being first person, but I don't really buy the emotions.
Dylan spends more time thinking about how he shouldn't show his feelings than actually showing his feelings and it gets a little repetitive.
Sure there are short moments of excitement and being flustered but the rest just doesn't come across very well.
You notice it much better with Theo, which in turn makes it a little more frustrating that Dylan isn't catching on.
The pacing is a bit off as well.
Many scenes feel like the author wanted to do something with it, make it special and meaningful but didn't want to go all the way so it is sometimes a little short and dry, more like you would write to yourself in a diary.
It's a pity, because a few extra details go a long way in making the reader feel like a part of it.
As a result the plot gets lost a few times.
In general I liked reading it, it was entertaining, informative and sweet!
Seeing as this is the author's debut novel I think it is a great start and I'm hopeful for future books!
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol