A review by olivesandashes
If You Still Recognize Me by Cynthia So

5.0

the summer before starting university, Elsie decides to impress her internet friend and crush with a grand gesture. and then she runs into her childhood best friend, who ignored all of her letters and emails after moving away. there's also making new friends, reconnecting with her family (including the grandmother she hasn't seen in years), getting her first job, and figuring out the reason her family hasn't gone back to Hong Kong in 8 years (which no one wants to talk about)

i haven't read nearly enough sapphic novels so i was looking forward to this, but i didn't expect to love this book so much. this is definitely a coming-of-age story, one of exploring your identity and figuring out who you are - not just for Elsie, but for her friends and family as well

there are so many queer characters, i love it! the cast includes bisexual, lesbian, gay, nonbinary, and asexual (which is always appreciated!) characters, including some older queer individuals and people of color. i also appreciated that despite this being a romance novel, romance was far from the only thing going on. there are so many important messages in here about society's expectations, homophobia, gender roles, the importance of friendship, etc. nothing stood out to me as negative, distracting, or something i didn't like