A review by takarakei
Manila Takes Manhattan by Carla de Guzman

lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if not for how it started. I am just really not a fan of the instant-attraction, hookup trope (like they are hooking up in the first few pages - that's really fast) and that really tainted the rest of the book for me. The hook-up also just seemed rather unrealistic: a famous actress meets a man in her hallway and invites him in and not 5 mins later they are getting intimate? I would have much preferred an initial meeting and attraction that didn't lead immediately to them hooking up. I think their romance could have been more well developed in general as well because it still felt very surface level physical-attraction based. Once we got more into the story Olivia and Mon's character interactions were cute, at times a bit cheesy, but fitting for their characters.

There's great Filipino representation and I definitely appreciated reading a romance very connected with that culture. Sure there's lots of words that I didn't know the meaning of, but it's not my culture and I got the gist of those parts. I'm sure that Filipinos reading this will appreciate the language and references! Lots of discussions around Olivia being a BIPOC/South Asian actress working in Hollywood (constantly dealing with racism and just wishing to be cast for roles that don't hide ethnicity).

This clearly was also written at the height of the pandemic and there were lots of specific topical references that I think in a short time might make this book read a bit outdated. 

Spice: 3.5/5
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for the ARC.
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