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veecaswell 's review for:
Heiress Apparently
by Diana Ma
Gemma Huang is a recent transplant to Los Angeles from Illinois, having abandoned plans for college to pursue a career in acting, much to the dismay of her parents. Now she’s living with three roommates in a two-bedroom hovel, auditioning for bit roles that hardly cover rent. Gemma’s big break comes when she’s asked to play a lead role in an update of M. Butterfly filming for the summer in Beijing. When she arrives, she’s stopped by paparazzi at the airport. She quickly realizes she may as well be the twin of one of the most notorious young socialites in Beijing. Thus kicks off a summer of revelations, in which Gemma uncovers a legacy her parents have spent their lives protecting her from—one her mother would conceal from her daughter at any cost.
I do really appreciate Diana Ma’s style, she has a really nice voice throughout this book and with this book being own voices, of course this book has references that make this book feel genuine and originally told with little things dotted in that make this book feel authentic and Gemma is introduced well along with her friends and date.
However it does feel like everything is moving at a pace that feels strange. I do feel like in some aspects this book could be longer and sometimes it could be shorter - which is confusing I know! I feel like there’s no room for Gemma to grow and this book needs to explore that but also it move so fast in the first chapters with everything happening all at once.
A book at the beginning of a series with a lot of potential, Heiress Apparently is a good read with a lot of care dealing with issues such as racism and LGBT rights and the history that weaves into the book is good, the history especially when it came to her family which I feel is where the book really got going.
(I received an ARC from Netgalley for honest review).