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A review by twiinklex
Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen
3.0
This is a tricky book to rate because there are as many things I liked as I disliked.
First of all, the representation alone is worth 5 stars! I loved reading about my own culture, seeing my favourite food and snacks mentioned, recognising traditions that are familiar to me and learning zodiac traits. You'll be surprised by how many OwnVoices novels I've seen fail on this front, but Lunar Love nailed it.
The downside is I didn't vibe with the opposites-attract, work-rivals, slow-burn romance at all. Nor did I care for the characters. I found Olivia really off-putting with her deceit, rude attitude, rigidity and stubbornness even though the point of it was for her to grow and develop. Meanwhile, Bennett is your typical leading man —too nice to the point of bland.
Nevertheless, this was still an enjoyable read overall with great themes of love, relationships, family, belonging and identity. I loved the exploration of Asian diaspora and the conversations that both leads had about being biracial and what constitutes being "Asian enough".
I would recommend this to those interested in learning more about Chinese culture or if like me, you love books that do your culture justice.
Thank you Forever Publishing for the Netgalley ARC.
Favourite quotes:
✨ "I thought I could tread water and stay afloat, but it turns out I'm not such a strong swimmer after all. I'm swept up, swept away. Too far gone."
✨ "If Bennett's the ocean, I'm already in too deep. No life raft can save me now."
✨ "Sometimes in life, there isn't a point. Sometimes we demand that there is. We pray that there is. and sometimes, we make a point when one isn't needed. When things are actually quite simple."
First of all, the representation alone is worth 5 stars! I loved reading about my own culture, seeing my favourite food and snacks mentioned, recognising traditions that are familiar to me and learning zodiac traits. You'll be surprised by how many OwnVoices novels I've seen fail on this front, but Lunar Love nailed it.
The downside is I didn't vibe with the opposites-attract, work-rivals, slow-burn romance at all. Nor did I care for the characters. I found Olivia really off-putting with her deceit, rude attitude, rigidity and stubbornness even though the point of it was for her to grow and develop. Meanwhile, Bennett is your typical leading man —too nice to the point of bland.
Nevertheless, this was still an enjoyable read overall with great themes of love, relationships, family, belonging and identity. I loved the exploration of Asian diaspora and the conversations that both leads had about being biracial and what constitutes being "Asian enough".
I would recommend this to those interested in learning more about Chinese culture or if like me, you love books that do your culture justice.
Thank you Forever Publishing for the Netgalley ARC.
Favourite quotes:
✨ "I thought I could tread water and stay afloat, but it turns out I'm not such a strong swimmer after all. I'm swept up, swept away. Too far gone."
✨ "If Bennett's the ocean, I'm already in too deep. No life raft can save me now."
✨ "Sometimes in life, there isn't a point. Sometimes we demand that there is. We pray that there is. and sometimes, we make a point when one isn't needed. When things are actually quite simple."