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A review by joanna1905
Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen
3.0
*3.5 stars*
I was so pleasantly surprised by this - I only picked this up when I saw the movie was coming out but I ended up really enjoying it. I think it tackled some really difficult situations and - for the most part - did it with care and grace.
I really loved seeing Ever learning about her heritage but I do wish we got a little bit more that and a little less drama. The love triangle just felt a bit trite but it wasn’t poorly done so it was fine.
My one issue was the way the revenge porn plot was handled - I’m not necessarily against it being in YA but I don’t think this book did a good job at all of discussing it. I’m so over the best friend turns enemy because of a boy and Sophie turned insanely malicious over a guy she was only interested in because he’s rich. Spreading those photos to the school, to the dance school, to her parents was so disgustingly malicious and then it was just completely breezed by…? Like because the guy she was hooking up with was violent we’re meant to just forgive her for violating Ever. Really hated this part and felt it was approached with all the nuance of a 2014 book… which is a shame for a very new novel.
All in all I really enjoyed it, and I’m definitely interested to see what happens in book two especially considering my feelings for Sophie.
I was so pleasantly surprised by this - I only picked this up when I saw the movie was coming out but I ended up really enjoying it. I think it tackled some really difficult situations and - for the most part - did it with care and grace.
I really loved seeing Ever learning about her heritage but I do wish we got a little bit more that and a little less drama. The love triangle just felt a bit trite but it wasn’t poorly done so it was fine.
My one issue was the way the revenge porn plot was handled - I’m not necessarily against it being in YA but I don’t think this book did a good job at all of discussing it. I’m so over the best friend turns enemy because of a boy and Sophie turned insanely malicious over a guy she was only interested in because he’s rich. Spreading those photos to the school, to the dance school, to her parents was so disgustingly malicious and then it was just completely breezed by…? Like because the guy she was hooking up with was violent we’re meant to just forgive her for violating Ever. Really hated this part and felt it was approached with all the nuance of a 2014 book… which is a shame for a very new novel.
All in all I really enjoyed it, and I’m definitely interested to see what happens in book two especially considering my feelings for Sophie.