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A review by kaelaceleste
Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler
5.0
Going Bicoastal was SUCH a delight!! This is the story of Natalya, a bisexual teenager who has to decide if she wants to spend her summer at home in NYC with her dad, or in LA with her mom. As she makes her decision, the narrative splits to show us both possible storylines of what could happen. I didn't realize that's what I was getting into when I started this book but once I put together what was happening I was all in.
Through alternating chapters, we see what happens in both places and the drama that ensues from either decision. In NY, she strengthens her bond with her dad and friend group, and meets Ellie, the redheaded dream girl that she kept crossing paths with up to that point. In LA, she takes an internship for her mom's company and meets Adam, the other intern with a passion for cooking and an awesome friend group of culinary geniuses.
Both storylines were so fun to read!! I thought it was such an interesting way to write a bisexual character and absolutely loved that both relationships were fully fleshed out while remaining unique from one another. I don't know if I can pick which one I liked better! Parts of this were a bit repetitive, but that's to be expected with a book like this and it was obviously intended the way certain lines were repeated. The only thing I had a bit of trouble keeping track of was the respective friend groups. There were so many names sometimes and especially the NY friends got a bit jumbled as I jumped back and forth.
I particularly LOVED the ending:It was so clever!! Like a queer choose your own adventure book.
I also loved the heavy emphasis on Natalya's Jewish heritage, and how much that played into her identity. The characters did read as a little older than 17/18-year-olds to me, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I also appreciated the diverse queer representation overall. This is the kind of book that I think LGBT teens would really love and it always warms my heart to read something like this.
Overall I just really loved it. Such good, FUN bisexual representation that made me so happy. This is my first Dahlia Adler and definitely will not be my last.
4.5 and rounding up!
Through alternating chapters, we see what happens in both places and the drama that ensues from either decision. In NY, she strengthens her bond with her dad and friend group, and meets Ellie, the redheaded dream girl that she kept crossing paths with up to that point. In LA, she takes an internship for her mom's company and meets Adam, the other intern with a passion for cooking and an awesome friend group of culinary geniuses.
Both storylines were so fun to read!! I thought it was such an interesting way to write a bisexual character and absolutely loved that both relationships were fully fleshed out while remaining unique from one another. I don't know if I can pick which one I liked better! Parts of this were a bit repetitive, but that's to be expected with a book like this and it was obviously intended the way certain lines were repeated. The only thing I had a bit of trouble keeping track of was the respective friend groups. There were so many names sometimes and especially the NY friends got a bit jumbled as I jumped back and forth.
I particularly LOVED the ending:
Spoiler
when Ellie answers the door at the end of the book, she's greeted by her love interest, but it's intentionally left vague without pronoun or name usage so you can't be sure which one is going to show up. The reader then gets to "choose" which ending they want, and the last two chapters are wrapping up those loose ends based on whether you expected Adam or Ellie to be at the door.I also loved the heavy emphasis on Natalya's Jewish heritage, and how much that played into her identity. The characters did read as a little older than 17/18-year-olds to me, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. I also appreciated the diverse queer representation overall. This is the kind of book that I think LGBT teens would really love and it always warms my heart to read something like this.
Overall I just really loved it. Such good, FUN bisexual representation that made me so happy. This is my first Dahlia Adler and definitely will not be my last.
4.5 and rounding up!