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A review by dinipandareads
True Love and Other Impossible Odds by Christina Li
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up
TL;DR: True Love and Other Impossible Odds was a solid debut. I loved the concept of this story and while the writing may have suffered from too much telling and not enough showing, I think the author did a good job addressing the heavier themes and with the overall execution. It's a relatable and down-to-earth story about discovering yourself and shedding peoples' expectations of you, choosing your path, growing up and finding love. It's a college story that many will probably relate to, young adults and adults alike. Although I often felt emotionally disconnected from Grace, seeing her grow and find peace with who she is and loves was a wonderful journey.
While the cover initially piqued my interest, the synopsis convinced me to it and though it's not a new favourite, I'm glad it came on my radar. The story has its fun and relatable uni life moments but also delves into heavier subjects which I think the author explores well. Grace with her high self-expectations, sheltered life and controlling parents, is easy to empathise with and is a character I saw myself and my friends in, too. When we meet her, she's still coming to terms with major losses in her life. She's a quintessential "good Asian girl" who doesn't party or rebel but studies maths every moment she can and follows her parents' rule of law by the book. I love how filial piety was explored through her relationship with her parents and she slowly learns to shed that "old skin" to embrace who she wants to be. What I found refreshing was that the author talked about Grace's faith and her relationship with religion—it's not a subject that I often see in the YA/NA I read and it made her character feel more rounded.
The algorithm storyline was interesting and I enjoyed how the author explored what it means to fall in love and find your person. I mean, how ideal would it be to input all your information into a database and be matched with your perfect person? As Grace learns though, love is not that simple or linear and compatability does not equal love. After all, how can you truly know what you want or who your perfect person is when you don't truly know yourself? Her journey of self-discovery is slow at times, but it's a worthwhile journey to realisation, especially once she processes the impact of her relationships with her mother and her faith on her worldview. I also thought the romance between Grace and Julia was sweet, even if their overall arc started as enemies to tentative co-workers, good friends and eventually lovers. The ending was super sweet and very happy and I'm glad these beans got the HEA they both deserved! :)
The main thing that made it difficult for me to enjoy this more was how emotionally disconnected I felt for most of it. The writing wasn't bad but was mostly tell and not enough show. We're told that characters do or think this and that which removes a lot of the emotional aspect. I expected a story like this with as much turmoil, growing pains and grief to have carried a lot more emotional weight, and as an emotional reader, I expected to get a bit teary. Instead, I was disappointed to find that aspect missing from the story. I do think it's still a worthwhile and relatable read though and I "turned" the last page with a satisfied smile on my face.
TL;DR: True Love and Other Impossible Odds was a solid debut. I loved the concept of this story and while the writing may have suffered from too much telling and not enough showing, I think the author did a good job addressing the heavier themes and with the overall execution. It's a relatable and down-to-earth story about discovering yourself and shedding peoples' expectations of you, choosing your path, growing up and finding love. It's a college story that many will probably relate to, young adults and adults alike. Although I often felt emotionally disconnected from Grace, seeing her grow and find peace with who she is and loves was a wonderful journey.
While the cover initially piqued my interest, the synopsis convinced me to it and though it's not a new favourite, I'm glad it came on my radar. The story has its fun and relatable uni life moments but also delves into heavier subjects which I think the author explores well. Grace with her high self-expectations, sheltered life and controlling parents, is easy to empathise with and is a character I saw myself and my friends in, too. When we meet her, she's still coming to terms with major losses in her life. She's a quintessential "good Asian girl" who doesn't party or rebel but studies maths every moment she can and follows her parents' rule of law by the book. I love how filial piety was explored through her relationship with her parents and she slowly learns to shed that "old skin" to embrace who she wants to be. What I found refreshing was that the author talked about Grace's faith and her relationship with religion—it's not a subject that I often see in the YA/NA I read and it made her character feel more rounded.
The algorithm storyline was interesting and I enjoyed how the author explored what it means to fall in love and find your person. I mean, how ideal would it be to input all your information into a database and be matched with your perfect person? As Grace learns though, love is not that simple or linear and compatability does not equal love. After all, how can you truly know what you want or who your perfect person is when you don't truly know yourself? Her journey of self-discovery is slow at times, but it's a worthwhile journey to realisation, especially once she processes the impact of her relationships with her mother and her faith on her worldview. I also thought the romance between Grace and Julia was sweet, even if their overall arc started as enemies to tentative co-workers, good friends and eventually lovers. The ending was super sweet and very happy and I'm glad these beans got the HEA they both deserved! :)
The main thing that made it difficult for me to enjoy this more was how emotionally disconnected I felt for most of it. The writing wasn't bad but was mostly tell and not enough show. We're told that characters do or think this and that which removes a lot of the emotional aspect. I expected a story like this with as much turmoil, growing pains and grief to have carried a lot more emotional weight, and as an emotional reader, I expected to get a bit teary. Instead, I was disappointed to find that aspect missing from the story. I do think it's still a worthwhile and relatable read though and I "turned" the last page with a satisfied smile on my face.