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A review by miyaosamu
This Time It's Real by Ann Liang
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“But certain joys, I'm discovering, are worth the potential pain.”
A satisfyingly angsty well written ya fake dating romance with Liang encapsulating the essence of these loveable and deeply relatable eighteen year olds. When i say i've practically been in a slump for the entire year and of course Ann Liang does it again, capturing my entire heart with her writing. I just adored how incredibly flawed Eliza and Caz were that my heart ached in relating to some of their feelings. With Eliza struggling with loneliness and her identity as she was uprooted from country to country for most of her life and not being fluent in Mandarin. And Caz with his intense self consciousness of his image and how he's perceived along with proving his successful acting career to his family in the long term sense. I can't explain all of it but their bond and connection was so perfect to me with fake dating bringing about getting to know so much more about one another, how they opened up and their hidden feelings for each other growing. I think about how they were even more connected with growing up with very busy parents and mostly having to look out for themselves through their formative years and Eliza caring for her younger sister.
I really wish we got more of the side characters of Mingri and Kaige who were some of Caz's costar friends, Mingri was so funny but their small storyline had so much potential. Really appreciated how Liang focused on platonic relationships as well and how much their hurt with Eliza and her best friend Zoe as their friendship became long distance. Eliza and Caz were such greatly developed characters with such depth to them particularly with both of them learning and finding their sade space in each other to open up. Caz a perfect book boyfriend with every scene how much he paid attention to the details, cared so profoundly for Eliza and her wishes (even if it got him hurt), just so gentle with her (and with her sister as well). Again with repeating how they opened up, both of them reciprocated communication depending on each other's current situations. Very mood reader biased perhaps, but my god I truly loved this book so much just seeing the pining and small slow burn realization and the back and forth between them had me on the edge of my seat and heart racing smiling so bad.
Realistically a 4.5 star read but I can't help but round it up to 5 at the moment. I cannot wait to see Ann Liang's future works and characters that will warm my whole heart.
“Sha erzi, what do you know? When you care about someone, you want to be inconvenienced—you wouldn’t mind being inconvenienced by them every day for the rest of your life. That’s what love is. That’s all love really is.”
A satisfyingly angsty well written ya fake dating romance with Liang encapsulating the essence of these loveable and deeply relatable eighteen year olds. When i say i've practically been in a slump for the entire year and of course Ann Liang does it again, capturing my entire heart with her writing. I just adored how incredibly flawed Eliza and Caz were that my heart ached in relating to some of their feelings. With Eliza struggling with loneliness and her identity as she was uprooted from country to country for most of her life and not being fluent in Mandarin. And Caz with his intense self consciousness of his image and how he's perceived along with proving his successful acting career to his family in the long term sense. I can't explain all of it but their bond and connection was so perfect to me with fake dating bringing about getting to know so much more about one another, how they opened up and their hidden feelings for each other growing. I think about how they were even more connected with growing up with very busy parents and mostly having to look out for themselves through their formative years and Eliza caring for her younger sister.
I really wish we got more of the side characters of Mingri and Kaige who were some of Caz's costar friends, Mingri was so funny but their small storyline had so much potential. Really appreciated how Liang focused on platonic relationships as well and how much their hurt with Eliza and her best friend Zoe as their friendship became long distance. Eliza and Caz were such greatly developed characters with such depth to them particularly with both of them learning and finding their sade space in each other to open up. Caz a perfect book boyfriend with every scene how much he paid attention to the details, cared so profoundly for Eliza and her wishes (even if it got him hurt), just so gentle with her (and with her sister as well). Again with repeating how they opened up, both of them reciprocated communication depending on each other's current situations. Very mood reader biased perhaps, but my god I truly loved this book so much just seeing the pining and small slow burn realization and the back and forth between them had me on the edge of my seat and heart racing smiling so bad.
Realistically a 4.5 star read but I can't help but round it up to 5 at the moment. I cannot wait to see Ann Liang's future works and characters that will warm my whole heart.
“Sha erzi, what do you know? When you care about someone, you want to be inconvenienced—you wouldn’t mind being inconvenienced by them every day for the rest of your life. That’s what love is. That’s all love really is.”