A review by kevinscorner
All the Right Notes by Dominic Lim

4.0

All the Right Notes is a gay contemporary romcom about best friends and second chances by a Filipino-American author. Quito Cruz is a piano-playing prodigy who isn’t quite living his big NYC dream playing piano in bars and as a back-up or accompaniment. He lost his muse and best friend (and unrequited crush) Emmett Aoki after one terrible night in college years ago. Now, his dad wants him to come back home to lead a charity concert for his retirement with Emmett performing alongside him. The problem? Emmett is now a Hollywood heartthrob who is way out of his league. Quito must reconnect with Emmett, convince him to do the concert, and finally deal with their past.

I started out really loving this book as it told its story in two timelines—the past and present. I thought it was charming and cute (from their past not-so meet cute to Quito’s present life), but as that incident in the past was revealed, it really was not it for me.  I don’t understand why the author chose that to be the “incident”, and it didn’t sit right with me (probably just a personal preference of mine). Otherwise, I enjoyed the rest of the book—I had some laughs, I cried, and it still hit me in the feels.

I appreciated that both lead were Asian men. Quito is a second generation Filipino American immigrant while Emmett is a mixed race Japanese-American. The book also delivered distinctly Filipino culture elements (especially the food), but some of the Tagalog did feel forced. I liked their romance, although Quito definitely has some issues—he’s a bit of a mess IMO.