A review by michelle3839
This Time It's Real by Ann Liang

emotional lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I first saw this author on TikTok and put her books on hold because they felt like cute stories to read. I loved the Asian representation and my younger self would very much relate to Eliza feeling like she doesn’t fit in at school. I read this in a day so it’s a pretty fast read and was a good palette cleanser book for me for sure. I would say there’s definitely plot points that I was felt were pretty unrealistic but the actual relationship was so sweet to me. Caz and Eliza are so cutie pie and I thought their journey was really cute. I love when authors are able to make the way their characters text and talk feel believable and I got that here. Overall it’s a short and sweet YA story and Eliza was a very relatable teenage girl. (I enjoyed it after I stopped questioning their professional choices)