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A review by thatsssorachael
Frankly in Love by David Yoon
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have a lot of thoughts on this one, but overall I did enjoy it.
This book suffered from a lot of the same things other YA novels struggle with. It tried to be creative with structuring and narration in some parts, which I found distracting and unnecessary. It could have been a shorter and still been the same (or even better) story. The female characters were kind of one dimensional. There was a lot of key concepts that were repeated throughout, like thoughts on racism and race in general.
Despite that, I enjoyed it. I liked Frank, I loved Q, I liked his crazy racist parents. I felt he was the most realistic depiction of a teenage boy in YA. He made some really shitty decisions which hurt people's feelings. He was impulsive. He did things I think a lot of adult readers would find really self centred and harsh. The thing is, he's a teenage boy, he's allowed to be self centred. He's allowed to make mistakes and break some hearts and make people really angry at him. He's allowed to feel grief and heartbreak and cry it out to his best friend. He's such a beautiful, fully fleshed out, alive teenage boy I didn't want to say goodbye at the end of the book. For that, I give the author huge props, and it saved the story for me.
Is this book overhyped? Hell Yes.
Should I still read it? Yes, but with a grain of salt. It won't be the best YA romance you've read. To All the Boys I've Loved Before is probably better and cuter and all that. But I think this one is worth a read.
This novel also opens up a lot of interesting and important topics for discussion. Immigration, racism, and race are all very heavy topics. I think a lot of younger readers would get a lot out of these discussions. I think it's also worth noting a lot of the humor in this is extremely juvenile and immature. I actually think some pre-teens would get something out of this book, and would recommend it for younger readers (there is sex in it, but nothing graphic at all, just some general discussions of virginity loss and such.)
I recommend this to anyone who likes a YA romance.
This book suffered from a lot of the same things other YA novels struggle with. It tried to be creative with structuring and narration in some parts, which I found distracting and unnecessary. It could have been a shorter and still been the same (or even better) story. The female characters were kind of one dimensional. There was a lot of key concepts that were repeated throughout, like thoughts on racism and race in general.
Despite that, I enjoyed it. I liked Frank, I loved Q, I liked his crazy racist parents. I felt he was the most realistic depiction of a teenage boy in YA. He made some really shitty decisions which hurt people's feelings. He was impulsive. He did things I think a lot of adult readers would find really self centred and harsh. The thing is, he's a teenage boy, he's allowed to be self centred. He's allowed to make mistakes and break some hearts and make people really angry at him. He's allowed to feel grief and heartbreak and cry it out to his best friend. He's such a beautiful, fully fleshed out, alive teenage boy I didn't want to say goodbye at the end of the book. For that, I give the author huge props, and it saved the story for me.
Is this book overhyped? Hell Yes.
Should I still read it? Yes, but with a grain of salt. It won't be the best YA romance you've read. To All the Boys I've Loved Before is probably better and cuter and all that. But I think this one is worth a read.
This novel also opens up a lot of interesting and important topics for discussion. Immigration, racism, and race are all very heavy topics. I think a lot of younger readers would get a lot out of these discussions. I think it's also worth noting a lot of the humor in this is extremely juvenile and immature. I actually think some pre-teens would get something out of this book, and would recommend it for younger readers (there is sex in it, but nothing graphic at all, just some general discussions of virginity loss and such.)
I recommend this to anyone who likes a YA romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Gun violence, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer