siijayreads 's review for:

This Time It's Real by Ann Liang

4.5

emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-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

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 "I guess my point is that I do believe in love. Really. I'm just not convinced that kind of love could ever happen to me." 

I've never felt so seen and called out by a book before. There were times that I had to close the book and pause because there are lines that are so painfully relatable, almost as if the words have fingers pointing at me saying "that is so you". This Time It's Real perfectly captures the elements of a great romcom story mixed with themes of friendship breakups, a lost sense of belonginess, family love, and the true meaning of home. I love how the book narrates in great detail the rich Chinese culture from the places, foods, and the people almost as if you're in Beijing with Eliza and Caz. 

I love how this book gets real about how platonic breakups hurt just as much, if not more, than romantic breakups because it's not nearly as talked about as much. That part made me tear up omg huhu :(( I'm so glad Eliza has someone like Zoe and it's hurts that sometimes friends do really drift apart and sometimes there's nothing we can do about it but move on.  I relate so much to Eliza :') My gurl here has me tearing up. Though I may not have experienced the hectic life of constantly moving from one place to another, I experienced having difficulty fitting in and it's the most isolating, frustrating, and sad thing to feel. Like her, I'm also a hopeless romantic but I also have strong doubts that I'll ever get to experience the kind of romantic love that I only get to see in books and fanfics :') I also can't judge her when she feels like distancing herself from others because she's afraid to get too attached and then one day have to face the pain of them leaving because once upon a time I was also in her shoes.

Emily and Eliza's sister bond touched me so much and it's one of my favorites! As someone who also has a litol sister that I love to death, I can strongly relate to how protective Eliza is of Emily. The way this described family love also got me emotional, like yes, sometimes it's not about the actual place but the people who truly make you feel like home. I enjoyed this book and the writing is captivating! Ann Liang you have earned yourself a fan!! (me) Eliza and Caz are so cute and funny together! Eliza is so funny and Caz is sarcastic and that I think makes their chemistry bloom. Fake dating trope slaps but it slaps harder if Ann Liang writes it ;)) Overall, This is a cute romcom delight that, while predictable at times, is still a great read. This is my second Ann Liang book and I find myself loving her writing and her books. They make me feel a certain way and I'm really digging the C-drama vibes in her books! 

P.S I LIVE FOR THE TWILIGHT MENTION IKTR! 

favorite quotez!! 

"And this, I think, is my ultimate fatal flaw. Missing people who don’t miss me back. Clinging on to strands of string that shouldn’t mean half as much as they do. It takes so little for me to love someone, yet so long for me to move on."

"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."

"I guess my point is that I do believe in love. Really. I'm just not convinced that kind of love could ever happen to me."

"Maybe I’ll always be scared. Maybe the fear of getting hurt, of being left alone,
will never truly go away. But even if it’s my default setting, I can fight it. So many beautiful things lie on the other side of fear. Like love. Like this."

"Because there aren’t thousands of books and poems and movies out there to describe exactly what I’m feeling, or lyrically beautiful songs for me to cry to and sing along with in the car. There’s no guidebook on how to survive this kind of fallout, no prescribed remedy to soothe this particular kind of pain. Romantic breakups are romanticized constantly, talked about everywhere by everyone, but platonic breakups are swept to the side, suffered in secret, as if they’re somehow less important."

"Most sincere things feel at least a little embarrassing. It's part of our defense mechanisms. Our heart's way of protecting us from potential hurt."

"I hope you remember to miss me when all this is over"

'This is the closest I have ever gotten to voicing the truth: that I'm afraid. That for a long time now, between maybe the third and fourth move, the fourth or fifth friend I lost along the way, I've suspected that there's something fundamentally unlovable about me. Something that makes it easy for people to forget me the second I leave, to drift out of touch no matter how hard I try to keep them in my life.

"I've said before that my default setting is loneliness, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe it's really fear."

"isn’t that what homes are made of? A collection of the things that shape you?"

"Romantic breakups are romanticized constantly, talked about everywhere by everyone, but platonic breakups are swept to the side, suffered in secret, as if they’re somehow less important."

" “You hold everything in here, Ai-Ai," she says sternly, pointing to her own heart. "For better or worse. But not everyone is going to guess at what you're thinking like I do. No one is going to know how you feel if you don't tell them. And until you do-- you can never really know what's going to happen.” 

 “I'm strong and independent and I don't need anyone,' but the truth is: We do need people. People who'll laugh with us and cry with us and make the bad days bearable and the good days better; people who'll remember what we forget and `listen even when they don't completely understand; people who'll need us back. It had nothing to do with strength at all, and everything to do with being human.”