Scan barcode
A review by despinareviews
If You Still Recognise Me by Cynthia So
5.0
This book follows our main character Elsie in the summer between her A-Levels and the start of university. Elsie has a crush on Ada, a beautiful and brilliant fanfiction writer she met on Tumblr but has not yet met in person. Everything goes well until her childhood best friend, Joan, comes back into her life.
In this pivotal time in her life, Elsie finds herself struggling with identity - her identity as a woman from Hong Kong in the face of a society which does not deem her traditionally (caucasian standards) beautiful, her identity as a young bisexual woman whose parents may or may not accept her identity, her identity as someone dipping her toe into the LGBT+ community she is a part of, but unable to quite come out to her family, Struggling with things like the way she presents herself to the world, now girly and feminine in a way she often doesn't feel matches her, she also has difficulty expressing herself through her clothes, not just her words.
This story felt like a tribute to the young fandom Tumblr LGBT+ kids. Many of us made friends on that app who felt like the only people who understood us - we could hyper-obsess over a manga/tv show/film and make fanfics and edits and that was totally acceptable within that app. People could be themselves. Perhaps I enjoyed this book so much because I felt it call me out, and at the same time do so in such a loving way it felt comforting.
Elsie makes mistakes, and I found her incredibly impulsive - but honestly, what a realistic change to a flawless hero some authors would choose to make her at the ripe old age of 18. In a way I am glad she is so impulsive, because this is something I feel I could see in a real life person, and who would likely try to work on that at their next stage in life! A character whose inner thoughts deal with all the difficulties she's having, the thought processes she is going through and though you don't always relate, you can absolutely understand where she's coming from.
Overall, I found this book charming, heart-warming and at the same time felt like it covered quite serious topics in such a tasteful way. Genuinely recommend, especially to teenagers who are at that stage in their lives but as a 24 year old I loved it all the same!
Trigger warnings:
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Little Tiger Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily.
In this pivotal time in her life, Elsie finds herself struggling with identity - her identity as a woman from Hong Kong in the face of a society which does not deem her traditionally (caucasian standards) beautiful, her identity as a young bisexual woman whose parents may or may not accept her identity, her identity as someone dipping her toe into the LGBT+ community she is a part of, but unable to quite come out to her family, Struggling with things like the way she presents herself to the world, now girly and feminine in a way she often doesn't feel matches her, she also has difficulty expressing herself through her clothes, not just her words.
This story felt like a tribute to the young fandom Tumblr LGBT+ kids. Many of us made friends on that app who felt like the only people who understood us - we could hyper-obsess over a manga/tv show/film and make fanfics and edits and that was totally acceptable within that app. People could be themselves. Perhaps I enjoyed this book so much because I felt it call me out, and at the same time do so in such a loving way it felt comforting.
Elsie makes mistakes, and I found her incredibly impulsive - but honestly, what a realistic change to a flawless hero some authors would choose to make her at the ripe old age of 18. In a way I am glad she is so impulsive, because this is something I feel I could see in a real life person, and who would likely try to work on that at their next stage in life! A character whose inner thoughts deal with all the difficulties she's having, the thought processes she is going through and though you don't always relate, you can absolutely understand where she's coming from.
Overall, I found this book charming, heart-warming and at the same time felt like it covered quite serious topics in such a tasteful way. Genuinely recommend, especially to teenagers who are at that stage in their lives but as a 24 year old I loved it all the same!
Trigger warnings:
Spoiler
mentions of abusive/toxic relationships (off page, only referenced), homophobia (implied and consequences, no slurs that I can recall)I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Little Tiger Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily.