A review by satsumabug
The Chai Factor by Farah Heron

4.0

I loved this book so much! It felt very real in the best way. I used to want thoroughly escapist romances (and I still do, sometimes), but as the world looks increasingly like the proverbial dumpster fire, I get irritated if my fiction doesn't give at least a nod to the difficulties real people face. This book does more than nod, but it feels right, and Heron doesn't make light of the characters' problems (or the other characters' attempts to address them). And yet the book is still delightful and enjoyable. In fact, the happy endings (more than one) feel that much more earned, because the characters have gone through so much real shit to get there. I read the whole book in one sitting, in spite of knowing I needed to get to bed earlier... I was just loving the time I was spending with these characters, and I wanted to see them happy before I could go to sleep. :)

(I filed it as Asian American, but of course it's not, it's Asian Canadian!)