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A review by amandasbrews
Lunar New Love by Ophelia Silk
5.0
Sweet, fun, funny, lovely, emotional, beautiful, validating, soft
Lunar New Love is a book that I feel like I’ve been waiting for my whole life. It’s a wonderful Christmas-style romantic comedy but instead of bringing their partner home for the holidays, Minh is bringing their partner home for Tết, Vietnamese Lunar New Year. I have a deep soft spot for mixed representation in literature, but Minh is mixed Viet, just like me, which made Lunar New Love so special to me. This story is full of heart, healing, and joy, and I’m so happy I got a chance to read an early copy.
Quick Summary: Minh hasn’t come home for Tết in three years, ever since their catastrophic coming out, but this year will be different. But when Minh accidentally tells their family that they are bringing home a partner for Tết, they have to scramble to find someone, anyone, who will pretend to be their partner. Unexpectedly, the perfect fake partner turns out to be Cass, the one person in their friend group who they just can’t get along with. Cass needs the same favor returned to her the very next day for a double date with her cheating ex. It seems like the perfect deal is a fake dating trade-off.
The personality clashing between Minh and Cass was a delight for so many reasons. Minh is soft and sweet, quiet and reserved with a big heart, Cass on the other hand has a rough exterior and comes off rather brash. The characterization here allowed their clashing to be both hilarious, painful, and joyous, much like it always is when we come together with people who are different from us. It is also a wonderful parallel for how each of them face the world. Each of them has their identities to work out and discover about themselves which clashes with the world around them. But the way that their relationship mends in those brilliant and difficult ways is exactly how they work on their respective relationships with the world too.
Full review on my blog Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
Lunar New Love is a book that I feel like I’ve been waiting for my whole life. It’s a wonderful Christmas-style romantic comedy but instead of bringing their partner home for the holidays, Minh is bringing their partner home for Tết, Vietnamese Lunar New Year. I have a deep soft spot for mixed representation in literature, but Minh is mixed Viet, just like me, which made Lunar New Love so special to me. This story is full of heart, healing, and joy, and I’m so happy I got a chance to read an early copy.
Quick Summary: Minh hasn’t come home for Tết in three years, ever since their catastrophic coming out, but this year will be different. But when Minh accidentally tells their family that they are bringing home a partner for Tết, they have to scramble to find someone, anyone, who will pretend to be their partner. Unexpectedly, the perfect fake partner turns out to be Cass, the one person in their friend group who they just can’t get along with. Cass needs the same favor returned to her the very next day for a double date with her cheating ex. It seems like the perfect deal is a fake dating trade-off.
The personality clashing between Minh and Cass was a delight for so many reasons. Minh is soft and sweet, quiet and reserved with a big heart, Cass on the other hand has a rough exterior and comes off rather brash. The characterization here allowed their clashing to be both hilarious, painful, and joyous, much like it always is when we come together with people who are different from us. It is also a wonderful parallel for how each of them face the world. Each of them has their identities to work out and discover about themselves which clashes with the world around them. But the way that their relationship mends in those brilliant and difficult ways is exactly how they work on their respective relationships with the world too.
Full review on my blog Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook