A review by itsinthewords
All the Right Notes by Dominic Lim

challenging emotional hopeful medium-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

5.0

I find that the stories I tend to really enjoy are the ones where the MCs don't start off as perfect. And I don't mean the kind of imperfect that is cute, or meant to be a little twee. I mean people who let their anxiety get the better of them, whose prejudices are on display to us, the audience, but not to them.

The story is a single person POV, flashing back between the past and the present in Quito Cruz's life and his relationship with Emmett Aoiki when they were teenagers, through the incident that caused a rift between them in college, and then their reuniting as adults. Quito felt like someone I knew, like I had met him before. Lim does a great job of giving us hints about the flaws in Quito's POV while still having us love him. The story has a meddling father, some wonderful sweet and tender moments between the two MCs, and a really profound and wonderful message at the end about sticking true to who you are. I am very excited for the next book in the series, but this one was precious and will hold a place in my heart.
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