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A review by 12dejamoo
Fake Dates and Mooncakes by Sher Lee
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I liked this book. I liked it a lot.
And like, a hell of a lot happens. Normally I'd be rating this low and saying it rushed through things and tried to pile too many ideas into one book, but it had this undeniable charm which just made me forgive any of its flaws.
I guess really ideally this would be a bit longer, if only to spend more time with these two. But just in general it was so great.
I loved Dylan and Theo. They were both such distinctive, rich characters. And the supporting cast were also all excellent. Terri and Megan and Aunt Jade and Tim, hell, even Adrian. They were just great and so well characterised. Okay, yes, Aidrian was a bit of a caricature, but in a fun way. I liked all the scenes of cooking. Even though the mooncake competition doesn't take much of the book runtime, the multiple scenes of them prepping and discussing and planning mean the mooncake storyline is present throughout and it doesn't feel like it was tacked on the end.
Throughout the book you get these explanations of Malaysian and Chinese culture, about food and cooking, about running the shop etc. which just mean you are never in the dark about things and honestly you're kind of learning but in a fun, easily packaged way.
I do really appreciate that they didn't spend one thousand years dancing around one another. Like, yes, it was a 'fake date' in the strictest sense, but they both quite obviously liked one another from the start. It was a breath of fresh air in the fake dating genre.
I'm sure there are more flaws that I'm missing but honestly I don't care because I had a good time and this book made me happy.
And like, a hell of a lot happens. Normally I'd be rating this low and saying it rushed through things and tried to pile too many ideas into one book, but it had this undeniable charm which just made me forgive any of its flaws.
I guess really ideally this would be a bit longer, if only to spend more time with these two. But just in general it was so great.
I loved Dylan and Theo. They were both such distinctive, rich characters. And the supporting cast were also all excellent. Terri and Megan and Aunt Jade and Tim, hell, even Adrian. They were just great and so well characterised. Okay, yes, Aidrian was a bit of a caricature, but in a fun way. I liked all the scenes of cooking. Even though the mooncake competition doesn't take much of the book runtime, the multiple scenes of them prepping and discussing and planning mean the mooncake storyline is present throughout and it doesn't feel like it was tacked on the end.
Throughout the book you get these explanations of Malaysian and Chinese culture, about food and cooking, about running the shop etc. which just mean you are never in the dark about things and honestly you're kind of learning but in a fun, easily packaged way.
I do really appreciate that they didn't spend one thousand years dancing around one another. Like, yes, it was a 'fake date' in the strictest sense, but they both quite obviously liked one another from the start. It was a breath of fresh air in the fake dating genre.
I'm sure there are more flaws that I'm missing but honestly I don't care because I had a good time and this book made me happy.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism and Death of parent
Bad/absent parenting, flooding, money troubles, almost drowning