bunny_herondale's review
4.0
First of all, huge thank to BookTasters and the author for providing me with an arc of the book. All thoughts are on my own.
More like 3.5 stars
This was an ok book, I enjoyed it a lot. It tells the story of Billy Chen, the grandson of an immigrant that lives in a conservative fictional town in New York during 2016.
I liked how it talked about racism, the fear to tell your liberal ideologies in a place full of conservatives (and I think this applies also vice versa), and even some side stories like two of his best friends being an achillean couple in a conservative town.
It also treated themes like misogyny, depression but not in a way that the main character experienced by himself, it also has great character development and we see a pretty realistic teenager.
Overall, I liked it and it was an entertaining read.
More like 3.5 stars
This was an ok book, I enjoyed it a lot. It tells the story of Billy Chen, the grandson of an immigrant that lives in a conservative fictional town in New York during 2016.
I liked how it talked about racism, the fear to tell your liberal ideologies in a place full of conservatives (and I think this applies also vice versa), and even some side stories like two of his best friends being an achillean couple in a conservative town.
It also treated themes like misogyny, depression but not in a way that the main character experienced by himself, it also has great character development and we see a pretty realistic teenager.
Overall, I liked it and it was an entertaining read.
catarthic's review
4.75
i read this during the first semester of my freshman year of college. it was a really weird time of my life, and this was the first book i picked up since starting university. however, i went to a book reading of this novel and really enjoyed it. i stayed up on a weeknight and read the entire thing in one sitting. reading this novel gave me the same feeling as getting a letter from an old friend. it felt familiar; it felt tender. i found myself nostalgic at certain parts. as someone who loves coming of age stories, i really enjoyed this book.
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