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skylarkblue1's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I knew this book kinda wouldn't be for me when going into it, but it was an interesting read even if it kinda lost me in the second half.
There's not much plot, it's a "fake dating" trope with a bit of a twist - pretending to be an honorary heir for Francine's dying grandad's wish. And of course ends up how you'd expect it to, not much difference there with the story it kinda just progresses like you'd think.
The characters are pretty sweet but also felt mostly flat. They had their flaws and intentions but despite having a few mentions of a history between the 2 MC's, we're really only told that, not shown it. At the start of the book you could have told me they'd never spoke to each other before in their lives and I'd have believed it. They didn't really grow that much over the book either, they learn to be a bit more like themselves but there's nothing that strong there.
The family dramas and cultural insights are quite a nice read though. It's pretty realistic how the families work and the contrast between a more "Americanised" family with Ollie and a more traditional family with Francine was interesting to read. Lots of tiny details where you could see the difference between each family - for example Ollie defaulting to using their American names and messes up saying American names instead of their Chinese names where Francine has no issues with that and seamlessly uses Chinese names where applicable.
The plots are also a bit loose and never really tied up, so many threads get started for side stories and then just forgotten about quite quickly. Or just random things happen like the concert problems near the end of the book which get 0 consequences or resolution and never mentioned again afterwards, like none of those events ever happened.
There is a LOT of telling, not showing in this book. Even for the finale where the main plot line is being wrapped up, we're only *told* how it ends and not shown it at all (and.. isn't really resolved at all tbh).
It'd be nice if it chose what kind of conversation it was trying to open with it's themes, but it seems like it tried to have multiple sides of the same conversations (gender roles, traditional family values and roles, etc) without then actually taking a side or even really having a proper conversation about them despite how many times the topics are mentioned.
I think it's maybe worth reading if you think the premise is interesting and are interested in using it as a launching point to have a conversation yourself about the topics, but otherwise idk if I can recommend it. Even as a romance it felt rushed and not realistic - both of them seemed to genuinely dislike each other for most of the book!
There's not much plot, it's a "fake dating" trope with a bit of a twist - pretending to be an honorary heir for Francine's dying grandad's wish. And of course ends up how you'd expect it to, not much difference there with the story it kinda just progresses like you'd think.
The characters are pretty sweet but also felt mostly flat. They had their flaws and intentions but despite having a few mentions of a history between the 2 MC's, we're really only told that, not shown it. At the start of the book you could have told me they'd never spoke to each other before in their lives and I'd have believed it. They didn't really grow that much over the book either, they learn to be a bit more like themselves but there's nothing that strong there.
The family dramas and cultural insights are quite a nice read though. It's pretty realistic how the families work and the contrast between a more "Americanised" family with Ollie and a more traditional family with Francine was interesting to read. Lots of tiny details where you could see the difference between each family - for example Ollie defaulting to using their American names and messes up saying American names instead of their Chinese names where Francine has no issues with that and seamlessly uses Chinese names where applicable.
The plots are also a bit loose and never really tied up, so many threads get started for side stories and then just forgotten about quite quickly. Or just random things happen like the concert problems near the end of the book which get 0 consequences or resolution and never mentioned again afterwards, like none of those events ever happened.
There is a LOT of telling, not showing in this book. Even for the finale where the main plot line is being wrapped up, we're only *told* how it ends and not shown it at all (and.. isn't really resolved at all tbh).
It'd be nice if it chose what kind of conversation it was trying to open with it's themes, but it seems like it tried to have multiple sides of the same conversations (gender roles, traditional family values and roles, etc) without then actually taking a side or even really having a proper conversation about them despite how many times the topics are mentioned.
I think it's maybe worth reading if you think the premise is interesting and are interested in using it as a launching point to have a conversation yourself about the topics, but otherwise idk if I can recommend it. Even as a romance it felt rushed and not realistic - both of them seemed to genuinely dislike each other for most of the book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Sexism, and Cancer
Moderate: Medical content and Death of parent
Minor: War
sweetsxrrxw's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
despite my star rating, i must say this book was actually nice to read. the characters are (eventually) loveable, the chapters are relatively short, there's a dual pov, and the story deals with a bunch of different but relevant topics.
i think my main problem with the book is that, because there are many themes, the author couldn't really develop all of them properly and some got overlooked. and also i felt like the last 25% of the book was pretty rushed :/ if it wasn't for this two things i would have probably rounded up the rating to 4 stars, tbh.
but let's go back to the positive things. i don't have much to say about the plot because this is more a character-driven book, so i'm just gonna focus on them.
i could relate to both main characters in different ways.
francine is definitely a chronic people pleaser. she spends her whole life trying to make everyone happy and pleased with her,making herself smaller in order to "feel less" and, honestly, i could see myself in her. plus, i'm sure people also thought i was this smart but weird girl in school, lmao.
on the other hand, i had a soft spot for ollie almost as soon as his pov starts on the first page and he explains how he cried to a movie because of the violence and the way it made him emphathize with his family. of course there were parts where i didn't really like him or understand him. but, of course, i could also relate to him being an indecisive person who usually tries to stay away from conflicts.
using a dual pov was a great way to show the juxtaposition of the two of them: their family dynamic, their friendships, their personalities... it was interesting to put myself in their shoes, understand their situations and watch how they managed themselves through them. i just wish the ending didn't feel so rushed and that some thingssuch as if ollie and francine are in a situationship or they're actually dating, or get to see how francine's a gūng reacts to it, or francine's relationship with her mom after knowing the truth about her had been more developed.
so yeah, it's not one of the best books i've ever read, but i could definitely recommend it.
ps: i hope i was not the only one who spent like 60% of the book thinking if "fōng" meant something like "honey" or "sweetie" lmao.
i think my main problem with the book is that, because there are many themes, the author couldn't really develop all of them properly and some got overlooked. and also i felt like the last 25% of the book was pretty rushed :/ if it wasn't for this two things i would have probably rounded up the rating to 4 stars, tbh.
but let's go back to the positive things. i don't have much to say about the plot because this is more a character-driven book, so i'm just gonna focus on them.
i could relate to both main characters in different ways.
francine is definitely a chronic people pleaser. she spends her whole life trying to make everyone happy and pleased with her,
on the other hand, i had a soft spot for ollie almost as soon as his pov starts on the first page and he explains how he cried to a movie because of the violence and the way it made him emphathize with his family. of course there were parts where i didn't really like him or understand him. but, of course, i could also relate to him being an indecisive person who usually tries to stay away from conflicts.
using a dual pov was a great way to show the juxtaposition of the two of them: their family dynamic, their friendships, their personalities... it was interesting to put myself in their shoes, understand their situations and watch how they managed themselves through them. i just wish the ending didn't feel so rushed and that some things
so yeah, it's not one of the best books i've ever read, but i could definitely recommend it.
ps: i hope i was not the only one who spent like 60% of the book thinking if "fōng" meant something like "honey" or "sweetie" lmao.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent
Minor: War
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