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theyellowhobbit's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
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
deschatjes's review against another edition
3.0
Thanks to Libro.fm. For the arc.
Sweet YA romance around traditional families and their expectations and trying to forge your own path without ruining the relationship.
Sweet YA romance around traditional families and their expectations and trying to forge your own path without ruining the relationship.
sunshine_librarian's review against another edition
5.0
Gloria Chao suprised me with a multi-layered book of family, identity, and following one's dreams. In Rent a Boyfriend, Chloe, who goes by her Chinese name Jing-Jing when she's around her parents, feels suffocated by the expectations of her parents and community. When she's "promised" to the local eligible bachelor, who's actually a huge slime ball, Chloe fights back the only way she knows how: lie to her parents and hire a boyfriend from Rent for your 'Rents to get her parents off her back.
What starts as a way to break her engagement with fake-Lamborghini owning Hongbo without disappointing her parents turns into a journey of self-discovery, love, and confronting the cultural expectations of her childhood. Chloe, with the help of her fake-boyfriend Andrew, finds a way to accept and appreciate her Asian heritage while still being true to herself. Along the way, Chloe helps Andrew see the beauty and strength within himself and accept who he is; and artist named Drew.
I was expecting a light and fluffy rom-com, but ended up getting so much more. I'll definitely be adding this to my school library when it comes out in November!
sunshine_librarian's review against another edition
5.0
Glorida Chao suprised me with a multi-layered book of family, identity, and following one's dreams. In Rent a Boyfriend, Chloe, who goes by her Chinese name Jing-Jing when she's around her parents, feels suffocated by the expectations of her parents and community. When she's "promised" to the local eligible bachelor, who's actually a huge slime ball, Chl;oe fights back the only way she knows how: lie to her parents and hire a boyfriend from Rent for your 'Rents to get her parents off her back.
What starts as a way to break her engagement with fake-Lamborghini owning Hongbo without disappointing her parents turns into a journey of self-discovery, love, and confronting the cultural expectations of her childhood. Chloe, with the help of her fake-boyfriend Andrew, finds a way to accept and appreciate her Asian heritage while still being true to herself. Along the way, Chloe helps Andrew see the beauty and strength within himself and accept who he is; and artist named Drew.
I was expecting a light and fluffy rom-com, but ended up getting so much more. I'll definitely be adding this to my school library when it comes out in November!
What starts as a way to break her engagement with fake-Lamborghini owning Hongbo without disappointing her parents turns into a journey of self-discovery, love, and confronting the cultural expectations of her childhood. Chloe, with the help of her fake-boyfriend Andrew, finds a way to accept and appreciate her Asian heritage while still being true to herself. Along the way, Chloe helps Andrew see the beauty and strength within himself and accept who he is; and artist named Drew.
I was expecting a light and fluffy rom-com, but ended up getting so much more. I'll definitely be adding this to my school library when it comes out in November!
mastersal's review against another edition
3.0
A cute breezy read which gave me [The Kiss Quotient], or [The Duke and I] vibes but in a significantly more Pg-13 way. The premise has been done in a number of books and Hallmark movies before but the context of an Asian family setting was new to me so I decided to pick this up.
I was expecting more of a romance but this is more a family drama with a romance throughline as the b-plot. The cover is kind of misleading in my opinion but I didn’t mind the family plot so I wasn’t disappointed. Romance readers looking for a holiday romance may find this not to their tastes however.
The main ‘conflict’ of the book is for the main character Jing-Jing / Chloe to reconcile her place in her traditional American-Korean family but also find a degree of independence from them. The (fake) boyfriend is a bid to get her parents off her back - so all of the drama revolves around her relationship with them - and especially her mom. Drew, our hero, does get a POV, and he too is dealing with his own family issues. He is a counterpoint to Chloe since he has made different choices from here but it still impacted by the fall-out with his family.
The romance was kind of secondary in the book - there characters could have worked well as friends helping each other navtiage their kind of awful family dynamics. I did find them cute together but the romance was not particularly memorable for me. Which is why I don't think this is a romance novel.
Despite some ridiculous overbearing parents, I found the book very sweet and cute. I even liked Chloe’s parents (even though the mom needs a talking to). They kind of remind me of my parents so perhaps it was that connection which worked for me. Chloe’s mother did get a little excessively obtuse - I know it’s meant to be comedy but it was kind of eye-rolling stupid in the latter half of the book. I get it but she had a tendency to come across as shrill on page which was a shame.
All in all this was a fun time and a quick read. I appreciated the hopefulness of the book - the message that a new hybrid path was possible. “That desire to move forward out of love, even when it wasn’t perfect. Even when there was still anger underneath”.
3 fun stars - YA readers will enjoy this I think. For older readers there is a little too little nuance in the parents’ characterization for this to be exceptionally moving. The book is well written and worth checking out.
I was expecting more of a romance but this is more a family drama with a romance throughline as the b-plot. The cover is kind of misleading in my opinion but I didn’t mind the family plot so I wasn’t disappointed. Romance readers looking for a holiday romance may find this not to their tastes however.
The main ‘conflict’ of the book is for the main character Jing-Jing / Chloe to reconcile her place in her traditional American-Korean family but also find a degree of independence from them. The (fake) boyfriend is a bid to get her parents off her back - so all of the drama revolves around her relationship with them - and especially her mom. Drew, our hero, does get a POV, and he too is dealing with his own family issues. He is a counterpoint to Chloe since he has made different choices from here but it still impacted by the fall-out with his family.
The romance was kind of secondary in the book - there characters could have worked well as friends helping each other navtiage their kind of awful family dynamics. I did find them cute together but the romance was not particularly memorable for me. Which is why I don't think this is a romance novel.
Despite some ridiculous overbearing parents, I found the book very sweet and cute. I even liked Chloe’s parents (even though the mom needs a talking to). They kind of remind me of my parents so perhaps it was that connection which worked for me. Chloe’s mother did get a little excessively obtuse - I know it’s meant to be comedy but it was kind of eye-rolling stupid in the latter half of the book. I get it but she had a tendency to come across as shrill on page which was a shame.
All in all this was a fun time and a quick read. I appreciated the hopefulness of the book - the message that a new hybrid path was possible. “That desire to move forward out of love, even when it wasn’t perfect. Even when there was still anger underneath”.
3 fun stars - YA readers will enjoy this I think. For older readers there is a little too little nuance in the parents’ characterization for this to be exceptionally moving. The book is well written and worth checking out.
willow_garden_3697's review against another edition
4.0
Lovely, fun, cute.
Loved the Asian-American representation.
Loved the Asian-American representation.
silvern0va's review against another edition
4.0
The story is cute and it's interesting to see the cultural aspects in play. It felt a bit long at times but I finished it in 2 days so apparently it wasn't that long. Also the POV changes are really easy to gloss over if you're like me and don't read chapter titles so it can be a paragraph or so of confusion lol
mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
flailsThis was an amazing cute fun wonderful realistic book! Gloria Chao did it again!
I finished the book some days ago (writing this one on the 18th of November) and I just CANNOT find the words for this amazing book. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, laughter, a few tears, cheering for Drew and Chloe to get together. But here I am. I am going to try to throw my emotions on this page. Sorry if it is chaotic. Sorry if it is a mess. I blame the book.
I finished the book some days ago (writing this one on the 18th of November) and I just CANNOT find the words for this amazing book. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, laughter, a few tears, cheering for Drew and Chloe to get together. But here I am. I am going to try to throw my emotions on this page. Sorry if it is chaotic. Sorry if it is a mess. I blame the book.