theinkdoe's review against another edition
4.0
'Here we are now', is about reconnecting with family that was lost and family that was unknown. This is a contemporary young adult novel that follows the story of Taliah and her broken family. The reasons for distance between the family relationship is so simple and natural, nothing big, nothing out of the ordinary but deep enough to understand the walls between them. A good read but I felt it to be a bot incomplete..just like life!
yona_not_jonah's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
jeffreyreads's review against another edition
3.0
Meh. Pretty unrealistic, unoriginal, cliché, other adjectives of this nature. Definitely doesn’t live up to Warga’s first book, My Heart and Other Black Holes. The music theme was kind of cool at first, but ultimately still pretty cliché. I feel like this book should’ve been written by John Green because that’s the level of randomness and unreality it has.
renel's review against another edition
3.0
This book had so much potential but the story and plot ended up being so basic and so much more could've happened
akacya's review against another edition
4.0
2023 reads: 249/350
2023 tbr: 51/100
when taliah finally discovers who her father (probably) is, she writes him letters introducing herself. but after three years of no reply, she’s given up hope. sure, julian is a very busy, and very famous guy, but couldn’t he take a little time to write his own daughter back? then, when tal’s mom is away on a business trip, he shows up, saying that his own father is sick and he’d like to bring her to meet him. so, away they go, and though tal is nervous, she’s also eager to meet the rest of her family.
i’ve really enjoyed jasmine warga’s other books, so i was excited to dive into this one! i loved all the depth we got on each character. when julian begins telling tal about his relationship with her mom, the story breaks off and we then read a narrative about the two, rather than getting bits of dialogue. this helped me become so much more invested in tal’s parents’ story than i otherwise would have been. we also got to read a bit about taliah’s relationship with her best friend, harlow. though i would have loved more depth about this relationship (especially because of certain problems between them that were brought up), i understand that this book was, first and foremost, about the relationship between taliah and julian.
i would recommend this, and other books by jasmine warga, to YA contemporary readers.
2023 tbr: 51/100
when taliah finally discovers who her father (probably) is, she writes him letters introducing herself. but after three years of no reply, she’s given up hope. sure, julian is a very busy, and very famous guy, but couldn’t he take a little time to write his own daughter back? then, when tal’s mom is away on a business trip, he shows up, saying that his own father is sick and he’d like to bring her to meet him. so, away they go, and though tal is nervous, she’s also eager to meet the rest of her family.
i’ve really enjoyed jasmine warga’s other books, so i was excited to dive into this one! i loved all the depth we got on each character. when julian begins telling tal about his relationship with her mom, the story breaks off and we then read a narrative about the two, rather than getting bits of dialogue. this helped me become so much more invested in tal’s parents’ story than i otherwise would have been. we also got to read a bit about taliah’s relationship with her best friend, harlow. though i would have loved more depth about this relationship (especially because of certain problems between them that were brought up), i understand that this book was, first and foremost, about the relationship between taliah and julian.
i would recommend this, and other books by jasmine warga, to YA contemporary readers.
claradee's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
bericson13's review against another edition
3.0
I honestly loved this. Tal's relationships are so well constructed! So stinking good. I loved the past story combined with the present story. It was fantastic.
theshenners's review against another edition
5.0
ok I have not read My Heart and Other Black Holes so maybe I went into the book without any set expectations, unlike other ppl whose less favorable reviews I've scrolled past...but I loved it.
I'll admit I'm a sucker for stories about parent-child relationships and will cry over them more than I do romantic ones (oops), but yeah, this book hit the right notes for me in terms of depicting complex intergenerational feelings, and the arc with Taliah's mom definitely resonated with me as the child of immigrants. I teared up multiple times and it's relatively rare for a book to do that. It might have to do with the depictions of the deaths of 2 of Taliah's grandparents and how Taliah's parents cope with that loss since I'm still grieving my mom's passing, but yeah, it was emotional experience reading about the expectations and fears and hopes and love that form the bonds between parents and children.
CWs: death, ableist language
I'll admit I'm a sucker for stories about parent-child relationships and will cry over them more than I do romantic ones (oops), but yeah, this book hit the right notes for me in terms of depicting complex intergenerational feelings, and the arc with Taliah's mom definitely resonated with me as the child of immigrants. I teared up multiple times and it's relatively rare for a book to do that. It might have to do with the depictions of the deaths of 2 of Taliah's grandparents and how Taliah's parents cope with that loss since I'm still grieving my mom's passing, but yeah, it was emotional experience reading about the expectations and fears and hopes and love that form the bonds between parents and children.
CWs: death, ableist language
readsbyross's review against another edition
4.0
I'd never heard of Here We Are Now before I saw it on Netgalley but I'm glad it was one of the first books I was approved for on Netgalley because I really enjoyed it!
It tells the story of Taliah, who's recently found out that her absent father is actually Julian Oliver - the lead singer of a well known music band. And when her mother is in Paris and Julian shows up on Taliah's doorstep after her letters to him, she is taken by surprise. Julian tells her that her paternal grandfather is dying and wants to make up the lost time with his daughter - but first Taliah must be able to trust his intentions and Julian will have to break down the wall Taliah has built around herself.
I love the strong sense of family and relationships in this book. It's such a strong theme in this book that's explored through Lena and Julian's relationship, Julian and his father's, Harlow and Taliah's and of course Taliah's and Julian's. A heartwarming story of family and love.
I also love how much diversity was in this book and it just felt so right. We had a biracial main character, with Muslim ancestry on one side. The MC's best friend was gay and in a relationship and the will-they, won't-they romance between Toby and Taliah didn't feel forced at all and I really liked the outcome of it.
The writing style flowed really well and I could tell the author had a really unique voice. I love how it was both witty but really deep too; it made you think of the bigger picture of fate and love - and I really liked the character Debra's theory on how everyone has multiple versions of themselves.
Overall, I think this was a great read but my one critique is that I felt the ending was slightly rushed - I don't feel the author really wrapped up Harlow and Taliah's ending or gave them any real redemption. It was like they acknowledged the fault that was beginning in their relationship but didn't have the chance to do anything about it.
It tells the story of Taliah, who's recently found out that her absent father is actually Julian Oliver - the lead singer of a well known music band. And when her mother is in Paris and Julian shows up on Taliah's doorstep after her letters to him, she is taken by surprise. Julian tells her that her paternal grandfather is dying and wants to make up the lost time with his daughter - but first Taliah must be able to trust his intentions and Julian will have to break down the wall Taliah has built around herself.
I love the strong sense of family and relationships in this book. It's such a strong theme in this book that's explored through Lena and Julian's relationship, Julian and his father's, Harlow and Taliah's and of course Taliah's and Julian's. A heartwarming story of family and love.
I also love how much diversity was in this book and it just felt so right. We had a biracial main character, with Muslim ancestry on one side. The MC's best friend was gay and in a relationship and the will-they, won't-they romance between Toby and Taliah didn't feel forced at all and I really liked the outcome of it.
The writing style flowed really well and I could tell the author had a really unique voice. I love how it was both witty but really deep too; it made you think of the bigger picture of fate and love - and I really liked the character Debra's theory on how everyone has multiple versions of themselves.
Overall, I think this was a great read but my one critique is that I felt the ending was slightly rushed - I don't feel the author really wrapped up Harlow and Taliah's ending or gave them any real redemption. It was like they acknowledged the fault that was beginning in their relationship but didn't have the chance to do anything about it.
mycatcricket17's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75