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20sidedbi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Addiction, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Medical content
pawtory's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Infidelity
schweibertsm's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Transphobia, Car accident, Death of parent, and Outing
itsinthewords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The story is a single person POV, flashing back between the past and the present in Quito Cruz's life and his relationship with Emmett Aoiki when they were teenagers, through the incident that caused a rift between them in college, and then their reuniting as adults. Quito felt like someone I knew, like I had met him before. Lim does a great job of giving us hints about the flaws in Quito's POV while still having us love him. The story has a meddling father, some wonderful sweet and tender moments between the two MCs, and a really profound and wonderful message at the end about sticking true to who you are. I am very excited for the next book in the series, but this one was precious and will hold a place in my heart.
Graphic: Homophobia, Infidelity, and Death of parent
onlyonebookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Moderate: Homophobia and Death of parent
Minor: Infidelity
kshertz's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual content, Death of parent, Outing, and Alcohol
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Rating: 4/5 stars
Quito Cruz is forced to reconnect with his high school friend (and crush) Emmett Aoki when Quito’s father insists the two perform together in his retirement concert.
I chose to listen to this one on audio and I am SO glad I did because the audio production was one of my favorites of all time. The narration was phenomenal, and because it is narrated by an actual Broadway actor, it also features real music and (incredible) singing, which really helped bring the story to life.
I was not necessarily expecting the emotional gut punch that this book had, but, yes, I definitely cried. Even though I don’t share any of the “main” characteristics of the MCs (I’m straight, I’m white, I’m a woman, etc) I still found so many aspects of the story to be relatable, and I really really loved the characters and the message it delivered. If this one sounds good to you, I wholeheartedly recommend it (especially on audio!)
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: second chance romance; dynamic audiobooks; books about music/theater
CW: Death of parent; grief; mentions of sexual assault
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Outing
imstephtacular's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Homophobia, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Outing, and Alcohol
noellelovesbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings: Homophobia, transphobia, outing, cheating, sexual assault, death, death of parent, toxic relationships, sexual content [not graphic but not fade to black either...kind of in the middle?], anxiety, and bullying.
***I received access to an E-Arc through the Forever Influencer program, all thoughts are my own***
OMG, how to start talking about this beautiful book. I loved that we got to see Emmett and Quito from their very first meeting to their reunion as adults.
As someone who lived in the East Bay for...almost 10 years? I loved all the bay references, when it started and they mentioned Martinez I was like, "WHAT! I LIVED THERE!" haha
I also loved all the little Filipino references, especially the lip pointing...if you know...you know haha
This was an absolutely beautiful story about love, family, found family, and acceptance. There are some tear-jerking moments, like my vision was obscured until I could get a tissue 😅
Anyways, this book came out the 6th and I highly recommend reading it 💜
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Medical content, Death of parent, and Outing
readwithcaitlyn's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Transphobia, Death of parent, and Outing