Reviews with content warning for Cancer - The Boy You Always Wanted

The classic story of the MMC learning empathy, and the FMC being told by everyone, including the MMC, that she's too much and too weird.

I really liked Francine - despite her inability to stay out of people's business, she always meant well with her efforts to help others. She definitely felt neuro-divergent coded, especially when it came to social cues and context, but she was always well-intentioned and generally kind.

Ollie, however, was not. For the first 30% of the book, from his POV, he's always saying how weird she is, how he wants to avoid her at all cost. Even as he starts to fall for her, he laments on his general instinct to run when she starts in his direction. It's just not giving green flag boyfriend. One could say that it's his own familial problems that lend themself to this attitude, but no - it's 100% him. His familial problems gave him a toxic view of what it means to be a man, but it didn't tell him to be mean to the girl who tries to be nice to him. I was 0% on board with their relationship and the speed at which it progressed.

I liked the overall story - how it talked about breaking down some of the long held, sexist beliefs of this family (and the majority like them), as well as sharing Vietnamese food culture and history. I understand why Ollie and Francine's POVs were both shown - Ollie with more of the "we don't talk" and "men can't show emotions" kind of family, while Francine had a more, "our door is always open to the community" and "family helps family" kind of family. I think both were important to show, I just don't know if this was the story to show it.

One thing I loved a lot was how involved Jiya and Rollo were in their friendships with Francine and Ollie respectively. I liked that they had their own little thing going on the side too, especially with Jiya's art.

All in all, there was a lot I liked, but a lot I didn't (mainly Ollie's lack of story arc, and the fact that a few key conversations seemed to be missing). I'm not sure who the target audience would be for this, as I feel the message isn't really as strong as it could've been for either side. That being said, this could be a great read for someone who carries too much on their shoulders, as they may identify well with Francine.

TW: sexism, bullying, cancer, pig dissection for biology class; mentions death of a parent

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
World Building: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Pacing: 3/5
Overall: 3/5

eARC gifted via Edelweiss by Katherine Tegen Books via HarperCollins Canada in exchange for an honest review.

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vincentedward16's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I loved most of the book. I disliked the dumb plot twist and the 3rd act breakup.

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susanpevensie's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-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? Yes

4.0

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skylarkblue1's review against another edition

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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!

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pagebypaigebks's review against another edition

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4.0

After loving Michelle's debut, I had high hopes for this book and it did not disappoint! Once again, I loved Michelle's writing style and found that the dual POVs added a lot of dimension to the plot. We got a wide range of intriguing characters that grabbed my attention immediately. Each of the side characters had their own stories and personalities and created a great community for the book to be set in. I'd have to say that my favourite character was Francine. I loved reading about her journey toward discovering who she really was and what was important to her. I was also rooting for Ollie and Francine from the beginning. The romance was very well-paced and had all the heartwarming vibes! While it does feature an adorable romance, The Boy You Always Wanted also explores heavy topics like family expectations, health struggles, and self-love. This range of topics created a multi-dimensional reading experience.

With a focus on family and self-discovery, plus an adorable romance, you have to add The Boy You Always Wanted to your tbr! I cannot wait to read more of Michelle's work in the future.

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sweetsxrrxw's review

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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 things

such 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.

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