courtnoodles's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Sexism, Misogyny, Abandonment, Bullying, Cancer, Terminal illness, Fatphobia, and Medical content
Minor: Abortion and Alcohol
phua_jieying's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
On the one hand, I love the Chloe-Drew text conversations, and their dynamic is not too juvenile for this 34-year-old. On the other hand, it's painful to read how Chloe's parents kept wanting her to play the role they have decided for her (which is what I took the 0.25 stars off for).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Body shaming, Classism, and Fatphobia
Minor: Cancer
jackeline_cruz_'s review
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Classism, Emotional abuse, and Sexism
Minor: Body shaming, Homophobia, and Cancer
blackveilbeccy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
- 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
4.75
This was a fantastic book and I loved both the main character and the love interest. The plot was a bit slow at times and I wasn’t a fan of the texting sections, but I did love the overall storyline. The villains of the piece were a little over the top. The parents of the main character, particularly the mother, were incredibly difficult to read due to the toxicity of the family dynamics - I was so surprised every time she chose to keep her mother in her life rather than go no contact as she was that bad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming, Cancer, Infidelity, Medical content, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racism, Xenophobia, and Sexism
Minor: Abortion, Blood, Homophobia, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Religious bigotry
Toxic family, estrangement, family dysfunctionbookedbymadeline's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
sad
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Misogyny
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Medical content
harperhoney's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Abortion, Cancer, Gaslighting, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Sexual content
erynlasbelin's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Cancer, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, and Medical content
Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Pregnancy
bookcrushin's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I love that this wasn't billed as a holiday romance, but it really is! Starting from Thanksgiving break all the way through Chinese New Year and Valentine's! This is also a college-aged protagonist! I really loved reading and learning more about the cultural aspects of being a Taiwanese American especially during the holidays, as well as figuring out who you are versus whom your parents and community expect you to be.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Misogyny, and Sexism
Minor: Bullying, Cancer, and Medical content
Tiny Harry Potter mention, minor mentions of pregnancy, fake pregnancyplumpaperbacks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Gloria Chao has done it again. She wrote a cute, fun contemporary about self-discovery, family, and romance that I devoured in only two sittings. I read nearly 70% in a couple of hours and would’ve finished the rest if I hadn’t needed to go to sleep.
Chao is brilliant at writing layered characters and complex relationships, protagonists and couples you can’t help but root for. She perfectly balances humor and emotion, and all of these things combined make for the perfect book for me. I also really appreciate the way Chloe and Drew handled conflict—they took a bit of time for themselves and then talked everything through. I know you can’t always expect such things in YA novels, but it’s refreshing to come across it from time to time.
Also, Chloe and Drew were just adorable. I loved their puns and banter. Couples that banter steal my heart basically every time, and they’re no exception. I could almost feel their chemistry as I read. It was definitely there.
I hope to own a copy of this book soon, and I can see myself rereading it in the future. I highly recommend Rent a Boyfriend, as well as Chao’s previous novels. I look forward to reading more from her, whenever that may be.
Representation
Chao is brilliant at writing layered characters and complex relationships, protagonists and couples you can’t help but root for. She perfectly balances humor and emotion, and all of these things combined make for the perfect book for me. I also really appreciate the way Chloe and Drew handled conflict—they took a bit of time for themselves and then talked everything through. I know you can’t always expect such things in YA novels, but it’s refreshing to come across it from time to time.
Also, Chloe and Drew were just adorable. I loved their puns and banter. Couples that banter steal my heart basically every time, and they’re no exception. I could almost feel their chemistry as I read. It was definitely there.
I hope to own a copy of this book soon, and I can see myself rereading it in the future. I highly recommend Rent a Boyfriend, as well as Chao’s previous novels. I look forward to reading more from her, whenever that may be.
Representation
- Taiwanese-American protagonist, love interest, and side characters
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cancer and Medical content
Minor: Blood, Racism, Homophobia, and Drug abuse
sophiemeink's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
"For the first time, I didn't feel like I was changing skins as I left California and returned to Chicago. There was just one skin now; a Chinese American one that deserved to be wanted and was wanted. By herself. As is."
I honestly consider Gloria Chao one of my favourite YA contemporary writers.
My favourite contemporaries have...
- a mix of emotion/pain with sporadic parts of joy (tick)
- older, preferable collaged aged protagonist (tick)
- complex family relationships playing a pivotal role in the book (tick)
- humour (tick)
- fast paced (tick)
- sweet love interest (tick)
- themes of self-discovery/self-belief (tick)
So, I think I very much matched to her books. Although I would say I wouldn't want to read them all in a row as I feel like the themes would get slightly repetitive.
Anyway, what made this one good?
As the title so proudly states it involves fake dating. I think this is a well loved trope and I actually haven't read enough so I was very excited about this one. I really liked the premise of this one as it was more of a clinical fake dating as it was done as if a business transaction. Plus, it heavily involved family which I hadn't seen too much. I think this dynamic added a more emotional and changing landscape for the environment of fake dating which immediately enticed me.
Our main character is Chloe who has hired 'the boyfriend' so that her parents stop trying to force her onto Hongbo, the best match for her in their eyes but an utter monster in her eyes. So her new plan was hiring the 'perfect boyfriend' so that her parents would approve of him and stop their persistent, controlling match making.
The book literally starts on this very first meeting so I really loved how we were able to get straight into the story. Then as you can imagine the story unfolds as they have to deal with keeping up the act, faking feelings, getting to know each other, winning her parents over, discovering why the match with Hongbo is so important and getting to know each other more,
It is a story riddled with feelings and discovering truths. It is able to examine connection, communication and what discovering faith in yourself means.
Our main characters....
Chloe is full of complicated feelings and often feels alone. She was a character I could easily feel for as she dealt with her family and all the things they said/did to her. She feels the need to constantly help and please other people, even at her own cost. She is strong but I really enjoyed seeing her grow to value herself and what she wanted.
I liked her personality and her narration voice. She was funny and relatable....
Anyway, what made this one good?
As the title so proudly states it involves fake dating. I think this is a well loved trope and I actually haven't read enough so I was very excited about this one. I really liked the premise of this one as it was more of a clinical fake dating as it was done as if a business transaction. Plus, it heavily involved family which I hadn't seen too much. I think this dynamic added a more emotional and changing landscape for the environment of fake dating which immediately enticed me.
Our main character is Chloe who has hired 'the boyfriend' so that her parents stop trying to force her onto Hongbo, the best match for her in their eyes but an utter monster in her eyes. So her new plan was hiring the 'perfect boyfriend' so that her parents would approve of him and stop their persistent, controlling match making.
The book literally starts on this very first meeting so I really loved how we were able to get straight into the story. Then as you can imagine the story unfolds as they have to deal with keeping up the act, faking feelings, getting to know each other, winning her parents over, discovering why the match with Hongbo is so important and getting to know each other more,
It is a story riddled with feelings and discovering truths. It is able to examine connection, communication and what discovering faith in yourself means.
Our main characters....
Chloe is full of complicated feelings and often feels alone. She was a character I could easily feel for as she dealt with her family and all the things they said/did to her. She feels the need to constantly help and please other people, even at her own cost. She is strong but I really enjoyed seeing her grow to value herself and what she wanted.
I liked her personality and her narration voice. She was funny and relatable....
"I briefly considered abandoning my mission altogether, but.... pie."
Drew was an interesting character as he was thrust into the environment to do his job and act 'perfectly'. I liked how he was able to mirror a lot of Chloe's emotions through situations that had happened in the past. He also had his own feelings of loneliness that made the way that they drifted together feel very natural. I liked that he was very sweet and tentative. Plus he loved art (and didn't want anyone to see) so I really liked that detail too.
I love how her family was written to be complex. It was able to capture families whose meal times together can be full of a silence tailored by lack of communication and closeness. It in those little details that Chao can demonstrate a family who are can be closely involved in a day to day life but also can note the huge spaces between them. This complexity is written throughout the book to create a realistic, messy family which can heart breaking but compelling to read about. I, also, appreciate that we are able to take on a journey with the family as well.
"It was just stifling silence all the time, the constant urge to shove food, water, anything into my mouth just for something to fucking do."
"Were we all pretending, putting on a better face to fool everyone around us, even our family? I guess I'd been doing that my whole life. "
★★★★
Overall, a really good contemporary that lived up to my expectations from Chao. It was full of emotions around accepting yourself and dealing with complex feelings around your family. It was not without sweet, fun moments too. The writing itself is very engaging allowing me to literally fly through this 400 page book in a day. An excellent YA contemporary that delivered on many aspects for me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Medical content, Misogyny, Racism, and Vomit