thewritebooks's review against another edition
Read as an audio for pride month:
•Japanese-American and Mexican-American lesbian protagonists
•Lovely audiobook to listen to, felt immersed in Sana’s thoughts
•Such stressful miscommunication/decision making oh my word, had me cringing on behalf of characters
•Complex themes of family and identity, also touching on issues of racism and homophobia from different perspectives
•Japanese-American and Mexican-American lesbian protagonists
•Lovely audiobook to listen to, felt immersed in Sana’s thoughts
•Such stressful miscommunication/decision making oh my word, had me cringing on behalf of characters
•Complex themes of family and identity, also touching on issues of racism and homophobia from different perspectives
afutt92's review against another edition
3.0
This was such a sweet book! I've been on a "contemporary YA novels with diverse characters" kick recently, and I love that the main characters are POC and queer. This was a solid four-star book for me up until the last 30% of the book or so, when I felt like things fell apart a bit. However, overall I did enjoy it.
litloulou's review against another edition
3.0
This is hard to write and hard to rate. There were things I really liked and things I really didn't. I liked how up front race was. And how we are all just figuring it out. But the cringe worthy race scene didn't get enough understanding for forgiveness. Like know better do better and I could not have gotten passed that. I felt the chemistry but also seemed instaloveish I guess that's YA so I let that go. The parents story got me. So many thoughts. Maybe will need to revisit
sophia_konrad's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
3.0
gwensadventure's review against another edition
3.0
I was interested in this books because it seemed like a cute Lovestory. The word I would use to describe it is 'fine'. I like the ideas of addressing racism, LGBTQ discrimination and general issues facing adolescence, but when it came time to do so, the narrative fell flat.
What I will say is that this book might be a really nice introduction to some of our country's deeper rooter issue for younger people, but for me it just didn't go deep when it felt like it should and I was dissapointed by that.
What I will say is that this book might be a really nice introduction to some of our country's deeper rooter issue for younger people, but for me it just didn't go deep when it felt like it should and I was dissapointed by that.
paigelamoureux's review against another edition
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Abandonment
gracedl's review against another edition
4.0
a shocking amount of secondhand embarrassment in this one but overall i liked it. thought the racism aspects could have been handled with a little more tact but the mc just isn’t built like that and it was refreshing to see stuff like that explored at all
varshiniramaraj's review against another edition
3.0
(I find it funny that after mere weeks of saying I was going to avoid YA for a while, I picked up and proceeded to finish this book in 3 days)
This was a very nice book! The reason I think I liked it a lot more than other YA novels was all the intersectionality. It was very interesting to see how Japanese women in different generations behaved in this book, and how that affects how they interact with people from other cultures.
I also relate to Sana in a sort of way because I went from India and Texas which had a lot of Indian people to Michigan where there were ...fewer. Assimilation to the masses is something that definitely tends to happen when in the latter situation and it was great reading it in a book.
Other things I liked: Sana making statements about Christina and JJ that she knew were wrong, and couldn't take it back, and proceeding to learn why it was bad. This was a very well done book! Kudos, author!
This was a very nice book! The reason I think I liked it a lot more than other YA novels was all the intersectionality. It was very interesting to see how Japanese women in different generations behaved in this book, and how that affects how they interact with people from other cultures.
I also relate to Sana in a sort of way because I went from India and Texas which had a lot of Indian people to Michigan where there were ...fewer. Assimilation to the masses is something that definitely tends to happen when in the latter situation and it was great reading it in a book.
Other things I liked: Sana making statements about Christina and JJ that she knew were wrong, and couldn't take it back, and proceeding to learn why it was bad. This was a very well done book! Kudos, author!
mhernanan's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
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
4.0
I am not as forgiving
emg25's review against another edition
5.0
I actually really enjoyed this. There’s a lot of messy racism and stereotypes, but I think the uncomfortableness was the goal. Stereotypes exist. It’s our job to climb our way past them and see people as people. We’re all messy, complicated, and doing our best with the hand we were dealt.