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A review by adammm
Return to Cherry Blossom Way by Jeannie Chin
4.0
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Return to Cherry Blossom Way but I find myself pleasantly surprised. A short summary: May is a travel writer tasked with covering her hometown of Blue Cedar Falls—the same place she has done her best to avoid ever since she was 18 and broke up with her high school boyfriend. So who does she very quickly get entangled with upon returning? You guessed it: Chinese restaurant owner and chef Han—AKA her ex. Shenanigans occur.
I really enjoy this book. It’s rare that we see Asian protagonists and love interests in romances, and it’s even rarer to see them living in a small, rural town. Author Jeannie Chin does a great job of exploring the positives and negatives of this setting on her characters. May, for example, is traumatized by racist classmates in high school, and she is open and frank about her experiences with friends and family. It’s fantastic that we get to see such honesty in an otherwise pretty chill romance. I also really enjoy how realistic May and Han’s relationship is. They meet up, they know they’re making a mistake, and yet they can’t help themselves from getting involved again. I can’t even explain how much I understand and relate to this, and I appreciate that Chin manages to describe this struggle so well.
I have two critiques. First, I struggled a bit with the character of May through much (though not all) of the book. She’s honestly pretty selfish and unpleasant, focusing on her own feelings and desires at the expense of those around her, and it is to Chin’s credit that May experiences real character growth as the novel progresses. Second, the characters spend a lot of time in their heads. There’s a lot of thinking and contemplating and pages and pages of dwelling that honestly doesn’t add much to the book.
That being said, the book is quite lovely and ends on such a high note that it still has me smiling as I write this review. I haven’t read any other books by this author (or in this series) and I absolutely intend on reading more. Recommended for fans of second-chance romances; books with small, diverse towns; tortoises; honestly really dreamy male love interests.
Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoy this book. It’s rare that we see Asian protagonists and love interests in romances, and it’s even rarer to see them living in a small, rural town. Author Jeannie Chin does a great job of exploring the positives and negatives of this setting on her characters. May, for example, is traumatized by racist classmates in high school, and she is open and frank about her experiences with friends and family. It’s fantastic that we get to see such honesty in an otherwise pretty chill romance. I also really enjoy how realistic May and Han’s relationship is. They meet up, they know they’re making a mistake, and yet they can’t help themselves from getting involved again. I can’t even explain how much I understand and relate to this, and I appreciate that Chin manages to describe this struggle so well.
I have two critiques. First, I struggled a bit with the character of May through much (though not all) of the book. She’s honestly pretty selfish and unpleasant, focusing on her own feelings and desires at the expense of those around her, and it is to Chin’s credit that May experiences real character growth as the novel progresses. Second, the characters spend a lot of time in their heads. There’s a lot of thinking and contemplating and pages and pages of dwelling that honestly doesn’t add much to the book.
That being said, the book is quite lovely and ends on such a high note that it still has me smiling as I write this review. I haven’t read any other books by this author (or in this series) and I absolutely intend on reading more. Recommended for fans of second-chance romances; books with small, diverse towns; tortoises; honestly really dreamy male love interests.
Thank you NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.