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A review by mastersal
Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao
3.0
A cute breezy read which gave me [The Kiss Quotient], or [The Duke and I] vibes but in a significantly more Pg-13 way. The premise has been done in a number of books and Hallmark movies before but the context of an Asian family setting was new to me so I decided to pick this up.
I was expecting more of a romance but this is more a family drama with a romance throughline as the b-plot. The cover is kind of misleading in my opinion but I didn’t mind the family plot so I wasn’t disappointed. Romance readers looking for a holiday romance may find this not to their tastes however.
The main ‘conflict’ of the book is for the main character Jing-Jing / Chloe to reconcile her place in her traditional American-Korean family but also find a degree of independence from them. The (fake) boyfriend is a bid to get her parents off her back - so all of the drama revolves around her relationship with them - and especially her mom. Drew, our hero, does get a POV, and he too is dealing with his own family issues. He is a counterpoint to Chloe since he has made different choices from here but it still impacted by the fall-out with his family.
The romance was kind of secondary in the book - there characters could have worked well as friends helping each other navtiage their kind of awful family dynamics. I did find them cute together but the romance was not particularly memorable for me. Which is why I don't think this is a romance novel.
Despite some ridiculous overbearing parents, I found the book very sweet and cute. I even liked Chloe’s parents (even though the mom needs a talking to). They kind of remind me of my parents so perhaps it was that connection which worked for me. Chloe’s mother did get a little excessively obtuse - I know it’s meant to be comedy but it was kind of eye-rolling stupid in the latter half of the book. I get it but she had a tendency to come across as shrill on page which was a shame.
All in all this was a fun time and a quick read. I appreciated the hopefulness of the book - the message that a new hybrid path was possible. “That desire to move forward out of love, even when it wasn’t perfect. Even when there was still anger underneath”.
3 fun stars - YA readers will enjoy this I think. For older readers there is a little too little nuance in the parents’ characterization for this to be exceptionally moving. The book is well written and worth checking out.
I was expecting more of a romance but this is more a family drama with a romance throughline as the b-plot. The cover is kind of misleading in my opinion but I didn’t mind the family plot so I wasn’t disappointed. Romance readers looking for a holiday romance may find this not to their tastes however.
The main ‘conflict’ of the book is for the main character Jing-Jing / Chloe to reconcile her place in her traditional American-Korean family but also find a degree of independence from them. The (fake) boyfriend is a bid to get her parents off her back - so all of the drama revolves around her relationship with them - and especially her mom. Drew, our hero, does get a POV, and he too is dealing with his own family issues. He is a counterpoint to Chloe since he has made different choices from here but it still impacted by the fall-out with his family.
The romance was kind of secondary in the book - there characters could have worked well as friends helping each other navtiage their kind of awful family dynamics. I did find them cute together but the romance was not particularly memorable for me. Which is why I don't think this is a romance novel.
Despite some ridiculous overbearing parents, I found the book very sweet and cute. I even liked Chloe’s parents (even though the mom needs a talking to). They kind of remind me of my parents so perhaps it was that connection which worked for me. Chloe’s mother did get a little excessively obtuse - I know it’s meant to be comedy but it was kind of eye-rolling stupid in the latter half of the book. I get it but she had a tendency to come across as shrill on page which was a shame.
All in all this was a fun time and a quick read. I appreciated the hopefulness of the book - the message that a new hybrid path was possible. “That desire to move forward out of love, even when it wasn’t perfect. Even when there was still anger underneath”.
3 fun stars - YA readers will enjoy this I think. For older readers there is a little too little nuance in the parents’ characterization for this to be exceptionally moving. The book is well written and worth checking out.