A review by lindentea
The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava

lighthearted tense 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

I think this was just ok for me sadly! I see a lot of reviews saying they were stressed out about Ember's lies snowballing, but funnily enough that was one of the more interesting parts of the book for me, while the romance was, tbh, boring. It felt very insta-lovey, and while Ember was a really strong character, I feel like Danuwoa didn't really have anything going for me to latch onto. Like, he was TOO perfect? Which made him feel fake, not he's-trying-too-hard in-text fake but this-guy-is-not-real out-of-text fake? Like I personally prefer a romance where both parties are the main characters (even if they're not both povs!!) as opposed to following one and the other is just The Love Interest. When

she got him back after the third-act breakup, it didn't feel like "Yay Ember & Danuwoa are back together" but rather "Yay Ember got the guy and is happy"

. 

Also -- and this is not the book's fault tbh -- I just couldn't handle how capital-H Heterosexual everything felt.... yes including the queer rep... tho shout-out to my girl Natalie!

Anyway I'm still looking forward to whatever Nava writes next!