A review by readsbyross
Here We Are Now by Jasmine Warga
4.0
I'd never heard of Here We Are Now before I saw it on Netgalley but I'm glad it was one of the first books I was approved for on Netgalley because I really enjoyed it!
It tells the story of Taliah, who's recently found out that her absent father is actually Julian Oliver - the lead singer of a well known music band. And when her mother is in Paris and Julian shows up on Taliah's doorstep after her letters to him, she is taken by surprise. Julian tells her that her paternal grandfather is dying and wants to make up the lost time with his daughter - but first Taliah must be able to trust his intentions and Julian will have to break down the wall Taliah has built around herself.
I love the strong sense of family and relationships in this book. It's such a strong theme in this book that's explored through Lena and Julian's relationship, Julian and his father's, Harlow and Taliah's and of course Taliah's and Julian's. A heartwarming story of family and love.
I also love how much diversity was in this book and it just felt so right. We had a biracial main character, with Muslim ancestry on one side. The MC's best friend was gay and in a relationship and the will-they, won't-they romance between Toby and Taliah didn't feel forced at all and I really liked the outcome of it.
The writing style flowed really well and I could tell the author had a really unique voice. I love how it was both witty but really deep too; it made you think of the bigger picture of fate and love - and I really liked the character Debra's theory on how everyone has multiple versions of themselves.
Overall, I think this was a great read but my one critique is that I felt the ending was slightly rushed - I don't feel the author really wrapped up Harlow and Taliah's ending or gave them any real redemption. It was like they acknowledged the fault that was beginning in their relationship but didn't have the chance to do anything about it.
It tells the story of Taliah, who's recently found out that her absent father is actually Julian Oliver - the lead singer of a well known music band. And when her mother is in Paris and Julian shows up on Taliah's doorstep after her letters to him, she is taken by surprise. Julian tells her that her paternal grandfather is dying and wants to make up the lost time with his daughter - but first Taliah must be able to trust his intentions and Julian will have to break down the wall Taliah has built around herself.
I love the strong sense of family and relationships in this book. It's such a strong theme in this book that's explored through Lena and Julian's relationship, Julian and his father's, Harlow and Taliah's and of course Taliah's and Julian's. A heartwarming story of family and love.
I also love how much diversity was in this book and it just felt so right. We had a biracial main character, with Muslim ancestry on one side. The MC's best friend was gay and in a relationship and the will-they, won't-they romance between Toby and Taliah didn't feel forced at all and I really liked the outcome of it.
The writing style flowed really well and I could tell the author had a really unique voice. I love how it was both witty but really deep too; it made you think of the bigger picture of fate and love - and I really liked the character Debra's theory on how everyone has multiple versions of themselves.
Overall, I think this was a great read but my one critique is that I felt the ending was slightly rushed - I don't feel the author really wrapped up Harlow and Taliah's ending or gave them any real redemption. It was like they acknowledged the fault that was beginning in their relationship but didn't have the chance to do anything about it.