A Beauty and the Beast retelling at a boarding school? Sign. Me. Up. Check out my review: Of Curses and Kisses.
[Read more…]Review: Loveboat, Taipei
Did you love Crazy Rich Asians? Looking for a great YA contemporary? Check out my review of Loveboat, Taipei!
Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen. To be published on January 7, 2020 by Harper Teen.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
Synopsis: When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life. Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines. Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?
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Review: Loveboat, Taipei
First off, I must say that there is no actual boat, which was a tiny disappointment to me. But overall I really loved this one!
Ever Wong dreams of becoming a dancer, but has finally made her parents proud after being accepted to a prestigious BA/MD program. Then, the summer before college, she finds out that her parents have enrolled her in a Chinese culture camp in Taiwan.
She’s angry and disappointed until her new roommate clues her in to the benefits of the program: no grades, no supervision. She and her new friends are free to explore Taipei, go clubbing, and finally be free of their parents rules and expectations.
Ever quickly makes a bucket list, setting out to break every single rule her parents have set for her. She skips class, buys a skimpy dress, sneaks out of the dorm, flirts with boys, and dances the night away. But when a friendship sours and she’s publicly humiliated, she’ll have to figure out what–and who–matters to her.
The travelogue in the book might have been my favorite part. I’ve traveled in Asia, but never to Taiwan. Loveboat Taipei was a whole lot of fun while still managing to incorporate issues. Ever struggles to make her immigrant parents understand that their dreams aren’t hers. The book also incorporates mental health issues, learning differences, and more.
There was only one aspect of the book that might be a negative to some readers: the romance situation was messy. And complicated. There were three girls and two guys, all of whom had interest in more than one person or had more than one person interested in them. Ever got into in a love triangle (rectangle? pentagon?) that involved cheating. This wasn’t a huge issue for me, but if that is a dealbreaker for you, proceed with caution!
I had a lot of fun reading this and highly recommend Loveboat, Taipei to fans of contemporary YA romance.
Do you love books set in the summer before college? Check out my full list here!
Review: Open House
For something I’m calling Rom-Com-a-Thon I am reading and reviewing ALL the romantic comedies. This was lighter on comedy, and incorporating more social issues – check out my review of Open House below!
Open House (Uptown #2)by Ruby Lang. Published by Carina Press on November 11 2019. Thanks to the publisher for sending me a review copy.
Synopsis: Tyson Yang never imagined that one day he’d be the de facto spokesperson for an illegal community garden. But when the Harlem lot goes up for sale, Ty can’t let all their hard work get plowed under. Even if he is irresistibly drawn to the lovely but infuriatingly stubborn real estate associate. Magda Ferrer’s family is already convinced this new job will be yet another flop in her small but growing list of career path failures. Ty is her charming rival, her incorrigible nemesis, the handsome roadblock to her success.Until one hot Harlem night blurs the hard line drawn between them, and the seeds of possibility in this rocky garden blossom into love.
This post contains affiliate links and I may receive a small percentage of qualifying purchases. I appreciate your support. Find out more here.
Review: Open House
Sometimes it’s an uneasy balance when a romance tries to throw in too many issues, leaving insufficient page space for the development of the main characters and their romance. But I thought Open House did a great job of incorporating real-life issues (personal and social) while making sure the romance got enough time and space to fully develop.
Magda has a huge amount of student debt and hasn’t had much luck earning money to pay it down. So when her uncle agrees to let her try to sell his Harlem townhouse and a vacant lot nearby, she’s thrilled to get a chance to earn the commission. Tyson, an accountant, is working with his neighbors to preserve that same vacant lot, which is set up as a community garden.
Community gardens created in vacant lots are a quintessential New York thing — real estate in Manhattan is valuable, but community gardens provide something invaluable — a sliver of green in the city and a way to bring neighbors together.
The enemies-to-love aspect here isn’t super strong because Tyson and Magda are both really nice people who happen to have opposing interests. But they do have to disagree a little — and fight their attraction to each other!
Loved the emphasis on gardening and family and the portrayal of Harlem, a diverse neighborhood with a rich history.
If you love a slow burn romance between really nice and likable characters, and enjoy a certain amount of steam, definitely give this one a try! I also should mention that you don’t need to have read the first book in the series.
You can check out all my rom com reviews here on my Rom-Com-a-Thon page
Review: All-American Muslim Girl
With its pretty pink cover and intriguing title, what is this book about? Check out my review of All-American Muslim Girl below!
All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney. To be published on November 11, 2019 by Farrar Straus and Giroux. Thanks to the publisher for sending a review copy! Links are Affiliate Links and I may earn from qualifying purchases.
Synopsis adapted from Goodreads: Allie Abraham has it all going for her, plus she’s dating cute, popular, and sweet Wells Henderson. One problem: Wells’s father is Jack Henderson, America’s most famous conservative shock jock. Allie hasn’t told Wells that her family is Muslim. It’s not like Allie’s religion is a secret, exactly. It’s just that her parents don’t practice and raised her to keep her Islamic heritage to herself. But as Allie witnesses ever-growing Islamophobia in her small town and across the nation, she begins to embrace her faith—studying it, practicing it, and facing hatred and misunderstanding for it. Who is Allie, if she sheds the façade of the “perfect” all-American girl? What does it mean to be a “Good Muslim?” And can a Muslim girl in America ever truly fit in?
Review of All-American Muslim Girl
First off, I’m a big fan of YA books that tackle religious themes. (I know from prior reviews of books like this that some readers are NOT fans of this kind of story.) Second, I am not Muslim and am not reviewing from that viewpoint.
Allie’s dad is a non-practicing Muslim. Her mom is a Catholic who converted to Islam. Thus, Allie doesn’t know a lot about either faith. Her father’s side of the family are Circassian Muslims, who are ethnically Caucasian, so Allie doesn’t look like the “typical” Muslim.
But when Allie begins to witness Islamophobia in her community and at her school – even among her friends – she decides she has to take action. She starts openly identifying as Muslim and exploring what it means to be a Muslim-American woman. She joins a female Qur’an study group, starts learning Arabic, tries wearing hijab, and finds a new group of female friends, including lesbian and feminist Muslims. This comes as a big surprise to her family, her friends and classmates. It’s also a shock to the boy she’s dating, the son of a super conservative TV personality who isn’t all that pro-Muslim.
The romance was sweet, but not as big a part of the plot or as much of a source of tension as the synopsis suggests. But I liked the fact that it took a back seat to Allie’s journey.
This was more of a discovery-driven book than a plot or character driven one, but still a lovely story about family and the exploration of faith. I liked that Allie really questioned and explored some common conceptions of Muslim women.
Stay tuned later this week for my list of YA Books That Explore Religious Faith!
Have you read this one? If so, tell me what you thought? Do you like books with religious themes?
Review of Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors
Are you a huge Jane Austen fan? Do you love books that feature food? Then check out my review of Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors!
[Read more…]Review: Pride by Ibi Zoboi
I am a lifelong fan of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and try to read ALL the retellings. What did I think of this latest re-imagination of a classic love story? Find out in my review of Pride!
