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bowlsofpasta's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Infidelity
Moderate: Alcohol
Minor: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
venice_the_vampire's review
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
a lot better than i expected, loved the way they wrapped up the families experiences but truly wish they would have fleshed out the actual main relationship of the story better. did have some unexpected beautiful moments, though
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Racism, and Homophobia
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Outing
Minor: Alcohol
ember_is_gay's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
i was super excited for this, I thought it would be a cute little YA lesbian falling in love story with an appropriate amount of drama (like coming out) but there were just so many issues. and issues that never really got addressed.
there was a lot of racism, that the main character was called out on but never really seemed to address, and really kind of expected everyone to forget and move on. like she couldn't see the issue with what she had said or done. i could understand her lack of awareness as a character coming from a predominately white area to a diverse area, but she didn't seem to want to listen or grow. i can appreciate that this is an important issue, especially racism between minority groups, but i do think if it was something that wanted to be addressed to should have pulled more of the focus and have been addressed well. for example, the resolution of sana's racism didn't seem to be that she grew and researched and understood; i have seen others mention that this may have been because of the amount of storylines that were going on that there was a lot to attempt to resolve. i think dropping one of the other storylines to focus on this storyline would have been a lot better so that it could be fully fleshed out and addressed.
the racism from side characters was also not at all addressed aside from small internal comments from sana. what could have been a learning experience was just ignored.
the amount of homophobia and lesbophobia from sana's friends was ridiculous. again, there wasn't really any resolution to this, her friends didn't apologise, sana didn't call them out. it was just accepted. again this could have been a result of trying to resolve multiple storylines, but i think there should have been an appropriate resolution; sana calling them out, explaining, them growing or her cutting them off for not understanding her. like, the literally told her she should date guys despite being a lesbian because she might actually be bi, or she might not have found the right guy yet. and sana just went with it (which then caused a massive issue with the one person who was actually kinda a good friend to her). her friends pressured her into kissing a guy (which she had already done and hated) and then encouraged her to cheat on her girlfriend with him, which she just did. i am not sure if we were supposed to think that sana was questioning her sexuality more than she was written to be, which is fine, people figure their stuff out at their own pace. but she seemed so sure in her identity up until then and seemed to be doing it just to please her friends (weird, and she should have ended the friendship). it just felt generally lesbophobic for a literal lesbian character to go along with cheating on her girlfriend with a guy; like are we not past this stage at this point. if you are going to have characters make this suggestion, at least make it clear that it is not okay for them to do that.
i do think if the cheating hadn't happened i would have been more onboard with sana and jamie getting back together, because what we did see of them was cute, and sana trying to resolve their relationship at the end was sweet. however, i just think the cheating storyline ruined it for me and it wasn't super believable that they got back together because of a couple poems.
also the thing with the dad was just another storyline that was a lot, but at least that one felt resolved and everyone was on the same page and okay and they all spoke about what was happening.
overall, the rep was there and it could have been so good, but honestly there seemed to be too many storylines and too little resolutions, and a lot of unnecessary lesbophobia that was harmful; it was a horrible storyline and the author seemed to think it was acceptable.
the racism from side characters was also not at all addressed aside from small internal comments from sana. what could have been a learning experience was just ignored.
the amount of homophobia and lesbophobia from sana's friends was ridiculous. again, there wasn't really any resolution to this, her friends didn't apologise, sana didn't call them out. it was just accepted. again this could have been a result of trying to resolve multiple storylines, but i think there should have been an appropriate resolution; sana calling them out, explaining, them growing or her cutting them off for not understanding her. like, the literally told her she should date guys despite being a lesbian because she might actually be bi, or she might not have found the right guy yet. and sana just went with it (which then caused a massive issue with the one person who was actually kinda a good friend to her). her friends pressured her into kissing a guy (which she had already done and hated) and then encouraged her to cheat on her girlfriend with him, which she just did. i am not sure if we were supposed to think that sana was questioning her sexuality more than she was written to be, which is fine, people figure their stuff out at their own pace. but she seemed so sure in her identity up until then and seemed to be doing it just to please her friends (weird, and she should have ended the friendship). it just felt generally lesbophobic for a literal lesbian character to go along with cheating on her girlfriend with a guy; like are we not past this stage at this point. if you are going to have characters make this suggestion, at least make it clear that it is not okay for them to do that.
i do think if the cheating hadn't happened i would have been more onboard with sana and jamie getting back together, because what we did see of them was cute, and sana trying to resolve their relationship at the end was sweet. however, i just think the cheating storyline ruined it for me and it wasn't super believable that they got back together because of a couple poems.
also the thing with the dad was just another storyline that was a lot, but at least that one felt resolved and everyone was on the same page and okay and they all spoke about what was happening.
overall, the rep was there and it could have been so good, but honestly there seemed to be too many storylines and too little resolutions, and a lot of unnecessary lesbophobia that was harmful; it was a horrible storyline and the author seemed to think it was acceptable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia and Racism
paigelamoureux's review against another edition
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Abandonment
book_snail's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Racism
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
ivmaurik's review
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
absolutely hated this book. it started of nice but then she came out to her friends, from that point it was just terrible. i do very much not recommend
what te fuck was up with the random lesbophobia in this book. her friends forcing her to kiss a boy because ‘you’ll love it’ NO SHE IS A LESBIAN YOU DUMB FCK SHE WILL NOT LOVE IT. absolutely drove me crazy. stopped reading the book because of how much i cringed.
also the excused racism? what
and the random cheating like WHY i do not understand. i just wanted to read a cute little wlw romance and this is what i get.
also very little to no details about the relationship and like from the kiss you get almost nothing. we want to know EXACTLY WHAT HAPPEND. but no.
what te fuck was up with the random lesbophobia in this book. her friends forcing her to kiss a boy because ‘you’ll love it’ NO SHE IS A LESBIAN YOU DUMB FCK SHE WILL NOT LOVE IT. absolutely drove me crazy. stopped reading the book because of how much i cringed.
also the excused racism? what
and the random cheating like WHY i do not understand. i just wanted to read a cute little wlw romance and this is what i get.
also very little to no details about the relationship and like from the kiss you get almost nothing. we want to know EXACTLY WHAT HAPPEND. but no.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia and Racism
agateg's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
“And I remember that hiding the truth doesn’t stop things from being true. Not talking about things doesn’t stop them from happening. Pretending that a thing is something else doesn’t change its true nature.”
Sixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like the fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend.
I did not enjoy this story at all. I think there are better lgbtq+ stories than this one. I really disliked the amount of cheating in this book and how the characters dealt with it . I did not find the main characters lovable or even likeable which in turn made the story unenjoyable.
Sixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like the fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend.
I did not enjoy this story at all. I think there are better lgbtq+ stories than this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Xenophobia, Infidelity, and Racism
Moderate: Outing
botanicalprofanity's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Racism, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Outing
bobisthecoolest's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
*Not spoiler free*
This book was more than I thought it would be. I expected a book about two girls discovering their sexuality and falling in love. This book was that, but it was also more. It covered racism (between different ethnicities) and what it’s like being gay in an asian family. It taught me a lot about asian culture especially about gaman.
However, I did not like Sana. She was egoïstic and kind of a bitch sometimes. I felt really bad for Caleb (and Jamie).
Another character that I found really unlikeable was Elaine. She was just very casually homophobic and kept pushing Sana to try being straight with no real consequences for her actions.
So yeah I liked it, but some of the characters just really made me want to throw the book across the room.
(also the ‘omigod’ was very annoying)
This book was more than I thought it would be. I expected a book about two girls discovering their sexuality and falling in love. This book was that, but it was also more. It covered racism (between different ethnicities) and what it’s like being gay in an asian family. It taught me a lot about asian culture especially about gaman.
However, I did not like Sana. She was egoïstic and kind of a bitch sometimes. I felt really bad for Caleb (and Jamie).
Another character that I found really unlikeable was Elaine. She was just very casually homophobic and kept pushing Sana to try being straight with no real consequences for her actions.
So yeah I liked it, but some of the characters just really made me want to throw the book across the room.
(also the ‘omigod’ was very annoying)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Racism, and Homophobia
_anzo_'s review
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Lesbophobia, Outing, and Racism