Book Review: From Little Tokyo, with Love by Sarah Kuhn

August 12, 2022September 3, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 432 pages
Author: Sarah Kuhn
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 11th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

If Rika’s life seems like the beginning of a familiar fairy tale–being an orphan with two bossy cousins and working away in her aunts’ business–she would be the first to reject that foolish notion. After all, she loves her family (even if her cousins were named after Disney characters), and with her biracial background, amazing judo skills and red-hot temper, she doesn’t quite fit the princess mold.

All that changes the instant she locks eyes with Grace Kimura, America’s reigning rom-com sweetheart, during the Nikkei Week Festival. From there, Rika embarks on a madcap adventure of hope and happiness–searching for clues that Grace is her long-lost mother, exploring Little Tokyo’s hidden treasures with cute actor Hank Chen, and maybe…finally finding a sense of belonging.

But fairy tales are fiction and the real world isn’t so kind. Rika knows she’s setting herself up for disappointment, because happy endings don’t happen to girls like her. Should she walk away before she gets in even deeper, or let herself be swept away?

FANCIFUL.

I enjoyed this one! I don’t necessarily think it was intensely memorable or compares to some of the recent YA contemporaries I’ve read, but it had some charm and good moments.

The addition of Disney princess aspects was cute. Her cousins have princess names and the whole vibe of the book reads with different takes. I noticed Cinderella the most. It added a *magical* (no actual magical realism) touch to Rika’s quest.

One of my favorite aspects was Rika’s anger issues. That’s not something I’ve seen a lot of in young adult novels and I love the way it was approached. Many of the conversations made my teenage self feel seen. Rika may have struggle with it at times, but the support of those around her helped her see the strength of her passions. Other conversations such as stereotypes, being biracial, racism and fitting into the Asian community were also addressed.

For the romance, I was initially smitten. But the intense speed at which this flew had me trying to slam on the brakes. It went too fast, and took a turn I couldn’t get behind. Very sweet overall at least. Henry and Rika communicated well and really did lift each other up and I did love that.

It was an enjoyable read and one I would recommend!

Overall audience notes:

YA Contemporary Romance
Language: some strong
Romance: kisses to one closed door
Trigger/Content Warnings: racism, colorism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, parental abandonment, panic attacks, teen pregnancy (recounted)

Instagram || Goodreads

Monthly Reading Wrap-Up: May 2022

May 31, 2022May 30, 2022 GoodeyReads2 Comments

A mixed bag of a month, most of five star reads came from rereads. But now I am ready for all of the summer reads!

Favorite Reads This Month: Some Mistakes Were Made, The Phoenix Priest, TBK/TTQ, QOS, Love & Olives, All the Feels, Love in Bloom, Roaring, The Bluff

[Graphic Novel] Heartstopper Vol. 4 by Alice Oseman
Obsidian Throne (The Lochlann Feuds #4) by Robin D. Mahle and Elle Madison
[ARC] Exactly Where You Need to Be by Amelia Diane Coombs
Just Go With It (Just Us #1) by Madison Wright
Bonded Fate (Guardians of the Maiden #2) by Beck Michaels
The Do-Over by Bethany Turner
Some Mistakes Were Made by Kristin Dwyer
Book of Night by Holly Black
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
The Phoenix Priest (The Blood and Water Saga #2) by Cassidy Clarke
[Reread] The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom #1) by Danielle L. Jensen
[ARC] Every Summer After by Carley Fortune
[Reread] Queen of Shadows (Throne of Glass #4) by Sarah J. Maas
[ARC] Edward and Amelia by Karen Thornell
Love & Olives (Love & Gelato #3) by Jenna Evans Welch
Last Chance Summer by Shannon Klare
The Queen’s Rising (The Queen’s Rising #1) by Rebecca Ross
The Witch Collector (Witch Walker #1) by Charissa Weaks
[Bonus Chapters] The Calm Before the Storm (The Bridge Kingdom #3.5) by Danielle L. Jensen
All the Feels (Spoiler Alert #2) by Olivia Dade
[Novella] The Missed Connection (Airport Novellas #2) by Denise Williams
[Graphic] Miss Butterworth and the Mad Baron by Julia Quinn
[Reread] The Traitor Queen (The Bridge Kingdom #2) by Danielle L. Jensen
[ARC] For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa
Complex (The Sweet Rom”Com”s #2) by Kortney Keisel
An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan
Love in Bloom (Some Kind of Love #4) by Jenny Proctor
Firebrand (Green Rider #6) by Kristen Britain
Maybe Now (Maybe #2) by Colleen Hoover
Reign & Ruin (Mages of the Wheel #1) by J.D. Evans
[Novella] Unrequited (The Donovans #0.5) by Martha Keyes
How to Kiss Your Best Friend by Jenny Proctor
Roaring by Lindsey Duga
[Novella] A Wilderness of Glass (Wraith Kings #2.7) by Grace Draven
The Queen of Blood (The Queens of Renthia #1) by Sarah Beth Durst
Gleam (The Plated Prisoner #3) by Raven Kennedy
A Show for Two by Tashie Bhuiyan
[ARC] The Bluff (Graham Brothers #2) by Emma St. Clair
[Novella] Love Beginning (Some Kind of Love #0.5) by Jenny Proctor

Instagram || Goodreads || The StoryGraph

Book Review: Fat Chance, Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado

April 27, 2022April 26, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Crystal Maldonado
Publisher: Holiday House
Release Date: February 2nd, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Coming of age as a Fat brown girl in a white Connecticut suburb is hard.
Harder when your whole life is on fire, though.

Charlie Vega is a lot of things. Smart. Funny. Artistic. Ambitious. Fat.

People sometimes have a problem with that last one. Especially her mom. Charlie wants a good relationship with her body, but it’s hard, and her mom leaving a billion weight loss shakes on her dresser doesn’t help. The world and everyone in it have ideas about what she should look like: thinner, lighter, slimmer-faced, straighter-haired. Be smaller. Be whiter. Be quieter.

But there’s one person who’s always in Charlie’s corner: her best friend Amelia. Slim. Popular. Athletic. Totally dope. So when Charlie starts a tentative relationship with cute classmate Brian, the first worthwhile guy to notice her, everything is perfect until she learns one thing–he asked Amelia out first. So is she his second choice or what? Does he even really see her? UGHHH. Everything is now officially a MESS.

A sensitive, funny, and painful coming-of-age story with a wry voice and tons of chisme, Fat Chance, Charlie Vega tackles our relationships to our parents, our bodies, our cultures, and ourselves.

REALLY ENJOYABLE.

I flew through this book quickly. The writing led to a easy and great paced story for a coming of age teen, Charlie.

The conversations throughout hit me deep in many ways. Some I could understand and connect with and others I won’t ever be able to understand, but appreciated seeing it in a book to help me understand more. There was a lot of great dialogue here and I’m grateful that I had the chance to read this.

Within the bigger and tougher discussions was an adorable romance. I thought Brian was precious and I loved all of the dates and interactions and the chemistry between him and Charlie. Some of the dialogue is very high school, though I wasn’t too affected by it. I thought everything felt pretty authentic to a 16/17 year-old without being over the top.

What I didn’t love was how the conflict went down with Brian. It just seemed liked it could have been addressed better and not dragged out as long as it was for the sake of the drama. A conversation after cooling down would have nicely moved things along rather than trying to force a grand gesture at the end.

Overall audience notes:

YA Contemporary romance
Language: some strong
Romance: kisses / heated make-outs; discussion of sex
Trigger/Content Warnings: fatmisia, body shaming, diet culture, disordered eating

Instagram || Goodreads

ARC Book Review: With and Without You by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

April 14, 2022February 20, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★☆ (2.5)
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka
Publisher: Viking
Release Date: April 19th, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

#Wibbroka is back with another swoony YA–this time tackling long-distance relationships, in a novel based on their own romantic history.

If high school seniors Siena and Patrick were a superlative, they’d be the Couple Most Likely to Marry. They’ve been dating for three solid years, and everyone agrees they’re perfect for each other. But with college on the horizon, Siena begins to wonder whether staying together is the best idea. Does she really want to be tied down during possibly the most transformative years of her life? So she makes a decision to break up with Patrick, convincing herself it’s for the best. Before she can say the words, though, he beats her to the punch: his family is moving out of state. Caught off guard by the news, Siena agrees to stay with Patrick, believing their relationship will naturally fizzle out with time and distance. But over a series of visits throughout the school year, Siena begins to see a different side of Patrick–one that has her falling in love with him all over again.

Thank you the the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC.

LETDOWN.

I am a huge fan of Wibberley and Sigemund-Broka. Read and enjoyed all of their previous books. This is the first time I have felt truly MEH about how this entire book went.

This relationship in crisis trope did not play out well. Siena complained entirely too much and kept pitying Patrick at every turn when she should have just BROKEN UP WITH HIM. Stop making ridiculous excuses. It also really bugged me that rather than communicate (since they’ve been in a relationship for 3+ years), she instead decides she wants to sleep with him for the first time even when she acknowledges she’s not in a good place for it. I could give you a list of more instances of Sienna making me want to toss my kindle.

Some of the second half was better. I’ll give it up to that. A few times there was some good communication. And I liked Patrick a lot! There wasn’t enough build up around his character so often he felt very bland, but he seemed sweet and I liked that we got some passion out of him by the end.

There’s more ridiculous miscommunication issues in the last quarter and I can’t say I was even all that happy with the ending. I felt there were enough red flags on both sides that I fell off the wagon of being behind this relationship.

Overall audience notes: