Nicola Yoon

Writing in the voice of a teen can be super difficult, but some of the dialogue here was seriously cheesy. But these authors have written teen characters before that sounded/felt more natural.

Despite that, good inclusion of diversity, love, and different cultures. I found Stevie to be really annoying and pretentious though the grand gesture at the end was sweet. You can't hinge the story on the most unlikable character.

I don’t think I cared for any of the couples here unlike Blackout though it was nice that most of the misunderstandings/miscommunications were lighthearted.

Blackout: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3663456371

2.5… (més)

Cons:
-no thanks to cheating dad redemption though I do like the struggle of Evie’s relationship with him. She truly wants to hate him, but it’s still her dad, y’know. Evie’s dad made a conscious decision to be tonguing down another woman while married. That’s on you, sir! At first, it’s like he gets no consequences for his actions. Breaks up his family home and moves onto another woman, and Evie has to see them giggling and gleeful all in her face. You’re not supposed to hold a grudge as it builds into resentment but UGHHHHH
-neutral: Fifi. Hmm, I feel like characters with strong accents show better in film than writing. Eez jest too minny Zee’s fo meeeee en she’s speech.
-X and Evie were fine but not swoon-worthy to me. Their relationship felt a little dry and rushed.
-none of her friends were memorable

Pros
+Loved the dancing and the cover
+Danica and her revolving roulette of boyfriends
+Evie’s struggle with cynicism
+X is a decent guy who COMMUNICATES. No brooding, angsty male LI here
+Poking fun at romance tropes
+The magical realism
+The complexities of relationships, and if “I love you” is really forever
+The ending and the overall Love again message
+The acknowledgements that gives the backstory

Nicola Yoon is one of my favorite writers, but this one wasn’t for me.… (més)

Representation: Black and Asian main characters
Trigger warnings: Deportation

7/10, this was an OK rom-com novel and the romance itself was fine but there were some flaws within this book and the characters weren't really that developed but this was still enjoyable nonetheless despite them. It starts off with the two main characters Daniel and Natasha who are total opposites of each other since one is a skeptic and another is just a hopeless romantic yet somehow they fall in love at first sight and now that I look back at it it isn't the most realistic romance novel and I still couldn't connect to the characters yet somehow I still liked this. Over the course of a day their attraction to each other grows deeper which I liked but there was a plot point established from the beginning that Natasha was going to be deported from the United States to another country which I think was Cuba for a reason but maybe it was a case of illegal immigration, I don't really know but that point was used in the last part of the book when Natasha had to leave and there was a time skip where she was on a plane and she developed a Caribbean English accent and that was it. Since then I have read much better romances than this one and I recommend Where the Road Leads Us by Robin Reul which was a better one than this.… (més)