E-Audio, 11:03:19
Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
Release Date: January 7, 2020Published by: HarperTeen
Read from: February 19-21, 2020Loveboat, Taipei, #1Source: LibraryTW:For fans of: Contemporary, Romance, Realistic Fiction, Sparkly Covers, POC MC, YAPerfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen, and praised as “an intense rush of rebellion and romance” by #1 New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Garber, this romantic and layered Own Voices debut from Abigail Hing Wen is a dazzling, fun-filled romp.
“Our cousins have done this program,” Sophie whispers. “Best kept secret. Zero supervision.”
And just like that, Ever Wong’s summer takes an unexpected turn. Gone is Chien Tan, the strict educational program in Taiwan that Ever was expecting. In its place, she finds Loveboat: a summer-long free-for-all where hookups abound, adults turn a blind eye, snake-blood sake flows abundantly, and the nightlife runs nonstop.
But not every student is quite what they seem:
Ever is working toward becoming a doctor but nurses a secret passion for dance.
Rick Woo is the Yale-bound child prodigy bane of Ever’s existence whose perfection hides a secret.
Boy-crazy, fashion-obsessed Sophie Ha turns out to have more to her than meets the eye.
And under sexy Xavier Yeh’s shell is buried a shameful truth he’ll never admit.
When these students’ lives collide, it’s guaranteed to be a summer Ever will never forget.
*MY THOUGHTS*
As a contemporary romance is my favorite genre, I tend to get a bit scared of contemp books that have a lot of hype. And this was one of them. I wanted to wait until the hype died down so I didn’t talk myself into (or out of for that matter) loving this one. And with this one, I probably should have waited just a bit longer.
Ever Wong’s summer isn’t going to be exactly what she thought it would be. She’s shipeed to Taiwan to participate in a summer program that her parents have made her attend. But it’s not what she expected. It’s more party than learning, and she finds that she gets herself into much more trouble than she imagined.
For the most part, I was expecting a super shiny book that I would give 5 stars. But as it turns out, it’s more like a basic contemp read. And there’s a love triangle, which I don’t mind if done different than your average two boys and a girl or with some added element, but nope, this was just basic.
And as far as the writing style, for the most part, it was pretty repetitive. All they seemed to do was party and break the rules. And that ended up with an 11 hour and some change book? The ending was what kept me into the story when things actually started happening.
Lastly, there was nothing that stuck out to me besides the Own Voices part. Everything else was pretty basic. I loved that she was learning Mandarin, and I loved the look into her life. But the drama, and the boy-craziness, and the love triangle, just seemed like it could be any other YA contemporary romance. I think I would have liked it more without all the hype telling me it would be one of the best of the year.
This one was good, but I wasn’t particularly impressed as everyone else seemed to be. Maybe it’s the amount of contemporary romances I read all the time, but I just seem to be the Black Sheep. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll totally read the next book, but I won’t hold it in high regard like I did for this one.
This one was good, but I wasn’t particularly impressed as everyone else seemed to be. Maybe it’s the amount of contemporary romances I read all the time, but I just seem to be the Black Sheep. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll totally read the next book, but I won’t hold it in high regard like I did for this one.
Overall, I give this
