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jessread_s 's review for:

If We Ever Meet Again by Ana Huang
4.5
emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad 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

Review: I DEVOURED this opposites attract, study abroad romance! 
 
“If We Ever Meet Again” follows 19-year-old Farrah Lin as she falls a cocky blond athlete with the world’s biggest ego during her time abroad in Shanghai, all while knowing she's leaving in less than a year. 
 
This duet is tonally different from her “Twisted” and “Kings of Sin” series and I loved it all the more for that! 
 
Huang masterfully develops Farrah and Blake’s relationship from strangers-to-friends-to lovers across the span of seven months. The pacing was so natural with Huang skipping overly mundane moments in favor of focusing on the most integral parts of their relationship as it formed—like their first kiss, their first moment of physical intimacy, and the first time they said “I love you.” In doing so, Huang kept me engaged and further invested me in Blake and Farrah’s sweeping romance. Huang also perfectly balances steamier scenes with more wholesome ones, which I really appreciated. 
 
Just as I entered a stated of bliss, everything crumbled right before my very eyes. I knew it was coming (as made clear by the prologue), yet it still snuck up on me and left me feeling heartbroken. So much of the book is dedicated to their friendship and romantic chemistry that it just felt so wrong for everything to come undone as quickly as it did. The brief chapter written from Sammy’s point-of-view is what really wrecked me. Now I have no choice but to cling to Huang’s promise that there will be a happily ever after for Blake and Farrah when they meet again in “If the Sun Never Sets” because I’m convinced they are soulmates!