oh this was disappointing :///// I loved the kiss quotient but this... okay so let's talk esme, why did her motivations change so much throughout the novel? she only talked about wanting to go to college very late into the novel and only seemed interested in learning english + also accounting to keep up her lie lol, it should have been a thing for her the entire novel for it to actually make sense. epilogue was not okay. also wtf she talked so much about her daughter and her trying to make a better life for her but barely ever spoke to her daughter???? Khai was so accepting of being a legit step dad with no warning too??? why was there no section on him getting used to the idea??? especially when he was NEVER seen to have any interest in kids, there should have at least been a bit where he was like "oh I would love kids but I feel like I can't cause my autism blah blah blah". by the end Khai and Esme were just so frustrating to read about the back and forth and the whole thing with her dad did not feel satisfying after the whole books worth of build up. i can't remember what you learn about Andrew/Andy I'm the kiss quotient but that also felt unsatisfying. fr the main upsides of this was that it was funny and also my homeboy quan. I'm pretty sure the last book the heart principle is about him and he was my favourite thing about this book BY FAR and I also really enjoyed him in tkq (gonna abbreviate the kiss quotient from now on). quan was literally perfect and he is my husband and his mum talking to him when he's in New York literally the perfect set up for the next book I cannot wait to deep dive. anyway this was not that slay (and I didn't even get to the sketchy premise which could have not been sketchy if it played itself out better and the book did not take itself as seriously) and fr we should have gotten one last sex scene for after they get back together as a reward for our (my) efforts. unfortunate cause I had high hopes from tkq. i think my main issue was that esme kept throwing herself at khai and tbh I much prefer like "guy falls first" stories and it makes me upset to see sexy women begging men to be with them😭😭 lame, whatever, 3 stars