3.5 stars.

Thanks so much to Ballantine Books for the copy of this book!

I LOOOVEEEDDD the first half of this novel. I’m a sucker for character-driven literature and was really enjoying Audrey’s story growing up in small-town Illinois and entering the upper middle class in NYC. Her Asian American upbringing took a starring role as she and her white boyfriend, Ben, travel back to her hometown for the holidays. However, Audrey makes some really questionable choices in the second half of the book and her personality takes a bit of a negative turn - and it’s hard when you don’t want to cheer for an MC anymore. Luckily, she did redeem herself a bit in the end and I got back into it, but I really wish she would've made some different choices! It took away from the central narrative of the book for me and I think her actions were used to develop her character's progress when I would've preferred dialogue in that area instead. I LOVED her dad so much and enjoyed watching the character dynamics play out. Overall, I liked but not loved this read.

Read if you:
- like character-driven stories
- have ever been in an interracial relationship
- listened to The Killers in high school
- always feel called to a 'central place' that feels like home