I’ve only heard amazing things about this author’s adult book, so I was super excited to try out her new YA contemporary! While I feel as if I’m growing a bit too old for YA contemporary, and haven’t yet found a different appreciation for it now that I can’t entirely relate, I hoped that I’d still really enjoy this one! I did overall enjoy this, but I also just never got that into it. Maybe that’s because I’ve been having a hard time with this genre in general, or maybe it was just this specific book, it’s hard to tell!

I think one of the main issues I had with this book was how long it took for the main characters to actually start liking each other. It was definitely a hate-to-love relationship, but not in the way that usually works for me. The hate was more just like extreme dislike, but the sort of dislike that comes with thinking the person in front of you is not someone you could ever see yourself being friends with. And while I know it was all based on incorrect assumptions due to the premise of the book, it felt like it just lingered on too long to make the final relationship feel true enough to me. I just couldn’t get over how much they just, didn’t care to be friends even.

I did really like the setting of the novel, though, and the exploration of this country and culture that I didn’t really know much about. It also didn’t feel like a super Americanized version of it either. While one character was Asian American, there was still so much focus on her family and her history and where she came from, and it didn’t feel like the book was trying to make Indonesia seem like America. It didn’t feel like the book was trying to specifically cater to me, a white American, and I honestly really appreciated that. It also makes me think that this book will be a wonderful read for teens everywhere, especially in the US, since it really does show how often things are reframed from our perspective, even when it's not needed. There was also just so much love here in this book, even as tougher topics were discussed (feeling disconnected from your history, feeling unwelcome in your home country, homophobia/sexism, etc.). I just loved how this book was able to balance both showing how beautiful and wonderful Indonesia is, while also remaining honest about the issues it has (without trying to find some miraculous fix to them, either).

Overall, while this book wasn’t a favorite, I am excited to finally read more of this author’s books, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for future books as well!