Reminds me of books like City of Ember and The Giver. Some Lemony Snicket-style elements as well. Diverse representation and an anti-megacorp (dare I say Amazon??) message with attention paid to the effects on not just small business owners, but poor communities and the climate. Really enjoyed this book, glad I finally prioritized it after seeing it in the library for nearly a year and saying “I really gotta read that”. Also… Stardew inspired?? Maybe??

I was really looking forward to this book. Recently I've seen a lot of spec-fic books by white women challenging the promises of "wellness culture" and I was interested what kind of take a non-white author would have on the topic. The whole time I was reading, I had a sense of unease; sometimes, it was because I wanted the MC to escape the horror, like I was supposed to feel. But more often, it was because I found the MC so unbearable, unrealistic - and the colorism! I kept waiting for her to have character growth, or honestly a full-on meltdown. As someone who has held beliefs in common with Jasmyn, I thought maybe I was being too defensive of my own experience / journey to understanding the value of rest and that as a white person, maybe my understanding of the MC's view was flawed in some way. But after reading a lot of reviews by Black readers - seeing references to The Nap Ministry and how miraculous it is Jasmyn never burns out - I think I had the right idea after all. This book would have resolved better if Jasmyn had learned something other than "Blackness = aesthetics + trauma". But please read those other reviews and don't take my word for it.

This highly enjoyable and very believable take on the fake-dating trope handled heavy themes with a careful touch. While I cried for almost the entire second half, a lot of those tears were happy ones. The support the MMCs demonstrate to each other, as well as the support of their families, is so touching. I think it's still rare to find explicitly autistic characters in fiction and I really appreciated Han's character and the way his autism affected his dating life and understanding of his sexuality. There are a lot of miscommunication moments in this book, due to the secrecy of the fake-dating plot and Han's autism, but the payoff feels worth the frustration. Now very tempted to break my 'no-YA novels' rule to finally read 'The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School'.

 I received this digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I had DNF’d both the physical and audio versions of this book before, but I stuck it on a short list for book club selections and my co-host picked it for January. After I finally got to chapter 4,

a plot point forced the characters to open up.

, and I was really into the story. Now I’m considering picking up the next installment, and after reading the acknowledgments I’m very interested to discuss how the author writing this during Covid affected the world building.