Others: Leaning positive "High school senior Frank Li takes a risk to go after a girl his parents would never approve of, but his plans will leave him wondering if he ever really understood love--or himself--at all"-- High school senior Frank Li is caught between his parents' traditional expectations and his own Southern California upbringing. His parents have one rule when it comes to romance: 'Date Korean. But Frank falls for Brit Means, who is smart, beautiful-- and white. Joy Song is in a similar predicament, and they make a pact: they'll pretend to date each other in order to gain their freedom. It seems like the perfect plan, until their fake-dating maneuver leaves Frank wondering if he ever really understood love- or himself- at all. -- adapted from jacket
Genres: romance, young adult
Lists: …
Tahereh Mafi
2018 · 323 pages · 5 reviews
Others: Mostly positiveIt s 2002, a year after 9/11, and Shirin has just started at yet another school. It s an extremely turbulent time for the world, but especially for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year old Muslim girl who s tired of being stereotyped. But then she meets Ocean James. He s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin.
What made the match, strongest first
Jacqueline Woodson
1998 · 181 pages · 1 review
Others: PositiveAfter meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people's reactions.
What made the match, strongest first
Nicola Yoon
2015 · 328 pages · 8 reviews
Others: Mostly positiveThe story of a teenage girl who's literally allergic to the outside world. When a new family moves in next door, she begins a complicated romance that challenges everything she's ever known. The narrative unfolds via vignettes, diary entries, texts, charts, lists, illustrations, and more.
What made the match, strongest first
Nicola Yoon
2021 · 304 pages · 3 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveIn this romantic page-turner from the author of Everything, Everything and The Sun is Also a Star, Evie has the power to see other people's romantic fates--what will happen when she finally sees her own? Evie Thomas doesn't believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began . . . and how it will end. After all, even the greatest love stories end with a broken heart, eventually. As Evie tries to understand why this is happening, she finds herself at La Brea Dance Studio, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango with a boy named X. X is everything that Evie is not: adventurous, passionate, daring. His philosophy is to say yes to everything--including entering a ballroom dance competition with a girl he's only just met. Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it's that no one escapes love unscathed. But as she and X dance around and toward each other, Evie is forced to question all she thought she knew about life and love. In the end, is love worth the risk?
What made the match, strongest first
Claire Kann
2018 · 304 pages · 6 reviews
Others: Mostly positiveIn this young adult novel, Alice, afraid of explaining her asexuality, has given up on finding love until love finds her. Alice's last girlfriend, Margo, ended things when Alice confessed she's asexual. Now Alice is sure she's done with dating... and then she meets Takumi. She can't stop thinking about him or the rom-com-grade romance feelings she did not ask for. When her blissful summer takes an unexpected turn and Takumi becomes her knight with a shiny library-employee badge, Alice has to decide if she's willing to risk their friendship for a love that might not be reciprocated-- or understood.
What made the match, strongest first
Laura Taylor Namey
2019 · 304 pages · 5 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveLove & Gelato meets Don’t Date Rosa Santos in this charming, heartfelt story following a Miami girl who unexpectedly finds love—and herself—in a small English town. For Lila Reyes, a summer in England was never part of the plan. The plan was 1) take over her abuela’s role as head baker at their panadería, 2) move in with her best friend after graduation, and 3) live happily ever after with her boyfriend. But then the Trifecta happened, and everything—including Lila herself—fell apart. Worried about Lila’s mental health, her parents make a new plan for her: spend three months with family friends in Winchester, England, to relax and reset. But with the lack of sun, a grumpy inn cook, and a small town lacking Miami flavor (both in food and otherwise), what would be a dream trip for some feels more like a nightmare to Lila…until she meets Orion Maxwell. A teashop clerk with troubles of his own, Orion is determined to help Lila out of her funk, and appoints himself as her personal tour guide. From Winchester’s drama-filled music scene to the sweeping English countryside, it isn’t long before Lila is not only charmed by Orion, but England itself. Soon a new future is beginning to form in Lila’s mind—one that would mean leaving everything she ever planned behind.
What made the match, strongest first
Not a fanI really wasn't a big fan of that book only because i did not connect to the main character, i found him very annoying and very immature i just didn't like him. And also, that book is like pitched as like the fake dating trope and i felt like it didn't last long enough for me.
Loved itIt just did so many things that I love. From the writing style to the characters to just the overall story arc, I loved it and I need more books from David Yoon ASAP.
Loved itlove how personal it feels love how strong the voices love all the themes running through it i felt so close to this character while i was reading this
Mixedi did like the elements that we're dealing with racism I thought that was very well done and for that reason I wanted to continue but it was really the writing style that I just couldn't get behind
