Ich habe ungefähr 100 Seiten gebraucht um in die Geschichte zu finden und hätte das Buch beinahe abgebrochen. Gut, dass ich es nicht gemacht habe, weil es nämlich noch richtig gut wurde. Die Charaktere sind absolut unperfekt und auch manchmal unsympathisch, aber irgendwann habe ich sie sehr mögen gelernt. Ich fand toll, wie ungewöhnlich die Geschichte aufgebaut war und welche interessanten Ideen Mary H.K. Choi eingewoben hat. Ich freue mich jetzt sehr auf die weiteren Bücher der Autorin. CW: sexuelle Gewalt, Alkoholismus, Rassismus

I listened to the audio book of this and overall I really enjoyed it. I liked the voice actors, my only problem was that Sam talked really quietly. But anyway, I enjoyed it, but I feel like I missed the thrill. The characters were great and relatable enough. It was something quite different and it isn't everyday, that you get an asian MC so that is something I definitely wanted to support that. Maybe it was just something I could connect to a lit, cause Penny was a creative writing student and Sam studied film. And I studied film and do creative writing. I loved the parts entered around Penny and her writing process and there were even some things hidden in there where I was like "Wow this is actually a great tip!". What I noticed very quickly is, that this is not you average YA contemporary. The characters were older, well Sam was older, and the problems they faced were quite dark from time to time so I would maybe sort it more into new adult. It's definitely not really for young teens, I'd say. I liked the humour of the book and I think the romance was very well and naturally done. I'm alway very picky with my romance and this one felt very real and not insta-love or anything tropey at all. Overall I can say this was a good and enjoyable audio book, I just somehow didn't get into it enough to want to listen to it all the time. Didn't mange to pull me in like I'll Give You the Sun, which I listened to before starting this. But I would still recommend it, if you are looking for more grown-up YA contemporaries.

"Look, they have donuts." Penny grabbed her bagpack. Mallory Sloane Kidder might have been an asshole but her argument was airtight. 1.5 stars If I had to describe this book with one word, that word would be 'weird'. The writing style was so not my cup of tea but it was okay to get through. The characters... where to even start. They're all just... weird. There it is again. I can't find any word to describe it more accurately. And to be clear: weird doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. There's a good kind of weird. These characters were not that kind of weird and I just couldn't form any kind of connection to them. And the plot... I felt bored and I can't really tell you what happens because there's not much going on. Again, that isn't necessarily bad but... *sigh* There were also two other things that were mentioned in half a sentence and bugged the heck out of me: 1) If you as author want to use words from a language you're not familiar with: look the stuff up or ask native speakers. Zimtsterne (spiced stars) was misspelled. 2) Is it just me or is it weird to specifically mention 14year olds being 'straight edge'?!