*clears throat*
Hello, friends! It’s been a long while since I last posted (half a year LMAO). But popping in just to say that I’m excited to be back in the reader space. Although, I can’t say that I can consistently post like I used to!
Anyway, I’m excited to share this heartwarming and fun read with you!
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Asking For A Friend by Kara H.L. Chen
Pub Date: July 23, 2024 by Quill Tree Books
SYNOPSIS
Juliana Zhao is absolutely certain of a few things:
- She is the world’s foremost expert on love.
- She is going to win the nationally renowned Asian Americans in Business Competition.
When Juliana is unceremoniously dropped by her partner and she’s forced to pair with her nonconformist and annoying frenemy, Garrett Tsai, everything seems less clear.
Their joint dating advice column must be good enough to win and secure bragging rights within her small Taiwanese American community, where her family’s reputation has been in the pits since her older sister was disowned a few years prior.
Juliana always thought prestige mattered above all else.
But as she argues with Garrett over how to best solve everyone else’s love problems and faces failure for the first time, she starts to see fractures in this privileged, sheltered worldview.
With the competition heating up, Juliana must reckon with the sacrifices she’s made to be a perfect daughter—and whether winning is something she even wants anymore.
Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are my own.
Initial Thoughts
Not going to lie but a lot of my previous reads that tackle Asian American diaspora feature either those with Southeast Asian background (Filipino, mostly) or those with Korean background. That’s why I was excited to read this because I wanted to learn more about Taiwanese culture. Aside from that, I really was just looking forward to go back to my reading habits.
Fortunately, Asking For A Friend seemed to be the perfect jumping point for me as I’m currently looking for my next read! The book ticked a lot of boxes which made me enjoy reading!
Contrasting Characters
Full disclosure, I’ve been reading a lot of fanfics lately and enemies/frenemies to lovers are often used as the main trope. I didn’t really mind it at all since I actually enjoy it and it was fun seeing the banter between Juliana and Garrett in the book. I loved the contrast between their personalities and their general outlook on love and romance.
The forced proximity and partnership between the main characters really influenced their journey, although I’d say Garrett had more influence on Juliana’s change in perspective. Nonetheless, it was fun to witness. I just wish the book dove deeper on their back story on how they became close. It seemed like it was only mentioned in passing, which didn’t really help establish any emotional attachment towards their past relationship, so the payoff wasn’t that satisfying for me.
Grief and Family Dynamics
These aspects were the most relatable for me. I can’t exactly speak on the diaspora experience, but I’ve read and heard enough to say that Juliana’s situation is pretty common, especially for Asian culture, where family ties and reputation are important. While Juliana was keeping up and trying her best to become the perfect daughter, it was also family (in the sense of the Old Taipei community) that made her perspective change and I loved that.
One thing I wanted to point out, much like the lack of solid ground on Juliana and Garrett’s back story, I wish the conflict within Juliana’s family was tackled deeper. Especially the one between her mom and older sister, I felt like it could’ve been more fleshed out. At times, the writing style felt more telling than showing, which takes away the fun.
The book also tackled grief which was a heartwarming surprise. This aspect made Juliana’s character more relatable for me and through her I was also able to channel mine. I love that short passage in the book that goes:
Here is the thing about grief: it is always there. You think it has receded. You think you can carefully scoop up the sand of your life and pat it together into a little castle and pretend things are fine. But the feeling of loss will still come, when you least expect it. It will crash and swallow everything.
Asking For A Friend by Kara H.L. Chen
Overall Thoughts
I still had a great time reading this Asking For A Friend! I felt like this book should’ve been marketed as a coming-of-age instead of a YA rom-com though! There were definitely more heart-tugging scenes than comedic beats, which was totally fine! Some things could’ve been executed better but the overall message was excellent! The family conflict and resolution had more impact for me and I really enjoyed it!
About The Author
Kara H.L. Chen grew up near Cleveland, Ohio, where she once had to shovel snow off her car with a plastic trashcan. She now lives on the West Coast with her husband and daughters, and is learning how to use an Instapot. She has undergraduate degrees in English and economics, a J.D., and a MFA in fiction. She has used her economics degree exactly once, when she tried to make a joke about marginal costs and marginal returns. It did not go well.
Author Links: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Goodreads
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