I received a copy of This Place is Still Beautiful by XiXi Tian from HCC Frenzy in exchange for an honest review.

I don't think that I could have been prepared for this book, despite having read the synopsis prior to reading it. This story is told from the perspectives of two sisters, Annalie and Margaret, who both feel distant and different from one another. This is once again shown when Annalie calls Margaret who is away for college, after a racist incident happens, and Margaret returns home to her younger sister and mother to handle things. The two sisters both have different approaches and reactions to the racist incident. While Margaret wants to find the perpetrators and bring awareness to the situation, Annalie just wants to move on from this horrible incident and hang out with her new boyfriend. As the summer progresses, both sisters confront the results of their actions or non-actions and try to find a way that they can both live and move forward. 

I felt that this was such a great story about family, racism, the model minority myth, friendship, and it's just everything I needed to read this year to feel seen, acknowledged, and important. Truly such a beautiful story that is so relevant and a favourite of mine this year so far.