3.5 or 4 stars, rounding up for goodreads.
okay, good things first: i'm a sucker for fake-dating, love that. i love the representation in this book, both Stella's autism and Michael's vietnamese heritage was well integrated and didnt feel put on for diversity points. i liked that they had lives outside their romance, although definitely more michael than stella. i appreciated stella's support of michael's sex work, even if it was in the casual throwaway line at the end that she would've been supportive of it if he had been doing it because he loved the job. i liked the discussion of class and money and privilege; i didn't realise the book was set in my hometown so hearing my streets get referenced kept throwing me off lol, but the location was very fitting. the story was sexy and fluffy, and had a very fanficcy-style of storytelling? i don't know how else to describe it, other than the fact that it's a story that knows exactly what kind of book it is, which is a good thing. their heartbreak during the conflict bit of the book made me absolutely ache (i love yearning!) and i liked that they worked on their own issues by themselves, and that twoo wuv didn't instantly solve everything.
now for things that bugged me: i could've done without the macho masculinity schtick that michael put on (ie wanting to punch any guy that so much as looked at stella), but it always manages to make an appearance in hetero romances. sigh. it was pretty much insta love at the beginning, almost laughably, not once you get further into their relationship it feels less important. the main issue was that the bar for both characters was so freaking low, i have to wonder if both of them just needed a hug? i wouldve preferred it if it had been better emphasised that stella's autism wasn't the issue that had to be solved when it came to specific events, ie having bad sex before wasnt because her autism got in the way, it was bc the men didn't care about her. most of the main conflict was miscommunication which is my biggest pet peeve in romance, but it was more tolerable here because it had layers that made sense due to the characters' arcs, so it was okay.
i thought helen hoang's writing was decent, i much preferred being in stella's head over michael's, because her thoughts were more interesting to listen to. hoang has a very direct style of writing that i dont find very subtle; michael manages to remind you that he has severe ~daddy issues~ every other page, and when it comes down to it, that plotline doesnt even really feel fully closed. the ending is sweet and fluffy and veryyyy wish fulfillment, everyone gets exactly what they want/need. it's a little too clean but it's nice to think that people get to be happy.
i could get more specific but all of this is mostly nitpicky at this point.
tldr; its a sweet fluffy read with only a few minor irks that i would recommend.