where do i even begin? this book was absolutely incredible. i flew through this book in maybe 7 hours, which i don’t usually do.

first off, i absolutely adored the banter between karina and ace during the first two sections of the book and how it created a leeway into a strong, healthy, and communicative relationship. and if you know me at all, you know i have a massive soft spot for describing significant others in celestial terms. it always fills my heart. it was incredible to see their relationship grow throughout the book and i truly felt all the butterflies with my girl.

 i also absolutely love when contemporaries that have a romance a-plot create the conflict from a believable, external conflict. and bhuiyan provided that in an authentic matter. while i’m not a person of color myself, i can truly relate to a lot of the obsticles that karina generally dealt with from being from a conservative, immigrant family. this book discussed a lot of prominent themes that homes of first and second generation immigrants, myself included, deal with. much of what karina battled with surrounded queer identities being shunned within conservative communities, mental health never being spoken about in the open, and doing what’s expected of you rather than what you want. all of these topics we’re so beautifully incorporated and discussed on a level that felt so authentic. coming from a similar upbrining, my heart hurt for karina when her family didn’t accept her truest self. 

and i guess, finally, let me gush about how much i loved karina’s relationships with her friends and her dadu. let me just say, i feel like it’s so rare to have contemporaries where, when the mc is having conflict they don’t push away their friends. the mck friend group is such a beautiful depiciton of how girl friend groups actually behave and react around each other. their humor was on point. their unending love in all forms was incredible. it’s just so good to see these relationships depicted. as for karina and dadu, and i’m super biased here, but it just reminds me of me with my grandmother. someone who’s a steady force and ready to fight for you. i don’t know what else to say other than i truly love all of these supporting relationships just as much, if not even more than karina and ace’s relationship.

yes this is a contemporary romance book, but it’s so so much more.