Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 390
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher
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To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets The Farewell in this incisive romantic comedy about a college student who hires a fake boyfriend to appease her traditional Taiwanese parents, to disastrous results, from the acclaimed author of American Panda.
Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents.
Drew Chan’s passion is art, but after his parents cut him off for dropping out of college to pursue his dreams, he became a Rent for Your ’Rents employee to keep a roof over his head. Luckily, learning protocols like “Type C parents prefer quiet, kind, zero-PDA gestures” comes naturally to him.
When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community.
But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?
There are two Chloes. The Chloe who is the dutiful daughter and the Chloe IRL. And the dutiful daughter knows she has to make her parents happy, even if that means renting a boyfriend for the holidays because her parents want to arrange a marriage between her and this sleazy boy they know.
Enter Drew. Drew likes this job because it helps support his art career. And he knows family is important. He can’t mess this job up. But when he meets Chloes, there’s just something about her…
I really love the tension and drama that Chloe feels whenever she is with her parents. The urgency is very true, feeling the Chloe’s anxiety as she meets this boy her parent want her to marry, and she knows he is up to no good. Between trying to please her parents and be true to herself, it’s so easy to see how Chloe got herself into this mess. I also love her parents. Chao does a wonderful job of writing of very complex relationships where no one bad, but they’re all trying to do the right/best thing. And those things are totally different depending on where you’re standing.
I also really like Drew and his family situation. I love how passionate he is about his art and how he misses his family. He owns up to his mistakes and tries to be supportive and a good person.
That said, I had some problems with the book. I didn’t feel like Drew or Chloe had any chemistry. Like none. It was more like they kept talking about how attracted they were to each other, but I never saw it. I also feel like the plot moved a bit too slow for me.
So maybe not my cup of tea. But I think anyone who likes YA contemporary should try it out. The book has some really well thought layers of culture and family and I think that’s what makes it stands out.
Kimberly majored in Songwriting and currently works full time in the music industry. When she's not listening to music, knitting or writing, you can find her outside reading her favorite genres: Young Adult, Adult Fiction, Mystery, and Romance.
Oh well, that’s too bad. I want to read this one but I feel like chemistry is a must in a romance. I might see if I can borrow it from the library.
No chemistry? That’s sad. 🙁