A YA romance novel set in Southern California featuring a Korean American named Frank Li, Frankly in Love is the perfect mix of clever and adorable.
Perhaps as a Californian, this book is so familiar that it was inevitable I’d love the characters. The plot—about interracial high school love and the problems it can cause for those with parents from a different culture—is one I saw with my own friends in high school. While we weren’t texting or doing some of the other twenty-first century stuff mentioned in this novel back twenty years ago, the same issues came up and shaped my own views on romance. It’s very easy for a white person to think love conquers all, but this is the sort of book that helps to broaden our horizons and get a better perspective on how difficult this can be on young people of color.
I was devastated by the ending. I won’t spoil it but it hit a little close to home for me. Although some parts of the book were slowish (or just made me feel old), by the end of the book I was flying through the pages.
3.5 ⭐️s.
Perhaps as a Californian, this book is so familiar that it was inevitable I’d love the characters. The plot—about interracial high school love and the problems it can cause for those with parents from a different culture—is one I saw with my own friends in high school. While we weren’t texting or doing some of the other twenty-first century stuff mentioned in this novel back twenty years ago, the same issues came up and shaped my own views on romance. It’s very easy for a white person to think love conquers all, but this is the sort of book that helps to broaden our horizons and get a better perspective on how difficult this can be on young people of color.
I was devastated by the ending. I won’t spoil it but it hit a little close to home for me. Although some parts of the book were slowish (or just made me feel old), by the end of the book I was flying through the pages.
3.5 ⭐️s.