When I first received this book from BookishFirsts in exchange for an honest review, I thought it was going to be a sappy love story. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy and girl can't date because boy is Korean-American and parents will only let him date another Korean, boy and girl set up a system to secretly date. I love stories like that, but wasn't sure how it would go for over 400 pages. So I was pleasantly surprised when Yoon introduced a difficult conversation about race between Frank, the main character, and Frank's parents very early on in the book. Suddenly the book became something else for me. Yes, the love story was still there, but it was much deeper and more complex than I had ever expected.
After Angie Kim's Miracle Creek earlier this year, which also focused on a family of recent Korean immigrants, it was interesting to read a different perspective. I enjoyed Yoon's interrogation, through the character of Frank, of families who come to another country only to spend time with people from the one they left. I particularly appreciated Frank's coming to terms with his heritage throughout the book.
I enjoyed all of the characters, though some felt better developed than others. Joy and Frank were both enjoyable to read, as was Q and his family. Brit fell a bit short for me and I never truly felt like I understood her motivations (but perhaps that was intentional, looking at her through Frank's perspective). It was refreshing to see such a diverse cast of characters.
I am excited that on Goodreads this is marked as Frankly in Love #1, which hopefully means we will be seeing more of these characters! I think this book will become a YA classic and will inspire a variety of readers for years to come.
After Angie Kim's Miracle Creek earlier this year, which also focused on a family of recent Korean immigrants, it was interesting to read a different perspective. I enjoyed Yoon's interrogation, through the character of Frank, of families who come to another country only to spend time with people from the one they left. I particularly appreciated Frank's coming to terms with his heritage throughout the book.
I enjoyed all of the characters, though some felt better developed than others. Joy and Frank were both enjoyable to read, as was Q and his family. Brit fell a bit short for me and I never truly felt like I understood her motivations (but perhaps that was intentional, looking at her through Frank's perspective). It was refreshing to see such a diverse cast of characters.
I am excited that on Goodreads this is marked as Frankly in Love #1, which hopefully means we will be seeing more of these characters! I think this book will become a YA classic and will inspire a variety of readers for years to come.