**I received an ARC from a festival. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**
Fake It Till You Break It by Jenn P. Nguyen
Release Date: May 28, 2019
My Rating: 4.5 stars
Summary: Mia and Jake have known each other their whole lives. They’ve endured summer vacations, Sunday brunches, even dentist visits together. Their mothers, who are best friends, are convinced that Mia and Jake would be the perfect couple, even though they can’t stand to be in the same room together.
After Mia’s mom turns away yet another cute boy, Mia and Jake decide they’ve have had enough. Together, they hatch a plan to get their moms off their backs. Permanently. All they have to do is pretend to date and then stage the worst breakup of all time—and then they’ll be free.
The only problem is, maybe Jake and Mia don’t hate each other as much as they once thought...
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Of course, the first thing that drew me to this book was the fake dating; then I found out about the Vietnamese rep (I'd known that the author was of Vietnamese descent already), and it flew to the top of my "I need this NOW" list in the blink of an eye. When I picked up this ARC at a festival, I was actually buzzing because I'd been anticipating it so much, and this didn't disappoint! Fake It Till You Break It is such a lovable book with a plot you'll devour and characters that you'll adore.
This book was honestly just so absolutely adorable. It has the aforementioned fake-dating trope, as well as a touch of hate-to-love and a heap of childhood-friends, albeit very reluctant ones. Fake dating always entails in fun antics, but it was so funny following Mia and Jake as they try to convince their moms that they're dating, despite the fact that they can't stop bickering. Theirs was such a sweet romance too, as they come to realize that they actually like each other and that maybe all of the little things they know about each other actually comes from a mutual caring and not just forced proximity. They know each other so well, but they pretend not to, and it was so cute that I teared up a little.
Jake is a very typical boy-next-door type, and I loved him. He's a singer, but he tries to hide this creative side because singing and songwriting reminds him of his now-estranged brother, the other half of their singing duo. We also get to see a bit of an unconventional family here, in that their mom is actually their aunt, who took them in and adopted them when their parents died in an accident. The book explores this complex relationship a little, and they talk about feelings of burden on both sides.
I loved Mia so much as well! I really related to her, especially her wanting to pursue a career in the arts despite thinking she's not talented enough . . . I feel that so hard honestly. She also reads so much like a real teenager to me, but maybe that's just me projecting. I at least related to how she thinks and what she does.
Hello, can we please talk about the Vietnamese representation in this book!! The normalization of Vietnamese culture actually made me tear up; the names! the food! going to millions of weddings because you have so many family members! By this point, you all know that I crave Vietnamese rep (have you seen my masterlist of Vietnamese books?), and this book really came through for me. I always love books that have casual mentions of the culture throughout the narrative, particularly in contemporaries; being Vietnamese-American, I don't exactly live my life thinking constantly of my culture. This is more realistic to me and again helps normalizes teenagers of color and their lives.
Fake It Till You Break It is definitely a book that I'll be forever grateful for. It's lighthearted and hilarious, but also deals with more serious topics. I definitely recommend this if you like To All the Boys I've Loved Before, especially if you want a cute romance that has fake dating sprinkled in.
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About the Author: Jenn Nguyen fell in love with books in third grade and spent the rest of her school years reading through lunchtime and giving up recess to organize the school library. She has a degree in business administration from the University of New Orleans and still lives in the city with her husband. Jenn spends her days reading, dreaming up YA romances, and binge watching Korean dramas all in the name of 'research'.⚞💗⚟
Giveaway:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Tour Schedule:
- Prize: print copy of Fake It Till You Break It
- Ends: June 6th
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Tour Schedule:
May 27th
–Books and Blends >> Review
–The Book Dutchesses >> Review
–A British Bookworm’s Blog >> Review
–Kitty’s Book Spot! >> Review
–Elley the Book Otter >> Review
May 28th
–Blossoms and Bullet Journals >> Review
–Character Madness and Musings >> Interview
–Read By Tiffany >> Review
–The Candid Cover >> Review
–Treestand Book Reviews >> Review
May 29th
–The Avid Reader >> Interview
–Book Slaying >> Review
–I’m Into Books >> Guest post
–Magical Reads >> Review
–That Bookish Princess >> Review
–BookwyrmBites >> Review
May 30th
–Here’s to Happy Endings >> Review
–A Lovely Book Affair >> Review
–Twirling Book Princess >> Excerpt
–Star-Crossed Book Blog >> Review
–Dani Reviews Things >> Review
May 31st
–Lindsey Reads >> Review
–Between Printed Pages >> Excerpt
–The Heart of a Book Blogger >> Guest post
–String of Pages >> Review
–The Night Faerie >> Review
This sounds like a really well written, compelling read overall! Glad you liked it! :)
ReplyDeleteI think the thing that I'm most excited about is the, as you put it, "normalization of Vietnamese culture." I'm not Vietnamese myself, but I love seeing representation, especially when it's done well. To me done well is when it's just an average part of the book and not a whole "thing" the author keeps bringing up and making awkward. The way you described it, everything sounds really well-integrated so I can't wait to read this:)
ReplyDeleteYes! There's obviously a line between token diversity ("this character is a PoC, but I'm never bringing up anything cultural about them") vs actual rep, but I love when books normalize cultures in books. I hope you like it!
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