On Sale Date: May 9th 2017
Pages: 400
Age Range: Young Adult
Sana Kiyohara is a teen who has to live with a lot of problems at the same time. First of all, she and her family haven't set foot for the first week in their new house in California when she finds out that her father is having an affair. Secondly, she finds out that she has a crush on someone from her high school, Jamie. The last thing might not be so much of a problem, but it is, because Jamie is a girl. In her strict Japanese upbringing, both things are things that you don't talk about. So Sana has to figure out a way to figure out what is happening with her dad and how to bring this somehow, someday to her mom without hurting her.
With her crush on Jamie, new problems arise for her; She tries to hide the fact that she and Jamie are dating, but soon enough her friends find out that they are more then just friends.Sana’s new friends don’t trust Jamie’s crowd. All her friends are Asian, but Jamie is Mexican, who have a bad reputations in the eyes of her friends, and certainly Sana's mom. Jamie’s friends clearly don’t want her around anyway; and a sweet guy named Caleb seems to have more-than-friendly feelings for her. Meanwhile, her dad’s affair is becoming too obvious to ignore anymore. Especially when she is out with her friends and they spot her dad kissing another lady.
When Sana fiends out that her friends have seen Jamie kissing her ex-girlfriend, she kisses Caleb, who then thinks they are dating, until Jamie finds out. After that, Sana challenges herself to step outside her comfort zone to be more open, truthful and to make amends with her friends, Jaime and her mother. Ultimately, she is rewarded with connection to those she loves.
This is a very well written YA novel with a very strong storyline. I really liked that it had a different romance part in it. I love this kind of diversity in books! The most thrilling thing though was the hidden romance of her father. As a reader, I was on the edge of my seat when he would be unmasked, but then the author did another great addition to the book, that has something to do with her dad's past and how this is treated in Japanese culture.
What also was a very interesting part was the relationship between Sana and her mother. Her mother truly loves her, but due that she is older and still a littlebit strict, she doesn't show it in the way Sana would love to see. Many things are left unsaid in this relationship, as for many things counts, don't talk about it and keep it behind closed door. Sana is stuck between a lot of old and new cultural differences. I loved how the author choose to let every character in the book learn, grow, make connections and appreciate one another's uniqueness. Everything about this book was just fascinating! Recommended!
