Reviewed by Leigha on
Khai Diep’s emotions (or supposedly lack thereof) are put to the test when he meets his match in this romantic comedy.
Oh boy. I loved last year’s The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hong, but this book leaves me with a lot of mixed feelings. The concept is cute – a loving, if controlling, mother attempts to create a love connection between her autistic son and a single mother. Let the hijinks begin, right? Despite the promising premise, I found the execution to be problematic. First, I did not like Khai’s mom. Her emotional manipulation of the situation left me feeling uncomfortable. Second, I didn’t feel the connection between Khai and Esme. Their individual stories were powerfully, but their romance felt forced and rushed. The ending does little to make me feel connected to them as couple.
At the end of the day, I enjoyed the author’s note at the end of the novel more than I enjoyed the story. That’s a problem. I’m sure many people will read and enjoy this novel. I wish I had been one of them.
tl;dr While the premise is cute, the author’s note at the end of the story left a bigger impression on me than the novel.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- Finished reading
- 5 November, 2018: Reviewed