e-Audio, 10:00:34
Narrated by: Emily Woo ZellerRelease Date: May 7, 2019Published by: Dreamscape Media, LLC
Read from: May 22-, 2019Source: Library (Overdrive/ Libby)TW:For fans of: Romance, Neurodiverse, Contemporary, Adult, POC MC, Companion, Own Voices, Realistic Fiction,
Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny, but not big, important emotions—like grief. And love. He thinks he’s defective. His family knows better—that his autism means he just processes emotions differently. When he steadfastly avoids relationships, his mother takes matters into her own hands and returns to Vietnam to find him the perfect bride.
As a mixed-race girl living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity arises to come to America and meet a potential husband, she can’t turn it down, thinking this could be the break her family needs. Seducing Khai, however, doesn’t go as planned. Esme’s lessons in love seem to be working…but only on herself. She’s hopelessly smitten with a man who’s convinced he can never return her affection.
With Esme’s time in the United States dwindling, Khai is forced to understand he’s been wrong all along. And there’s more than one way to love.
BETWEEN THE COVERS!
*This book is part of the new adult contemporary romance genre! It is more mature than YA. I have featured it in Between the Covers as a way to feature the few Adult and New Adult titles I am beginning to read!"
*MY THOUGHTS*
Just like everyone else, I wasn't sure how this one would go. It would either be just as good as the first, or it would fall victim to the sophomore slump. Lucky for me, it was just as good as the first one for me. The characters, the romance, everything made it a story that I loved!
Khai thinks he's defective because he has no emotions, but in reality its his autism that makes him feel the way he does. And because of that, he has strayed from relationships as long as he could. But then his mom takes it into her own hands and takes it upon herself to choose a bride for him. In comes Esme. She takes the opportunity to come to America to see what other opportunities there are. But trying to make him fall in love with her is harder than she thinks. But falling for him is surprisingly easy....
The main thing I liked about this was the characters. I loved the growing that all of them did and it was so great to see all the things they learned along the way. But the best thing was they did it all by themselves. They both had very different lessons to learn and it made them even stronger, individual characters. And when they finally did get together, it was a wonderful romance and they were both able to bring something to the relationship.
Another thing I liked about this was the representation. Although everyone's experience with autism isn't the same, this one is #ownvoices. I liked the way it was shown that Khai had to work to feel comfortable with Esme and he wasn't automatically ready to be with her. And I liked that Hoang chose to focus on a different part of the autism spectrum for Khai's character. I thought that was important to show that not everyone's the same.
I found the audio of this was just ok for me. All the characters (except for Quan and Mike randomly) sounded the same and that bothered me. (Esme had a bit of a sharper accent, but that was all the difference.) I wish there was more than one person on the production. Just to make them a bit different. Other than that, Emily Woo Zeller did a really spectacular performance.
Even though this one was not about Quan like I wanted it to be, it was still an amazing read. (Also because I get Quan's book next lmao) I have grown to really love Hoang's writing style and now I'm excited for what else she will do next.
Khai thinks he's defective because he has no emotions, but in reality its his autism that makes him feel the way he does. And because of that, he has strayed from relationships as long as he could. But then his mom takes it into her own hands and takes it upon herself to choose a bride for him. In comes Esme. She takes the opportunity to come to America to see what other opportunities there are. But trying to make him fall in love with her is harder than she thinks. But falling for him is surprisingly easy....
The main thing I liked about this was the characters. I loved the growing that all of them did and it was so great to see all the things they learned along the way. But the best thing was they did it all by themselves. They both had very different lessons to learn and it made them even stronger, individual characters. And when they finally did get together, it was a wonderful romance and they were both able to bring something to the relationship.
Another thing I liked about this was the representation. Although everyone's experience with autism isn't the same, this one is #ownvoices. I liked the way it was shown that Khai had to work to feel comfortable with Esme and he wasn't automatically ready to be with her. And I liked that Hoang chose to focus on a different part of the autism spectrum for Khai's character. I thought that was important to show that not everyone's the same.
I found the audio of this was just ok for me. All the characters (except for Quan and Mike randomly) sounded the same and that bothered me. (Esme had a bit of a sharper accent, but that was all the difference.) I wish there was more than one person on the production. Just to make them a bit different. Other than that, Emily Woo Zeller did a really spectacular performance.
Even though this one was not about Quan like I wanted it to be, it was still an amazing read. (Also because I get Quan's book next lmao) I have grown to really love Hoang's writing style and now I'm excited for what else she will do next.
Overall, I give this
