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Frankly in Love by David Yoon

Frankly in Love was definitely one of the books of 2021 that I enjoyed the most. At first glance, the book seemed like it is nothing more than a fake-dating romance, but soon unraveled to be more of an exploration of conflicting cultural identities. Romance definitely takes a back seat to the drama being Korean American brings for Frank Li, who feels enormous pressure to be one or the other because of rising expectations.

Teen Review: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

4 out of 5 Stars

“He had suddenly begun to have a sense that the reason he wanted the escape was not only in order to sacrifice thirty thousand on it and thus heal his scar, but also for some other reason. 'Is it because within my soul I am a murderer, too?' He had started to wonder. Something distant but burning had stung his soul.”

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Girls of Paper and Fire paints a picture of a fantastical realm with animal people built on a caste system, with those at the bottom, those at the middle, and those at the top. Although this book appears at first to be a story of someone from the lowest caste falling in love with royalty, it is more so a story of the poorest getting revenge and rising up against tyranny. The world building in this book is excellent and reminds me a bit of Narnia mixed with various Asian cultures and royal aesthetic.

I'll Be The One by Lyla Lee

I'll Be The One by Lyla Lee

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Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.

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