When I first opened my inbox last Tuesday (exactly a week ago, come to think of it), one email caught my eye, among the hordes of spam mail and/or random newsletters that I didn’t have the heart to unsubscribe from. After realising that the sender was Edelweiss, my breath hitched, not daring to believe it until…
It was a pre-release copy of Ann Liang’s next YA novel, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You. Which also just so happens to be my most anticipated release, ever.
And despite my sky-high expectations, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You DELIVERED. Ann Liang has done it again, creating a delightfully sparkling YA masterpiece, bearing all her signature trademarks: a spunky, refreshing cast of characters, an engaging, well-paced plt, and a witty yet beautifully heartfelt narrative voice. If you love academic rivals to lovers, complex yet loveable characters, or even just the Contemporary Young Adult genre, IHTDFY is a stellar addition to the genre.
Things I absolutely loved:
~ Julius Gong.
That’s the comment. Just. Julius Gong. He is by far the most well-defined, multidimensional and well-crafted character from the Ann Liang franchise. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed Ann Liang’s previous works, Henry and Caz occasionally felt too unrealistic, holding the kind of star power that would be more suited to an A-list celebrity rather than a real-life high school student. Julius is still a far cry from your ‘average teenager’, but still holds the quintessential quality of a teenage protagonist: an earnest, genuine, almost full-hearted approach to life.
The way he’s portrayed as a straight-A student with endless bundles of ambition, yet still having realistic insecurities adds a certain depth to his character, and allows the reader to connect and relate on a deeper level to his character. From the perspective of both a writer and a reader, Julius is a characterisation triumph, simultaneously so hateable (ONLY FOR THE FIRST HALF OF THE BOOK THOUGH!) and so loveable. He’s so well-written, and I deeply envy Ann Liang’s gift for characterisation!
~ The chemistry.
If you thought Alice Henry’s academic rivals phase was too mild and one-sided, FRET NOT. Sadie and Julius have fantastic banter, chemistry that practically sizzles off the page, and quite possibly the most tangible tension of all Ann Liang couples.
I am first and foremost a die-hard Friends to Lovers/Fake Dating trope advocate, blindly stubborn in the way that I refuse to acknowledge the merits of the Enemies to Lovers/Academic Rivals trope. But Ann Liang has accomplished the impossible, making me eat my words. Maybe, the genre will grow on me. Just maybe.
~ The plot.
Every scene felt so heartfelt and enjoyable to read. When I write, sometimes there are scenes that are slightly less engaging to write, and as a result, it can be hard to sustain the same amount of care and consideration that I put into writing the scenes that I prefer. From what I can tell, this isn’t the case for Ann Liang, or if it is, she’s hiding it well. Every page, every sentence has been lovingly crafted, with not a single chapter feeling like a filler. I absolutely devoured every cute moment Ann Liang decided to bless us with. From the very first page, I fell in love with the hate email premise.
Other feedback!
~ Although there’s a lot of internal dialogue form Sadie’s POV to shed insight into her personality, sometimes it felt a little forced and repetitive, and didn’t really do much to enhance her character.
~ I wish Ann Liang included more snippets from the hate emails! Other than the beginning, we didn’t get to see much of what exactly Sadie wrote that was so controversial, especially because so many people were upset. This meant that the strong reactions from others (Ms Johnson, Rosie etc) didn’t quite make sense. Despite the fact that the emails were never meant to go out, Sadie doesn’t seem like the kind of character who would insult others without a decent reason to, and this leads to a little confusion why so many others were upset, especially when she may have had a point at times (although obviously, she could have gone about it in a better way).
~This is so nitpicky from me, so please feel free to take this with a massive, giant, colossal grain of salt. A pile of salt. An entire mountain of salt. Ann Liang’s creative lyricisms and inventive metaphors are quite possibly my favourite part of her previous books (the “exfoliating with crushed diamonds and the blood of migrant workers” line in IYCSTS was a stroke of genius). As a result, I felt like the metaphors in IHTDFY fell flat at times, especially in comparison to the hilarious analogies in her previous two books. Julius Gong was likened to ‘snake’, ‘poisonous’ and ‘venomous’ multiple times, and after a while it got a little repetitive and cliched. Despite this, I still have endless respect for Ann Liang’s writing style, as her grasp on language is admirable, and I will forever adore her unique narrative voice.
Reading IHTDFY was the second-biggest highlight of my entire week (MEETING ANN LIANG WAS THE BIGGEST HIGHLIGHT), and I stand by my stance that Ann Liang is the rising queen of the YA genre. Definitely mark your calendars for 6th February, you won’t want to miss this!
Thank you so much to Edelweiss for giving me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review, and thank you so much to Ann Liang for quite literally making my entire week. Will forever be a Chanel Cao, Julius Gong girlie :)