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29 Dates Melissa de la Cruz Books

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29 Dates Melissa de la Cruz Books

I received this book for free from the publisher (Inkyard Press) in exchange for an honest review.

I give this book 4.5 stars which rounds up to 5.

This book doesn’t get the greatest reviews but I tend to rate books based on what they are. This was a YA romantic comedy and I thought it was a super cute one!

In the beginning it slightly reminded me of Melissa de la Cruz’s middle grade series, The Ashleys (which I read way back in middle school), because it had a slightly materialistic vibe and was set in San Francisco.

The romance itself was basic but still cute. I loved the little snippets from her 29 dates that were at the beginning of the chapters.

I really liked that the book touched upon the casual racism that Asians in America face daily such as people thinking Asians all look the same, people being surprised at how well an Asian person speaks English, and the notion that Asians are quiet.

Since I am Filipino, I also loved the inclusion of some Filipino representation. One of the love interests was Filipino and I loved seeing that. I enjoyed the chapter that explored his life because we got to see a little bit of Filipino culture such as Filipino food and karaoke.

I noticed at least one use of the word “hella” (pg. 353) which I was super happy to see because that is one of the most popular Bay Area slang words.

Lastly, I have to address the controversy that surrounds this book. Many people have issues with this book because a non-Korean (Melissa de la Cruz is Filipino) is writing about Korean culture. I think that is a fair and valid critique and I can’t really say much about the Korean aspects since I am not Korean. The one thing I will say however, and this may be controversial, but I do think some of the criticisms I’ve read are overly harsh. Going into this book, I knew this wasn’t going to be a deep book because Melissa de la Cruz’s books are never deep. Even the one book she wrote about a Filipino American immigrant experience still had that classic Melissa de la Cruz fluff. In my personal opinion (which you do not have to agree with), I think Melissa de la Cruz just wanted to write a fun cute story and she tried the best she could with the Korean aspects (which she addresses in her author’s note at the end). She wasn’t trying to make some grand statement about the Korean experience.

Overall, I really liked this book. Is it mind blowing? No. Is it fun? Yes. So if you’re looking for something fun and not super serious, then consider reading this book.


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29 Dates Melissa de la Cruz Books Reviews

What I most enjoyed about this book is that it allowed me to learn more about Korean culture through the lens of the dating misadventures of a teenage girl.

The 29 dates referred to in the title are seons, meetings set up by a matchmaker to see to introduce a couple with proper social backgrounds in hopes that they will hit it off. Jisu doesn’t really want to spend time looking for a potential boyfriend; she’s got enough on her plate with finishing high school and applying to college. However, her parents insist that she needs to both excel in school and make an advantageous match. When Jisu does poorly on an exam and skips a seon to hang out with her friends, her parents ship her off to San Francisco in hopes that she will do better in a good but less academically rigorous school. Jisu begins to spread her wings a bit in her new environment, but she still feels a lot of pressure to be what her parents expect in a good daughter. And that includes continuing to go on the dreaded seons, even though she already is interested in another boy. Or maybe two boys . . .

The author isn’t Korean, but she consulted with a Korean family member who came to the US as a freshman(!) in high school, and it shows in the book. Jisu’s experience coming to the United States and adjusting to a very different culture felt real to me. It was interesting to see the similarities and differences between the two countries through Jisu’s eyes. (De la Cruz does admit to fudging on one aspect of Korean culture, though; the people who participate in seons are typically in college or older.)

In a nice touch, transcripts from the seons are included between other chapters. Some of them are hilarious disasters, while others are just examples of the awkwardness of a blind date between two people who are only compatible on paper.

Readers looking for a diverse YA rom-com should give this book a try. It’s a fun light read.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.
I received this book for free from the publisher (Inkyard Press) in exchange for an honest review.

I give this book 4.5 stars which rounds up to 5.

This book doesn’t get the greatest reviews but I tend to rate books based on what they are. This was a YA romantic comedy and I thought it was a super cute one!

In the beginning it slightly reminded me of Melissa de la Cruz’s middle grade series, The Ashleys (which I read way back in middle school), because it had a slightly materialistic vibe and was set in San Francisco.

The romance itself was basic but still cute. I loved the little snippets from her 29 dates that were at the beginning of the chapters.

I really liked that the book touched upon the casual racism that Asians in America face daily such as people thinking Asians all look the same, people being surprised at how well an Asian person speaks English, and the notion that Asians are quiet.

Since I am Filipino, I also loved the inclusion of some Filipino representation. One of the love interests was Filipino and I loved seeing that. I enjoyed the chapter that explored his life because we got to see a little bit of Filipino culture such as Filipino food and karaoke.

I noticed at least one use of the word “hella” (pg. 353) which I was super happy to see because that is one of the most popular Bay Area slang words.

Lastly, I have to address the controversy that surrounds this book. Many people have issues with this book because a non-Korean (Melissa de la Cruz is Filipino) is writing about Korean culture. I think that is a fair and valid critique and I can’t really say much about the Korean aspects since I am not Korean. The one thing I will say however, and this may be controversial, but I do think some of the criticisms I’ve read are overly harsh. Going into this book, I knew this wasn’t going to be a deep book because Melissa de la Cruz’s books are never deep. Even the one book she wrote about a Filipino American immigrant experience still had that classic Melissa de la Cruz fluff. In my personal opinion (which you do not have to agree with), I think Melissa de la Cruz just wanted to write a fun cute story and she tried the best she could with the Korean aspects (which she addresses in her author’s note at the end). She wasn’t trying to make some grand statement about the Korean experience.

Overall, I really liked this book. Is it mind blowing? No. Is it fun? Yes. So if you’re looking for something fun and not super serious, then consider reading this book.