Heiress Apparently, by Diana Ma, tells the story of Gemma Huang, an actor from Illinois now living and working (sometimes) in Los Angeles. When Gemma is cast as the lead in a big movie, it is a major breakthrough for her career. However, it also requires her to travel to Bejing -- the one place her mother has demanded she never, ever visit. In Bejing, Gemma discovers secrets she never knew, and has to struggle with work, family, and romance.

There was nothing actively bad about Heiress Apparently, by Diana Ma -- but there was nothing actively good about it either. It is fantastic to see a romcom that stars a nearly 100% Asian and Asian-American cast. Unfortunately, the characters are, for the most part, rather flat and one-dimensional. Gemma herself does not give much voice to the narration, giving the story overall a sort of lukewarm effect. Add into that the shoehorned history lessons, which feel copied off Wikipedia, and what should be a quick and exciting romcom turns into a slog.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amulet Books for the ARC!

Quick Review of Heiress Apparently by Diana Ma's debut novel, and the first in her Daughters of the Dynasty series. Thank you @abramkids/@piquebeyond and @netgalley for a copy of the eARC in exchange for review.

Gemma Huang an aspiring actress, had recently been cast in an updated movie version of David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly. Once she lands in Beijing, where filming takes place, she's mistaken for socialite Alyssa Chua. This begins an unexpected adventure in Beijing.

This is a YA contemporary fiction novel, the writing style reflects that. This is something I hope that others will remember when they read, and/or review the novel. Adults are not the target demographic. When I had that thought, it allowed me to better enjoy the book.

My favorite parts of the novel were the behind the scenes aspects of making the movie. From why one person was made co-director to changes from the play to re-writing scenes. A lot of it points to how (East) Asians are represented in media. How there's not enough representation. This book has a lot of contemporary references. Particularly with how the adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians, To All The Boys I've Loved Before, Always Be My Baby, and The Farewell have made huge impacts. 

Not sure if I'll have a chance to give this a full review. There are a few other storylines involved that I haven't touched on - Chinese history, stolen art, family feuds, family estrangement.

If you enjoy light hearted YA contemporary novels, I would recommend that you pick this book up. I for one am waiting for the next book in this series.

[ARC REVIEW] This adorable YA focuses on family, with a dash of romance and a splash of Hollywood movie glam!
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Heiress Apparently follows Gemma Huang, a recent high school grad, as she navigates auditions and lands what could be her big break in Hollywood. The problem? The movie is shooting in Beijing, and Gemma has been forbidden to visit China by her Chinese parents. Gemma heads to China in secret and unearths world-shattering news about her family and their past.
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Gemma goes through a lot in the course of this novel: struggles with her relationships, with her family, and with her career. I loved seeing each of these topics handled so well, but I would have also loved to see each of them a little more fleshed out, especially since this is poised to be a series. I really enjoyed the writing: the scenery and descriptions were beautiful, and I loved the attention to fashion throughout. I also loved the LGBTQ+ representation, and the exploration of government attitudes toward LGBTQ+ folks vs. cultural attitudes. Overall, this was a four star read for me! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Heiress Apparently is available now! Thank you to @Piquebeyond for sharing an e-galley with me in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 Stars

Heiress Apparently by Diana Ma is a story of family secrets that also touches upon the film industry’s perpetuation of harmful stereotypes. I enjoyed the Beijing setting, and the main character’s excitement for acting and desire to challenge offensive Asian representation was a pleasant surprise. The pacing is slow, but there are still many elements of the book that I found enjoyable that outweigh this.

This book tells the story of a girl who gets cast to play the lead role in a movie and travels to Beijing for filming, despite her mother’s ominous warning that she should never set foot in Beijing. When she arrives, she realizes she looks exactly like a famous socialite, and she doesn’t understand why the paparazzi are so interested in her. I always love to see books with a theme of family, so these aspects were engaging for me. This book also has a great setting, and I loved getting to experience the culture of Beijing along with Gemma.

❀ INTERESTING MAIN CHARACTER

Gemma herself is an interesting character, and I enjoyed her voice. It is easy to feel her passion for acting, and I loved how she follows her dreams despite what her parents, and everyone else, think. Through her character, there is an important commentary on the casting of Asian characters to fit harmful stereotypes. While she is working on the film, Gemma learns to speak up and question the representation within the director’s vision. I was not expecting this aspect, but I found that it was well done.

❀ PACING IS A BIT OFF

One of my main issues with the book is the pacing. To me, it is so slow, but also so rushed. There is a lot of filler as well as many info dumps, which I didn’t care for, and I had trouble focusing on this one. I also think the twists could have been better executed as much of the book is almost painfully predictable. However, I was willing to somewhat overlook this because of the book’s messages.

❀ FAMILY SECRETS AND CHINESE HISTORY

Heiress Apparently by Diana Ma is a story about family and challenging harmful representations on screen. I loved the setting and the main character’s passion for acting. However, I wasn’t a fan of the slow pacing, but while the book is very predictable, I was mostly willing to forgive this. I would recommend this to those who are interested in books about family secrets, and learning more about Chinese history along the way.

Loved this. This book was a fast, fun read. I didn't want it to end. I'll be recommending this to people of all ages, but especially my librarians and book club. Can't wait for more from this author!

Interesting and charming story. Tons of cultural references that I found very fascinating.  It talks about family, secrets, traditions, independence and freedom. A light-hearted read with likeable characters

Heiress Apparently is the first book in the Daughters of the Dynasty series by Diana Ma. A great start to an intriguing series that is sure to grab your attention and keep you turning the pages as fast as possible.

Let me lead with this: the author’s stated purpose in writing this book was to create an ideal homecoming story for American-born Chinese readers where they could feel normalized and accepted. I cannot speak to how well she accomplishes that because I am your garden variety white woman. Even so, I have enjoyed reading this book.

That said, the plot meanders a great deal. Sometimes it’s about trying to make the movie Gemma’s filming less of an awful stereotype, others it’s about her relationship drama, others it’s about how she’s lying to her parents, and others it’s about her family’s history in Beijing. These are not woven together as seamlessly as a more seasoned author might manage, and so it feels like Ma isn’t quite confident where she wants the story to go or how to tell it.

I would have liked to learn more about this family as descendents of Empress Wu Zetian, but there is actually a great deal of cultural information about China woven into the text, both contemporary and historical, which is fantastic for breaking through stereotypes, but I think my favorite thing was the inclusion of the fact that there are historical instances of love poems between Daoist nuns. Another part of the culture on display that I enjoyed was the description of food: books like this and Crazy Rich Asians have made me a proponent of gastro-tourism.

LGBTQ issues are treated positively by all of the Good Characters, though the only actual LGBTQ character we meet until about 2/3 of the way through is one of Gemma’s roommates. There is a boy band, Gen XX, whose members are all girls but it’s unclear whether these are transwomen or simply girls masquerading as boys. On a somewhat related note, it is nice that Eric is a male with a real, professional interest in fashion and it is not once treated as an odd thing, as it allows for different interpretations of heterosexual masculinity.

Another thing that struck me is that Gemma is supposed to be eighteen, but she is an astonishingly mature, unflappable eighteen. I’d say unbelievably so, but a number of the eighteen year olds I’ve known have been really driven and put together, even though the majority of them have been pretty...not that.

This book is the first in a series, and while I’ve enjoyed reading it, I haven’t really been given enough promising detail about the other characters the rest of the series could follow to say whether I’d seek out and read any subsequent books.

Initially, I wasn't entirely sure how to feel about this book. It felt a little immature for a book that really could have been new adult with the age of the characters. I come from a YA background and prior to this year, I read almost exclusively YA contemporaries so I don't know if I've just outgrown the genre or if this book just wasn't written well in that aspect. I found a lot of the characters fairly lacklustre despite their opulence and generally didn't care much for the plot. It was still an enjoyable read and while it took me a while to really get into I found myself really enjoying it by the end. I loved the relationship between Gemma and Eric though, that was definitely the stand out for me and I found myself reading mainly to get to more of their scenes. I'd possibly consider continuing with this series as I'm interested to see where the story goes.

Heiress Apparently was super fun! Imagine the Princess Diaries meets Loveboat, Taipei meets a Mary Kate and Ashley movie. It's a light and fast paced story that does cover some weighty and serious topics.

Gemma is a struggling actress who suddenly gets the chance to star in a remake of Madame Butterfly that's filming in Beijing. She says yes immediately, even though her family disapproves. They left China decades ago and have vowed to never return.

The book had two plots: the movie plot, in which Gemma struggles with some of the Asian stereotypes that she's asked to play out in the film, and the family plot, in which Gemma discovers her family history in China. The two weren't always very connected and maybe could have been two separate books. That, plus a romance and her family relationships, was a lot.

The political history in the book, which mainly spanned the Cultural Revolution (in the 1960s and 70s) to the 1990s, when Gemma's parents left China, was really interesting, as were the author's insights about Asian stereotypes in popular culture.

There was something off the entire time I was reading Diana Ma's <em>Heiress Apparently</em>, and I wasn't entirely sure what it was until I sat down to really think about it. Of course, there are the little things at first: it's very clear this is Ma's first novel. The pacing is off, side character development is lacking, there were moments of stilted dialogue, and important commentary that came across as contrived But the thing that really held me back from falling for this book was the fact that, as great as Gemma is as a character, her mother's is the more interesting story. 

<b>The Lukewarm Sequel</b>

I hate to say it, but this is exactly what <em>Heiress Apparently</em> felt like to me. Gemma's mom, Lei, had a thoroughly enticing backstory with fascinating historical context, engaging and terrifying stakes, and is clearly fraught a deluge of emotions. And Gemma's is the sequel story that just isn't as exciting. Gemma's is the modern story with mild stakes that never really amount to anything, despite the small buildup we get for it.  She's kept in the dark about a big family secret, but in the end her story is really about her finding family and standing up to make a difference in an industry that still hasn't fully moved past being racist and homophobic.

There's nothing terribly <em>wrong</em> with Gemma's story, really. It's just...somewhat boring in comparison.

<b>Multiple Themes</b>

Part of the problem is that Gemma's story tries to do everything at once and doesn't really do anything exceptionally. Lukewarm is the term that regularly comes to mind when I think about this book. Nothing is <em>bad</em>, but nothing is <em>great</em>, either. You feel a mild connection to the characters and the story, but never anything more than that. Anything exciting has already happened in the past. What we're reading through now are the less enthralling bits that come in an epilogue. We like it, but usually only because we've had the bulk of the novel to fall in love with the characters.

The theme I was most disappointed with was that of Chinese history, particularly in reference to the Cultural Revolution. Everything with this rather fascinating piece of the novel is presented secondhand. We only get this information through the knowledge and thoughts of Gemma or other characters around her. Never once do we really get to experience any of it with the characters. It all ends up being more of a summary. This was <em>so </em>upsetting. I can just imagine that if we'd been in Lei's story instead...everything would have been <em>so much better</em>.

Then, of course, there are the commentaries on Hollywood, homophobia, racism, sexism, and the like. All of these are important things to comment on, for sure. But they were such minimal side plots to Gemma's overall story that they never really felt fully fleshed out. This was, at it's core, a story about Gemma finding her place. And that was entirely entrenched in her family. It had little to do with these side plots past her learning to stand up for her beliefs.

<u>And I guess I'll die on this hill:</u>

I feel as though <em>Heiress Apparently</em> should have been two separate books. The first should have been Lei's story, focusing on aspects of Chinese history mentioned above. And the second should have been Gemma's, shifting focus to these other commentaries while still calling back to Lei's tale. 

Just <em>imagine</em> how much better that would have been! There was <em>so much potential</em>!

<b>A Debut</b>

I mentioned before that it's very clear this is Ma's debut novel. Therefore there are certain pieces that definitely needed work. That said, I can forgive some of these because it's her debut. But, I have to ask: what is the point of Ken? He should not have been part of this book at all, really. His entire purpose seemed to be to provide a foil to show how much better Eric was. And honestly? I got that. I didn't need Ken to get that.

Ma's pacing needed some work, as did her character development. There were both rushed and draggy sections of the novel. Fixing those would have made the story much better as a whole. My biggest complaint about the character development really exists with Alyssa. I guess I just never felt like her character was developed. And then to give her growth but never actually show it to the readers was a problem. I never got to know her enough for that growth to mean anything to me. 

But, with this all said, there's a lot of good within the pages of this book. In fact, I <em>loved</em> everything involved with Gemma's parents and their story. I was so intrigued and eager to learn more about the Cultural Revolution. I was practically scouring the pages for the secrets. These are the moments where this book <em>really</em> shines.

Which, I guess, is why I was so sad that it wasn't more of a focal point.

<em>I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.</em>

So I have just finished this book only half an hour ago and it still gives me that warm and cosy feeling inside which I wasn't expecting from the synopsis. This book has a lot of heart. From having the strength to say what is right from wrong to having the confidence to discover more about the family that has been lost for so many years. I'm glad that this book is only the first, as you can tell there is so much more of this story to be told and the intrigue that it leaves upon at the last page.

However, it does share one very important message: in order to get what you want there is only one way to truly look at it, fortune favours the bold. Gemma is a character that is not only bold and develops upon this throughout her journey of self-discovery as an actress and her self-worth. She's strong yet sympathetic and that is something that I deeply respect of her.

There is also a lot about how women are the movers and shakers in this particular story and that nothing can deter what really means to them. This is from Gemma all the way to her mother and their own ideals for what they consider to be a better world. You can't help but thing how admirable each and every one of them are in their own ways.

I can't wait to see what happens next as we get to discover more about this interesting world that Ma has created. Not only this, but learning more about a culture that we tend to make assumptions about and it has been fascinating to learn more about it and see the other side of the coin that we don't tend to think about. I think that this book was a long time coming. I'm just glad that it's now here.

Gemma Huang is Chinese American who just graduated from high school and is taking a gap year, despite her parents' protests. She's moved to LA and is trying to find work as an actress, when she lands the lead role in a remake of M. Butterfly. But filming takes place in Beijing, the one place her mother has told her to never go. Gemma goes anyway and is immediately mistaken for a high profile socialite, which leads to a summer of finding answers about her parents' pasts and why she was told to never visit Beijing. 

I really liked this book! Gemma was a great main character for this story. She's young, wants to make a great impression, follow rules and also asks a lot of questions. I loved watching her learn to stand up for herself in different situations. She was goofy, funny, and smart. 

I really appreciated that this story focused more on Gemma and her learning and discovering China, rather than her on a movie set. All the movie set scenes were great and added to her character, which was perfect for me. I also appreciated that this was an educational read as well. Gemma knows a little about China, but she's there learning a lot as well. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this and would recommend it to anyone. It was educational, cute, funny, and there was some romance tossed in there as well. 

4/5 stars.

Gemma is an actress struggling to make the rent, when a new job whisks her away to Beijing, and she learns there's more to her family history than she realised.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Gemma Huang is a Chinese American who has never been to her parents' homeland of Beijing. They refuse to tell her anything about their lives before they came to America, and Gemma is banned from ever going to Beijing.
Aside from the secrets, Gemma loves her parents and knows how lucky she is to have them. They are both intelligent, in well-paid jobs, and have provided a comfortable life for themselves. They love and support Gemma, even when she wants to postpone college so she can follow her dream of acting.
Gemma goes to live in LA with her friends, and starts to date Ken, a handsome Asian actor she met when they both went for the same toothpaste commercial.

After a few months of struggling to make the rent, everything is looking up when Gemma gets the leading role in the new M. Butterfly remake.

I enjoyed this little book. The romance with Eric was very cute, and the plotlines had a comfortable predictability about them. You kinda knew what would happen, and just sit back and enjoy Gemma's story.

I think the real strength of this book was the representation, with mostly people of colour, and LGBTQ characters and themes.
I loved reading about Gemma's opinions on being a Chinese American, she's made to feel like she doesn't belong in either America or China, despite having a claim to both.
There are many moments for Gemma to reflect upon, when people have been mildly racist without realising it, where they see her ethnicity before they see her.
As an actress, she's passionate about her love of film, but she's resigned to knowing that white Hollywood rarely cast Asian actors. And when they do, they're just perpetuating stereotypes and what they want to believe is real.
Gemma has her idols, women that have made it against the odds, and now it's her turn.

I loved the exploration of LGBTQ in media and history. How it evolved in China, reflecting the way American media was manipulating peoples' ideas.
Gemma identifies as straight, but there are gay and lesbian couples too.
Whilst Gemma is in Beijing, and during shooting in male drag, she gets to experiment with gender roles.

I'm not sure where the series is going to go next, as all the storylines came to a close, but I'm intrigued to find out.

"When I first came to Beijing, I wasn't thinking about what I wanted or what I was looking for other than my success as an actress. But now I know. I want to belong." 
I want to preface my review by encouraging you to find own voice reviews and reviewers for this book, as I recognize the fact that I as a white reviewer may have overlooked aspects of the book that are important and don't feel comfortable commenting on the quality of the representation and accuracy of the novel. This review will be based solely on my enjoyment of this book and boy did I enjoy it. 
The character development of our main character both in her personal and professional life was such a joy to read. Her reconnecting with her culture and family were so heartwarming and the subtle details that were carried out through the storyline and the attention to detail were really great. Our side characters were also super likable and the discussions about sexuality and masculinity in both western and traditional Chinese cultures were really eye opening for me. 
The historical element was also super interesting and it is something I want to look into more as it is not a period that I know anything about unfortunately. 
The plot and pacing of this book were spot on for me and I really flew through it. Its a more character driven story but there was still a definite plot which was enjoyable and drove the story forward. 
I am not sure whether this is going to be a series or not as the first book wrapped up well but I will not be complaining if we get more of these characters. It was such an enjoyable book and I couldn't get enough of it!
My big critique has nothing to do with the book itself but more the synopsis on both Goodreads and Netgalley spoils the intrigue considering one of the main revelations is mentioned in both but not mentioned in the story til 80 per cent of the way through the book. This is honestly a serious marketing issue in my opinion so I would urge people to NOT read the synopsis! 
Rated: 4.5 Stars

This book will fill your Rich Crazy Asians pangs. It's well written, the characters are great, there was only a very small bit of people not telling each other things...inside the story, there wasn't too much of it.

I liked Gemma. She was awesome, going for what she wanted, and even when she backed off for a bit it was just so she could come back stronger. I was pretty sure what was going to happen with that suit, and it was even better than I hoped for when it paid off.

I'll be back for the next book. But knowing me, I'll have forgotten the characters by then!

Loved it. 

It’s light hearted, funny and a relaxing read. Totally unbelievable plot and it would never happen in real life - but that’s why I chose to read it and enjoyed it so much. I needed to ‘escape’ inside a book for a while and this was perfect for doing that. I’m over 25 but still loved this book - but it’s definitely young adult fiction or teenage fiction. As a teacher I would feel confident recommending this book to my young students. 

I found myself googling images of the locations in China and the different foods discussed! I would love to go to Beijing one day. I had severe wanderlust from this book. Can we get a book number 2 to see what happens next?

This was like the written version of a somewhat substandard romcom, hitting a number of expected beats, adding in a couple dashes of twistiness/excitement,  but mostly failing to engender much reaction. The discussion of Chinese history and politics was probably the most interesting part, but the main character didn't have a particularly strong voice or personality, and I found myself caring very little about the family feud, the romance/s, or even the movie storyline, which left me wondering whether my perception about how high profile movies were made was skewed or whether the author's was. The writing itself also came off quite stilted (with the movie references feeling particularly awkward and shoehorned for some reason).

Based on the writing style I would consider this YA, and perhaps even YA toward the lower end of the reading spectrum, even though the main character is post high school and living a post high school life. Perhaps other readers will find this more engaging or at least more fun, but I wouldn't prioritize this for purchase.

Heiress Apparently, by Diana Ma is a wonderful realistic fiction story about Gemma, as she embarks on a journey that will help her unravel the mysteries of her own family. She is an actress and she gets a role working with one of her icons. Everything seems to be going her way until she learns that filming will take place in Beijing, where her mother has forbidden her to travel. This story has everything you could want: relationship drama, great friends, new love interests, dramatic family encounters. It even has a very difficult work place. Gemma has a lot going on and a lot to figure out. What makes this book special? You can't help but love the characters. You can empathize with their struggles and celebrate their achievements. It's also filled with hope!

This book was a DNF for me, which I was disappointed by. It definitely might be someone else's taste, but it just did not work for me. I had a hard time with the writing and the characters.