Am I DNFing this? Yes. Am also giving it 5 stars? Yes. Let me explain:

I am not personally a fan of contemporary romances which is why I won't be continuing with this book, however it is very well written and I would recommend it to anybody that wants a teenage romance.

The racial element is exquisitely well written and the internalised racism is excellently analysed. The polar opposite reactions that the sisters display are superbly explored and show that there is no one "right way" to deal with racism as it is always so unique to the individual. I really appreciate that the sisters show it is just as okay to quietly process racist abuse on your own as it is to shout about it from the rooftops demanding social justice. The important thing is that we support each other in whatever way we need.

If it were solely about racial abuse and Asian identity I would absolutely be continuing on with it; this is not a fault of the book, it's just not for me :)

It is a brilliant book and will absolutely recommend it to people who like this sort of thing. <3

Sadly this one was a DNF for me, its not a bad book by any means, I just think I'm not the intended audience unfortunately and I just didn't gel with this one x

This is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever written. Despite the heavy subject matter dealing with racism and hatred, the sisterly bond was what shone the most. I could relate to both of them in some way. Although they seemed complete opposites, they were also similar. It was also interesting to see the different ways two sisters cope with trauma. It highlighted that not everybody reacts the same. Overall, a stunning book. Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for a chance to read and review this book.

This was unfortunately a DNF for me: I was not in the place to read it at the time, I will try to give it another chance in the future.

Really great YA read that I think is important for the younger generation to read!

The writing style was good, the characters were interesting enough but it was a bit too "insta love" for me

This was a great book about how two sisters decide to deal with a racist and learn how to let go with some instatove along the way.

Thank you netgalley and publishers for this copy.

A well written YA with some important commentary. I’m just not the intended audience. However if I had this book when I was a teen it would have been really important to me.

This was an enjoyable read, I haven't read a lot of YA recently and this was very YA, I would have loved this about 15 years ago and really identified with parts of Annalie's personality and how unsure of herself she was, brought me back to my teenage years! The story focused more on the family relationships and in particular the relationship between the two sisters whose points of view the chapters flit between and narrates the difference in how they both deal with the hate crime that starts the novel. Interesting to read both points of view and see it from both sides of the story.

Great read, really enjoyed it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

3.5

"𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙣𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙬𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚𝙨."

Two sisters who grew apart are reunited by a hate crime in this debut novel. Seventeen year old Annalie is still in school, living at home while her older sister Margaret, nineteen years old, couldn't wait to go to New York. Margaret receives a call from Annalie and immediately goes back home, but once again the sisters clash. Meanwhile, Annalie is dating her crush, but a terrible secret threatens to emerge.

I enjoyed the story, it was family centred and focuses on how a family can stand together, even though they might not always agree on everything. The story is told from both of the sisters' POVs and it helps the reader to get a sense of each sister and how they handle situations. There is some romance as well as friendships, I loved Violet!
Not much happens except the one twist early in the beginning, but there are some scenes where I crossed my fingers and hoped certain characters will start dating. The story is character driven and it's a quick read, perfect for when you've finished a series and just want to let off some steam.

The story is emotional and definitely deals with an important topic and I felt that Tian gets the reader invested in the sisters' rocky relationship early on. Also, the moment the title makes sense, I had this huge grin when I realised what the title means.

"𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙮𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚. 𝙎𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙚𝙣𝙫𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩."

Read this if you enjoy Young Adult Contemporary, character driven stories or quick reads.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me an electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read a lot of YA books, but this one was particularly powerful. The story follows sisters Annalise and Margaret, told through a dual narrative. Like typical teenage girls they are both struggling return to navigate school and crushes, but they are two very different girls who have different ways of looking at the world, and when a hate crime rocks their family this becomes even more evident.

This Place is Still Beautiful is a powerful YA full of heart that explores the impacts of racism, friendship and sisterhood. My heart broke for both sisters, but I fully recommend it. Thank you to Netgalley and publishers for the e-arc.

I really enjoyed this book. It had interesting things to say about racism and the impact it has on mixed race families. I thought it was particularly telling when you compared the experience of the two sisters as one looked more white whereas the other looked more Asian especially in how other characters talked to them about a racist incident and how they expected them to react

This City Is Still Beautiful

A powerful story about two sisters with nothing in common. Annalie is seventeen and excited for as summer flirting with a popular jock from her school. Margaret is nineteen, at college in New York trying to fight for what is right whilst forgetting about her ex-boyfriend.

When the family home is tagged with a racial slur, Annalie calls Margaret in tears, but when Margaret gets the police and the media involved, Annalie wishes she never said anything and wants it all to go away. Tensions rises and relationships hang by a thread, when a secret threatens to tear them all apart.

I found this to be in interesting look at race and identity. Annalie is white-passing and is happy to go unnoticed and under the radar. Margaret looks Chinese and as such as no option to hide away, instead fighting for justice constantly. Annalie finds her Chinese identity uncomfortably erasable, and part of this story deals with her finding the strength to be true to who she is. She also resents Margaret coming home and turning their loves upside down, blaming her instead of the perpetrators themselves. Eventually she realises that Margaret dropped everything to come home and support both her and their mother in her own way.

To start with I found the story to be a little slow and difficult to get into. Annalie was slightly annoying as teenage girls can be, but I soon warmed to her. I wish there was a little more of the sisters interacting with each other; it seemed as though they avoided each other for the most part. Still, by halfway through I was invested. I was glad to find out who was responsible for the attack early so adequate time was spend exploring the reasons it was done and how others reacted to it. It was quite enraging to see others in the community ignore or justify the actions of the culprits, say that the punishments were ‘too much’ or that despite their actions they ‘were not racists’. Ooh the rage I felt!

I did enjoy the story overall and was glad of the outcome. I liked the side plot of Annalie finding baking as a skill she loved and Margaret reconnecting with her ex-boyfriend, which softens her a lot.

An interesting and memorable exploration of identity, race and family.

I didn't immediately realise this was a YA book but it drew me in and I thoroughly enjoyed it. A very thought provoking read about racism, identity, multi-culturalism and life as an American teenager today... Speaking as a middle aged British woman I found it a refreshing change! My 14 year old daughter would probably really enjoy this book as well so I plan to buy her a copy.
With grateful thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Randomhouse UK for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

An incredibly moving and eye opening book. Annalie and Margaret's differing experiences added a powerful nuance to the novel, which was handled beautifully.

Synopsis:

Annalie and Margaret are sisters who agree on only one thing: that they have nothing in common.

Annalie is seventeen: sweet, content, and looking forward to a summer of flirting with the most popular boy in school.

Margaret is nineteen: ambitious, a warrior for social justice, and desperate to forget her ex-boyfriend in New York City.

When their family is the victim of a racial attack, Annalie tries to pretend it never happened - but Margaret wants to fight back. Suddenly their relationship - and all the ones around them - are hanging by a thread. And then a crushing secret threatens to tear them apart forever . . .

My thoughts:

I really enjoyed this story. The two sister couldn’t be more different and I liked how we get to see both characters with each chapter written in either Margret or Annalie’s pov. It is well written with a good plot to keep you interested.

Interwoven you have romances, friendships, and social issues like how the two sisters deal with the hate crime that rocked their family, as well as cultural responsibility. And how they are a mix of Chinese and non Chinese.

It's beautiful and poetic and very powerful. It leaves a lasting impression.

This Place is Still Beautiful is a deeply moving and powerful debut novel that is beautifully written. It is told from the perspectives of two sisters, who are polar opposites of each other. Each of them has their own strong and unique voice. This means they both deal with the aftermath of their family being a target of a racially motivated hate crime in different ways.

This story centres around the racially motivated hate crime committed on the main characters family but it has a lot more to it as well. Margaret is the older sister and is ready to fight for her family after the hate crime is committed. Annalie, the younger sister, wants to forget the hate crime happened and move on. The discussion around race that comes due to this and the harm that the hate crime causes is such a prominent part of this story but it leads to so many other discussions.

We read about the characters as they navigate their town full of memories and hurt. As a reader you quite often, readers are suddenly hit hard by the difficulties these characters are facing and the emotions that come with that. The hate crime forces the characters to confront their differences and other people’s opinions on both racism and race.

I loved that due to alternating POVs we get to see the events occurring from both Margaret and Annalie’s views. My favourite POV was Margaret’s. I feel I related to her as she is an older sister, like myself, and her reaction to events in this book would be similar to my own. At times Margaret comes across as unlikeable but it is actually that that made her more likeable for me. As the story progresses you see why she has reacted the way she has. Also, her romance storyline is heart-breaking. I truly felt for her and wanted nothing but the best for her.

Annalie’s POV took me a while to get into. I think because I took an instant dislike to the boy she has a crush on. Annalie is very different from her sister and wants to hide away from the truth of the hate crime. As the story continued I grew to like Annalie’s POV more and more. At the end of the story I wanted nothing but the best for both sisters.

The family elements of this book are excellent. I can see so many people reading this book and relating to Annalie and Margaret’s family situation and how their race has affected how they’ve grown up. I loved watching the sister’s relationship grow and change throughout the book. Also, the way in which we see Margaret’s turbulent relationship with her mother change was incredibly moving.

We see how the hare crime affects the family and how each member digests, views and deal with it. Readers see that the hate crime doesn’t define the characters. It merely happened to them and now they have to deal with the impact of it as they try to move forward in their lives.

This is Still Beautiful is a YA aimed at the more mature reader. This is due to the subject matters and how some of the topics are discussed. It is such a timely story which will create important discussions. I feel this book and its topics are something that we don’t see enough of. It doesn’t just discuss racist conflicts but also sibling issues, navigating complicated parental dynamics and even topics surrounding white-passing and much more.

Overall, This Place is Still Beautiful is an impactful and poignant novel that is extremely relevant in today’s world. I cannot recommend it enough. It a book bound to open so many eyes and shine light on a number of issues not usually discussed in YA. I will be on the lookout for more books by XiXi Tian because she is definitely an author to watch.

First of all I would like thank penguin for this totally astonishing book .

The Plot : There are two sisters Margaret and Annalie which have nothing at all in common , Margaret is nineteen she a very ambitious and very driven and understands a lot more about social justice ,she cant wait to leave her home town and she dose ,.on the other hand you have her sister Annalie little younger she loves where she lives and just going with the flow of life . Margret dose come home which did upset the apple cart with her sister a bit .they become targets of racist abuse they are both trying to deal with it in there own way . but this story is just about that , its about the growth of both the sister as they deal with lose and own life battles and finding out who they are as young women . .


The whole story opened my eyes so much , it had my emotions flying everywhere it is a very moving story .

I do love how you sis the growth of the two sister as they go through so much .at times its very harrowing .but its interesting to read how they deal with everything their own ways.


this story is great to read in the modern day world we live in right now its powerful and inspiring strong and grounded story .I give this book 5 stars .

If the last two years have revealed anything, it is that racism can slip in through even the smallest cracks, and that it is never as simple as we want it to be in dealing with it. ‘This Place is Still Beautiful’ takes this well known fact and presents it to us with two Chinese-American sisters who respond to a racist attack on them in very different ways - as they have always done everything.

The way in which the dual perspective was written truly showed the complexity of their growing up in a mostly white community - which bound them together - while chasing, of course, very different lives for themselves - which often times drove them apart. I genuinely appreciated the care with which these differences was written, and I think it allows a whole generation of teenagers to realize that their own problems aren’t less valid because they handle it differently.

It’s also always great to me when YA books attempt to resolve family dynamics in healthier ways than they start with, and this one does so in a beautifully hopeful way, without glossing over the challenges that remain even after reconciliation.

I am not really a personal fan of YA romance (especially when it is straight), and even less of love triangles, but I do value the way in which the two boys were also written: I think their reactions and words throughout the novel very excellently foreshadow who their characters eventually turn out to be. I am also not ashamed to admit that I swooned a little with the romance scenes 📖

Overall, a quick but in no way easily digestible read that deals with identity and responsibility in an accessible way. Definitely something teenagers across the board should read and will enjoy.