Thank you so much to XiXi Tan, Penguin Random House and Netgalley for giving me an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review and for sharing this book with me! I’ve devoured it just a few days.

This book is a gorgeous, devastating and essential portrayal of what racism looks like for many people in America. It feels especially relevant right now given the rise of anti-Asian hate. But the thing this book does best is capturing how nuanced individual reactions of traumatic events like the one in This Place is Still Beautiful can be. I love that, for most of the novel, Annalie and Margaret couldn’t quiet agree on the correct response to the reality of racism in their town. I love that I was able to agree and disagree with both of them.

Annalie and Margaret are incredible characters. Their personalities are distinct and it was so easy to slip into their minds, understand their choices and empathise with their behaviour. I was rooting for both of them to figure out how to deal with their trauma and their relationship with each other the whole time.

I will absolutely be recommending this book to people to know who love YA. The writing is fantastic, the characters are wonderful and the story is incredible. Thank you so, so much for bringing this book into the world!

This book was so well written, dealing with issues that sadly still go on today, and people wanting to turn a blind eye too. I really felt for the girls in the book.
It was a lovely storyline too with friendships and relationships, I felt the emotions and internal struggles of each character. They were both great in their individual ways and I really loved the ending.
Thank you to the author, netgalley and penguin for an arc copy in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this! I thought I would feel a little I comfortable with this book tacking a racial related incident but it’s about time things such as this are more common in todays society and should be talked about more!

I loved the dual perspectives that you experience throughout this book, as it shows the contrasting personalities of the two sisters. But more importantly it shows how each of the sisters handle the sensitive issue of race and racism that is presented in everyday life as well as the feeling of being targeted.
I would highly recommend you to read this book.
Thank you to Netgalley as well as Penguin books for allowing me to read and review this ARC.
All thoughts and opinions are completely my own.

This book was so well done.
Although the book deals with many complex issues, it is so readable and relatable and deftly handles a hate crime.
The duel narrative is very effective In showing that different people respond in different ways to racism.
It’s a fantastic YA read, the plot, characters and issues raised are all sufficiently interesting to keep people engaged,
It’s an extremely thoughtful and poignant novel of heartbreak and healing and I’m very happy I’ve been able to read it.

This an incredible book, maybe even the best book I have read this year so far. The writing is incredible with an engaging and intensely powerful storyline and well developed characters that popped off of the page. There are hard hitting messages in this book such as racism but it is handled in such a sensitive way and really showcases the subtle racism that people can come accross on a daily basis that could be so subtle that sometimes they don't even process that it is racism, which worked really well with the dual narrative in the book. It was a powerful and sometimes heart-wrenching.
In all honesty nothing I can say would make this book sound as good as it is, I havent even really fully processed it myself yet. I also loved the front cover. It is just as powerful and stunning as the words within the cover. 5 stars isn't enough honestly.

'This Place Is Still Beautiful' is explores important ideas about racism from the perspective of an under-represented community. The novel is narrated by two Asian-American sisters, Margaret and Annalie, who live in a small midwestern town and whose family home is vandalised with a racist message. XiXi Tian shows how they are both affected by this attack - high-flying Margaret, who is back from college in New York, is a passionate campaigner for social justice and is determined to track down the perpetrators; Annalie prefers to keep her head down and worries about how Margaret's actions will affect her standing with her predominantly white high school classmates.

The dual narrative is very effective in showing that different people respond in different ways to racism. I found one of the most effective elements of the novel was its opening: Tian initially sets up the novel as a summer romance, as Annalie takes on a holiday job at the local ice cream cafe in attempt to get together with Thom, the boy of her dreams who is a regular customer there. Tian makes no reference to Annalie's ethnicity until her mother calls her to tell her about the racist attack, at which point she comments that "I forgot until just now that I am Chinese", showing how race isn't an overriding concern for Annalie most of the time - but the novel goes on to show the subtle microaggressions she has experienced throughout her life and the cumulative effect of these. Unsurprisingly, both sisters develop over the course of the novel and come to understand each others perspectives more fully.

The writing is perhaps a bit pedestrian in places and there is at times an overreliance on telling rather than showing which prevents this novel from being as gripping and immersive as some YA fiction can be. Nonetheless, I found a good read and I think the plot, characters and issues raised are all sufficiently interesting to keep most teenagers engaged throughout. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC to review.

I don’t know where to start with reviewing this book. There is so much detail and depth that I feel like a review barely scratches the surface of the content.

There are incredible learning lessons throughout this story. The main one focusing on racism and how hard it is to fight against it. It really opens your eyes to issues and shows that you can still be a racist even if you were “just drunk”. There’s no excuse.

Relationships (both familial and romantic) were also a big feature and the growth of the characters was heartwarming. Margaret and Annalie were both so so different and I feel that their sisterly love was portrayed extremely well. You don’t have to get on with your sibling but they will always be there for you when it counts.

Annalie’s first kiss was too relatable! I feel like I reacted the same way she did when I had my first kiss. It made me miss being younger. Also, Margaret’s relationship was very cute and the ending made me tear up a bit. (Okay…maybe a lot).

The one thing I found was the writing was hard to get into at first. A lot of the sentences seem to start the same way “I…” “We…” Etc. It seemed a little staccato but once you get into it, I really appreciated the story behind the words.

This is definitely a story you need to read. It balances light and heavy topics in an easy way and seeing as it’s set during summer…would be great to read as soon as it’s out!