Sometimes you need to sit back and relax with a book full of chaos and humor. This book fits the bill. Those who are as chronically online as I am will love the pop culture references, it’s very timely. Some of the references like Lordes suprise GSC appearance JUST happened so idk how the author pulled that off lol. There’s a little bit of everything- detective work, revenge, pop music, sex, romance, murder, drag brunches, and TikTok. I love how this book didn’t take itself too seriously or try to fit into one box. I’d classify it as dark comedy if I haaaaad to pick one. I think frankie was my favorite character.

This book is a funny mystery to read in pride month! I am very happy to see Asian representation in queer stories, the more, the merrier. The pop culture references are fun. Thanks for Books in Color and the author for the ARC in exchange for a review.

The book starts with Pete working at his corporate job in NYC. As he listens to the new Charli XCX album, it awakens his inner BRAT, and in a whim, he decides to quit his job and break up with his boyfriend. Having no place to go, he hits up a friend to stay with them. He gets a barista job through his friend, and when met with a particularly prickly customer, Pete throws an iced coffee in his face and storms out in a bratty rampage!! Little does Pete know, the entire thing was filmed, and he becomes the infamous BRATista. Attempting to piggyback off of his newfound internet fame, Pete creates a TikTok to do music reviews. What happens next is a little cyberbullying, light stalking, catfishing, murder, detective work, and falling in love.

I really enjoyed reading Pete’s inner thoughts through Memoir of an Innocent Brat. Pete’s rationalization and thought processes are unhinged and a bit chaotic. It had me cracking up left and right. This book definitely targets a certain audience, and my worry is that it is a tad too niche. I do wish the “twist” was a little more drawn out. I found myself wanting more from it at the end.

I’m grateful to Victory Editing and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review!

I can't say that I expected this to be good, but I did expect it to be entertaining. And it was! Utterly absurd, but I couldn't put it down. I did hit a block about halfway through where I got a bit tired of the conflicts, but the return to the murder plotline roped me back in. I'm not sure if I'll remember much of this one, but the pop culture references were fun and it'll be a silly one to recap to friends.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

How Aaron Wang managed to write a story that includes a mystery, a viral moment and the backlash from it and a budding romance in under 300 pages amazes me.

I'm happily seeing a recent trend in more stories written about LGBTQIA characters where their queerness isn't the point of the story. Or at least, it's not what gets the ball rolling for a majority of the events. When this happens, we get to read about queer people doing them while just also happening to be queer.

Pete is a very flawed character, and it was refreshing that he recognized that about himself. For him, he was just existing and going with the flow of things until hearing a Charlie XCX song slaps him out of his slump. From here we watch Pete make some arguably good decisions and then many bad/stupid ones. Despite watching him make very stupid decisions, I really enjoyed exploring how being online and thinking you're "safe" isn't a reality.

Although this was a murder mystery, it felt like a warning label for what not to do on the web and how easy it is to track people down.

I enjoyed Frankie's character and thought they meshed well with Pete. They were both on board with the shenanigans and often a voice of reason for some of Pete's bad ideas.

The big reveal at the end was completely unexpected but felt real and was definitely the most plausible outcome of going viral in this day and age. There are a lot of pop references in the novel so I'm not sure how well it'll age but I really enjoyed the inclusion of them and thought it was done tactfully and not cringe.

This is my first work by Aaron Wang and I'm definitely a fan and will look out for their future works. Thanks so much to Books in Color for the DRC!