I love this authors writing. She does conflicted, complicated, confused characters really well. Well worth a read.

this is such a all the feels kind of read. you go through angry, to this is too close to home, to nostalgic. then when you get to know these four even just a little you are just totally sucked into them, their lives and how they are or arent going to handle it all.
Lillian knows her characters so well. it feels like we could picture the pores on the skin or their inner thoughts the way she gives us a picture of them.
the way social media pours into their lives was a really knowing moment for so many of us. there is an age group that has known life before the current. and i think many ache for a past. its why we are seeing alot of more cosy older style things come to apply again, people want something to take them back, before the world turned messy and social media was a huge instigate in that.
you get to know these young people and truly begin to care about where life and simple avenues seem to fling them into places they never saw coming.
the pressures seemed to be coming to these four from all areas. and how this group try to take tentative steps to be who they want to be on their terms, away from those pressures. but there is always that draw and that thread.
i love how we get to know each of them and truly feel like we know all their stories. i had a whole picture of them in my head.
i think like with friendships i was also pushed and pulled around these four as they made decisions they really shouldn't, or worried about them when there seems to be a fracturing. it really made me think about what would happen with an actually breakup of friendship. it feels different from others.
what i also didn't realise was how much being a Good Asian really is so important. ive seen it, read about it a fair few times now. that must add so much pressure to an already pressured world. so when this four seemingly become not that it really hurts them just by the very meaning of the act itself.
getting to follow this group over a proper span of time was really helpful and added so many rich layers to get involved with. i really enjoyed that in depth look rather than just a snippet in time.
this was a really great read. completely original.