Cover Image: 29 Dates

29 Dates

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Member Reviews

Unfortunately, this book was not quite what I expected.

I remember loving Melissa de la Cruz's books growing up, and the sound of this matchmaking story sounded like a really unique take on a romance book! However, I quickly realized that this book focused less on the romance and proved to be more of a coming of age story.

I felt as though everything was really rushed, and surface level. Some of the events that occur in the story just aren't realistic or believable, which ended up taking away from the story for me.

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Somehow just as much and not as much romance as I expected. Everything felt very surface level, from the move to her feelings for Austin. Overall, not my kind of book, but I definitely see the audience for it.

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I have such grand reading plans over my break, I literally can not wait! However, I recently (last night) finished reading 29 Dates by Melissa De La Cruz, now I first want to apologize because this book should not have taken me this long to read but work has been taking up way too much of my time lately and whenever I go to read anything I just end up falling asleep. However, I finally have things set up for a while with work and now I am free to read at night again!

SPOILERS AHEAD

In this book, we meet Jisu a girl who lives in Korea with her parents and is feeling lots of pressure from them to be the best. She goes to one of the top schools in Korea and is expected by her family to get into one of the best colleges. However, Jisu is not doing so great at school, her grades are sub-par at best, she is spending more time on friends and her favorite hobby (photography) than her parents would like, and she is skipping Seons. Seons are where Jisu is set up by the matchmaker Ms. Moon on dates to find the perfect future high powered husband. However, after a bad test grade and a skipped date, Jisu’s parents have had enough and they send her to America to live with a host family and attend a prestigious school there, one they think she will have a better chance with. Jisu is devasted by this sudden move but once in San Fransico with her new host family, she finds so many new adventures, dates, and even maybe love on her own.

I have read many Melissa De La Cruz books and I really enjoy them. I think her stories are interesting and I will always be up for trying her new books. I was fortunate enough to be given this book as an ebook ARC on NetGalley a few days before it was published and I started it almost right away. I really loved this story and was interested in Jisu’s culture and would have loved to see more of her in Korea! I gave this book four and a half stars on Goodreads!

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I really liked this slightly nontraditional YA romance. The concept of arranged dating/ matchmaking intrigues me. Very speedy read with a great ending.

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The title of the book makes me think it’s more of a romance, but I think it’s more of a book of teen self-growth and discovery. The main character has to wrestle with her parents’ expectations for her life and what her passions are. Great themes for young readers to read through. If you’re looking for more of a YA romance, this book isn’t quite it.

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*I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thought and opinions are my own.*
2.5 stars

I remember reading some of Melissa de la Cruz's books back when I was in high school. My fond memories of those books was what prompted me to pick this one up-- that and the matchmaking aspect sounded unique.
Unfortunately, it seems I am no longer a fan of this writing. I felt such a huge disconnect from the characters. Everything felt surface level and surprisingly fake.

First off, buying an airplane ticket to send your daughter to a different country and even signing them up for school there without them knowing and then only telling them they are going the morning of the flight makes no sense. It takes a while to board flights... AND to pack!!

Also, Junior year is the most stressful year in high school. Senior year is stressful because of the applications, but colleges don't really look at senior year stuff unless your on the waitlist and such -- or so I'm told. Unless you're in a country where they take entrance exams to get into university (like South Korea), then things are a bit different.

Jisu's feelings never felt solid to me. She likes Austin, but doesn't. She likes other guys, but then feels more indifferent towards them. This I can forgive though because she's 17. The heart is still learning in high school and so this felt somewhat believable, but I'm not convinced with the ending.
I wish there was more about Jisu adjusting to living in America. Sure, she says she's fluent in English, but there is a huge difference in learning and speaking English outside America or other native English-speaking countries. Jisu knew slang and a few other tidbits I found strange. Yes, she watches American makeup tutorials (really??? When Korea has better products and a completely different style??), but I don't think she'd pick things up so naturally before getting to America.

I did like the diverse cast and taking down the racist classmate. The parts I enjoyed the most were the date scripts. At first I thought they were text messages, so that was an awkward start... but once I knew they were at a place together, I kind of liked the format. Anyhow, there is some awesome conversation in those parts.

All in all, this isn't a book for me and I know that. I do have a few people in mind I might recommend this to: ones looking for relationship-drama, but besides them I probably won't recommend this to many people.

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This was such a fun read. The characters were likable and relatable and I really connected with the characters.

This is the story of Jisu, who is sent by her parents to San Francisco for her senior year...I CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE THAT!!!

On top of going to a new school, living with strangers, having to make new friends, make good grades and apply to college ...Jisu also has to go on randomly set up blind dates.

This was such a fun read.

I received this book in exchange for my honest review.

#netgalley
#29dates

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I always like reading books based on other cultures to give me an insight on what other cultures believe. This one confused me a little bit, mainly because it's about a Korean but the author isn't Korean and based on other reviews, she got some of the culture wrong. I still enjoyed parts of the book, but I don't feel like I got the right picture.

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4 out of 5 stars
Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Though I did watch the show based off The Witches of East End by Melissa de la Cruz, I’m ashamed to say that this is my first and only book that I have ever read from the acclaimed author; though I do own Blue Bloods. Having confessed that, her new novel 29 Dates was very satisfying as a first read!

29 Dates follows a girl named Jisu who is one day uprooted from her life in South Korea and sent across the Pacific to live with a host family in California where she’s expected to fit in to a whole new school for her senior year, adding to the already distressing time of applying to college. On top of all of that, her parents insist she continue to go on the seons she started while in South Korea. Reluctantly agreeing, Jisu manages to juggle seons, senior year, applying to college, her parents heavy expectations for her and their disappointment when she doesn’t live up to said expectations, all while somehow making time to keep a social life and her hobby of photography. She easily makes a few friends along the way and, funnily enough, starts paying attention to a couple boys even though she’s (almost) sure she is sick of that kind of stuff because of the dates she’s forced to go on to please her parents.

While this was swift and sweet read that kept me entertained, as a contemporary romance I was a smidge disappointed in the lack of actual romance in 29 Dates once Jisu finally ended up with the guy she’s meant to be with. I think it was only about a chapter and a half at the end and I would’ve liked to see a bit more since I was rooting for the couple; even just an epilogue with a glimpse of them both living that college life would have sufficed. Even though the romance was condensed, it wasn’t disappointing. Their friendship throughout the book is lovable and makes for a good foundation to build a charming romance on. He is exactly what you kept hoping for her to find on a seon, making it actually perfect that he was her 29th and last one despite it being her unlucky number—she considers 9 unlucky and therefore any number ending in 9. Something I really, truly enjoyed the most in 29 Dates was the relationship with her haraboji (grandfather). He was the absolute sweetest, most encouraging grandfather ever and I found that I was smiling to myself with every interaction they had. I definitely felt the love and warmth coming through the pages each time they were together. While I did admire her parents for wanting a good life for her, they just couldn’t hold my heart as much as her haraboji did. As for the friendships in this book, I really enjoyed reading her relationships with Euni and Min, but also Tiffany, Jamie and Hiba. They all seemed like the type of friends every girl wishes she had growing up and they honestly reminded me of my own. Of the new friends she made in California, Hiba one hundred, no, one thousand percent stole my heart AND the scene in which she first appears—make sure to keep an eye open for her awesomeness.

Speaking of the seons, if you don’t know what they are, in real life they are like blind dates for women in South Korea who are in their thirties and looking to settle down. They are typically arranged by the parents through a matchmaker, relative or family friend with suitable partners in mind. If the two who are set up meet and like each other they will then begin dating with marriage in mind. A seon is described as a type of business transaction. In the book each one is written in a sort of chat message format that was actually very creative to me because I could see myself losing interest reading a drawn out date for every single guy she met. The way de la Cruz set it up was brief and engaging, giving you the gist of the date and allowing you to read the mood without distracting from the rest of the story. Most of Jisu’s dates were quite douche-y—pardon my French—and the audacity of some of them left me speechless. I sat there wide-eyed as I stared at the page while reading a few of them, feeling pity for Jisu—and admittedly a bit sympathetic but anxious for myself who is recently on the dating scene, crying inside at the thought of having to sit through possible encounters like that. Jisu came off a bit rude to me, or maybe dismissive is a better fit, towards a couple of her later dates that weren’t the worst—or at least hadn’t shown their true colors yet. But understandably, if I was a senior stressfully waiting for college acceptances or denials and being forced to go on dates, most of which were with intolerable men, I think I’d be pretty disgruntled. She handled it gracefully compared to how I imagine I would have some of them.

I’d like to note that realistically seons are not normally done for teenagers and I know de la Cruz got some criticism for that in other reviews, amongst other things and I’ll get to that, but I think that’s what makes the novel interesting—seeing what it would be like for a teenage girl to have that pressure put on her. It is fiction after all, and while it is part of a culture we’re not reading a nonfiction text or even historical fiction. I read in another review that this novel just didn’t seem to have heart and the kind of authenticity it would’ve if an actual Korean had written it and I have to disagree with that. I thought it was lovely, and of course, were it written by a Korean author it may well have had some more heart and authenticity to it because they know best their way of life and how to portray it. That being said and as a writer myself, I still don’t believe authors of any ethnicity should just stick to writing their own. As long as it’s not disrespectful and is researched properly and thoroughly beforehand I don’t see the harm in someone writing about anything in all the world, no matter the ethnicity, topic, etc. It’s a fiction author’s job to explore the unknown and find a story in any and everything.

To step off my soapbox and sum up this review, if you are easily offended by an author not of South Korean heritage writing about such, then I would skip 29 Dates as it is probably not the book for you. But if you can take it as what it is, just a piece of fiction meant to be a cute and entertaining read with a bit of romance, some great friendships and characters, then go for it! I myself enjoyed it and I am looking forward to reading more from de la Cruz.

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I found it very difficult to get into this book. I appreciate the cultural background and the insight it gave me into a culture I was not very aware of. However, I found it difficult to connect and remain engaged.

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I received an ARC of 29 Dates from Melissa de la Cruz from Netgalley. 29 dates is a cute story about Ji-Su, a teenager from Korea whose parents send her to the US for her senior year of high school. Her parents have hired a Korean matchmaker for her and 29 dates refers to the number of arranged dates that she goes on trying to find the right guy for her.

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I love Melissa de la Cruz books so I was thrilled to get the ARC of 29 Dates from NetGalley.

This story follows Jisu as she tries to make a new life in San Francisco after moving from Seoul. She struggles through her senior year, dealing with overbearing parents and trying to acclimate to a new life.

Though I enjoyed the book, I struggled to really connect with Jisu. It turned out to be just okay.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author. All opinions are my own.

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29 Dates followed the story of Jisu as she moves across the Pacific Ocean from Seoul to San Fransisco. You follow Jisu as she transitions to her new school, attends her senior year, makes new friends, applies for university and attend seons set up by a well known matchmaker.

Jisu struggles to do everything the way her parents would want her to do it, be the perfect daughter and figure out who she is and what she really wants in life.

While I enjoyed the story I did find that it was a bit long and it took me longer to read than the average young adult contemporary would take me to get through. I also found that throughout the story there were many questions or struggles that were brought up that were never answered at the by the end of the book leaving you wondering about quite a bit in Jisu's life come the finish of the novel which was a bit disappointing.

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This was a fun and heart-warming read! The story follows Jisu, and young South Korean girl trying to fulfill her parents’ high expectations. She ends up being sent to San Francisco to complete her senior year of high school in order to improve her chances of getting into a prestigious college. All the while, Jisu is being sent on “seons”,or blind dates, set up by a matchmaker at the request of her parents, who want Jisu to make a match with a successful partner.

I enjoyed joining Jisu on her journey through her senior year, reading transcript-like versions of all of her dates, and watching her learn to appreciate herself for who she is rather than who she thinks she should be.

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Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This is totally on me but there is something about this authors writing I cannot get into. I don’t know what it is but every story of theirs I read I just can’t get attached.

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I have been a fan of this author for awhile. I believe I have read every book. So going into this one I had an idea of the writing. Turns out the author decided to change it up. The start of each date, the dialogue were all completely new. While I enjoyed the fact the main character knew her flaws and privledges I was not drawn to her. The fact her character did not grow as much just felt flat and almost like a book report read.
While I think there are others who will enjoy the way this is written I was not one of them.
Thank you for allowing me to read and review this book on NetGalley.

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This book didn't speak to me the way the rest of Melissa De La Cruz's did. I felt like I was underwhelmed by the plot but overwhelmed by the dates. I also was kind of put off by how radical the parents were and the way Jisu thought was kind of wild to me. I was just put off by a lot of things that I didn't particularly love with the way the characters interacted.

I did love that the plot was pulled together at the end by the "black horse" lover and that definitely made it interesting even though I could kind of see it from a mile away.

I would read another book she puts out because even if one book disappoints, that's not totally normal for her.

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I’ve read many other books by this author and enjoyed them. This book felt just very average. I didn’t love it, didn’t hate it, probably won’t remember it for long. But it’s a good read for your average teen reader looking for a book.

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My favorite thing about this book is that it presents us with a unique perspective. Yes, the protagonist comes from a place of privilege. She's aware of her privilege though. There's no moment of awakening, no judgement of and gaining understanding with a "poor" person. There is some rejection of the trappings of wealth or at least obvious shows of it, but that's an attitude she comes in with .Her story is more about trying to make her parents happy and figure out what sort of person she wants to be. There's no rejection of the parental pressure, just the desire to be seen as more than her achievements. The romantic elements are entirely expected of course. As soon as she has a negative experience with a guy, you pretty much expect that they'll end up together.

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I received a Netgalley ARC of Melissa de la Cruz’s 29 Dates, which told the story of Jisu, a senior in Korea who is worried about all the same things that concern most girls her age: grades, friends, college applications, and, of course, blind dates (called seons) arranged by a dating expert at the behest of her overbearing parents. Life changes when her Jisu arrives in San Francisco to finish out her senior year, yet the weight of her parents’ expectations continues to influence her as she navigates the waters of completing final projects, applying for admission to top Ivy League schools, and meeting with high-pedigree boys selected by her seon matchmaker. The only wrench in her parents’ plans may come in her newly-discovered identity, complete with a love of photography and burritos, or the two boys in her life NOT selected by her matchmaker, Austin Velasco and Dave Kang.

While the dialogue from the seons served as great characterization for Jisu, defining her as the antithesis of the serious boys who only think of their future wealth, the arranged blind dates seemed a bit clunky as a plot device; for one, high school seemed premature for marriage plans, and it also didn’t jive that Jisu’s parents were both highly intent on her academic success and fully invested in marrying her off. Additionally, the subtle stereotyping, from the librarian who demanded absolute silence to the materialistic Korean mothers who only gave "backhanded compliments" and the “basic Sophie...listening to basic music and checking her basic makeup,” didn’t seem to fit well in a book that, at its heart, seemed intent on a multicultural focus.

Despite those flaws, though, de la Cruz was able to convincingly capture the worldview of a teenage girl. Comments like, “Everyone at my high school is crazy competitive...They’re all trying to do a million sports or get an internship at Facebook while they’re still in high school” captured the sometimes intense reality of high-achieving high school students today. Paired with Jisu’s silly exchanges with her friends and her inability to decide whether to text the boys she’s interested in (and then throw her phone across the room and sleep once she makes that decision), these purely teen moments make 29 Dates seem more worthwhile but do not completely save it from feeling a bit silly. For fans of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before as well as Netflix romcoms like The Kissing Booth; libraries should consider purchasing where light romances are in high demand.

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