I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My Summer of Love and Misfortune intrigued me, due to its intriguing premise, with a very non-stereotypical Chinese heroine and comparisons to books like Crazy Rich Asians.

And despite being a bit concerned, given the reception of Iris as a character, I actually came to like her. Yes, she’s self-centered and very flawed, engaging in a lot of negative behavior. And immature, sometimes self-absorbed, characters who are still figuring themselves out are pretty much to be expected in YA, and she does have her charm even in her worst moments.

And the story is a ton of fun with a bit of heart too, with the American Chinese girl getting exposed to her culture for the first time, as she ingratiates herself with her long-lost relatives, and finds out the reason for the estrangement between her father and uncle. I did kind of wish that, given that all the characters are some variant of wealthy (whether it be well-off or crazy rich), that there was more consideration about their actions, given that some are a bit unsavory, and the impact they have on Iris’ and her cousin, Ruby’s perceptions, but it’s otherwise a fairly solid and lighthearted read.

Judging by some of the ARC reviews, this book is not going to win over everyone. But I do recommend giving it a try if you are looking for stories with Chinese lead characters.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy of this galley in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start out with some positives: The book truly has a gorgeous cover, I loved the setting, and I love the Asian rep!

I had really high expectations of this book. With a beautiful cover, and a promising synopsis, I was sure I was going to love this book. I tend to really enjoy books where the MC gets sent off to a different country to explore their culture, or even just the traveling aspect alone tends to be entertaining to me. Unfortunately, it fell flat for me.

The main character is very unlikable. She's self-absorbed and shallow, which made this book hard to get through. That being said, she does have great character development near the very end but it felt rushed.

The author is a good writer. She's descriptive and detailed, but the character development just wasn't for me.

If you like:
• Asian-American MCs
• Breaking Stereotypes
• Traveling
• Chinese Life Style

Then this book is for you!

I was really excited when the opportunity presented itself for me to read this book because after I found out that the MC is Chinese-American, I had to read it to expand my library of books with Asian representation.

Being Chinese-American, I felt an instant connection to Iris even if I didn’t grow up in a household with Asian parents that practice some of those things that are special to the Chinese culture, but the expectations of being the best was seen really early in the book. Iris’s parents provides the best things they think will help her succeed in life and get into the top colleges in America. But what if that’s not what Iris wants for herself?

After reading the first couple of chapters, I was intrigued by Iris because she’s aware of her bad grades that could keep her from graduating high school, shopping addiction, and lack of care for most anyone until she gets a wakeup call when her boyfriend cheats on her, the guidance counselor says that graduation might not be an option, her parents find her in the hospital after a bad house party, and her spending habits finally catch up with her.

So, her parents decides to send her to stay with her aunt, uncle, and cousin (who Iris didn’t even know existed) in Beijing, a place that is so foreign with it’s language, stores, and people.

After arriving, it’s obvious that the people there don’t want her in the city because she can’t speak any Chinese, and they think she’s defected because she looks like them but can’t do something as ‘simple’ as speak to them. And, to top it off, her cousin Rose hates Iris and wants her to go back to America. Which is fine by Iris (the going back to America part) because nothing about the trip to Beijing is what she had anticipated.

But her parents won’t let her until she show them that she has learned some responsibility and learned some of the Chinese language.

In this fast paced book about not being what is expected, Iris must learn to let go of some of her bad habits and decides where she fit in.

Happy reading until next time,

This is a hard book to review. I wanted to love this book and parise it from the rooftops, but I just couldn't root for Iris (the most selfish main character I've ever read). She was super spoiled and annoying, and I found myself drudging more often than not because I was tired of reading about her complain about the most mundane things. I was really hoping that somehow she would redeem herself, but that never really happened. I think that the author was off a bit by making her so self-absorbed, as I never sympathize with her no matter how hard the book tried to get us to pity or empathize with Iris. The mishaps would have been funnier if the narrator had been just a little bit relatable.
I did however appreciate that there was never a dull moment in the book! Something was always happening, and even though Iris was annoyingly selfish, sometimes her reactions made me laugh out loud. In every page and chapter, something new was happening, and I was never bored. The last third was the book was really strong, and it was super fun to read compared to the rest of the book.
I also absolutely adored the setting!! Beijing was such an atmospheric and tranportave backdrop for the book! I love all the lush descriptions, especially of the delicious food throughout the book, and it made me really happy to see my Asian culture represented throughout this book! I also loved all of Iris's family members! They were such a fun addition and rounded out her flaws. I also loved the whole competitive dog grooming thing! It was a nice addition to the story.
Overall this was a mixed read for me, but if you love an irresistible setting, definitely check out My Summer of Live and Misfortune

I really couldn’t get started in this book, the main character was so woe is me was driving me nuts!! I finally finished and was so glad to see there was other people out there besides just her! 3 1/2 stars

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: My Summer of Love and Misfortune

Author: Lindsay Wong

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 1/5

Diversity: Chinese American main character!

Recommended For...: Chinese American main and finding yourself

Publication Date: June 2, 2020

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: can’t recommend, dnf-ed

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Pages: 384

Synopsis: Iris Wang is having a bit of a rough start to her summer. In an attempt to snap her out of her funk, Iris’s parents send her away to visit family in Beijing, with the hopes that Iris will “reconnect with her culture” and “find herself.” Iris resents her parents’ high-handedness, but even she admits that this might be a good opportunity to hit the reset button.

Iris expects to eat a few dumplings, meet some of her family, and visit a tourist hotspot or two. What she doesn’t expect is to meet a handsome Mandarin-language tutor named Frank and to be swept up in the ridiculous, opulent world of Beijing’s wealthy elite, leading her to unexpected and extraordinary discoveries about her family, her future, and herself.

Review: I had to DNF this read. I loved seeing a Chinese American main character, but I didn’t like a lot of things about her. In short, she’s a brat and while the author tries to redeem her, this character wasn’t redeemed at all. She blew through credit cards like nothing, she lives off of excuses, she ran away from home, and she has no character growth. It’s very unflattering and by 62% (the part I got to before putting the book down) I would have expected the author to have made the character redeemable. I think the book is salvageable, I think the character could be rewritten and saved (and truthfully I want it to be saved! I hardly see Chinese American YA Contemporaries and I would love to enjoy this one too), but until then it’s hard to read about her when I’m swimming in debt and would love the opportunities she has.

Verdict: Not for me.

Nerdophiles Review
3 Stars
Iris hasn't met a bad decision she doesn't like. She's a 'flower-hearted' Chinese-American teenager, a full-on wild child that racks up thousands of dollars in credit card debt from shopping sprees, skips classes to get high with her cheating boyfriend, and gets herself packed off to her relatives in Beijing after drunkenly crashing her parents' Benz into their garage.
Once in China, she continues her reckless streak on her wealthy uncle's dime - running off to an expensive fortune teller, partying with her expensive Chinese-language tutor, and bailing on responsibilities when her cousin needs her help.
Iris isn't a very likable character. She's every bad American teenage stereotype shoved into one. She's impulsive, shallow, and cares entirely too much about others' opinion of her. Others admire her openness and generosity, but I found it difficult to see these characteristics when she keeps making poor decisions over and over.
My biggest problem with this book is Iris' lack of growth. For about 90% of the novel, Iris is just like when we met her - she makes bad decision after bad decision, and suffers the consequences. But she never changes. When given the opportunity, she keeps on making the same poor choices. Overspending money she doesn't have, neglecting her studies, and bailing on personal commitments.
It's incredibly frustrating as a reader to watch the same thing happen over and over. How everyone manages to forgive Iris for these terrible decisions is crazy to me. She seems to face no lasting negative consequences. Sure, she gets sent to China, but she also meets a super-rich uncle who gives her everything she could ask for. Sure, she disappears without telling anyone multiple times, but now she's semi-confined to a luxury hotel suite with a spa. She's never really punished in a meaningful way, so she never grows. It's a mind-boggling exercise in terrible parenting.
I'd be willing to accept all of these character flaws, but Iris is also completely delusional. She skips class, flunks out of high school, and doesn't know who Genghis Khan or Napoleon is, but still prepares a valedictorian speech. And genuinely expects to be the top student, getting into Yale! It's ludicrous! She shows no desire to learn or study to an offensive degree.
However, the last 10% of the book redeems Iris. She finally learns that she is incredibly privileged and has an obligation to take care of others less fortunate than her. She starts meaningful charity work, and rejects a boy that doesn't respect her. She studies and takes her GED, and generally seems to be on a very positive path forward.
This book was very well-written, immersive in its exploration of ultra-rich China and Iris' party-girl lifestyle. It's like a real life, misbehaving Gossip Girl or Crazy Rich Asians lifestyle, which is a fun, escapist treat to read. My only complaint is that the main character's growth needed to happen a bit earlier in the plot, because I wanted to explore the person that Iris becomes instead of spending most of the book dwelling in all her mistakes.

There have been many less than stellar reviews circling the internet about this novel but I was still holding onto the hope that I might somehow enjoy the story. Iris Wang has got to be one of the most irritating characters I have ever read about - she's incredibly self-obsessed with the intelligence, common-sense, and emotional depth of a rock (and that's an insult to rocks). I kept waiting for a moment where something would click in her brain and she would start to show some character development. While Iris claims to have "developed" and "experienced growth," I honestly could not pinpoint where exactly that happened.

This ultimately damaged the reading experience for me because the story was so heavily character-driven. Iris' voice is so prominent which could be a testament to Lindsay Wong's ability to craft her characters, but because she was so unlikable, I couldn't get past that to enjoy the other elements of the story. Iris inherently represents the negative reaction many people face when trying to reconcile their dual culture - she has little to no respect for tradition and doesn't really care to learn her parents' language (only going on to later complain about why she can't understand people). While I'm glad that we are getting more stories by Asian authors, the portrayal of her character feels damaging to the narrative that many Asian American readers like myself are hoping to find.

Ok, so what are some good things - I did enjoy the portrayal of Beijing culture. There's a good introductory conversation about the rich, nouveau rich, and the poor - the very polarizing class systems in Beijing society. I almost wish this could have been expanded upon more especially when Iris realizes the luxuries of her middle-class American lifestyle in comparison to her cousin's origins. There's also an immersive introduction to Chinese culture - the food, the art, the history which Iris, unfortunately, doesn't appreciate for 95% of the book. Despite that, I had to admit that Lindsay Wong is skillful at bringing her culture to life through her words and that did make the reading experience slightly more bearable.

I kept pushing myself to read this and it was still so hard to do, and I'm really sad about it because I thought this would be my summer book.

The story is over-the-top and outlandish, which I'm okay with, but Iris is so incredibly unlikeable that it was hard to be in her perspective. She is completely out of touch with reality and is easily one of the most self absorbed characters I've ever encountered. There was no reason to get behind her or want to see her potential growth, because honestly, I'm not sure it would have been satisfying or believable given where she starts out. The story read more like a first draft and lacked detail and genuineness that could have grounded all the over the top stuff.

This book had the makings of being a very fun and heartwarming coming of age story, but unfortunately, it wasn’t. Not much happens in this book. There wasn’t much of a plot and our main character’s arc was virtually nonexistent. As someone who tends to enjoy characters that a lot of people find unlikeable, I was surprised by how hard it was for me to get on board with Iris Wang. Iris is spoiled, immature, and entitled. When she is exiled by her parents and sent to Beijing to live with her uncle and learn about her heritage, I couldn’t wait for her to have a great journey of self-discovery and become a better person. That doesn’t happen. At all. There was so much room and opportunity in this story for her experiences to give her some enlightenment but she learns absolutely nothing. The plot seemed to be just a bunch of shenanigans, some that were ridiculous, that didn’t bring anything to the story because they didn’t even remotely affect our heroine. It was frustrating and I found Iris to be unrealistically clueless and stupid. Her attitude was fine at the beginning because I was expecting her adventures in China to open her eyes, but nothing does. She does make an abrupt attitude adjustment at the very end of the book, but it doesn’t make sense as literally nothing throughout the entire plot has changed her at all. It was completely unrealistic. There was a way to have her grow gradually and learn from her amazing opportunities and relationships in China, but the author didn’t give us that. I loved the idea behind this story, but it the execution of it was ineffective and disappointing.

Review on my blog, The Reading Fairy-available now

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review.

I really wished I was able to drink right now because it would really make this book entertaining. Welp, since this girl can't drink alcohol-we're just going to go into the tea. And it's a good thing I have my tea right next to me, because the tea is sizzling the more I read this book. Also, I'll try to keep spoilers minimum, but I probably won't help it because I really do not like this book.

I, Iris Wang, was born to be unlucky.

Iris is one of the most UNLIKABLE character I have ever read.  She is without a doubt, SPOILED, DUMB and ANNOYING character. There are a few things I literally can not stand in the world, but characters who say, "I need a new manicure even though I just got it three days ago." or "I probably need another Venti-size Starbucks refill really soon." in the book, literally I'm destined to hate them. Or having a shopping problem like MAJORLY.

I can't understand people who do that. Like no hate for people who love to shop, or drink Starbucks, or want their nails done-but all that literally screams that you're rich and annoying. And than freak out, because nothing lines up with how much you owe? How who does that? 

Also, what kind of person doesn't remember the right date for her boyfriend's birthday, and accuses her friend of lying when her friend was correct? Like how dumb do you have to be just to do that? 

I really feel like this is Iris. You know how dumb London is from the Suite Life of Zack and Cody, but the only difference is that she is actually rich and Iris owes way too much. If my parents actually find out I owe that much, my parents would ground me for life, or kill me first. One of the two. 

"You're...really boring," he finally says, looking deeply uncomfortable. "You're superficial, self-absorbed, and you kind of think the world revolves around you."

...

"You're narcissistic, Iris. And vapid. You just try too hard."

"What's wrong with that?" I say, not understanding. How can I be all these things? I'm just one person.

😂😂. I can not believe this is in the book. It's so hilariously bad and shows how much Iris is that dumb. Did she not know that there are multiple things that make up your personality? 

Also, you have got to be an idiot while 'driving' under the influence of alcohol, to crash your parents $50,000 car? If I did that, my parents would kill me big time. 

Who does not know what self-absorbed, or narcissistic means? Vapid I could understand, because I did not know until I looked it up.  But honestly. It does not take a genius to even know what two of those words mean.

Oh wait. Iris is not a genius. Literally. And she's not bright in school either.

I've just failed Algebra II. And AP Economics. And World History. And English!!!!

How does one even fail English? It's my first and only language.

I kid you not that line is in the book. My god, that is hilarious. So does anyone want to tell her that English is not only a language, but it's called language arts where you learn how to be a better writer and reader? And also you fail classes by not turning in your work, not showing up and completing your assignments, failing tests. Anything else that I'm forgetting? 

And more of her idiocy is revealed... Wait for it, she starts questioning if her parents really loved her enough to send her off to Beijing and if her father is actually her father? The fuck?  

I'd kill to even go to Beijing or even New York. Also, girl you're lucky to have a father. I don't know anything about him really (He raped my mom, his name is Chris, I have his big toe, I have his attitude. He's an alcoholic) 

So I hope we know by know, Iris is a Dumb protagonist. Reading the book, I'm so confused.

This girl had a hangover when she did her SAT, does a crapjob of filling out college applications who is shocked when she gets denied, didn't study on her SAT, and if I remembered correctly she got 1450 on her SAT?

"She's not even going to community college. Let's face it, Jeff. Our daughter is going to be a loser."

Like why would the parents even say this? You have got to be kidding me? You're going to insult your daughter because she's going to be a loser since she can't get into colleges?

Some of the scenes are just terribly hilarious and honestly, like why? If this book was trying to achieve the worst YA Asian Contemporary book than it did. Another Asian family came, and her parents forced her to hide in the pantry because you know embarrassment and shamed. And than there was another scene on the plane that was hilarious.

Iris is like, my iphone should be fine when we get to Beijing right? After it fell in the toilet? And she wrapped it in toilet paper? She also spends a lot of time not doing anything about that when it fell so it's best to get it out of there quickly as possible.

Geez, one time my airpod fell out of my ear and fell right into the toilet. I wasted no time in grabbing it, dried it and blew on it and it worked! And I did not spend any time worrying because water destroys electronics really quickly.

Oh well this is a surprise. I didn't know Iris was naive. Oh wait, she probably wouldn't even know what that words means 🤣.

But once she realizes that I'm her long-lost American cousin, she'll know that this has been a gigantic misunderstanding and we'll automatically be BFF's. 

Family can always forgive and find each other. 

Oh my fucking god. Someone tell this girl, please 😂. Trust me, family is not like this or else my family wouldn't be complicated. I haven't seen my cousins in New Mexico for a long time all because of an argument which according to when I asked why we never saw them, I called them (which I do not remember) and blamed me and my family for that.

And there's a matter of Emily, 'the step-grandma' a demon from hell if you want to be technical. Trust me, when I heard that my grandpa got married (also one thing you should not do: Online dating), and they were coming back to America I got really excited. Honestly, I couldn't wait to meet who he married. And I imagined that we were going to be close.

I was way off. She always gave off a disinterested attitude, and I didn't see my grandpa as often anymore. There a few times when she had to babysit me, and I liked her. She was really cool and then I find out, she was just putting up with me because I was Richard's (my grandpa) granddaughter. 

And then when I got older and there were several instances where she hated my family's guts. The 2017 trip, where I was only there for like a few weeks. She was good up until she started insulting my family and my mom and I gone outside to cry. I really wished I didn't go, but I'm glad I did.

The 2019 trip? I spent a month in California. She was actually on her best behavior up until the end of June, where she blames EVERYONE. If it's not up to her perfect rules, she will yell at you. She also makes everyone in the house miserable to where you feel it. No wonder my grandpa is depressed.

And more scenes are hilarious! The restaurant scene was by far the hilarious.

Iris: Um, my cellphone broke. 

Uncle: Really? *chucks phone in the trashcan* 

Iris (internally): Those are like millions of dollars

Uncle: *pulls out iphone from his jacket* Here.

Iris: What?

Wait, so is Iris rich? That would probably explain everything because it wouldn't make any sense without that.

I have to applaud her Uncle at times, but honestly this is my thoughts:

Her Uncle decides to teach her how to be Chinese. And honestly I'm really starting to even hate Iris. Is that even possible at this point because it's just terrible; including Iris's decisions and incapable learning abilities.

So if you can't read a paragraph without spacing out, probably cannot do 2x+3=3x+7; unwilling to learn about China with their culture and history. Honey, you may have been privileged in America by a lot-but seriously, can't you respect someone else's customs around learning.

Oh my fucking god. Did I just read that correctly? *Facepalm*. Like why.

Is he mixing up Ruby's grandparents with mine? Wait, do cousins even have the same grandparents? How do family trees work? 

I'm not kidding this line is literally in the book, and I have to facepalm so bad. I have officially met the stupidest protagonist ever? Okay seriously, did this bitch ever go to school or ever did family trees?  I just did a family tree that goes up to my grandparents thank god, but why the fuck would you ever ask this type of question?

Anyone want to know more on why I really fucking hate Iris? It's her stupid, self-centered atttiute that she really does not get. I mean like why. Trust me, when someone's you don't care about them, they're about 99% telling the truth if you have never shown interest in their own problems. Honestly, it doesn't take a genius to figure that out.

I kinda want to point this out before I forget it again: Traveler's Diarrhea. I actually did not know how about that until I looked it up and I remember the book saying that she can't have local street food. And this is what google says; caused by eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water.

This book does not even make sense know that I realize it. Iris does not grow as a person until the last 20 pages. I'm not kidding. It's like all of a sudden she sees poor people and she wants to help them, when she didn't even bother. Like that that is not accurate growth as a person. I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be the entire novel and NOT THE LAST 20 PAGES.

And I really did not like the romance. It was so rushed. The characters didn't even hang out together to much, and all of a sudden I see Iris and Frank kissing and already being naked to each other. How am I supposed to believe that? I'm really glad the torturement is over.

DNF

I'm having a lot of difficulty empathizing with the heroine and understanding her decision-making. I don't expect MCs to be perfect or behave the way I would, but this difficulty is affecting my enjoyment of the book. YMMV so please give the book a chance.

DNF pg 41 - Nope, nope, nope. I started this book and immediately hated Iris as a character. So I checked out reviews to see what her character growth is like and it appears to be nonexistent. Instead of wasting my time on this ridiculous character, I’m going to move on. Such a shame because I was looking forward to some good Asian American representation. I mean, there’s something to be said for the author bucking the stereotypes, but I wish she’d done it in a more likable way.

Note: I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

DNF @ about 40%. I was SO excited for this one, and the writing and setting were absolutely fantastic, but the selfishness and immaturity of the heroine grated on me so much that I simply could not finish. I’d absolutely love to read more from this author because I love her style and the way she writes settings, but Iris made me want to heat my face against a wall.

I could not finish this book. The writing wasn't bad, but the protagonist just didn't read well. Of course there could have been character development but I skipped around some and I didn't get any notion that she does develop. Unfortunately I just don't have time or patience to read a book where I won't get much satisfaction, so I could not finish it.