I ended up dnfing this book as I don't feel it was for me.However I did really enjoy the writing style and would try something in the future bu this author.

This has such a gorgeous cover which is one of the main reasons why I requested for this. We follow Jane Chu, a Taiwanese American who is struggling with her identity. She feels burdened by her parents’ expectations of following in her sister’s footsteps and hid how she really feels from them. She has dreams of her own but she has the fear of disappointing her parents. In between the racist comments and being the only Asian American in town, June tries to find her place and figure out what she really wants in life.

I love how relatable this story is for Asian Americans especially June’s burden of carrying her parents’ immigrant dreams and all they expectations they have for her – to be the perfect daughter, the best student, the aspiring violinist. She felt like she was drowning in her parents’ dreams.

The idea of being ‘good enough’ or ‘not good enough’ is what we all go through in an Asian family. I could see my teenage self in June where I was torn between wanting to live my life the way I wanted or to follow through with what my parents want for me. I remembered longing for that sense of freedom and when I finally got that, I felt free and I felt as though I could breathe again.

At times, I felt frustrated with June’s decisions and how she hurt her mother but I realized I am reading this as an adult. I would probably have made irrational decisions at her age too so I cut her some slack. I did wish that she had a bit more development growth as a character but overall, I am happy with how the story turned out.

Thank you Netgalley and Peachtree for the arc.

I usually love coming-of-age stories and reading about messy, imperfect characters finding their way, so I thought Boys I Know would be right up my alley, but I was unfortunately a bit disappointed. Some elements I enjoyed were the discussions of June's identity and how sex-positive the book is, but others didn't sit well with me. Some themes were quite rushed and I wish consent had been talked about more.

A relatable protagonist, I like when the protagonists are very relatable. She also had an interesting journey of self-discovery, with lots of important topics covered in this book, but the wring and execution was disappointing.

this book is not my cup of tea. I could not get into it and honestly, it stressed me out. But I love the cover!!!

I could not get into this book. However. I think others would enjoy it. I like the cover and find it appealing.

This book delivers well and it is exactly what you imagine from the synopsis or the blurb. Also the cover is beautiful. One can enjoy the book if they accept the characters as who they are without any judgement.

This was a beautifully-written novel with achingly relatable themes of desperately wanting to be "good enough", struggling to meet parents' expectations, as well as portraying just how messy, chaotic and complicated teenage life is (and how crappy teenage boys can be) - but doing it all with a dash of humour and a smile. It was a perfect coming-of-age story and I wish I was able to go back in time and give it to my teenage self as there is a LOT in here that she would be able to relate to.

I finally got around to reading this ARC, though I’m not sure I can even call it that now, given it was released in July last year… but look, I’m trying to catch up!! I really, really enjoyed this book. It was such a refreshing and realistic dive into teenage life and the struggles of being Asian-American, as well as truly acknowledging sex, and not in an inherently negative way.

This book was so, so relatable. It was funny, and messy, and such an honestly good coming-of-age style book. No character was perfect, and the author didn’t try and make them perfect!! To be human is to be flawed (I’m sure someone important said that). June had problems. Were some of them typical teenage problems, but the author didn’t lessen them for that, which I really appreciated. And while I cringed sometimes, and cried others, I never stopped enjoying this book.

“Please know that there is no percentage threshold or visual requirement for someone to be considered Asian, and that if you, like me, are mixed, you are valid as you are.”

This quote is from the author’s note at the start of the book, and while yes, it may be partially because I’m PMS-ing today, it did bring tears to my eyes. There’s someone else that gets it!! Bless Anna Gracia, honestly.

But anyway, this book. It was funny! It was realistic! I connected to it in some ways, and not in others, and that’s alright. I believe this is truly such a powerful story, that all Asian teens all over the world should read, especially those who’re living the diaspora life.

“I could probably nest a family of gorillas with the amount of hair I shed every day.”

Same, girl. Same.

Thank you so much to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the free copy provided in exchange for an honest review!! Sorry I took so long to read and review this… whoops. Anyway, highly recommended 🥰💜.

This book really stressed me out! I was excited for some messy, sex-positive, Asian rep, but in many ways it felt like this book just included sex rather than actually espousing sex positivity. June's decisions felt disjointed and opaque, so I didn't have a good understanding of her as a character for most of the book.

This book is so messy (in a good way), fun and full of the complications that being a teenager brings. June is so complex and i love it. Definitely a good read.

Boys I know is a rom-com entangled with teen sexuality and Asian-American feels. June's story is as complex as other teens who is still trying to find their identity and who desperately try to fit into other's image of them. But what make this one a little different from others is that nobody actually get to know the real June. She is welcomed everywhere but not fully. She is 'just good enough ' but not enough to be someone. Even her parents are more expectant from her sister than her. Her AP class partner Rhys is comfortable with kissing her but not fully into her. The author shows us how sometimes a teenage is flooded with different emotions and baggage of expectations that they failed to connect themselves with others and get lost in the way to find their identity. Sometimes they made poor choices and felt guilty about themselves.
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The author has written beautifully all the emotional turmoil that the protagonist is going through. She has also showcased the side of strict parenting and how it can affect the children the parent-child relationships. Though the author could have delved deeper about the conflict about the casual racism and cultural representation, but indeed it's a great story.

The cover is pretty and the title was enough to get me roped into reading. And knowing that the main character is named after my birthday month, well, you have a reader who is sure to read.


Now, onto the summaries.


Short Summary: June is our average girl who goes through the amazingly bad luck with bad guys (COUGH COUGH) and along the way, discovers a lot about who she is meant to be and how to find peace with not always being the smartest cookie in the room.


The Longer Summary? June is a good enough student. She has a list of colleges her parents would disapprove of. She has crushes on guys that do not consider her girlfriend material and as she concocts crazy schemes to get to that stage with guys she meets (and falls for!) we get to see the messy reality check that slams into this poor girl's life and it opens the eyes of others who might be (or have been in her shoes!) Also, we get a better glimpse into the Asian American Identity which I feel we don't get to explore enough in YA literature and that definitely does resonate with how the Latinx identity works all while being collectively mortified by June's mother who absolutely got me feeling second hand embarrassment for June.


I read this one pretty quickly and skimmed at some parts where it was predictable/obvious what was going to happen but there are so many parts of June which I related to and honestly, I didn't like nearly any of the guys that appeared in this book because they really did resemble the crappy guys that we are supposed to avoid at all costs, but that at one point, we end up falling for anyways. June made for an interesting character that definitely was not afraid to mess up or take risks which I enjoyed.


Overall: 4/5 stars

It took me a long time to finish this book because I did get a hard time connecting with the character, particularly with the story. June annoyed the hell out of me in the first chapters. I mean I get what she's trying to do but why baby girl? Why do that? I can see June to my cousin when it comes to boys.😅 Trying to find the 'love' or 'attention' to the boys but failed to see the most important thing. To love yourself and to communicate with your loved ones. If your loved ones still cannot see you the way you are, then they are the ones who failed.

Things I hate about June's parents that most Asians I know can relate to (because somehow I relate to some of June's pressure when it comes to the career I wanna take):
-they pressure you to get high grades
-they want you to go to a 'good' school
-they compare you to someone if they saw that someone is better than you or that someone got high grades than you
-Never compliment you (to at least motivate you or boost your confidence)
-Never communicate to you (to at least talk about the barrier that separates you from them)
-Never want you to rest. They just want you to practice, to study.

I somehow understand June's mother but can't Asian parents give us a rest? Genuine question, why do they have a high standard when it comes to education? But never get happy when we got something to be proud of? But really, I get what June's mother is trying to do but I just thought that she's too strict to let her daughter breathe. I know she wants the best for her daughters but I just felt like if she's open and supportive and give some words of affirmation to them, I think they won't feel invalidated.

And when it comes to the boys: 🥴🤐💀🤷‍♀️

This book has a positive message about sex and I know that you would learn something about it. And I just want to commend June in the last chapters. For realizing that you don't need boys to feel loved. That you deserve man who would feel you everything and who tries and would never ever leave you questions of what if. That you have to adjust too when you think or feel you are the wrong one.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
I really wanted to like this book, but the more I got into it the more upset I got. The relationships that were shown weren't just "messy" they were downright harmful. Each boy treated June so poorly & that in turn made June feel like she wasn't good enough. Then there was the sex scene at the park which was just the most uncomfortable thing to read. I appreciated the representation but I just wish that June could have been a more enjoyable character.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy.
I loved the representation and the diversity of the characters. I think the way the author depicts the family dynamics in this one felt very authentic.
But I have to say that I had high expectations for this book and while it had high potential, the execution felt very flat.
We follow June as she is struggling to get accepted among her peers while having a strict mother who expects her to be the « perfect model girl ». A search for identity and love and the mistakes she made along the way.
I’m so sad that I didn’t like this book because it could’ve been so much more!

I really enjoyed this. I can't speak for the Asian rep but as far as ya high school experiences to me this is one of the most accurate examples of actual high school life.

Unexpected—in both a good and a disappointing way. Good because more than a fun journey of self-discovery, this is a pretty heavy coming-of-age tale with a range of emotions. Disappointing because it promised the former and then delivered the latter with a predictable plot and a whirlwind of disjointed sequences. However, a lot stood strong within the story: the struggle of the mother-daughter relationship, exploration the Taiwanese-American identity, the realistic portrayal of messy teenage decisions, and a writing that subtly conveys the storm and silence of discovering oneself.

This book book stays true to its description, which I have to give it credit for, but I was really hoping for more. I was interested in reading June’s story because I’m usually really pulled into stories of immigrant children and understanding that family’s dynamic, and while we do get that, it felt flat and predictable. The mother felt like a caricature and it kind of bothered me that she would say a Taiwanese proverb and then translate it right after. I know this was more for English speaking readers, but it took me out of the reading experience. I also wished that we heard more from the dad. I assumed (which I will own could be on me) that part of June struggling with her identity in an incredibly white space was because she was biracial but it turns out her dad was also Taiwanese, just incredibly absent from the entire story and void of personality.
I do recognize the main point of the story is June navigating her romantic and sexual relationships, but as I read, I could not understand why she was into any of the guys she was into. Rhys lacked personality, the second (I can’t even remember his name he was so vanilla) came onto you with micro aggressive compliments, and the third was a literal adult??? Like you were in high school and he was a grad student??? And you pursued this while also knowingly shit talked your best friend for also dating a man that was way too old for her so you know it’s wrong, gross, and manipulative? Like I understand that when you’re in high school, it’s easy to feel important when an older person is interested in you but June has made comments that it’s weird so it felt inconsistent in her character. Overall, June didn’t really feel like a fleshed out character which made it difficult to want more for her. I’d be interested in reading more from this author, but this wasn’t it.

This was a cute contemporary! I really liked that this focused more on the main character’s development rather than the romance. I would recommend this for readers of YA romance novelists Jenny Han and Nicola Yoon!