What a sweet romance! I loved the setting in Chicago's Chinatown and all the tidbits about the author's culture.

This book is very well written. The author has a way of expressing character emotions and setting that doesn't feel forced and is easy to read.

However, I was missing some depth from this book. I wish we could've seen more of the MCs as children or something to help us understand as the readers why they mean so much to one another. They stop being friends for a while and I was confused as to why, if their connection is so strong, that would be possible. I also hate the miscommunication trope.

I loved the themes of this book and the setting was great!

Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Liya and Kai have been best friends forever. Their parents own a store and bakery next to each other in Chicago’s Chinatown. Liya helps sell paper lanterns while Kai is the baker extraordinaire. They used to do everything together, but now that Liya’s Nainai is no longer there to be their buffer between their feuding fathers, and ever since the boba puke incident, their relationship has been strained. Liya is super lonely without either Kai or Nainai around. When she finds out her family’s store is struggling, Liya decides she needs to work on fulfilling wishes that people write on the store’s lanterns before they release them. It’s something she and Nainai used to do together, and it helped the store as well as felt good to do. But can she fulfill wishes on her own? Kai is crushed that Liya’s reaction to him asking her out was to puke on his shoes. His father and older brother make his life miserable, and his mom is working on flights around the world more often than not. Is there some way he can make things right so Liya will at least be friends with him again?

This is a story of best friends moving at a snail’s pace to something more and learning a lot about the importance of communication in friendships and family relationships. Liya and Kai both learn they had been operating on assumptions that weren’t true at all, and they both learn their family situations won’t improve without some actual communication. Through the story we get to spend a lot of time in the small Chinatown community, and experience several cultural celebrations, joys, and challenges with them. It was interesting to walk in their shoes. During festivals people write their wishes on the paper lanterns Liya’s family sells before lighting and releasing them, and she often helps them write their wishes which is how she knows what to work on fulfilling. Her desire to help others is sweet, and the book highlights how little acts of kindness can have a far-reaching effect. Kai and Liya’s relationship is sweet, and they are very good friends for each other. They are free to be themselves with all their quirks with each other, and they help each other grow. They are a bit of star-crossed lovers since their fathers are feuding (rather than the Romeo/Juliet comparison, the book highlights a Chinese folktale of star-crossed lovers in comparison). They are both also really grieving the loss of Liya’s grandmother who was like their 3rd musketeer and had a huge hand in raising both of them. I had a little bit of a hard time getting into the story and I think it was because I couldn’t figure out what age Liya and Kai were supposed to be. With just a few tweaks this could easily have been a middle grade story with Liya and Kai being 12 and just friends trying to restore their friendship. Which is fine. Teens don’t have to be angsty or edgy, there are many real teens who are low on drama and very even-keeled individuals. It just took a little bit for me to realize they were atypical teen book characters in a refreshing way. (Well, mostly. Kai hardly swears but then uses strong profanity several times.) Hand this to readers looking for a cute and sweet YA romance with Chinese cultural influences.

Notes on content [based on the ARC]: Just a couple minor swears and 13 uses of strong profanity. There are some texting abbreviations for stronger words, but they are not written out. There’s some heavy kissing, but nothing beyond that. Kai's father asks him an awkward question about whether or not he's satisfying his urges regularly. Deaths of loved ones are mentioned but not described in any way. Kai’s father and brother are verbally and emotionally abusive. Financial struggles are an issue for several in the community.

I received an ARC of this title from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After a super embarrassing misunderstanding (I would have run too!), Liya and Kai are no longer speaking. When Liya discovers that her family’s wishing lantern shop is in trouble, she wants to start making customer wishes come true with small, but sweet acts of kindness as she and her late grandmother once did. Kaya is in need of help and to her surprise, her former (cute!) best friend Kai jumps at the chance.

This super cute story was a wonderful combination of both rivals to romance and friendship to romance.. Kai’s steadfast admiration of Liya was the sweetest thing and I couldn’t wait to see them overcome the hurdles they faced. Chinese traditions and culture abound in this story and enriched it greatly. Familial love was also at the core of this book and I appreciated that each family’s growth was its own and not uniform which made it very relatable. When You Wish Upon A Lantern was obviously written with love for both family and culture and I look forward to more from Chao.

Love, Love, Loved this new book by Gloria Chao! Such a sweet story about family, culture and finding your place with the people who love you. I have liked her books in the past but really loved this one especially. I might be slightly biased living so close to Chicago. I loved we saw the story from the perspective of both of the main characters and even though they had some problems along the way were willing to stick it out together. I also greatly appreciated that even though everything didn't end "happily ever after" it looks like the characters are going to be ok. I was able to follow along well even with the second language thrown in (which I do not know). It was wonderful to have that small town/community feel all the while learning about at culture that is not my own. I can't wait to read this book a second time.

A mix of If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang and Cafe Con Lychee by Emery Lee. It was a cute romance, and a beautiful story, the magic system and the use of paper lanterns were great cultural tools.

From my blog post: First, I have to say that Gloria Chao is one of the authors that helped me get through the passing of my grandfather. Not that she herself was an emotional support but her books were…I literally was reading Rent-A-Boyfriend during the funeral to keep myself grounded (everyone knew to give me a wide berth with a book in my hand & an angry air about me). With that said, I was REALLY excited when this book was announced because, emotional turmoil aside, I enjoyed her books and this one was no different. There was great banter, rekindling of friendship, baking and some sneaky wish granting antics. While there was death of a grandparent (wow, full circle, huh?), it made me think back fondly of my own rather than get wrapped up in grief (it’s a never-ending battle folx). There were so many great moments in this book and I ate it up in less than 48 hours since I was having such a good time with these characters. Icing on the cake (or filling in the mooncake for a better analogy), this book was a dual perspective (and y’all know how much I love those).

I saw a few people DNF this book immediately because it had miscommunication trope, so I was so scared to pick it up. I'm happy to say that it's not even close to miscommunication - more like poor timing. You immediately know why Liya and Kai are somewhat estranged, and it's honestly an entertaining hiccup that led them to where they are. The only thing that blip resulted in, really, was mutual pining, which was adorable.

This story is a story of love - a dash of Romeo and Juliet (or Zhinü and Niulang) mixed with friends-to-lovers - but, as a whole, it's a story about history, immigration, Chinese/Taiwanese culture, community, and tradition. Liya and Kai bop through the story as wish granters in an attempt to save Liya's family's store. Through their wish granting, they learn more about their community, people's histories, and their immigration stories. I teared up a lot throughout this book both because of heartfelt, warm moments, as well as moments of grief, not just for the dead, but for the lonely and the lost.

I also related a lot to Liya's unnamed anxiety and germaphobia. The way that old memories haunted her and impacted her actions was so similar to my experience with life. Like, this story didn't have to come at me like that. The whole storyline with Stephanie was so perfectly executed and I loved the outcome of it all.

This book was so beautiful, and honestly felt like a warm hug for the most part. Gloria Chao hits it out of the park once more!

TW: Grief, bullying, vomit, toxic family, mentions death

Rep: unnamed anxiety and germaphobia

Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 5/5
World Building: 4.5/5
Writing: 5/5
Pacing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

eARC gifted via NetGalley by Viking Books for Young Readers via Penguin Group in exchange for an honest review.

I love Gloria Chao and everything she writes. This was amazing. This was a great retelling of Romeo and Juliet, I loved the relationship between Kai and Liya, the way they know each other so well but are learning about each other more every day. I loved how close the community that Kai and Liya are part of is. This was a sweet and fun book!

This was so cute and packed full of Chinese culture: I loved and craved Mooncakes while reading this and now I really want to attend a lantern festival!

Kai and Liya always had each other’s best interests at heart despite their initial miscommunication, and I really enjoyed seeing how they built their relationship back up from awkward to back to friends to romantic interests.

The feeling of their small town was so magical!

When You Wish Upon a Lantern is such a sweet story about two teenagers who are best friends, but also harbor romantic feelings for the other. Each of them conceals this fact, thinking the other is not interested and for fear of ruining their friendship. To make matters more complicated, their families own neighboring shops, but unfortunately for Liya and Kai are in a never ending feud that weighs heavy on the two protagonists.

Liya and Kai were both lovable characters that brought so much humor and heart to the story. I loved seeing their relationship involve and often found myself laughing at the banter and more embarrassing moments between the two of them.

While this book is about friendship and young love, it’s also about community and grief. At the start of the book you find out that Liya’s grandmother had recently passed, who shared a special connection with Liya and had a deep fondness for Kai. As the book continues you also gain a deeper sense of the impact her grandmother had on those in the community; a similar impact that Liya wants to continue through wish granting.

It was really special reading about the festivals and how everyone in the community came together to celebrate. Even when there was drama, Chao was able to portray the love and support that flowed through the small community. I really appreciated the culture that was shared in When You Wish Upon a Lantern and thought this was a really special read!

Feuding family love stories have been around for a long time — Romeo and Juliet, anyone? So, to make a story stand out in this genre, authors have to find something unique. In the case of When You Wish Upon a Lantern, it’s secretly granting wishes.

It’s a premise that not only works, but feels believable and achievable.

Author Gloria Chao’s writing has an almost cinematic feel to it. You can practically see the lanterns floating across the screen. And the book’s beautiful cover truly helps set the tone.

At the center of the story are Liya and Kai. The pair are well-developed and play well against each other. And while supporting characters are a bit rough, Liya and Kai come across as genuinely kind people. You’d think that would leave the story flat, but instead, it’s refreshing.

There’s a kind of innocence to When You Wish Upon a Lantern that will appeal to readers who are looking for a “chaste” romance. It’s gentle and sweet, and Liya and Kai are charming.

When You Wish Upon a Lantern is an assuming read that’s light and well-paced. It’s a joy to read.

Ok I loved this book! First of all there was a part that reminded me of the scene in Tangled which is one of my faves! I love the romance in this book, the theme of wishes and hope. There was romance, growing up, learning to deal with grief, thoughts of first love, learning to move on from things. With a bit of Romeo and Juliet vibes. Literally read this in one sitting it was so good!

I loved this book so much. It was so sweet and loved the friends to mroe element. I also loved the "magic element" it gzve me the charmed list vibes but less magaical and more small town vibes. I also thought this book was softer verious og the complex realtiomships the main character that had with their parents. This book was a bit of softer read but also had harder topics like grief. This book also ahd massive self didvocery plot line for both characters!! Def a new favorite by this author!!

I was really excited to read this one, but unfortunately, it didn't live up to expectations. This cover is everything (and very much gives Tangled) so that might have factored into my decision to request this book. But anyway, let's get into it.

I love an ex-bffs, it's always been you situation, and this one book definitely had it. That was probably the best part of the book. There was some miscommunication which led to the whole ex-bffs thing, but the pining was magnificent.

The main reason I didn't love this one was the writing. Chao has written many YA books so I'm not quite sure why the writing in this one fell short, but it did.

Overall, I think the idea and plot was okay behind this book, but the writing wasn't there for me. I'm interested in reading some of Chao's previous books to see if this book was s fluke or if her writing really isn't for me. I'll report back.

Thank you Penguin Young Readers, Viking Books, and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this great book. This is a feel-good, easy read with elements of Romeo & Juliette-like forbidden romance set in Chinese culture. I enjoyed learning more about Chinese culture, traditions, and significance of the wishing lanterns. Would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes Gloria Chao’s other works or just wants a magical, feel good read.

This was sent to me as an arc, all opinions are my own.

Absolutely loved this book. A childhood friends to awkward friend break up to lovers!! The characters each have their own issues within their families, but they relate and compliment each other so well!!

I was interested early on and didn’t want to stop reading. Liya and Kai were so stuck in my brain, I love them!!

I will try my best to not commit any faux pas as an adult reviewing YA.

Let me just start off prefacing that I don’t like that the whole book rests on a trope that I feel is a bit overdone: two teens trying to save a beloved business/town/mall/organization and taking on an overwhelming amount of energy and time, and then falling in love along the way. (I’m thinking of THE CHRISTMAS CLASH by Suzanne Park btw.) It just seems to belittle how big the problems really are and that an Instagram account or a functional website won’t automatically fix — maybe this is me the ex-marketer speaking.

Moving on though: I loved how the book sets up the reader to learn about the Qixi and Zhongyuan holidays — I actually don’t know about these two but I do know bits and pieces of the Niulang Zhinu folktale. I loved how integrated Lili’s story was with the folktale’s love story. I love the friendship between Kai and Lili — so genuine, heartfelt, and 100%. I also really appreciated Stephanie’s role in the book/Lili’s life — it compounded the fact that this book was deep, well-rounded (family, community, friends, money, love…) and the love story that develops was an extra cherry on top.

When You Wish Upon a Lantern is a contemporary YA romance, likely geared towards the younger end of the YA spectrum.

It feels like a character driven novel, but the characters weren't quite developed. (Hence the younger end of the YA spectrum)

As much as this story is about childhood friends to lovers with feuding parents, it's a story about grieving, and how best to honor those that have died. I'm some ways this book also touches upon gentrification.

I really expected more pining from a best friends to dating book, but it just wasn't really there. It seemed that the outside worries (losing the family business, parental feuding, discontent within the family) interfered with me being emotionally invested in the two characters forming a romantic relationship.

Liya and Kai are adorable in repairing their friendship after an incident had made their friendship awkward. Especially since they each have their own version of why the other is avoiding them. But when push comes to shove, they are each other's staunchest fans and would do anything for each other. This leads to Kai helping Liya you start granting lantern wishes, something she did with her nainai before she passed.

Y'all, I didn't expect this book to make me cry, but I definitely shed a few tears towards the end when Liya mentions traditions she shared with her nainai.

PS: the chapter headings in the book are really cute.

Content Notes: toxic family, financial troubles, death of grandparent (off page), grief

3.5 rounded up to 4

This story was so sweet and I loved the messages of family and community throughout the story. The friends to lovers portion fit in nicely as well. If you are looking for a Romeo and Juiet style love with a tad miscommunication thrown in, this may be for you.

The only reason this book did not fully work for me was the pacing and length. I feel like there were parts in the story that were drawn out and couldn't keep my attention well. I think this story could have done well if it had been shortened just a tad.

This was my first book by Gloria Chao & I really wanted to like it but though I love the cover, unfortunately, the book fell below my expectations.

The story had a lot of potential and I loved the plot, the characters, and even the unpleasant characters had their role in it. I loved the kindness depicted in the story with the wish-granting.

I really did enjoy some of the touching scenes but the writing felt lengthy and dragged the inner dialogue a bit too long until I wanted to grab Liya & Kai and give them a good, hard shake.

That said, I think the values interwoven in this story, the kindness, the sense of community, and friendship made the book worth it.