This book was almost a DNF for me. I would not recommend it. I found the writing to be very lackluster and full of cliches- which is somewhat ironic consider one of the characters was meant to be a writer. However, the characters lacked depth, their dialogue felt cheesy and forced, and I couldn’t get invested in any of the relationships. The most interesting one was perhaps between the main character and her female friend, Rachel. The other relationships lacked any believable emotional depth or connection, the characters were hot and cold, sometimes unrealistically so. I typically like books of this genre and can forgive some of the recycled tropes of a love to hate to love storyline, but I couldn’t get into this one. I honestly didn’t care what happened to them. The discussions of cultural expectations and pressures through the generations was somewhat interesting but again, felt surface level. Perhaps it was that it was viewed through the main characters’ lens and they lacked emotional depth for me. Josh was more likable, just because he felt a little more believable. All in all, I had no investment in any of the characters and cared little for the outcome.

As a Chinese Canadian, I really liked the Asian perspective. I did find the book slow and not always engaging. It's a light read if you're into romance novels about giving love a second chance.

The Year of Cecily

Plot: .5
Writing: .5
World building: 1
Characters: 1
Themes: 1
4/5

Spice: 2/5 - It's there but only mildy descriptive.

What you can expect:
- Second chance romance
- Familial relationships, specifically AAPI

**SPOILERS**

This read more like fiction as the familial and friendly relationships were a big part of the story. I think I cared more about that than the romance, which felt more secondary to the story.

I listened to the audiobook and thought it was really well done. The narrator does a wonderful job at the voices.

Cecily is a lawyer wanting to reset her life for the Lunar New Year. She was left right before her wedding by Jeff, years ago. They rekindle their relationship but it feels like a new relationship. I didn't feel insane connection and chemistry between them. One thing I really did not like was that Jeff broke off their engagement days before the wedding due to a misunderstanding. I get that this was a part of his character growth, but breaking an engagment before a wedding is a really big deal. I think I would rather have had them just break up from a normal bf/gf relationship than something that's so much more serious.

I was unsure how I felt about two adults in their 30's learning basic social skills and emotional intelligence...and then I think about all the people I know (asian, who grew up with asian parents) who ARE emotionally stunted and ARE just figuring it out. This is a real thing that I think was well portrayed in the story. I'm not sure everyone will get it, but I liked that Cecily was really intentional about her personal growth and set goals (lists) to achieve it.
In the same vein, Jeff is a man in his mid-30's half-assing his career. Now, I don't mean to generalize and not everyone is like this, but there are so many men who have grown up under tiger moms making every decision for their life that once they are an adult, they're unable to make decisions on their own. Jeff is trying to live for himself in persuing his writing career but was afraid of making the big decisions in putting himself out there. I loved seeing him choosing to fight for what he wants in all aspects of his life.

There were so many nuances in politeness, obligations, and social understanding regarding the asian culture.
So much of this is relatable. The no-contact thing...asians could never. The comparing to other kids and never being good enough...oof. Also, how the parents are pitting kids against each other when in reality, we'd probably all be good friends. We're not originally malicious but how our parents make us feel inferior, we bring that into other relationships. Especially those we were compared against.
This just reminds me that this is a universal experience many asian kids go through, no matter what asian you are. I was not expecting to relate so much, I didn't even care about the romance. lol.

I really did enjoy this one. It was a quick listen, I finished it in a day. Big thanks to Netgalley for providing the audiobook for an honest review.

The Year of Cecily is a great look into Asian-American families and will ring true to a lot of people that come from a strict family structure. This second chance romance is not only sweet and steamy, but it's filled with a hope that we could all use.

This book made me sit in my feels and I'm here for it. I'm pretty sure that the ideals and family structure in this book are really common in families that have immigrated to the US because I feel this deep connection with Cecily and my family is from Mexico. Cecily taking a year to better herself and her life while dealing with a "meddling" family that just wants the best for her(even if they don't show it in the best ways) is fun and filled with love. The Year of Cecily was a great reminder that sometimes the best things in life are right in front of you if you'll just open yourself up to them.

This made for a great audiobook. I loved how the characters were developed and the storyline was fun. It was a wonderful listen!

Sometimes you start reading a book and it feels like you’re in the main character’s head and experiencing the plot first hand. This was not the case for The Year of Cecily.
The writing felt stilted and definitely reads like a debut novel. You can determine what is going to happen after the first chapter, but with that being said, the premise was kinda cute, even if it has a cheesy end.

The spice in the book was… awkward. I think it has something to do with the stilted dialogue. Also the phrase “feminine folds” was unexpected and not for me 😂

The timeline and setting of the book felt a little abstract, and I couldn’t figure out how much time had supposedly passed or where they were supposed to be.

The new year resolutions Cecily makes at the beginning of the book were also cheesy, and as the book goes on and Cecily checks things off her list, it felt as if the author was doing the same thing for the book. It just felt unnatural and could have been a little more refined.

Second chance romances aren't usually my trope of choice. For someone that doesn't believe in astrology, I'm a very typical Taurus. Once I'm done with something, I'm done for life.

Cecily and Jeffrey broke up years ago, but meet up again in New York during Lunar New Year. I've been reading a lot of LNY romances. Cecily is a successful lawyer in San Francisco. Jeffrey is a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Will they make this work?

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

I started off with The Year of Cecily* by Lisa Lin. This one alternates POV between Cecily a lawyer in her 30s who makes 8 new years resolutions, and Jeffrey, a screenwriter. The two both happen to head back to NYC from California to be with their families for Lunar New Year, and also happen to be former flames who have gone a decade trying to forget each other and what happened between them.

Unfortunately, I found this one pretty boring and predictable. I did kind of enjoy the new years resolution aspect and Cecily's desire to set goals for herself and take charge of her future, especially in terms of boundary setting and finding time for herself. I didn't find Jeffrey's sections very interesting, and kind of wished it was just told from Cecily's perspective. Not all romance novels need to be told from both perspectives, yet I find that is becoming more and more common these days... I think I might have enjoyed it more in a physical copy, but even then, I don't think it would have been a favourite of mine. Thanks to netgalley for the chance to listen to this one!

As a fellow asian, I always love to give the books written by asian authors a chance. I think that this was a great read for anyone who wants something fun and quick. It was something that you don't see too often as an asian romance. It was cute!

This was a great read - I had a great time reading it however it didn't keep me interested the entire time

Cicily Chang has decided to make a list of ways she can change her life and make it better. Jeffrey Lee is living and thriving in LA as a screenplay writer and the only y regret he has is letting Cicliy go.

Both Cicily and Jeffery both grown up in New York with overbearing parents who try to guide their lives. The shares experience gave them a connection that can't be broken apparently

I loved to see these two grow although I felt like Jeffery grew way more than cicily whose only growth was forgiving Jeffery

Anyways, this was a great second-chance romance with some seriously spicy parts

Narrator Kat Riley did a great job with both character's voice however it was a little robotic - lacking in some warmth - still great tho

Audiobook ARC provided by NetGalley. This was a cute story of second chance at love with some spice. The narrator was new to me and she did a good job at narration.

I enjoyed Cecily and Jeffery's story. She is a lawyer living in San Francisco and goes home to New York to spend the Lunar New Year with her family. She has deemed it that year of Cecily and makes resolutions to take charge and to change her life. She and Jeffery were engaged and he broke it off suddenly, quite medical school and move to LA and fell in love with writing movies. They bump into each other visiting family at the airport in New York and undeniably sparks are still there. Jeffery set out to prove that he is the man for her and tries to win her back. This is a second chance romance and a cute story that I enjoyed.

I picked this up because I was looking for a diverse and entertaining romance story. This story was a dual POV. It centers around Cecily, a lawyer in her mid 30s who is looking to find a future that feels more stable than her present circumstances.

In the beginning of the book, Cecily spends New Years Eve making an organized list of the things she wants to improve about herself and her life in the coming year. She decides to fully put these goals into practice when she goes home to NYC to celebrate Chinese New Year with her family. During the trip from JFK airport to her family's home, she reunites with a man she hoped to never see again - her ex fiancé. Cecily holds bitter feelings against him for suddenly breaking off their engagement weeks before the wedding and then disappearing the next day without talking to her about it. When these two reunite, the tension between them is rivaled with the romantic attraction that has lingered all these years. These two need to decide what to do about their growing attraction as they return from vacation in NYC back to their separate lives in separate spots of California.

This story was part women's fiction, part family focused (especially on the criticalness of some Asian parents), and part romance. Since this story was advertised as a romance, I expected that to be the primary focus of the story which left me wanting a bit. There were some scenes with more romantic development, particularly around 30%-40% of the way through the story and again at 75% of the way through the story. It wasn't as much of a romance as I was hoping for, but the author did a great job bringing a story of diverse characters to life on the page. She represented the various familial dynamics and parental expectations that can come from family life, as well as how protagonists can pursue their dreams and create the life they want for themselves and their families. This story was about family, chasing your goals and creating the life you want for yourself.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audiobook copy of this story. The two narrators did a great job of bringing this dual POV story to life.

Content: critical parental figures, breaking off a past engagement, being ghosted by an ex, two open door scenes

#BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Year of Cecily by Lisa Lin
⭐️⭐️⭐️ / Pages: 293 / Genre: Romance / Narrator: Kat Riley

Cecily Chang is determined to reboot her life with a list of New Years resolutions just as soon as her obligatory trip home to Brooklyn to celebrate the Chinese New Year with her family is over. She especially wants to avoid her ex-fiancé Jeffrey Lee, who dumped her 10 years ago right before their wedding without giving an explanation.

As you might guess, after doing the whole playing-hard-to-get dance, this quickly became an enemies-to-lovers romcom where Cecily and Jeffrey air everything out, have some hot steamy sex, and eat lots of delicious-sounding Chinese food. Overall, this was a pretty good story and Kat Riley did a great job narrating.

Thank you, @dreamscape_media and @netgalley for the advance copy of this audiobook.

This is a pretty straight forward breakup-redemption romance. Things did not work our for Cecily and Jeffrey a decade before; however, a chance Lunar New Year reunion rekindles their romance. Will it be for good this time. Just a so-so listen for me.

Cecily is ready to start the year of the pig right - she’s got resolutions to keep (that will be difficult, seeing as one is trying not to cause family drama) and she’s ready to go. That is, until she bumps into Jeffrey when she lands in Brooklyn for the Lunar New Year. It’s only a matter of time before this man from her past starts to show up more in her future.

I thought this seemed a bit rushed? I understand that Cecily and Jeffrey have history, but they fell back together really soon after Cecily couldn’t stop saying how much of a jerk he is?

Cecily was obviously very stressed about her family dynamic, and I thought this did a really good job of showing the pressure that parents can put on their children without realizing.

Overall, I thought this was okay, and I enjoyed the spicy bits, but I think it was trying to pack in too much too fast.

I enjoyed a year of Cecily overall but the reason between Jeffrey and Cecily’s first split fell a little flat for me, I wish more context / background was given being that they were childhood friends to lovers.

However I loved how it dealt with more serious topics like setting boundaries with family & healing & creating new friendships. I enjoyed that aspect of the story much more.

If you want to read a journey of a woman figuring things out for herself I’d recommend!

I was really looking forward to a cute Lunar New Year romcom but this was not necessarily for me unfortunately. I liked that it was a friends to lovers story where they break up and Jeffrey regrets it for years. I’m sure some will absolutely love this but I really couldn’t get into it and I almost quit a few times. I would try another one of this authors stories though. I liked the character and world building in this.

Can I just say that this is actually the was a childhood friends to lover that I like? Because it is.

Was I frustrated that it took Jeffrey way to long to tell Cecily why he broke up with her in the first place? Yes, but I really liked how this story. was written/narrated. The pacing was on point and I liked all the little dates and how both Jeffrey and Cecily got to know each other again.

This story I very healing when it comes to relationships with parents. A lot of inner healing too and I just loved the communication (after like 50% more or less). Loved a lot a little pieces of this book and I do highly recommend... and that means a lot cause I usually hate childhood friends to lovers.

It's also just the right amount of smut to plot I like.

4.5 stars

Thank you so much NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the audiobook version of this arc.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to finish this book; I’m not sure if it’s just the way it was narrated or the writing style, but the way it read just wasn’t for me.