And, you thought 'Seinfeld' was about nothing!

Meet Young Wang, an American Born Chinese guy who's happy to tell you all about the loves of his life, be they music, movies, or girls. What follows are play lists, and accounts of which girl Young did what with, and . . . that's about it.

There are pages of undedicated dialogue, leaving the reader to guess which girl Young is speaking with this time. Is it Gina or Erena? It's virtually impossible to tell as all the characters in this book speak in super cool, well-thought-out quips about eighties and nineties pop culture.

I ended up putting the book in the Young Adult section of the library where I work, as I suspect this will appeal mostly to readers under the age of thirty.

A quirky charming fun read.Well written the story drew me right in.A book that had loads of references to pop culture & numerology. romance &love and is love predestined.Will be recommending.#netgalley #flatiron.

This book started slowly and didn't really engage me until the end. I don't think that I'm the right age group for this novel. I'm a lot older. There were a lot of references to the music of the 90's which I didn't know at all. I appreciated the descriptions of New York City where I grew up. The end of the book had some good insights about how to approach life.

I got about 50% through 888 before finally deciding this one is not for me!

Things I appreciated:
- The author's clear familiarity with New York
- The lighthearted but still critical engagement with race
- Some really beautiful pieces of writing
- Surprising and welcome inclusion of ADHD and number rituals!!! Me too, with the superstitious number rituals

Things that didn't work for me:
- So much raging teen hormones. So much. At times it veered into the type of YA I'm not a fan of
- The dialogue--I'm still not convinced anyone speaks like how the characters in 888 do
- So many exclamation points and italics. Ultimately, this and the dialogue are what made me decide to DNF

Still, thanks to the publisher for gifting this to me. I'm always happy to see more Asian American literature make its way into the world.

Thank you to flatiron books and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 3.75 stars

Synopsis: young is a first generation growing up in New York City in the 90s. He has a strong belief in numerology and love for pop culture. This is his coming of age story.

What I liked: if you grew up in the 90s, you will love this book. Every popular toy, book or band get their due in this point. Told from a make point of view made this story really interesting. Maybe I spent too much time with guys in the 90s but it was very real and authentic. I think it moved a little slow to begin with but picked up when young meets Erena in college. His belief in numbers and his uncle told him, he would find happiness with his seventh love. However Erena is his sixth love so he is confused. Young and Erena were a great couple and liked how they interact together especially traveling. The ending to me was the best part and fitting with the theme, it was an homage to the choose your own adventure stories popular in the 90s.

I would recommend this book for 90s nostalgia and a great coming of age story from the male perspective. I do think it could have been balanced better between the beginning and end. I felt like the end was a bit rushed while the beginning dragged in some parts. However I am not a male so maybe that is intentional.

Abraham Chang's debut novel is a story of a quirky young man who falls in love with a girl by fate.

Saying the MMC is "quirky" could be an understatement, as he is borderline obsessed with numbers that have come to have different meanings. Eccentric may be a better adjective. Despite the MMC's personality, as the book's title mentions, numbers have quite the role in this book. The MMC is obsessed with the number 8, which culturally is very luck, but there is a whole system to other numbers and figures that are listed in the book. The book is written as if it could be a skeleton screen play, with flashbacks, and interjecting scenes that makes me feel like I am also in the mind of a human that also has an attention disorder. It also doesn't help that there are movie references and an ending that will further support a whole " movie/TV series" feel.

Beyond all that, I personally enjoyed this book. A MMC growing up, discovering love, what love is for him, navigating love and relationships, and different family/cultural dynamics. Reading through other reviews of this book makes me question myself, but I know that I liked this book, a lot. I am very appreciative of Netgalley, Flatiron Books, and Abraham for allowing me to read this lovely story. I would recommend this book to others!

Overall a solid read, I enjoyed the culture embedded into this novel. I had fun with the Chinese pinyin embedded throughout the novel. Enjoyed the history of lucky numbers as I grew up with this from my parents. I wasn't sure what I would expect with this one, I really wanted to love this but I couldn't relate as well to the characters even though I come from a Chinese background. Still a solid read.

I liked this book a lot! You really fell in love with these characters and were rooting for them throughout the book. I loved all of the pop culture references and made me nostalgic for the 90s.

A quirky and energetic love story. Young throws his heart into his interests and is an avid movie and music fan. He also believes in the power of numbers and that everyone gets seven loves. When he meets and falls in love with Erena (aka great love number six) he feels like she is the “one” but the thought of great love number seven looms large.

This was a lot of fun - Young is so likable and the novel’s structure keeps things interesting, alternating between Young’s present day with Erena and his past loves.

Thank you very much to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

This book has a unique style, structure, and tone. I enjoyed the mix of flashback chapters, letters/postcards, and present-day narration blended with many aspects of 90s culture and Chinese number superstitions. Several scenes evoked childhood nostalgia and were just really sweet. Almost all the characters are written with lots of energy, which can feel overwhelming at times. I appreciated the format of the ending and the overall message about trusting yourself to be in the driver's seat of your life. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a memorable coming-of-age story.

This was a fun one! I initially gravitated to the plot summary because I, too, have a somewhat peculiar obsession with numbers. Young Wang and I both believe that some numbers are inherently better than others, and we both maybe put too much stock into their meaning. Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching his development over the course of the book, especially his blossoming relationship with the quirky, foul-mouthed Erena.

It took me a few chapters to get into the groove of the story because I found the dialogue a little unnatural. But, I grew to appreciate the sometimes wordy, meandering banter and felt they ended up making each character stand out even more. I also loved the sense of nostalgia throughout the book and always got a kick out of each music reference that popped up.

Overall, I enjoyed my time reading the unique 888 Love and Divine Burden of Numbers. This was a great, different take on a timeless concept, and I look forward to checking out upcoming works from the writer.

In the Wang family, the is a superstition that each person get 8 great loves in their lifetime. When Young move to NYU and find a beautiful girl he graples with the idea that this could be a failure or the girl! We are reminded that the journey is what matters and not to think too far ahead of ourselves in every aspect of life. Set in the 90's you will be brought back to that nastaglic feeling and trust me this will keep you tirning the pages. You will find your deepest thoughts written in these pages.

I really just loved the culture embedded in this novel and how the plot played out in the book. In general it was a good book.