Thanks to NetGalley for giving me and ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I think a good book makes you not only feel something, but be called to action. After reading "Eighteen Roses," I started working on a tight fifteen for my own standup routine! Overall, I found the characters sweet, if frustrating in the way high school kids often are, and the plot satisfying, if a bit predictable. This is a fun romp through a very stressful senior year, and I think it will be perfect for teens looking for a sweet coming of age novel about a cynical girl who learns liking things can be very cool.

DNF at 36%. I really wanted to like this book because I was intrigued by the premise of a book talking about debut parties, especially as a Filipino-American myself. However, I think this is largely a case of "this book wasn't for me".

One thing I really enjoyed was the use of the Tagalog language in the narrative! It was really endearing to see my language used regularly, and even for the parts I couldn't translate myself right away, the author still made it easy to understand what was being said. And overall, I really enjoyed the representation and seeing my culture come to life on the page.

I rate this three stars though because my biggest issue was the main character and not being able to understand her hatred toward pretty much everything. I saw some earlier reviews come in about how the backstory plays a big part later in the story and that's how you learn to understand Lucia, but I personally wasn't willing to wait that long to see why Lucia turned out the way she is. But, like I said, I think it's largely just this not being the book for me because Lucia and I are very different, so maybe that's why I couldn't understand her as easily.

Also I’m not come of age and not Filipino I really felt for the main character. With the fact that she struggles as everyone does and she really goes into depth with it.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.
This is a story of a girl named Lucia who, against her will, at first, has to plan for her debut.
Along the way she learns to open up and try new things and meet new people.

One thing that I wish this book had was the translations into English for her native language.

I enjoyed the story though.

Lucia Cruz is a senior in high school and kind of a loner, except for her friend Esme and her sister Ali. Her family is...complicated, and she struggles with their expectations for her versus her own ambitions and values. She shows honesty and bravery in facing these conflicts as she navigates the cotillion that means so much to her family.

This is a super quick read - 1 day for me. The best part of this novel for me was the character development. In the beginning, I couldn't stand Luz. But the more I got to see of the girl behind the attitude, the more she grew, and in the end, she felt real and relatable. Her struggles were really interesting insight on the family and traditions of being a Filipina American, so I felt like I learned something there. Shoutout to Luz for finding her niche and not expecting it to fit perfectly right away.

There was one conflict/story line in particular that I wish had been more developed, but overall this felt like an accurate and empathetic view of a cast of enjoyable characters.

I really enjoyed reading this, it had realistic characters and I was invested in Lucia’s story. It had a great story going through this book and that it worked in the young adult genre. The cover is beautifully done and I’m glad I read this.

I am glad that the protagonist eventually does get over herself. I can’t judge the character too much for being quite insufferable at times, because it is an accurate illustration of the kind of arrogance and know-it-all-ism that teenagers unfortunately tend to possess.

But it still feels lacking somewhat, more like it trails off rather than coming to a proper end. With so much of the plot being about the protagonist having to plan and organize her debut, I expected that more time would be spent on the debut itself.

Still, it was an interesting look into another culture’s traditions, and I’ve always been a sucker for stories about characters trying to find a way to make longstanding traditions their own, honoring both the past but also reflect who they are and what they believe.

I just feel that the book spent too much time in some places, not enough in others, and wound up muddling its thesis.

this book was so cute and delightful! it was so fun to read and had a great friends to lovers arc!!!!!!!!!!

Lucia Cruz may be turning eighteen this year, but she is not the debutante type. Everything about a traditional Filipino debut feels all wrong for her. Besides, custom dictates that eighteen friends attend her for a special ceremony on her birthday, and Lucia only has one friend– Esmé Mares. They've stuck to each other's side all throughout high school, content to be friends with only each other. At least, Lucia thought they were content.

As it turns out, Esmé wants something different out of her senior year. And, on top of that, Lucia's mom has planned a debutante ball for her birthday behind her back. She'll be forced to cobble together a court of eighteen “friends” before her beloved lola arrives from the Philippines for this blessed occasion.

How far will Lucia stray from her comfort zone in order to play the role of dutiful daughter and granddaughter? Will she do the unthinkable– participating in a school sponsored activity? Will she discover that her sense of humor can be a way to connect with people, not just push them away?
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A great read for teens struggling now

I lived for the drama, with Esmé and Lucia at the beginning. It had me offended at that point, what Esmé said was CRAZY but honestly understandable when she wanted to really live out her final year of high school. Their relationship had me absolutely REELING because it was such an emotional rollercoaster, yet was happy all managed to end up well.

Lucia and Esmé also had me absolutely losing my mind with the whole “infatuated with a sophomore when they are literal seniors” mostly because Lucia had to mention him being in the same grade as her sister, it's weird to think about being interested after someone who is your sister’s age in my opinion. That part constantly plagued the back of my mind, but it could not compare to how baffled I was by Noah instead. That was what kept me awake at night.

I had such conflicting feelings about Lucia’s mom, it was easy to feel irritated with her and then the next moment you feel bad. It was gut-wrenching the way she struggled with the debutante ball and her just wanting to be at the same level as the other members of her own family. I loved Lucia's character and how relatable she was, she was truly so “human” with how she knew she had flaws and she knew she had regrets but all she could do was push through it. I loved how internally conflicted she was with the whole situation, she was trying so hard and you could really see her struggle. Also, her TikTok arc had mE losing it because it was such an unpredictable move I was not expecting it to come up. I really loved Lucia and it was so lovely to read through her experiences.

The story honestly had a really abrupt ending, I wasn’t expecting it to end so soon and cut to the epilogue to fast as it did. With the way that the story had such a great lengthy build-up, it was lacking when it ended so suddenly because I was ready to expect so much more from it. I really wish I could have seen more of what happened with her father in the end, that was what made me really curious.

Before I get into the actually story, lets get a round of applause for this cover. The colors are so wonderful, the illustration is so beautiful, amazing. Now, the plot: it blew me away just as much. This story of the battle between being a dutiful daughter and doing what you think is right for you is a story I am quite familiar with. However, I often hear it told from the perspective of Hispanic children. It is so important to see this told through a different cultural lens. Filipino culture is one I rarely see in popular novels as well, and this really showcased aspects of that culture. My maternal side of the family is from Laos so I am often frustrated when all Asian representation is Chinese or Vietnamese (though I am happy they are breaking into this Caucasian-dominated-market), so this book was really refreshing (even if it was an emotional story) as it brought a culture so close to the one I grew up with.