Ex Marks the Spot is a second standalone novel by Gloria Chao and was an adventurously wild ride!

I love that even though it starts with high school, it is not a teenage story. While they are teenagers, they are adult teens and go on an interestingly wild adventure and journey. This makes the dynamic of the characters much different than expected and I’m so here for it!

Not to mention the location being in Taiwan and Gemma being fairly new to it! As well as the various other locations that come into play as the story progresses. It pulls me into the ride as well. I love the family secrets that have yet to be discovered or uncovered I should say. As well as things turning into a treasure hunt in the process.

Let’s not forget the puzzles! I’m a puzzle girl and anytime I have the chance to solve something, especially when it is intertwined with a story and helps to push the narrative forward, or backwards, I’m diving in. Puzzles add to the adventure and help build the relationships overall, so yes please!

I didn’t know what to expect going into this book, but I’m glad I chose to read this. It was lots of fun. Plus the romance. 😉

I can easily see this being adapted into a movie or series.

Who doesn’t love a good rivals to lovers story? This would be great for readers 15 or older due to the nature of the story and the characters’ ages. It’s a fun adventure and romance melted into one and would be enjoyed by many. I highly recommend checking it out.

Other books to read are When You Wish Upon a Lantern, Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes, and The Inheritance Game

*This was an honest review for a complimentary copy of Ex Marks the Spot from Gloria Chao via NetGalley

One thing you should know about me: YA books with scavenger hunts are auto-reads. That is exactly how Ex Marks The Spot ended up on my TBR.

As much as I love reading about scavenger hunts, Gemma’s mystery-filled trip to Taipei and everything that ensued still has me scratching my head. Happy coincidences happen frequently in YA contemporary novels, but nothing could have prepared me for how well this scavenger hunt worked out.

To put it simply, the hunt is entertaining but highly unbelievable.

Despite the almost impossible circumstances of this trip, I loved the chance to get to know a bit about Taipei. Food books are another must-read for me, so reading about countless delicious-sounding dishes was such a highlight. Also, the setting led to deep talks about the Asian diaspora and the different ways a person can be Asian American which made me so happy.

All in all, Ex Marks The Spot is a fun read that I’d recommend to:

- anyone looking to experience secondhand adventure
- readers looking to summer vibes to chase away the winter weather
- people debating which vacation destination should be next (hint hint: it’s Taipei)

Bottom line: If my next reviews are out of schedule, it’s because I’m having the time of my life in Taipei; thank you to Gloria Chao for the inspiration.

Huge Thanks to Penguin Group (Penguin Young Readers Group | Viking Books for Young Readers) and NetGalley for the ARC! 💖✨ Ex Marks the Spot by Gloria Chao is dropping on Dec 31, 2024, and it's 384 pages of adventure, culture, and a sprinkle of romance! 🌟

✨ Tropes & Themes ✨
✧ Enemies to Lovers 💘
✧ Second Chance Romance 💋
✧ Treasure Hunt 🗺️
✧ Family Secrets 🕵️‍♀️
✧ Cultural Exploration 🍜
✧ Rivals to Lovers 💖
✧ Misunderstandings 🤦‍♀️

Okay, so I was so hyped for Ex Marks the Spot—treasure hunt, Taiwan, family secrets... What could possibly go wrong, right? Well... turns out, it just wasn’t my vibe. 😅 As a huge puzzle and mystery lover, I was expecting an epic scavenger hunt, but the puzzles? They didn’t really hit the mark for me. They were kinda convoluted and hard to follow, leaving me more confused than intrigued. 🧩💫

Now, let’s talk about Taiwan! The cultural aspects were EVERYTHING. 😍 The setting was so vibrant, and I loved how Gemma explored all the delicious food. 🍲 If the book had focused more on that and less on the confusing puzzles, I would've been all in!

As for the romance... I needed ALL the Gemma and Xander moments! 😍 But noooo, we had Brett swooping in and stealing the first kiss (like, Gemma—what are you doing?! 😩). The chemistry just wasn’t there for me, and it was a little disappointing that Gemma and Xander didn’t have more screen time together.

The rivalry? Built on a misunderstanding. Classic, but also a bit overdone, you know? 🤷‍♀️ It kinda felt like a missed opportunity for more character depth and development. 😔

Overall, this was a fun, quick read if you're looking for something light and breezy. Would I recommend it? Sure! But if you’re into puzzles that’ll make you think or a slow-burn romance, this might not be your jam. 💕

This was cute for the age demographic! Loved the enemies to lovers story and connecting with your native roots. And who doesn’t love a good treasure hunt??? This was so entertaining and inspiring!

Fresh from graduating high school, Gemma has her life turned upside down. She finds out that her grandfather, who she thought had been dead for years, recently passed and left her a clue for a treasure hunt. Reeling from the lies from her mother, Gemma decides to join a group going to Taiwan so she can uncover the truth. This group has her ex-boyfriend/rival, Xander, in it so I knew we were going to get some very entertaining scenes. With each clue she unravels we find out more about the family that Gemma never even knew. And she has to find help from her ex or she will never figure it all out.

I adored this book, anything with puzzles and finding oneself I just love. The romance is not the main focus which I am thankful for, this is all about Gemma's adventure. Some of these parts to her adventure will lift you up while another might break your heart. I was cheering her along the entire time and devoured the book in less than 24 hours. If you are a fan of young adult books with lots of adventure, you need to pick this one up.

"Ex Marks the Spot" is a heartwarming YA story set in Taiwan that is sure to satisfy those who enjoy coming-of-age stories. The main character gets entangled in a family feud and struggles to reconcile with their identity. The story explores diaspora identity and the search for oneself.

Gloria Chao’s “Ex Marks the Spot” is a great read about Gemma and her Taiwanese heritage. There are some aspects of the story that seemed a bit unbelievable to me, but I really enjoyed the treasure hunt, which is a fun aspect of this story and is a great way to keep things moving along. If you need a fun book to read, give “Ex Marks the Spot” a try.

I have always enjoyed learning about Chinese/Asian culture. This is a beautifully written tale about a young woman, Gemma Sun, and her desire to know about her heritage. Her mother is of the opposite opinion; that they assimilate to the American culture that Gemma was born into and not look back.

Gemma, a young lady raised by a single mother, understands what sacrifice is. She knows what hard work is. She has always aimed to get good grades and not make trouble in order to reach her end goal of getting into a good university. She is thrown a curve ball when she is given her grandfather's will and sets out on an adventure of a lifetime. She embarks on a journey of discovery. Will she finally know where her cultural roots are? Will she learn more about the Grandfather she never really knew? What treasures will she unearth?

This is truly a magical story all about discovering that things aren't always black and white. There are many shades of grey. It's about turning one's preconceived notions on their end. The writing style has the story flowing like a winding river and taking the reader along on a rafting adventure through the calm placid waters and the turbulent, bubbling areas to hopefully land on firm shores with knowledge and acceptance.

This story was so cute. You could definitely tell that it was a young adult Romance based on how the characters were interacting with each other. There was a lot of tension between the two main characters, but it each led them to discover the main problems that they were trying to find out.

I liked this book! It was a good change of pace from my typical read. I think this would be a great book for teenagers, not only in reading level, but some of the themes really speak to teen struggles. I thought the puzzles were a little repetitive/underdeveloped but overall, a good book!

I really enjoyed this coming of age, found family, adventure romance. It was a lot of fun to see Gemma going from someone who feels they are responsible for the well-being of her and her mom to someone who can still do that and have a little bit of fun.

The treasure hunt adventures Gemma and Xander had with the TARP group in Taiwan was definitely the best part of this book. I found myself googling locations throughout my time reading it and now I want to book a trip to see all of them in real life!

The enemies to lovers romance was really slow and at one point I felt like I'd be fine with just her building friendships with the rest of the TARP participants but by the end I found the romance to be very sweet.

This is filled with friendship and healing on so many levels. I enjoyed it so much. I 100% recommend!

After graduating HS Gemma has some serious nerves about the future and how she will pay for college. When she finds out that she has a grandfather she didn't knew existed and an inheritance that is hers if she travels to Taiwan and solves the puzzles he set. Of course during all this she can't do it alone and she reluctantly gets help from her ex- boyfriend/friend and HS academic nemesis who is also of Taiwanese decent. Great puzzles and self discovery but I actually didn't care for Gemma and her personality.

Gemma thought she had only her mother as family, and that her Taiwanese culture was lost. One day a man shows up to tell her that her grandfather passed away, and there's a treasure hunt that will lead to her inheritance. She must go to her grandfather's home in Taiwan and will need her ex Xander's help. Gemma discovers that the treasure hunt is more than money—it's about finding family, her cultural roots, and maybe even finding true love.

Immigrants often are faced with a choice: assimilate and lose the culture they had been born with, or double down and cling harder to it. Gemma's mother wanted to be as American as possible, so Gemma grew up without learning Mandarin or any stories, foods past ramen, or folklore. She felt self-conscious about it, especially with her ex-boyfriend Xander, who was her co-valedictorian, able to speak the language, and knew more about Taiwanese culture. He even set up a program to help students go to Taipei over the summer to reconnect with her roots. Because of her grandfather's mysterious treasure hunt, she asks for a spot in his program to learn more about her grandfather. She didn't think she would care about the program or the other students in it, especially when she felt so self-conscious and continued to barrel through the clues, hoping for an inheritance that could pay for college.

Gemma has "a different wavelength" that helps her with art and puzzles, but sometimes has her feeling left out in social situations. With this trip, she winds up reaching out to her roommate and other students, learning about her grandfather's life, and the Mandarin language itself. Along the way, clues reveal secrets that her grandfather had kept, and even about Xander's grandfather, as the two had known each other in Taipei. I appreciated the language lessons Gemma learned as the novel progressed because the ideograms make for great puns and visual clues. The city and neighboring towns are so vividly described, it's like we get to learn about it along with Gemma and get a chance to experience the discoveries with her. Just as she learns to trust in other people and relax, she also learns to appreciate the family she has and the legacy that they left behind. As the child of immigrants myself, her story really resonated with me, and I appreciate it that much more.

Thank you so much to Penguin Teen for the free copy of the book!

This book will be released on December 31st, 2024.

This was so cute! I don't normally read synopsis when I read book but I did read this one and I thought it sounded like a fun YA read. And it was!

Gemma was raised by a single mother with no connection to any of her family members. But Gemma learns that her grandfather died and left her a treasure to find. She is hoping to find inheritance at the end.

I love seeing Gemma explore Taiwan and learn about her culture! Her grandfather led her on such maze through the country! So many family secrets are unlocked and I felt bad because her mom kept him from her all her life. Gemma paired up with her middle school boyfriend Xander on the trip to help since his family was also involved in the hunt.

I know this is a young adult book but I was hoping for a wee bit more swooniness between Xander and Gemma. I did like that they talked about what cause their breakup 4 years prior and how it all pretty much ended over miscommunication. I like how they reconnected though over this treasure hunt.

If you are looking for an adventure YA through Taiwan filled with riddles and reconnections!

Gemma starts college in the fall and doesn't have enough money for it. She learns that her grandfather has passed away and that he left her a treasure hunt. She hopes on the other side is the money she needs for college and happily accepts the hunt. However, the only way she can go to the country the hunt is at, she needs to make allies with her ex-boyfriend. I was expecting way more than what the book gave. in my opinion, It took too long for Xander to be introduced fully to the hunt. I think I was a third through the book before he actually joined it. The romance also didn't feel believable to me and wasn't actually introduced till the last half of the book. There was also a slight love triangle, and that put me off a little. I also guessed the big plot twist at the end between Xander and Gemma's grandfathers. It was a good twist, but it didn't shock me as much because I guessed it.

I know Xander makes up names for Gemma that show that she isn't fun but one of mine is that she is a "fun sponge". She sucks up all the fun! She really wasn't that fun, and I wasn't attached to her. She was boring to me and for most of the book, she was mad at someone. it was either her mother, grandfather, or Xander and that got tiring very quickly. And if I see her mention one more time that she gets judged about her puzzle centered brain, I will scream. nobody ever cared or knew about her puzzle mind. That means that nobody ever made fun of her for it. That drove me crazy. However, there was one thing I liked about her. Her stress about money for college is something I am worrying about since I started college recently.

Xander was okay. You didn't really see a lot of him until he actually joins the hunt. Even then, I thought he didn't have anything that really stood out about him. All we know about him is from Gemma's pov, that obsesses about a cardboard dog and how he didn't take anything seriously. It would have been nice to get a Xander pov since his grandfather is included in the hunt.

The other characters were okay. Didn't really like any of them but also didn't hate them. They weren't really unique and only really were known for one thing. Some of them were annoying and I didn't know why a lot of them were there, except they had to be because of TARP.

It was an okay book. It wasn't anything unique to me but could be a five star to someone else! We all have different book tastes, and this just wasn't fit for me. I wish the characters were more developed, and that Xander was introduced to the hunt earlier than he was. overall, I just wanted more than what was given, and it just felt like a typical YA book to me.

Well-written and engaging; perfect for fans of young adult books. Definitely got Gilmore Girls vibes from the mother/daughter relationship. Give me a swoony-worthy enemies to lovers story any day.

A splendid and entertaining YA read! I think this is wonderfully written and will well received by younger readers.

Gloria Chao writes some of the sweetest, ooey gooiest YA rom-coms, her last being friends-to-lovers romance When You Wish Upon a Lantern. Her forthcoming novel goes the complete opposite direction, bringing on the witty banter and hate goggles in an enemies-to-lovers adventure. Ex Marks the Spot follows FMC Gemma and her ex-boyfriend/rival Xander as they travel to Taiwan to solve the puzzles her late grandfather left her. Puzzles that could possibly lead to an inheritance she desperately needs for college tuition.

Gemma is super reluctant to work with Xander, especially with their history, but even more so when she discovers that their grandfathers supposedly had a hostile history too. There are many secrets their families have kept from them, and the only way to unbury the truth is to unbury whatever treasure is waiting for them. Gemma is a serious, no-nonsense kind of girl, but with the help of Xander and the other students on this trip, she starts to see the beauty in slowing down. In stopping to smell the Niu Rou Mian. In just having fun. And with every step — every puzzle, clue, destination — she learns so much about her tragic family past… and about the boy she thought she hated.

I always enjoy the lively Asian culture in Gloria’s books, but it’s more fresh and exciting here, since Gemma is only now getting the chance to connect with her heritage. She’s seeing everything in a new light, and it definitely sings the theme of new beginnings. I loved how she gradually lowered her walls for Xander — their partnership was as cute as expected, full of cheesy puns and silly nicknames. A little too much cheesiness at times, but eh, I like my dorky couples. What did bother me was the kinda-sorta love triangle. It didn’t really go anywhere and didn’t need to be in the book, but it also didn’t take away from the charming romance. Nothing could take away from Gemma’s eye rolls and Xander’s smirks.

(Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for the advanced galley!)

I liked this one better than WHEN YOU WISH UPON A LANTERN because it felt more genuine and wholehearted. It was definitely a love letter to Taiwan as much as it was to the grandparents who hid their secrets and buried them. I loved the treasure hunt and decoding the puzzles along with Gemma and Xander. I think this was done so well! It reminded me of my favorite Lily Chu’s books - a good romance with a good game/puzzle to get into. I didn’t like how there were some dead giveaways about the mystery of the grandfather’s life and how it felt like we the reader didn’t have to work hard to figure out the hints about the romance and the art scattered everywhere. Overall, this was a lovely book about Taiwan, family secrets, and ofc enemies-to-lovers.

gloria chao kills it again! i especially loved the themes of exploring asian american identity, and the puzzles were very fun and well-crafted

Ex Marks the Spot is about Gemma and as she discovers her family's legacy through a treasure hunt across Taiwan. This was a cute, refreshing read. The dynamic between Gemma and Xander was sweet and fun. What really pulls the story together is the foundation of family and culture, a thoughtful but exciting read.