This was ok, but unfortunately just not for me. I’m giving it 3 stars because it’s well written and I do believe some will enjoy it!

What I wasn’t a fan of:
1. I felt like the cover and the blurb were a bit misleading. It seemed like this would be a cute and fluffy book where the romance was the main plot line, but that wasn’t the case. To me, the romance took a backseat to the main character, Lynda’s, everyday life, which is fine in general but just not what I was expecting going into this one.

2. I didn’t really care for either of the FMCs. They were both a little too arrogant for my taste.

Angela was ok because she called herself on her arrogance and it did have a charm to it, but I felt for being the love interest she was hardly in the last half of the book.

Lynda was not a character I saw eye to eye with. She acted like she was the only one allowed to not know exactly what she wanted to do in life and the only one given a pass for not knowing how to talk to her family and others. She was constantly insulting her step-sister, her best friend, her family, and Angela of the things she was also guilty of. Above all, she was just incredibly selfish. All she thought about was how someone else getting help hurt her and how things would benefit her. She was irrational and unrelatable to me for these reasons. I did not feel that she was redeemed by the end of the book either which I think could have helped me like her a bit more.

3. I felt like there were simultaneously too many characters yet not enough happening in the plot. I also felt very unresolved on the Otome because it was still in process at the end of the book. I think the reader definitely could benefit from an epilogue a couple months or years in the future when the game is completed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Delacorte Romance, and Alice Lin for the opportunity to read this book. The thoughts and opinions expressed above are honest and my own.

I really loved this book. I read it in two days because I wanted to just keep reading. I laughed out loud, I felt sad (I’m not a crier for books but the heavy chest was there), and I smiled. This was a perfect YA romance and the LGBTQIA+ and AAPI rep was appreciated!

4.5/5 stars

Love Points to You is a romance between an artist and the girl who hires her to draw characters for an otome game (choose-your-own-romance).
This was a very cute, sweet romance. Both the MC and the love interest are asexual (and we love that for them). The story moves quick and the characters have an astounding amount of emotional intelligence.
The book does a great job at showing parents who mess up, but who are doing their best and who try to fix their mistakes. (Except for a side character’s parents, they’re just toxic) I would’ve liked to spend more time with that, but there were a few pacing issues that I’ll get into next.
Honestly, the pacing for most of the book was really good. But the last half/third of the book was super rushed. I think the final conflict came a little too late in the story, which took away from some of the emotional impact of the resolution.
However, I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a sweet YA romance with asexual MCs, nerdy characters, and characters who aren't afraid to mess up.

CW: parent death (cancer); death; emotional abuse

When Lynda's father remarries, she has to move in with his new wife and her daughter. Lynda hasn't had a close relationship with her dad and has depended on her aunt and uncle for most of her life since her mother died when she was quite young. But they have now moved away.

Lynda is an artist and is hoping to attend a top art college but is unsure if her father will pay for it, especially when so much of his money is now going to pay for private violin lessons for her new step-sister.

A possible solution arrives in the form of Angela, a classmate who offers to pay Lynda to draw characters for the online game she's creating. Their tentative friendship becomes romantic over time.

The arc of this story not only focuses on Lynda's relationship with Angela, but her issues with her family, as well as her own coming to terms with the need to better understand and accept the points of view of the people closest to her.

This YA novel is well written and engaging once you get through a rather slow start. Lynda, her family and friends, live in an Asian-American community and the author describes their cultural references (mostly food and family traditions and expectations) without explanation. This in particular made the book stand out and feel authentic.

Highly recommended.

I was provided an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley.

Love points to you is a coming of age romance between two girls Angela and Lynda.

This is one of those stories that isn’t horrible but it also isn’t great, I didn’t have trouble reading it but I have no desire to ever read it again and honestly probably could of gone without reading it.

I don’t know how to explain it but this book just wasn’t drawing me in, I don’t know if it was the story or the writing but I just wasn’t clicking with it at all.

One of the things I Really didn’t like was the MC’s father, after remarrying it was very clear that he was picking favorites and treating his daughter like absolute trash but that may be a sore spot for me because I went through that myself when I was younger .

All and all I give this book a 2.5 but am rounding up to a solid 3.

Thank you Netgalley Random House Children's | Delacorte Romance for the arc

{ Love Points to You } by Alice Lin

★ ★ ★ ✬
Narrator(s): Katharine Chin
Length: 8h 13m
Source: ALC - Penguin Random House Audio
Release Date: March 4, 2025

❥ Lynda Fan is driven and practical. Angela Wu is rich and arrogant. They’re rivals. But when Lynda’s iPad is destroyed Angela offers to hire her to help with an otome game—a love story-based video game—in exchange for an iPad and some cash.

❥ This one was a TOUGH one. Some YA books are written for young adults specifically and I feel like everything in this book is that age group because man, did Lynda go through it and wow, how relatable it was from my youth.

❥ And honestly, at the end, I felt like things were solved way too fast and too easily. Especially for her dad and stepmom. Truly retched people!

❥ The romance was my favorite part. Sweet, innocent, and pure, it carried the story for me.

♡ sapphic ya romance
♥ rivals to lovers
♡ family problems
♥ asexual/demisexual rep

{I received a complimentary copy of this audiobook. All reviews are my own.}

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
# Pages: 320
Publication Date: 03.04.25

"Everything about her is vibrant. Like a true performer, she’s screaming at the world to pay attention. To see her.” I’m feeling seen right now...”

🎨 YA Contemporary Romance
🎮 Sapphic Romance
🎨 Rivals To Lovers
🎮 LGBTQ+ Rep
🎨 Coming Of Age
🎮 Asian American Rep
🎨 Opposites Attract
🎮 Asexual Rep
🎨 Rich Girl X Poor Girl

** A swoony rivals-to-lovers romance between driven, practical Lynda Fan and her rich, arrogant classmate, Angela Wu. When Angela offers Lynda the chance to design characters for her Otome game, Lynda discovers things she never knew about herself…or her heart.
Love is an art. **

"Even the everyday stuff is a lot more colorful with you around."

“Love Points To You” by Alice Lin is a cute and quick sapphic read. It was a very unique idea. The character development was done well. The main characters and side characters were all relatable. She does a great job painting a realistic picture of a teen and trials they face. I would say this is more of a coming of age and is lighter on the romance.

Lynda is a sixteen year old artist. She was raised to be hyper independent and we learn the impact of that. Whilst facing the challenges of a newly remarried father, jealousy, feeling of needing to compete with her new stepsister, and figuring out where she fits into the world. She has very raw and real emotions that are easy to relate to, especially when I was that age. Throughout the story, she learns more about herself, including finding love with our other FMC.

Angela is the rich girl who is the former popular girl. Angela definitely has a lot of depth to her. She is designing an Onome Game and hired Lynda to be the artist for it. From there, their relationship starts to develop.

Overall, I enjoyed the read. I think there’s a lot of promise to Alice Lin’s writing talents and I would definitely read more books from her. I think this is a perfect read for a teen.

Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children for this ARC read.

This was a fun, cute, quick read! Featuring queer/sapphic and an Asian-American couple, this coming-of-age/young adult romance is equal parts heartfelt and engaging. Unfortunately, I wish there was more of a balance between the romance and the family dynamic plot.

I thought this book was really fun and cute. I really liked how the characters interact with each other and the relationships they had outside each other. I like how the plot flowed and didn’t feel like it dragged in any places. I would definitely recommend this book to other people.

thank you to netgalley and delacorte romance for allowing me to read an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

dnf at 20% so i do not feel comfortable rating it since i did not finish it and that would not be fair.

i tried so hard to finish this and so hard to like this, but alas, it was not in the cards. something in me thinks it may be because i am simply aging out of the ya audience, but something deeper in me just did not care for the simplicist writing style and overall clichey tropes thrown in there.

i could see this being really incredible to put on as an audiobook and just sit on the couch and do a mindless craft to. however, reading it was a bit of a struggle because of how choppy and simple the writing style was as well as how it seemed to just keep making me -not- like the characters. none of the characters seemed particularly likable in the first 20% to say the least.

i'm very sorry i could not finish this book, but life is too short to read books you do not enjoy.

Alice Lin's Love Points to You follows Lynda Fan, a stubbornly ambitious teen artist who is dealing with her dad getting remarried, causing to gain a new step-mom and step-sister. After Lynda's drawing tablet breaks, she gets recruited by her classmate, Angela Wu, to design characters for an otome game she's creating, in exchange for a new iPad. Through working on the project together, Lynda finds herself starting to fall for Angela, who she used to think she had nothing in common with.

This book features a sapphic Asian-American couple, it comes out on my birthday, and the author and I share a name, so I felt like it was made for me! Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed with the book overall. The representation really resonated with me as a Korean-American acespec lesbian since both Lynda and Angela are sapphic, acespec, and Asian-American. However, I thought the writing leaned a lot more on telling than showing, which I didn't love. I also got very frustrated with Lynda's behavior and I thought the end of the book was I bit rushed.

Thank you, Delacorte Romance, for the early copy.

"Love Points to You" is a cute, quick read that any teen will enjoy! It's always a delight to see Asexual representation in Young Adult novels, and Lin portrays these characters with care and respect.

While I wish the romance had been the heart of the story, the author's intended audience will likely relate to Lynda's struggles with her new blended family— they might even find themselves wanting to play an otome game! I especially loved every scene where Lynda and Angela planned their creations.

If you’re a fan of role-playing games, opposites attract, and beavers pretending to be bunnies, be sure to grab a copy of "Love Points to You"! It’s sure to be sweeter than your next bowl of shaved ice.

This boba sweet ya sapphic romance story follows Lynda Fan and Angela Wu as they navigate balancing work, school, friends, family, and relationship drama. Having lost her mom to cancer at a young age, Lynda is used to being an only child. So when her dad remarries, Lynda not only inherits a new step mom (Amy), but also a step sister (Josie), whom she now has to share a room with. Adapting to this new life is not exactly what Lynda wanted, especially when college applications are just around the corner and Lynda has no money to get into her dream art school RISD. To make matters worse, her parents are using all their money on her step sister’s new violin teacher and a tutor center so that she can get into Curtis (a prestigious music school). The only things that keep Lynda from falling apart are her best friend Bora and Henry (her ipad that she uses to draw on). But when Henry makes an untimely demise, the most unlikely of people offers to step in and help, Angela Wu.

Angela Wu is known for being rich, arrogant, pretty, and smart. Making a drastic change freshman year, Angela went from nerd to hot cheerleader what seemed like overnight. And then all of the sudden, she went back to being nerdy again. Even though she doesn’t know what she wants to study or go for college, she does know one thing, she wants to make an otome game. Only problem, she needs a talented artist to design her characters and bring the story to life, someone like Lynda. So when Angela overhears Lynda’s trouble with her broken ipad, Angela offers to not only buy her a new one, but pay her $10,000 if she does the art for her game. Lynda of course jumps at the chance and absolutely does not disappoint. The more Angela starts to get to know Lynda and the more Lynda discovers her preconceived notions of Angela were not what she thought, the deeper and more real their feelings for each other become. But once dreams start to take hold, family dynamics get more complicated, and reality starts to set in, both Lynda and Angela discover things about themselves, love, and each other that they didn’t expect, and definitely never could have planned for.

I could tell from the beginning that Lynda was going to be a handful. While I appreciated her artistic talent, determination, and perseverance to go after what she wants, I wish she had gone about things differently and set aside her ego and stubbornness. I understand why she is the way that she is, but towards the end you would think she would have realized how selfish and immature she was being earlier. My favorite parts definitely included all her interactions with Bora and the more heartfelt moments she had with Josie. I also loved how unlike most teenagers, she didn’t rely on her parents to pay her way to college and used her own talent to earn money and save up for what she wanted. Her relationship with her dad and stepmom was very awkward, yes she did constantly express how unfair she was being treated, but she also could have had a real conversation with them instead of jumping to conclusions and beating around the bush. While I appreciated a flawed and non perfect depiction of two families coming together, the parents definitely made a lot of mistakes that they probably shouldn’t have, which negatively affected both Josie and Lynda. Some of the only moments that Lynda didn’t come off as petty or immature were when she was actually listening to Josie and helping her with her issues. I really loved the art auction scene too where she stepped up and helped her rival Chloe sell her art piece.

Even though Angela came off as an ice queen, I really started to enjoy her character, especially after she started to open up to Lynda and you understand why she did what she did. I appreciated her hard work and how she knew exactly what she wanted to get out of developing her own otome game. It's so rare for people to want to create something just for themselves than worry about how much money they can make. I liked how cute she was when she was with Lynda and yet she was still able to call Lynda out when she needed to be called out. I didn’t expect both her and Lynda to both be ace, so on that note I was expecting more romance and not so much slow burn. Because their relationship started off as more of a business arrangement, some moments felt forced and calculated. I also wouldn’t exactly call them enemies to lovers because they were aware of each other, they just never really had a reason to interact before Angela commissioned Lynda for her art. Although the romance and chemistry was a bit disappointing, I did like how they both brought out different sides to each other and were able to discover new things about not only themselves, but about each other.

My favorite character by far was Bora. I wish there were more scenes with her because I honestly enjoyed her and her grandma way more than any other character. She was hilarious, supportive, caring, and actually gave really good advice, even when Lynda didn't want to hear it. Truly you couldn’t ask for a better best friend. Josie on the other hand I had mixed feelings about. Yes I did feel sorry that her mom put so much pressure on her and never bothered to actually ask what she wanted or how she felt, but why the hell did it take so long for her to just say how she felt??? Especially when she could definitely see how her parents constantly put her education and future above Lynda’s and Lynda was very vocal about the disparity. I know both her and Lynda struggled with the concept of failure but, if they had both spoken up sooner, they could have avoided the climatic explosion.

Speaking of the climax, what an absolute disappointment. I've never seen a bigger temper tantrum by a 16 year old than this. Lynda was the typical tortured teen who felt like “the world is out to get me and know one cares”, But really she had a best friend, girlfriend, step sister, and step parents who cared about her deeply and she was the one who was too stupid to realize that all her problems were her doing. Just because she didn't get what she wanted, she took it out on everyone around her instead of confronting her own fears and insecurities. I guess some could argue that comes with being a teenager but it felt exceptionally annoying and immature for the situation to blow things up to such proportions. Therefore I felt like there needed to be more chapters focussed on Lynda’s self reflection and repairing the damage she caused to everyone around her, rather than just saying sorry and being easily forgiven. There definitely needed to be more attention brought to the family dynamic such as why both the parents automatically chose to fund Josie over Lynda, a more in debt explanation to her dad’s neglect, and why the parents spent so much on a wedding and honeymoon than paying off bills and going towards their kids future.

Overall, I enjoyed all the storyline moments involving the otome game development and Lynda’s artistic talent, and of course Bora, but I unfortunately feel let down with the romance and how the conflict resolution was too rushed and wrapped up too nicely to really feel authentic.

A cute sapphic coming-of-age romance that is much more coming-of-age than romance. I did like how much it focused on all of the relationships in Lynda's life and how they were shifting, but I do wish a little more weight had been given to her romance with Angela. It was at the point when I started the book that I didn't know which of the characters she was interacting with was going to be her love interest and had to go back and check the summary to be sure. I did appreciate that both characters were asexual (though I wish Lynda's realization had either already happened or had a little more weight than her friend handing her an ace romance book and immediately afterward, with no thought, she goes "oh I'm ace!"), but since neither is aromantic, I wish their chemistry had been a little stronger.

Lynda also falls firmly in the "very realistic teenager, but infuriating to be in her head as an adult" space. She's very determined and sure of what she wants, but since she's...sixteen, this comes with a lot of "but what if this isn't it" and her doubling down with "no, this /has/ to be it". Again, very realistic sixteen-year-old, but especially during the third-act-meltdown, it got to be A Lot. So your mileage will vary on that.

All in all, I did love the otome game aspect of it and thought that was a really cute way to build Lynda and Angela's relationship and learn more about each other.

<4.5>

the romance in this was absolutely adorable but in my opinion, it’s not the main plot of the book. it’s more coming-of-age than romance. i loved the characters, the friendships, and the family dynamics. all in all, a cute and mostly lighthearted read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s/Delacorte Romance for providing me with an ARC!

I had a really fun time reading this book and enjoyed it a lot!!

Things I liked:
1. The plot. This book was heavily arts focused. I loved that there were art and music based characters. There was so much comparison between the two characters, both wanting to go professional at some point during the novel.
2. The video game aspect. It was a major part of the plot, with Lynda doing character art for Angela, but it wasn’t overpowering. I don’t know anything about otome games but it was still easy for me to understand the basic premise of them and how they are created.
3. The development of family relationships. The book starts of with Lynda’s dad getting remarried to the mom of someone in her grade. Lynda begins by feeling less wanted than her stepsister, and not really fitting into the family, but her journey through the story with them was great to see.

Things I didn’t like (as much)
1. Lynda could get REALLY ANNOYING at some times. Her feelings towards how she was being treated were very valid, though I think it was a little overdone. She wasn’t my favorite MC to read about.

From dealing with a new step sibling to a broken tablet her dreams of going to RISD on the line, sixteen year old Lynda Fan will do anything to make her dreams come true, even start designing game characters for the most unlikely girl in her class... who she begins to have a crush on as well. Theres a lot of change happening in Lynda's life, from her dad remarrying to her moving out of her apartment and now giving up her room to her new step sibling. Lynda's only focus is getting into art school at RISD, despite her dad and her new step mom focusing on only funding her stepsister's violin lessons rather than help Lynda. Things only get worse when her new step-cousin breaks her drawing pad... and her dad won't buy her a new one so to her great surprise another opportunity comes, in the form of a rich and arrogant classmate, Angela Wu. Angela offers to hire Lynda to design the characters for Angela's otome game and in exchange she will buy her a new drawing tablet and for any extra work Lynda does, Angela will compensate her. It's too good of a deal to refuse and Lynda desperately needs the money for her college funds. The more time Lynda spends with Angela the more she is beginning to realize she didn't know her that well and that she might be falling for her, yet Lynda's home relationship also begins to take a strain as all the focus is on her stepsister and Lynda begins to feel like she has to single handedly fund her own college dreams. Can Lynda make her dreams come true without losing her new family? This was such an interesting story about growing up and the struggles we face while what we blind ourselves to in the pursuit of what we want. Lynda was a really realistic teen, she doesn't mean bad but she feels like everyone is against her and with her determination, she feels like she has to carry the burden all by herself and keep all her resentment inside of her rather than talk it out. I felt like a lot of Lynda's struggles were relatable and how she could blind herself to the struggles of others around her. I also really enjoyed the romance as Angela was a demisexual-asexual character and Lynda was an asexual character. The romance was sweet and the story felt very relatable. It's a cute read and one I'd definitely recommend for YA readers.

Release Date: March 4, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's | Delacorte Romance for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was actually really cute. It wasn't as heavy on the romance as I expected but it was good. Her parents should have invested in getting her therapy. I just wanted to give her a hug and let her talk out her feelings.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for an early release copy of Love Points To You by Alice Lin.

Love Points to You was a cute read! I enjoyed the romance between Lynda and Angela, these two are so cute and perfect for one another. I liked the banter and romance between them, it’s rare for me to find a romance that is giggle inducing but this is it for sure. We get so many cute and funny scenes between the two that I can’t help but laugh or be in awe with them. I liked the romance bits but I equally liked reading about the otome game parts, I found them to be interesting aspect and I almost wish we had gotten more of a inside look of them working on the game together. I also really love the stickers above each chapter they were adorable little additions to the book, my favorite out of all of them has to be the buncleaver ones! They are the cutest stickers!

Overall im giving Love Points to You a four star rating, there are still a few aspects that stick out to me that I didn’t enjoy. At the eighty percent mark I was starting to lose interest in Lynda, the third act break-up/conflict felt rushed but the ending was still somewhat enjoyable.

This was such a cute young adult romance! As soon as I started it I couldn’t put it down!! Lynda is such a relatable main character, and I was on her side most of the book. Lynda and Angela had so many adorable moments throughout the book. I loved everything about this book, definitely going to have to check out Alice Lin’s work in the future!!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!