40/100 or 2.0 stars

I was hoping this would be a fun time, but it did not work for me at all. I think that Gen Z and Gen Alpha (or the target audience) will probably be able to enjoy this, as they have probably not seen The Lizzie McGuire Movie or A Cinderella Story both starring Hilary Duff, so they have not read this storyline before. It did feel like a mix of the two movies, and not in a good way. The writing was juat okay, but nothing unique really happens to make this stand out. Since the target audience could enjooy this, I'm giving it two stars instead of one. My other issue is that this read as a midlle-greade novel opposed to YA/teen. I really was hoping to enjoy this cute retelling, but it didn't work for me.

This book started out so cute and I was excited to see where it would go. Unfortunately, It did not keep my attention long enough to finish. I dnf'd at 58%.

This is a cute, clean teen romance story set in Venice surrounding a secret fan club for a fantasy series. It’s a light, fun read that has some great banter and characters. It’s cliched but has enough to make it a fun, fast read anyway.

I liked the banter between Evie and Gabriel a lot. Their personalities are fun, even if they both are a little tropey.

This book had a lot of fun elements that made the characters feel like unique people, like the what are you thinking game and how the secret fan club meetings work. The book also has several fun pop culture references that I enjoyed. The side characters were fun, even when we didn’t see that much of them. The conspiracy theorist friend, the teacher and his crush, the pigeon commander, and the other students make the book feel more realistic.

My biggest complaint is that the main character is unfortunately very stupid. It’s incredibly obvious who her mysterious companion is. Would she not recognize his voice? It’s almost painfully predictable how this will end and incredibly frustrating that she is so slow. I also don’t know why she’s so worried about being a fan of something. Fandom is mainstream enough now that it’s entirely possible for even popular kids to be interested in fan stuff! I also wish we had seen the completed school assignment.

I loved the Venice setting. An even though I'm not the the target accidence it was indeed a sweet read. And I do think that teens will enjoy this one. Because as you are reading it, it feels like you are actually in Venice.

This was so cute and the story building was perfect! I loved that the characters felt fully developed and real. They worked through their issues unknowingly together and it was adorable! The only thing that was like ehhhh was the fact that they couldn’t tell who each other were. Very a Cinderella story and not that I mind, but c’mon. 🤣

Overall, I loved this!

This was such a cute read, like always! I loved the elven realms fandom that was included and wish it was a real thing! I loved Elvis’s friend group! They were all so cute together and reminded me of my own friends in The best way!

THOUGHTS

It's cute. It's fun. It's not revolutionary.


PROS
Setting Boundaries: I liked the main plot(s) happening in this book, but I really loved one of the smaller, character-development-type plots happening in the background. Evie is a girl with a lot of expectations placed upon her. She's an over-achiever and a perfectionist, and sometimes it all gets to be too much. And one of the things she learns in this book is that it's okay, sometimes, to say no. It's okay to take your time, to enjoy life's little moments. It's okay to say "not now." It's okay to disappoint people because it's your life at the end of the day. And that's an important lesson.

Pure Magic: The speakeasy fandom night club this book makes is just a lot of fun. Though a lot of suspension of disbelief is required, because the concept is kind of silly, if you manage to just kind of, sort of believe something like this could exist, it's just... fun. So fun.

Pure Escapism: Overall, this silly romance is just pure escapist reading. It's escaping to Venice. It's having a whirlwind romance while abroad. It's exploring an enchanting city and falling in love beneath the golden sunshine and by the light of the moon. It's not deep. It's not dire. It's just a chance to escape into something pure.


CONS
Major Ick: There's just something majorly.. icky about Evie consistently referring to her friends as the "popular" kids. I don't know. Maybe it's because the only kids at my own high school who thought they were the popular crowd were certifiably the worst, but this just rubbed me wrong every time she said it. That's just not how popularity work. Or at the very least, it's not something to brag about. It read as egotistical and gross, and I don't think that's what the author intended in the least. Which is so very unfortunate.

Not a la Mode: Evie really struggles in this book to share with her popular friends the thing that really interests her: high fantasy. And specifically one high fantasy book series, with dashing romance and an active fandom. She thinks she's going to be judged for it, which feels very... 2000s. I don't know that "nerd" is as derogatory these days as this author seems to imply, and I definitely know that fantasy is on the upswing. So many BookTok girlies are into high fantasy that it's just baffling to believe contemporary high school kids would be anti-fantasy in any way. Maybe Evie might believe it... but only if she wasn't active in any online spaces at all. Which we know isn't true, since she's on all the forums and fandom sites. It seems unlikely for a girl who's growing up with social media not to know that fantasy is actually pretty in right now (and she's definitely not going to be judged for it). So the whole plotline feels a little... outdated.

Disbelief: I don't know. I'm usually good as pushing away some of my plot questions so I can just enjoy the book, but boy was this one testing me! Why are these kids never supervised? Day and night, they're always left to their own devices, and on a school trip involving minors, that's just not flying. They don't have to sneak away for some quality alone time very often because they're more or less left to their own devices all the time. And it's not like the partners happening here, unsupervised, are same-sex pairings (which in itself feels odd; high schools love to group kids by their AGAB). But are you really letting a boy and a girl wander out into Venice, alone, just because they're "working on a project" together? This just didn't make sense. And when it comes to Evie's whole mysterious stranger romance, well, that didn't work for me either because it is obvious from the start who this "stranger" is, and not just because of plot conventions. The "investigation" only works because of contrived reasons to exclude him from consideration, which is just... not great storytelling, my friends.


Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
6/10
Fans of Abigail Hing Wen's Loveboat, Taipei will love jet-setting to this new romance locale. Those who loved Trinity Nguyen's A Bánh Mì for Two will love testing out newfound independence abroad in this romance.

DNF, unfortunately, I'm not being drawn into the story like I wanted to be. Everything about this, screams that I would like it! After starting the book, I keep gravitating towards other books right now and will not be finishing. I will recommend to others who I think will like the book.

Aaaggh, I just love travel romances! And this one was just so sweet! Also, I think Becky Dean now needs to write the series her characters were obsessed with in this book. I would 100% read it!

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

On a school art trip to Venice, Evie is planning to get into a lot of trouble, which isn't like her at all. Venice is the inspiration for her nerdy obsession, and she's heard whispers of a fan club that meets there, so her plan involves a lot of sneaking around Venice in cosplay and finding this fan club. A small wrench is thrown in her plan when she's partnered up with loner Gabriel, a serious grouch who she didn't know was going on the trip. A larger wrench is thrown in when she meets a masked stranger while sneaking around, another fan of the series. Love sparks.
It's pretty silly. I don't know what I expected. It's what it said it is on the back of the book. A little teenage romcom that feels a little like an excuse for the author to take a research trip to a beautiful European city.

You know that saying the same boiling water that hardens the egg softens the potato or something like that. The two main characters find themselves having similar backgrounds but completely different personalities. Evie finds herself in a love triangle when all she was looking for was a book event that's secret. With a masked stranger by night and a loner by day the adventures were magnificent I could literally jump into the book

3.5 Stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Romance for an advanced copy!

I was so excited by the premise of this book! A girl that loves her fandom finding an underground fandom club in Venice? It sounds so fun! The idea was great! I loved the journey Evie went through to learn to be true to herself and what she loves.

There were a few things about the execution that I wish were a little different. I loved that Evie was so dedicated to her fandom, and I understand wanting to keep that a secret so your friends don't judge you, but her pretending went a little overboard for me. I also think the made up fandom was way to vague--the only thing I really know about it is that it's fantasy and there are elves. Overall, a fun read!

This was a fun mistaken identity, YA school trip romance that sees two high school students forced to work together on a project while in Venice only to find themselves bonding and falling in love as they explore the city at night in masks as part of a fantasy fanfic mystery/puzzle. Good on audio and perfect for fans of books like Book boyfriend by Emily Wibberly and Adam Siegemund-Broka. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

3.5 Stars

I adore books about travel and have enjoyed Becky Dean's previous books, so I was really looking forward to seeing where she would transport readers next. This newest book is set in Venice, and it has an added element of fandom, which is a lot of fun. While the concept of an underground fan club feels original, some of the other tropes and narrative strategies feel a little more tired to me. My struggle with this book is that it's almost painfully predictable. At first, I wondered if that was the point and if the reader was intended to be in on Angelo's real identity, but then the characters start doing some sleuthing to figure out who he is. This is still an enjoyable read that really delivers on fun activities in Italy, but I would have preferred not being able to guess exactly how the story played out.

thank you so much for this arc. becky dean i totally going to be an outo buy and auto read author for me from now on!!! love this book and all the chrachters so much!!! watch me make this book my new personality!!!

Thank you, Partner @prhaudio for the #gifted copy through the app

This is my first book of Becky Dean’s and I loved every second. But I need to her to write the fantasy books that are referenced in this book asap!

Evie and Gabe are excellent. This is a slow burn clean romance hidden identity story at its very best.

I loved Evie. She’s an overachiever who’s afraid of letting people down but I loved how vulnerable she became when she was forced to partner with Gabe for a school project in Venice.

Evie does have a secret, she is a fan of a fantasy book series that mirrors Venice. Evie dons her cosplay mask and cape and sneaks out to find the secret place fans of the series meet. There she meets Angelo, who is doing the same. But is Angelo Gabe?

I enjoyed how the author takes the reader through Venice along with the characters. I loved how Gabe and Evie got to know each other and how Gabe helped Evie in so many ways.

The audio narrator, Elena Rey, is excellent. Her tone and expression is spot on and the variety of voices she used fit the characters so well. Her portrayal of Evie was my favorite.

Thank you to the publisher for the NetGalley approval for the ebook. I listened to the audio through the @prhaudio app.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

The messages in this story were amazing and some hit close to home. I imagine this would force a lot of readers who align with Evie to reflect. However, the story didn’t project that everything about her personality was bad and needed to be changed. The conversation toward the end with Gabe was a necessary one that I was surprised to see. He pushed her to prioritize herself, but the pull-back once he understood her was just as great. I enjoyed their progression and relationship. Usually, a people pleaser would make a book insufferable for me. I didn’t feel that in this case, which goes to show how well-rounded Evie was as a character and how much thought went into keeping the story from pushing its boundaries to the point of being unrealistic (especially for YA).

Loved the dedication! It’s a weird thing to bring up, but that one will stick with me for a long time. Not only was it a great play on words, but it followed through with the plot and gave me that “ooohhh” moment. Especially since I forgot what the book was about and went in without rereading the summary. I would’ve loved to see a concrete scene between Evie and her mom (with everyone, tbh) and her setting boundaries. But I understand something like this takes longer than a week to fully follow through on. This was adventurous and colorful while shedding light on grief, connection, and being unapologetic about who you are.

I’ve read her two previous titles expect for Love & Other Great Expectations. Which I loved them both.
Love Unmasked by Becky Dean was no different.
Loved this book so much, I finished it in one sitting!
This was an adorable YA romance.
I found this to be very sweet and fun.
I adored the banter and the characters.
This was such a sweet, heartwarming and funny story!
Dean's captivating writing style and endearing characters make this a perfect summer read.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC! I adore Becky Dean and her delightful YA romances, so I relish the opportunity to read this one!

Evie has always done what is expected of her and been the most helpful and involved student at her school, but she's been hiding part of herself from her friends for a long time: She's a huge fan of an epic fantasy series, and this school trip to Venice is the perfect opportunity to meet other fans of the series. The problem? It means sneaking out at night and trying to find this mysterious cosplay club with zero clue as to where it might be. By day, Evie has to work with the cute but incredibly closed off Gabriel on the school project, and by night she plans to sneak out to revel in her fantasy world. Things only get more complicated when she bumps into another student also dressed up for the event on her first night out. They decide to keep their identitiesa secret as they find and enjoy the club. Little does Evie know that her day time daliances with Gabe might prove to be even more adventurous than her nighttime escapades with the masked "Angelo," whose real identity remains a mystery.

I really liked Evie. I thought she was a sweet main character with good inner conflict. I liked her positive and encouraging nature. I also liked Gabe a lot. He was snarky and yet sweet. I thought their romance made perfect sense and they definitely had chemistry. Dean did a great job with their dialogue. I also loved the setting. I've never been to Venice, so it was fun getting to explore the city with the group. I also really appreciated the side characters. They were developed enough and brought out characteristics of Evie well.

The thing I didn't love about the book? The deep dive into a fake book series. Now I'm certainly a fangirl of many a fantasy series, but for some reason, the inclusion of so many details felt a bit burdensome and the whole massive club in the middle of Venice felt really unrealistic. It felt a little juvenile, and yet there were a ton of adults involved, too. Overall, though, I do get the fangirl/cosplay life and passion, and it was important to the book, and the inclusion of so many details started to bother me less as I got deeper into the story.

Overall, though, if you're looking for a sweet, clean YA romance, it's impossible not to mention Becky Dean's books, and this is certainly one I'll suggest to my students. It was fun, adventurous, cute, and the characters had great chemistry.

Love Unmasked finds Evie Whitmore in Venice with her art and architecture class. Venice is not only an inspiration for her art, it is also the setting for her hidden passion, a series of novels entitled Elven Realms. It has a fan club which meets at night, wearing costumes and reenacting scenes from the books. Sneaking out at night, she meets Angelo, another fan in disguise, who accompanies her on a quest to find the Eleven Realms. Meanwhile, during the day, Evie is partnered with Gabriel Martinez for her class project. Gabriel is a loner, and people-pleaser Evie can't help but try to win his friendship. As she and Gabe explore the city, working on their project, she begins to wonder where her heart lies: with Angelo in the fantasy realms or with Gabe in real life.