Coffeeshop In An Alternate Universe by C.B. Lee is a cute multidimensional cozy fantasy. Both Main characters were lovable and I think they worked so well together. The thing I liked the most about this book was the family and friends of each of the characters who were supportive and showed just how much they loved Brenda and Kat. I also enjoyed the descriptions of each of the dimensions and the coffee shop especially is something I'd love to visit with all of the unique potions that could be added to the coffee. I did see the twist coming but I thought it was well done and the ending was perfect.

Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by C.B. Lee is a fun YA fantasy romance. I enjoyed Brenda and Kat and their friends as well as the multiverse premise and world building. I think it had just the right amount of predictable for YA. For a queer book, I was very confused by all the positive inclusions of HEAVY Target placement, Harry Potter & Narnia, and even Fox News. The audiobook was well narrated by Elyse Dinh and Emily Woo Zeller.

What would you do if the world unknowingly split in two and you happened to stumble into the alternate universe, meet the girl of your dreams, and realize another way of being exists? Well, these two had to figure that one out.

This is a fun cozy book with a bit of mystery and suspense attached. It follows two girls, one who lives in a magical universe and one who doesn't. Things are similar but also SO different and after trying to find how to see each other again, they realize something bigger may be at play when others things/people start coming through the portals as well.

I really enjoyed this one and the concept was very interesting and I know this one is on a lot of y'all's radars. You won't be disappointed.

I will always love queer cozy fantasy books and this was just another example of it. Nothing indic=vidual stood out but I just loved the book overall. The narrator also did a great job.

I appreciated the cozy fantasy premise but I felt like the author was trying to do too much and not enough at the same time. The author reviews track with my experience -- it was just so SLOW. I wasn't engaged by the characters or the plot and couldn't handle sticking around for things to pick up. Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC but this is a DNF for me.

This was such a nice read. The audio was amazing! The narrators were great.
I loved the two universe aspect of this novel. The love story was so cute too. But what really got me was the end lesson. That sometimes, despite all of our plans and what we’ve done to get where we are, sometimes we just need to slow down and enjoy each day as it comes. I love that.
C.B. Lee did a great job incorporating her culture into the book as well. I truly enjoy seeing that in fantasy books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This review is my own.

This book was adorable! I'd been craving a sapphic romance that would have me grinning and kicking my feet, and this one delivered. From their charming meet cute at the coffee shop, to the development of their relationship, I didn't want to put the book down. (And can we pause just for a second to say what a unique world?)

If I had a small critique, it's that people seemed too quick to accept the existence and presence of magic. I found myself wishing for just a bit more tension or curiosity around that element.

All in all, this was a light, joyful read that gave me exactly what I was looking for in the moment.

A cozy fantasy YA sapphic romance where two people from different universes meet in a coffeeshop and fall in love.
The characters were really sweet and loveable and the way the worlds collided was pretty unique and interesting. I especially loved the light politics aspect and how Kat's mum's dead body was trapped and her father and her desperately wanted to get it back to finally grieve properly.

I had an audio arc of this and totally intended to finish it before the release date but hey, better late than never!!

This book was SO sweet. Brenda and Kat were both very loveable main characters, and the narrators chosen for both fit them extremely well. It was properly fluffy but had some actual substance / plot to it, which I massively enjoyed. the style of magic in this book was interesting, so much so that I often found myself like Brenda - desperate to know more!

Brenda has her carefully detailed Plan to be successful, save the world and show her mother she has squandered all the sacrifices she made for her. Kat is the next in her family who has been prophesied to be the Chosen Ones to keep the world from collapsing and she's rebelling against it. The two meet at Kat's family's coffeeshop and plan a date, except they don't realize that they are from two different universes: one with magic and one without. They accidentally meet up again by stumbling through a portal, but each new date takes portal-planning skills and both worlds are growing increasingly more volatile. The girls have to figure out a way to keep their relationship and their worlds from falling apart.
This hit the cute on the head, but the cozy didn't quite reach for me. There was a lot at stake for both girls, and Kat's grief is heavy and her impending death is looked at more like an honor than death?? While some things were taken completely in stride and not commented on much, (nobody really bats an eye at the idea of an alternate universe run by magic, or a bus-sized cat showing up in their garage??), other things were a slog and not very relevant to the story like the dragon scene or the explanation of Brenda's elaborate plan that just falls by the wayside once she meets Kat. The "mystery" is glaringly obvious from the start, but the heaviness of the fact that Kat's mom is killed by her best friend (and Kat's godmother) feels like an afterthought, much like Kat's role as a cornerstone that ultimately leads to death for everyone who performs that ritual. I guess it was a quick and light read with a cute relationship and friendships, but the heaviness thrown in so casually really threw me off.

Delightful! Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe is a playful nod to fanfic, but it's also a very sweet YA sapphic romance about two Asian girls from parallel worlds who meet unexpectedly and fall in love. While also having to unravel the mystery of why their worlds are connected and what happened during a ritual that killed one of their moms.

In our world magic is imaginary and Brenda might be a geeky overachiever who plays Dungeons and Dragons, but when she falls through a portal into a coffeeshop in another world, she finds that magic might be more real than she thinks. In Kat's world, magic is normal and you can buy spells at Target. But a deadly ritual that killer her mom, intended to keep the mana of her world stable, has been required ever more frequently. Kat and Brenda are going to find out why...and also kiss.

This was a fun adventure and a very sweet romance with kisses and dates that don't really venture into the erotic. It feels written with younger teens in mind, and has a cozy vibe to it. I would be comfortable handing this to a 12 or 13 year old, which isn't always the case with YA romance. Definitely would recommend! The audio narration is great with different narrators for each perspective that fit the characters and keep a light tone. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

When I first started reading this book, I thought it was going to be a cozy geek girl romance. (Which I'm am completely here for!) I got a TARDIS keychain in the first section? THANK YOU!!!

I love Brenda and her passion for all things School and also her loyalty to her friends. I knew there was an alternate universe aspect but that's what I was expecting.

Goodness this book is just so much more! What starts as an accidental meet up in a coffee shop and a week of angst (because neither of the protagonists understand that there is another universe, and that the cute girl isn't actually ghosting them), quickly morphs into a really gripping suspense. There's shenanigans going on in both worlds; it doesn't get so intense that you're dreading reading it, rather it's intense in an utterly all-encompassing way.

The characters are relatable, both our protagonists and all of our supporting characters. I see myself in Brenda because I too was driven to be all the things in high school in hopes of getting into a "good" university. I see myself in the various parental figures. There's a large group of Brenda's and Kat's friends and all of them are exquisitely crafted no matter how few pages they take up in the narrative.

Kat and Brenda's relationship is the driving force in the book alongside our central conflict. It's handled very well. Sometimes people draw teenagers as completely irrational and they're not. They're just less experienced with life and their emotions. The relationship they forge in the midst of the external chaos is strong and sweet and relatable. For the most part they talk about things and when they're wrong they own up to it.

In the alternate universe Kat is the Chosen One, and the book does a very good job demystifying that trope. So often the Chosen One is just the person who got stuck with the job, and I think the author did a terrific job exploring that. We rarely think of the pressure and the cost involved to living your whole life with this existential dread that you're going to be asked to sacrifice yourself for the "greater good". Kat is angry and she has every right to be.

The author also does a terrific job in talking about racism. There's not huge speeches, just occasional glimpses of life as an Asian person (in the United States but also Vietnam and Japan). And I think it's more powerful for the brief mentions. Because sadly these things are just facts in their lives and the lives of their ancestors. Again, extremely well done.

I hesitate to be too specific about the things I liked in the plot because the mystery and the suspense need you to ride along with them. I don't want to wreck any of that. Truthfully a delightful, enjoyable, suspenseful, and thoughtful read, and I highly recommend it.

While the narration held up at different speeds, some I'd the voices were a bit grating even for characters which should have sounded friendly.

As for the story, the setting was interesting but the plot didn't really grab me and I couldn't relate to the characters much, which leads to my average rating.

The blurb says this is a cozy fantasy. It is not. Still a good (audio)book though.

Now, I did enjoy the (audio)book but the blurb is definitely off the mark in describing this as ‘cozy’. It starts off cozy enough, with the two main characters meeting at the titular coffeeshop (in an alternate universe). But from there it quickly veers away from that to instead have the plot center around a capitalist conspiracy that is endangering the two parallel universes and has already resulted in multiple deaths. Which doesn’t sound all that cozy to me. The romance between the two protagonists is really sweet, as are all of the platonic relationships for that matter. And while that does give some scenes a rather cozy vibe, it is vastly overshadowed by the fairly angsty main plotline.

To be 100% clear, I don’t think that those are bad things, I quite enjoyed the book after all, but I think it is being mismarketed, which will inevitably lead to readers going into it with the wrong expectations and only ending up disappointed.

A more accurate pitch might be that this is s sapphic urban low fantasy set in two parallel world versions of LA. One world has no magic, the other has all the magic, but that’s basically all that’s different between the two. Seriously, they even have the exact same high schools and the exact same Target, except one sells laptops and the other sells ‘Runebooks’. And it’s not like the two worlds diverged very recently, it’s been 100 years at the very least. But you want me to believe that the Target is not only in the exact same place, but also has the exact same floor plan - to the point where a character can walk around through most of it without realising you’re in a different Target?

So, if you like magic systems and world-building that is intricate, detailed and ‘realistic’, this probably isn’t the book for you. The magic system isn’t simple, exactly, but it also isn’t very intricate either. The story is a very fun sapphic romp that you can read and enjoym but probably shouldn’t think about for too long.

(Disclaimer: I received the audiobook from the publisher, but this has in no way influenced my review. My thoughts are entirely unbiased and honest.)

Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe is an homage to LA life, highschool friendships and love, fantasy arcs, and resolving climate change with cats!

All that together sounds amazing and I was so excited when I got the copy.

However, it had a lot going on and nothing at the same time, so finishing it honestly took me quite long.

The pacing could've been improved in my opinion and to be honest, I think this could’ve worked better as a short novel series?

But beyond that, I loved Brenda and her friends. She’s such a great heroine, and I genuinely wanted to be part of her DnD group and give her pet some chin scratches

Kat I didn't relate much to her but that’s okay.

(I’m just really, really tired of the dead mom trope. It’s 2025 and authors still haven’t moved past that?!)

This was such a cute book and I am so glad I too the opportunity to dive in. The cozy, coffeeshop vibes with the budding romance between Kat and Brenda was just what I was looking for without being "too much" romance.

Brenda is a go-getter and eager to change the world. She is president and vice president of just about any club she can be a part of and she appears to excel in her classes as well. However, her ultimate goal is to get into a prestigious college program to assist with climate change and science. On the day she is struggling to submit her application, she stumbles into a cozy coffeeshop where Kat serves her a cup of specialty coffee which seems to perfectly hit the spot. She also seems to hit the spot with Kat as they appear to click and plan a "date" for the coming weekend.

When both think the other doesn't show, and both think the other hasn't texted, they think maybe they misread the situation until they stumble into each other in a Target and are able to iron things out. The issue they soon realize is they are trying to go on a date across alternate universes and the doorways aren't everywhere. Not only is there the cute dating situation, but there are some other forces at play and Kat being a potentially chosen one for her realm isn't great either.

If you like cozy fantasy with a little bit of action, humor, and heart, I highly recommend this one.

Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe (which I will henceforth be referring to as CIAAU in this review) by CB Lee follows Brenda and Kat, seniors in high school, after sparks fly during a chance encounter across universes. As if trying to date in high school isn’t enough, mix in alternate LAs, portal hopping, dragon encounters, and a foul plot at play and the FMCs are up against it. But at least they’re up against it together?
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The perfect mix of cozy, intriguing, and whimsy, CIAAU felt like a warm cup of coffee and perfect pastry of a book. I listened to the audiobook version which was delivered by dual narrators who each captured their respective leads perfectly. I enjoyed the Vietnamese and Chinese rep in the book and how seamlessly the character’s respective heritages were wound into the book. Brenda’s tenacity and drive was delivered in a way where you could see how she was consistently perceived as “too much” but is endearing to actually experience. Kat’s nonchallant devil-may-care exterior and gifted-kid-with-anxiety-burnout interior was also written wonderfully.
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While definitely a cozy book with lots of slow descriptive moments, the plot the girls set out to solve was captivating and the resolution paid off wonderfully.
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I enjoyed this book immensely and would recommend it to lovers of YA cozy fantasy. My only warning: the food and drink descriptions WILL make you hungry.
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**ALC provided by NetGalley and Brilliance Audio. All opinions expressed are my own.**

I’ve enjoyed CB Lee’s books since their Sidekick Squad series, and when I saw they had something new coming I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Some elements of the story were predictable from early on, though that could be a byproduct of being a voracious reader for so many years. This is a case where while the answer was predictable, the execution and reveals were worth it still. I really loved Brenda’s friendships and the development of her romance with Kat. There’s also so many great family moments that filled my heart with so much warmth. I had a lot of fun with this book overall and the audiobook was a great experience.

A delightful, sweet, romantic fantasy that celebrates sapphic love, and Dungeons and Dragons. It is as cozy as it is meaningful.

Got to read this book in Ebook ARC form and when I saw they had a audiobook ARC form of it was all for it. Getting to hear the character's voice gave me pure joy. I loved everything about this book and I also loved that it was a DUO POV which I love a lot. It gave me Cozy Fantasy Romance vibes. I highly recommend this book to everyone and already went and Pre-ordered myself a copy of this book. I think that everyone should give this book a good if you love a good Cozy Fantasy with some Slow Burn Romance.