While Dylan's family is great, Theo's leaves a little something to be desired. For the most part, they're inherently self-absorbed, unpleasant people.. with just a few exceptions. Basically, Fake Dates and Mooncakesended up sadly not really being my cup of tea. But I do think overall it’s a cute, fluffy story with a happy ending, and it’s completely devoid of homophobia, which is always a plus in LGBTQ+ media. I can’t say it’s one of my favorites but I think a lot of people will enjoy the story. It has the potential to be a really good comfort read. Source: e-arc provided by the author/publisher as part of being on the #FDAMStreetTeam (this in no way affects my review which is honest and unbiased) Basically, these 2 boys met, were immediately attracted to each other, started trauma dumping on their 2nd conversation and pretty soon after they already liked each other. 🙄😑🥱 I have like 70 notes about this book, and they’re mostly just me being like: “Why are you already in love?”, “You’re strangers. Stop acting like this”, “Too soon to have a crush (y’all met yesterday).”, “This is weird. You don’t know each other!”. Charming and heartfelt, this is a perfectly balanced confection that’s guaranteed to satisfy any romantic’s sweet tooth.”—Caleb Roehrig, author of Last Seen Leaving and Death Prefers Blondes

Also, as a side note, I actually live in the area this is set in, and some of the things that happen are just not really possible, which kind of took me out of the narrative a bit. Warning: do not go into this on an empty stomach! I made this mistake and I don’t think I’ve ever been so hungry in my entire life. Dylan’s aunt owns a Chinese takeout restaurant and oh my gosh, the descriptions of the food are amazing. They are so detailed that I could practically smell the food. My poor stomach was desperate to try the different dishes. I’ve also never had a mooncake before and I feel like I need to remedy this immediately.

Recommended For You

If you didn’t already know, the Mid-Autumn Festival is the second most important holiday after the Lunar New Year. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family reunions, no matter how busy everyone is. And we love how the Singaporean-American characters in the novel never fail to keep their traditions and honor their heritage in the States. The author explains the lunar calendar and gives us a history of mooncakes and their significance during the Mid-Autumn Festival. And we can’t forget the classic tale of Houyi and Chang’e, the goddess of the moon. Fake Dates And Mooncakes goes in-depth with Singaporean Chinese cultural references that hook us from the first chapter! The Devoted Love Interest Of course, food is a huge part overall to the story, with Dylan hoping to win a mooncake contest that his mum didn’t get chance to enter alongside him. Not everything is as easy as it could be though, as he specifically aims to make mooncakes from the same recipe as his grandma always used, but she is living in Singapore and has difficulty remembering it precisely. the fake dating was probably the most disappointing part, though. fake dating is probably my favorite trope of all time, and when it's executed well it can be life-changing. however, one of the big pitfalls of fake dating is that the characters need to have a reason to fake date. this can be to appease family members, friends, or a PR scheme, but it has to be believable. in this book, i thought the fake dating would be happening because theo's rich family was putting pressure on him to "settle down" or something. wouldn't be the most original fake dating plot, but it's reliable. instead, the reason we got was... nothing. there was absolutely no reason for theo to 1. bring dylan to the wedding as his date and 2. pretend that they were already in a relationship. at no point did any family member comment on theo's relationship status past "oh look you have a bf cool." it was just so frustrating to read because again, fake dating is my favorite trope and one of the reasons i was looking forward to this book.

And unfortunately, this book suffers from the dreaded “insta-love” trope, which in a romance is particularly disappointing. The thrill of a romance is the characters meeting, getting to know each other, developing feelings, realizing those feelings, communicating those feelings… Romances are all about the relationship, and building that relationship is a vital component. Theo also maintains a close best-friendship with the utterly terrible character Adrian. I literally had whiplash because Theo would be really cute, and then something would happen, and the problem would be shrugged off as someone else's fault because Theo the Rich Cinnamon Roll couldn't really be a tactless, naïve idiot, could he? He's also fairly one-dimensional - nice, genuinely eager to learn more about his mother's Chinese side of his heritage, but otherwise a basic rich kid archetype who plays tennis and violin. Beeswax sets this cookie for targeting and advertising. The cookie is used to serve the user with relevant advertisements based on real time bidding. When books incorporate insight to the culture they are based on, sweetheart….I AM SIGNING! I LOVE that ish! And Sher does an incredible job of providing so much insight to the references in this book! I like books that are an experience. And this is just that! From learning phrases, baking mooncake steps, various aspects of the culture, this book is not only fantastic, but also meaningful! You can tell how much writing the story meant to Sher, as it just feels so personable and connective. This world and its culture, to which many of us don't have a ton of knowledge on, is so artfully dished thanks to Sher's fluid writing style.

Fake Dates and Mooncakes

however, less than 20% in, i knew i was not going to enjoy this book unless something drastic changed. i honestly considered dnfing, but i thought i owed this book a full read-through since i was so excited for it before. i don't think my opinion would be any better if i had just stopped reading at the 20% mark, though. Overall, I really enjoyed Fake Dates and Mooncakes! The exploration into Chinese culture was wonderful, and while I was familiar with some of it already, there was still lots for me to learn!

A sweet and entertaining romance. Fake Dates and Mooncakes has all the desired ingredients to warm your heart (and leave you hungry for Chinese takeout).”—Brian Zepka, author of The Temperature of Me and You being disappointed by one of your most anticipated releases has to be one of the worst feelings in the world. I absolutely LOVED the family-first mentality in this book. I read a lot of books featuring young adults who, like most, can’t delineate what’s truly important and will stop at nothing for love no matter what the cost. And I’m honestly not a fan of that in books. THIS love story feels more authentic in the way Dylan will always prioritize his family. At the loss of his mom, his Aunt Jade began raising Dylan, and he absolutely places her and his cousins on a pedestal, and that’s so heartwarming to see! There is a lot going on in this book. Every time something new cropped up, I couldn’t help but think, “ Seriously?!?What now?!?!” It took me a while to realize that this is basically a C-drama. Do you have any idea how much happens in a C-drama? It seems like new plot twists are neverending. The fake dating that I was so excited about was finished only halfway through the book, and then Dylan and Theo had to contend with meddlesome family members and freak natural disasters. It honestly felt like too much.

This item contains adult content

The perfect recipe of romance, riches, and really great food! Through family drama, will-they/won’t-they vibes, and one adorable corgi, Lee shows that true happiness comes from following your heart (and delicious mooncakes help, too!).”—Jason June, New York Times bestselling author of Out of the Blue and Jay’s Gay Agenda dialogue and chemistry aside, the plot is also weak. we have two concurrent plots: theo and dylan fake dating at theo's cousin's wedding, and dylan preparing for a mooncake contest. even before reading, i was skeptical of how these two plots would intersect, and unfortunately, they do not really. theo gets involved in the mooncake stuff seemingly randomly, and its not believable that he wants to help dylan because again, no chemistry.