Livia Blackburne - Clementine and Danny Save The World
4⭐
Genre: YA, Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Contemporary Romance
Format: Paperback Proof
Publisher: Harper360YA
Date Published: 18th July 2023
Huge thank you to Harper360YA for sending me a copy of this book.
Book Blurb:
Clementine Chan believes in the power of the written word. Under the pseudonym Hibiscus, she runs a popular blog reviewing tea shops and discussing larger issues within her Chinatown community. She has a loyal, kind following, save for this one sour grape named BobaBoy888.
Danny Mok is allergic to change, and the gentrification seeping into Chinatown breaks his heart. He channels his frustration into his internet alter ego, BobaBoy888, bickering with local blogger Hibiscus over all things Chinatown and tea.
When a major corporation reveals plans that threaten to shut down the Mok’s beloved tea shop, Clementine and Danny find themselves working together in real life to save this community they both love. But as they fall hard for this cause—and each other—they have no clue that their online personas have been fighting for years.
When the truth comes to light, can Danny and Clementine still find their happily-ever-after?
My Review:
Although it took me a while to
get into this book, it was so good and cute. It had such a great set of
multidimensional characters, and excellent plotlines, as well as discussed so
many important issues, such as activism, minority groups, gentrification,
class, identity and community, to name a few. It is a YA book, but has so much
depth and even some romance (enemies-to-lovers, which is my favourite). Honestly,
super glad I read this book!
The story follows Clementine and
Danny, who both are enemies on the internet but become friends in real life.
Clementine doesn’t know that Danny is the person who keeps commenting negative
things on her blog and Danny doesn’t know that the girl who runs a blog that he
despises is Clementine. The Chinatown they live in is threatened by
gentrification and by big corporations moving in and buying all the smaller
businesses to open a big shopping complex. Because of this both Clementine and
Danny become friends, and they start community movements against gentrification
and to save their favourite place in the world. During that time, they also
slowly fall in love with each other and learn a lot about themselves…Will the
effort that they put into saving their community and building their friendship
be ruined by the truth about Clementine and Danny’s alter egos online?
I loved how raw and realistic
this book is, it delves deep into the experiences of two Chinese-American
teenagers, their culture, upbringing, opinions, thoughts and community spirit.
They both have different reasons why they want to save their community but
despite those differences, they ignite a very strong friendship and start
amazing movement for a positive change. Both Clementine and Danny grew up so
much during this book, even though from the very beginning they were so well
fleshed out. I was rooting for them both, in their romance and their activism.
I also adored how this book shows that teens can make a change and that their
voices can be heard, especially if they are from minority groups. I feel that
more of these themes and conversations need to happen in YA books. I loved the
romance too, and enjoyed that it didn’t take the main stage but was perfectly
intertwined with the main storyline and message of this story.
Overall: Amazing set of
characters, excellent plot, great discussion of important topics and course
cute enemies to lovers and grumpy x sunshine romance all in one. One of the
best YA books I have read this year!
About the Author:
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