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Asking for a Friend: A YA Rom-Com About a Taiwanese Teen, Her Frenemy, and Unexpected Love
* Finalist for the 2025 Ohio Book Award (young adult literature)
* Included in the 2026 Choose to Read Ohio booklist
This charming YA rom-com follows a strong-willed, ambitious teen as she teams up with her childhood frenemy to start a dating-advice column, perfect for fans of Emma Lord and Gloria Chao.
Juliana Zhao is absolutely certain of a few things:
1. She is the world’s foremost expert on love.
2. She is going to win the nationally renowned Asian Americans in Business Competition.
When Juliana is unceremoniously dropped by her partner and she’s forced to pair with her nonconformist and annoying frenemy, Garrett Tsai, everything seems less clear. Their joint dating advice column must be good enough to win and secure bragging rights within her small Taiwanese American community, where her family’s reputation has been in the pits since her older sister was disowned a few years prior. Juliana always thought prestige mattered above all else. But as she argues with Garrett over how to best solve everyone else’s love problems and faces failure for the first time, she starts to see fractures in this privileged, sheltered worldview. With the competition heating up, Juliana must reckon with the sacrifices she’s made to be a perfect daughter—and whether winning is something she even wants anymore.
* Included in the 2026 Choose to Read Ohio booklist
This charming YA rom-com follows a strong-willed, ambitious teen as she teams up with her childhood frenemy to start a dating-advice column, perfect for fans of Emma Lord and Gloria Chao.
Juliana Zhao is absolutely certain of a few things:
1. She is the world’s foremost expert on love.
2. She is going to win the nationally renowned Asian Americans in Business Competition.
When Juliana is unceremoniously dropped by her partner and she’s forced to pair with her nonconformist and annoying frenemy, Garrett Tsai, everything seems less clear. Their joint dating advice column must be good enough to win and secure bragging rights within her small Taiwanese American community, where her family’s reputation has been in the pits since her older sister was disowned a few years prior. Juliana always thought prestige mattered above all else. But as she argues with Garrett over how to best solve everyone else’s love problems and faces failure for the first time, she starts to see fractures in this privileged, sheltered worldview. With the competition heating up, Juliana must reckon with the sacrifices she’s made to be a perfect daughter—and whether winning is something she even wants anymore.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published July 23, 2024
17 people are currently reading
8258 people want to read
About the author
Kara H.L. Chen
3 books73 followersKara H.L. Chen is a Taiwanese American writer who received her MFA in fiction from Brooklyn College. Her debut novel, LOVE & RESISTANCE, was a 2024 finalist for the Ohioana Book Award and was included in the 2024 “Recommended Literature List” for Grades 9-12 by the California Department of Education. She is also the author of ASKING FOR A FRIEND, which was a 2025 finalist for the Ohio Book Award (formerly the Ohioana Book Award) and included in the 2026 Choose to Read Ohio booklist.
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July 27, 2024
I’m on BookTube now! =)
**This ARC was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley & Quill Tree Books!**
Every once in a while you come across a book that surprises you in unexpected ways and I’m glad to say that “Asking for a Friend” was exactly that kind of book for me. When I went into this story I expected it to be a light rom-com about two teens who start to write a dating advice column together, but I definitely got so much more than that. For me, personally, the book turned out to be rather a coming-of-age story than a romance but it was so well done that I couldn’t help but be drawn into the plot.
Before I even knew it, I got so invested in the story around Juliana and Garrett that I didn’t even mind that the romance aspect took a backseat. I mean, this is a slow burn and the two MCs go from childhood friends to frenemies to friends again and eventually to lovers. Both of them have to work hard to get to that point and I loved that this was done so realistically. There are about a gazillion of obstacles they have to overcome in order to be able to be happy together and by the end of the book they don’t just fight for first place in the AABC competition but also for their beliefs and love.
Unfortunately, their goals turn out to be somewhat mutually exclusive and this is where the coming-of-age arc of Juliana comes into play. I have to admit that I don’t know much about Taiwanese culture, but from what I read in the book the pressure that was on Juliana’s shoulders was almost unbearable. Of course, not everything was bad and I loved all the bits we got about the Taiwanese American community and their culture. It seemed like there were two different ways to be Taiwanese in America and I have to admit that I liked Garrett’s community more. The elite of the Taiwanese community in which Juliana and her family found themselves in sounded extreme and the high expectations they had for their children seemed to be unattainable. Not everyone can make it into Ivy League colleges (and quite honestly, not everyone wants to go to one) and to expect your child to get in or die trying isn’t how you provide a nourishing environment for your kid.
As a parent, I get the overall motivation and the idea that your children should have it better than you did, but all the pressure and those high expectations that were put on the children made for a very toxic environment. Not to mention all the gossip and how it affected the MCs. Still, despite all that Juliana and her friends managed to find themselves and to thrive in their own way. The balancing act between what their parents wanted and how they wanted to live their lives was very demanding, though and the author did an amazing job of conveying that struggle. I felt with Juliana and was rooting for her and yes, I also suffered with her whenever she was forced to make a hard decision.
I really don’t know how the author did it but there were so many different topics that were addressed in this story and every single one of them was handled more than just well. The reader is able to explore the Taiwanese American society from an observer’s perspective while important topics like cultural identity and standards, community, grief, inner conflicts, family dynamics and gentrification are tackled as well. It’s truly a long list and every single one of those subjects was treated with utmost care, tact and respect for Taiwanese culture. Moreover, it was easy to understand where Juliana’s mother was coming from and why she acted the way, she did. She might have backed the wrong horse and made life extremely difficult and hard for her children, but the reasons why she did what she did were always clear.
In the end this made Juliana’s mom a very complex character that felt real and human. Also and I have to say this here: I loved the very realistic ending and the fact that we got an epilogue that allowed us to get a glimpse of the last chapters consequences. It made for such a well-rounded finish of the story and I was extremely happy that this was a book that didn’t just deliver on all fronts but also, for once, didn’t leave me disappointed with the ending.
All told, “Asking for a Friend” was the perfect read for me and even though it might have started a little slow, it had me totally invested by the end. I really felt for Juliana and Garrett and always wanted to know what would happen next and how their decisions would influence the storyline. If there is one thing I would have liked more of, then its Sunny’s & Cloudy’s answers to all those troubled teens, but I understand why the author focused on other topics instead. Overall, this was an amazing story and I’ll definitely continue to read Kara H.L. Chen’s books! If you enjoy deep coming-of-age stories with a little bit of romance you can’t go wrong with this.
__________________________________
This was great!
I didn’t expect to get THAT invested in the book but wow, I really felt with Juliana and Garrett.
Such a great coming-of-age story and the ending was done so well, too!
I need to collect my thoughts so for now I’m leaving you with a
Full RTC soon! Stay tuned! ;-)
__________________________________
I got an ARC of “Asking for a Friend” through NetGalley and Quill Tree Books and I’m so ready to dive into this book because it sounds like the perfect rom-com for the summer holidays!
According to the blurb we have:
- Childhood frenemies to lovers
- Who write a dating advice column together
- Taiwanese American rep
- A disowned older sister & a family secret
- Coming of age vibes
I’m very curious about this story and can’t wait to start reading it!
Let’s do this! I’m ready! =)
Find me on:
My Blog
Instagram
**This ARC was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley & Quill Tree Books!**
Every once in a while you come across a book that surprises you in unexpected ways and I’m glad to say that “Asking for a Friend” was exactly that kind of book for me. When I went into this story I expected it to be a light rom-com about two teens who start to write a dating advice column together, but I definitely got so much more than that. For me, personally, the book turned out to be rather a coming-of-age story than a romance but it was so well done that I couldn’t help but be drawn into the plot.
Before I even knew it, I got so invested in the story around Juliana and Garrett that I didn’t even mind that the romance aspect took a backseat. I mean, this is a slow burn and the two MCs go from childhood friends to frenemies to friends again and eventually to lovers. Both of them have to work hard to get to that point and I loved that this was done so realistically. There are about a gazillion of obstacles they have to overcome in order to be able to be happy together and by the end of the book they don’t just fight for first place in the AABC competition but also for their beliefs and love.
Unfortunately, their goals turn out to be somewhat mutually exclusive and this is where the coming-of-age arc of Juliana comes into play. I have to admit that I don’t know much about Taiwanese culture, but from what I read in the book the pressure that was on Juliana’s shoulders was almost unbearable. Of course, not everything was bad and I loved all the bits we got about the Taiwanese American community and their culture. It seemed like there were two different ways to be Taiwanese in America and I have to admit that I liked Garrett’s community more. The elite of the Taiwanese community in which Juliana and her family found themselves in sounded extreme and the high expectations they had for their children seemed to be unattainable. Not everyone can make it into Ivy League colleges (and quite honestly, not everyone wants to go to one) and to expect your child to get in or die trying isn’t how you provide a nourishing environment for your kid.
As a parent, I get the overall motivation and the idea that your children should have it better than you did, but all the pressure and those high expectations that were put on the children made for a very toxic environment. Not to mention all the gossip and how it affected the MCs. Still, despite all that Juliana and her friends managed to find themselves and to thrive in their own way. The balancing act between what their parents wanted and how they wanted to live their lives was very demanding, though and the author did an amazing job of conveying that struggle. I felt with Juliana and was rooting for her and yes, I also suffered with her whenever she was forced to make a hard decision.
I really don’t know how the author did it but there were so many different topics that were addressed in this story and every single one of them was handled more than just well. The reader is able to explore the Taiwanese American society from an observer’s perspective while important topics like cultural identity and standards, community, grief, inner conflicts, family dynamics and gentrification are tackled as well. It’s truly a long list and every single one of those subjects was treated with utmost care, tact and respect for Taiwanese culture. Moreover, it was easy to understand where Juliana’s mother was coming from and why she acted the way, she did. She might have backed the wrong horse and made life extremely difficult and hard for her children, but the reasons why she did what she did were always clear.
In the end this made Juliana’s mom a very complex character that felt real and human. Also and I have to say this here: I loved the very realistic ending and the fact that we got an epilogue that allowed us to get a glimpse of the last chapters consequences. It made for such a well-rounded finish of the story and I was extremely happy that this was a book that didn’t just deliver on all fronts but also, for once, didn’t leave me disappointed with the ending.
All told, “Asking for a Friend” was the perfect read for me and even though it might have started a little slow, it had me totally invested by the end. I really felt for Juliana and Garrett and always wanted to know what would happen next and how their decisions would influence the storyline. If there is one thing I would have liked more of, then its Sunny’s & Cloudy’s answers to all those troubled teens, but I understand why the author focused on other topics instead. Overall, this was an amazing story and I’ll definitely continue to read Kara H.L. Chen’s books! If you enjoy deep coming-of-age stories with a little bit of romance you can’t go wrong with this.
__________________________________
This was great!
I didn’t expect to get THAT invested in the book but wow, I really felt with Juliana and Garrett.
Such a great coming-of-age story and the ending was done so well, too!
I need to collect my thoughts so for now I’m leaving you with a
Full RTC soon! Stay tuned! ;-)
__________________________________
I got an ARC of “Asking for a Friend” through NetGalley and Quill Tree Books and I’m so ready to dive into this book because it sounds like the perfect rom-com for the summer holidays!
According to the blurb we have:
- Childhood frenemies to lovers
- Who write a dating advice column together
- Taiwanese American rep
- A disowned older sister & a family secret
- Coming of age vibes
I’m very curious about this story and can’t wait to start reading it!
Let’s do this! I’m ready! =)
Find me on:
My Blog
July 23, 2024
*Thank you to the publisher and the author for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
Actual Rating: 3.5
As a 1.5 generation Taiwanese immigrant, when I saw that this was a contemporary teen romance taking place in the Taiwanese-American community and with the ever-so-relatable theme of parental pressure, I KNEW I had to read this.
Asking for a Friend follows Juliana Zhao, an optimist and hopeless romantic (even though she’s never been in a relationship). Ever since her father died and her older sister got pregnant and disowned, the weight of keeping the family together falls squarely on her shoulders. Her mother has her life’s next steps planned out for her: win the Asian Americans in Business Competition, and get into an Ivy League. When her partner abruptly drops her days before registration, Juliana is forced to turn to Garrett Tsai, who she used to be friends with, before he suddenly turned cold without explanation. And just for good measure, her mother disapproves of him too — he’s headed to art school — so now Juliana has to win the competition while making sure her mom doesn’t find out who her partner is. But as Juliana spends more time with Garrett and with the local Taiwanese cultural center, she starts wondering if what she’s been working towards is even what she really wants.
To start, I just want to say that I LOVED all the Taiwanese references: boba, Ai-yo, hot pot, the Taiwanese language feeling like a “secret language” spoken at home…as someone who’s never learned Taiwanese despite hearing the older generation speak it, I feel a sense of loss whenever I hear it and it was really comforting to see how accurate these emotions were described.
It’s more than that though — I felt like there was so much in this book I could relate to. Like Garrett, I went into art (and I was originally going to the same school, RISD before I got into a great university and my mother said I couldn’t NOT go.)
Ultimately, the best part of this book is undoubtedly the family aspect and the internal conflict of different identities clashing with each other. I will unashamedly admit that it made me cry. Even though my mom was never so overbearing as Juliana’s, there was a lot that any immigrant child will relate to, like the pressure of having to be successful so you appreciate everything your parents did for you, and the guilt if you aren’t. I also really love how realistic the book was from start to finish in terms of how Juliana’s mother was portrayed; there was no “everything is fixed and now it’s all sunshine and rainbows ending.” Instead, we simply saw Juliana question herself, and we saw a little hint of what the future of her family could be now that she’s grown and learned to communicate in a much better way.
I will say that I think this book could’ve benefitted from more refined writing. Especially at the start, there’s a lot of what feels like exposition dumps. The narration will name drop a person/place/thing, go into a few paragraphs explaining it with a backstory/anecdote, and then repeat the process when another name drop happens a few sentences later. It gets better as the book goes on since most things are already introduced, but it feels a lot like “telling, not showing” and I wish we’d incorporated more of these stories in other ways, rather than just having Juliana monologue these stories, one after another. Her narration is often much too on the nose.
I actually also found myself caring much more about the family relationship than the romance, which is pretty surprising for me. While I like Garrett, I feel like he wasn’t as well-rounded as Juliana was. I wonder if a two-person perspective writing style might’ve worked, because I actually really loved reading their advice posts. In fact, I think the two best characters are Juliana and her mother, while everyone else feels a little more paper thin. I wish we’d gotten to see or hear more about Bella, because her story has such a big presence in the book, but we never quite get to hear from her directly.
Ultimately, however, I did enjoy this one and it made me think a lot about my relationship with my parents. I’m also over the moon that more Taiwanese-American stories are getting published. More, please!
Actual Rating: 3.5
As a 1.5 generation Taiwanese immigrant, when I saw that this was a contemporary teen romance taking place in the Taiwanese-American community and with the ever-so-relatable theme of parental pressure, I KNEW I had to read this.
Asking for a Friend follows Juliana Zhao, an optimist and hopeless romantic (even though she’s never been in a relationship). Ever since her father died and her older sister got pregnant and disowned, the weight of keeping the family together falls squarely on her shoulders. Her mother has her life’s next steps planned out for her: win the Asian Americans in Business Competition, and get into an Ivy League. When her partner abruptly drops her days before registration, Juliana is forced to turn to Garrett Tsai, who she used to be friends with, before he suddenly turned cold without explanation. And just for good measure, her mother disapproves of him too — he’s headed to art school — so now Juliana has to win the competition while making sure her mom doesn’t find out who her partner is. But as Juliana spends more time with Garrett and with the local Taiwanese cultural center, she starts wondering if what she’s been working towards is even what she really wants.
To start, I just want to say that I LOVED all the Taiwanese references: boba, Ai-yo, hot pot, the Taiwanese language feeling like a “secret language” spoken at home…as someone who’s never learned Taiwanese despite hearing the older generation speak it, I feel a sense of loss whenever I hear it and it was really comforting to see how accurate these emotions were described.
It’s more than that though — I felt like there was so much in this book I could relate to. Like Garrett, I went into art (and I was originally going to the same school, RISD before I got into a great university and my mother said I couldn’t NOT go.)
Ultimately, the best part of this book is undoubtedly the family aspect and the internal conflict of different identities clashing with each other. I will unashamedly admit that it made me cry. Even though my mom was never so overbearing as Juliana’s, there was a lot that any immigrant child will relate to, like the pressure of having to be successful so you appreciate everything your parents did for you, and the guilt if you aren’t. I also really love how realistic the book was from start to finish in terms of how Juliana’s mother was portrayed; there was no “everything is fixed and now it’s all sunshine and rainbows ending.” Instead, we simply saw Juliana question herself, and we saw a little hint of what the future of her family could be now that she’s grown and learned to communicate in a much better way.
I will say that I think this book could’ve benefitted from more refined writing. Especially at the start, there’s a lot of what feels like exposition dumps. The narration will name drop a person/place/thing, go into a few paragraphs explaining it with a backstory/anecdote, and then repeat the process when another name drop happens a few sentences later. It gets better as the book goes on since most things are already introduced, but it feels a lot like “telling, not showing” and I wish we’d incorporated more of these stories in other ways, rather than just having Juliana monologue these stories, one after another. Her narration is often much too on the nose.
I actually also found myself caring much more about the family relationship than the romance, which is pretty surprising for me. While I like Garrett, I feel like he wasn’t as well-rounded as Juliana was. I wonder if a two-person perspective writing style might’ve worked, because I actually really loved reading their advice posts. In fact, I think the two best characters are Juliana and her mother, while everyone else feels a little more paper thin. I wish we’d gotten to see or hear more about Bella, because her story has such a big presence in the book, but we never quite get to hear from her directly.
Ultimately, however, I did enjoy this one and it made me think a lot about my relationship with my parents. I’m also over the moon that more Taiwanese-American stories are getting published. More, please!
July 7, 2024
Asking for A Friend is a great coming-of-age story with a relatable cast of characters and powerful messages about family, growing up, grief, fighting for what you believe in, and more. The story follows Juliana, a high school student who enters The Asian American in Business Competition, a contest her deceased father created. Determined to win but dumped by her partner, Juliana asks her estranged friend Garrett to pair with her. The pair haven’t spoken since he ghosted her the previous summer.
Juliana is so positive and optimistic, and Garrett is more of a realist with a bit of cynicism. I love the grumpy sunshine vibes they have going on! They even named their business Sunny and Cloudy. How perfect is that? And the love advice they give is contrastingly comical and really shows their distinctly different personalities. They have a fabulous ex-friends- to-lovers romance, and it was one of my favorite parts of the story!
Juliana goes through a lot in the story, and she changes so much. She’s very conflicted, and the pressure mounts as she pushes to win the competition. Between her mother’s pressure and the pressure she puts on herself, it’s no wonder she struggles so much. I like how, as she works at the community center and with Garrett in the contest, she starts to see the toxicity in some of her relationships. The story takes a hard look at family dynamics and the pressure put on kids to live up to their parent’s expectations.
The community center and all the wonderful people Juliana meets there sharply contrast the community her mother is a part of. Where her mother’s social circle is competitive, fickle, and, filled with backtalking gossips who will drop you for ridiculous reasons, the community center people are supportive, caring, and united. They juxtapose each other well. It becomes a safe haven for Garrett, his younger sister, and eventually Juliana, as this is one place where they can escape the family problems and truly be themselves. It’s an eye-opening experience for Juliana who constantly walks on eggshells with her mother and can’t really be honest with her. Her mother is so unbending and rigid! However, the time Juliana spends at the community center opens her eyes to so many possibilities, and that, as well as her relationship with Garrett, gives her the courage to stand up for herself and what she wants.
The story also delves into topics like gentrification, the importance of preserving community and a cultural identity, friendship, and more. And even though it explores heavier topics, it’s also super cute and fun with a lot of sweet and comical scenes.
Juliana is so positive and optimistic, and Garrett is more of a realist with a bit of cynicism. I love the grumpy sunshine vibes they have going on! They even named their business Sunny and Cloudy. How perfect is that? And the love advice they give is contrastingly comical and really shows their distinctly different personalities. They have a fabulous ex-friends- to-lovers romance, and it was one of my favorite parts of the story!
Juliana goes through a lot in the story, and she changes so much. She’s very conflicted, and the pressure mounts as she pushes to win the competition. Between her mother’s pressure and the pressure she puts on herself, it’s no wonder she struggles so much. I like how, as she works at the community center and with Garrett in the contest, she starts to see the toxicity in some of her relationships. The story takes a hard look at family dynamics and the pressure put on kids to live up to their parent’s expectations.
The community center and all the wonderful people Juliana meets there sharply contrast the community her mother is a part of. Where her mother’s social circle is competitive, fickle, and, filled with backtalking gossips who will drop you for ridiculous reasons, the community center people are supportive, caring, and united. They juxtapose each other well. It becomes a safe haven for Garrett, his younger sister, and eventually Juliana, as this is one place where they can escape the family problems and truly be themselves. It’s an eye-opening experience for Juliana who constantly walks on eggshells with her mother and can’t really be honest with her. Her mother is so unbending and rigid! However, the time Juliana spends at the community center opens her eyes to so many possibilities, and that, as well as her relationship with Garrett, gives her the courage to stand up for herself and what she wants.
The story also delves into topics like gentrification, the importance of preserving community and a cultural identity, friendship, and more. And even though it explores heavier topics, it’s also super cute and fun with a lot of sweet and comical scenes.
August 18, 2024
This charming YA rom-com follows a strong-willed, ambitious teen as she teams up with her childhood frenemy to start a dating-advice column, perfect for fans of Emma Lord and Gloria Chao.
TITLE: ASKING FOR A FRIEND
AUTHOR: KARA H L CHEN
PUB DATE: 07.23.2024
I enjoyed rooting for Taiwanese American teen Juliana Zhao - she is certain and determined, and only wants perfection in everything she does in life - the perfect daughter in every way until … she isn’t quite sure anymore. I enjoyed every moment between the unlikely friendship between Garrett and Juliana, as they navigate expectations from immigrant parents, and learning to balance their quest for success in life and love.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
TITLE: ASKING FOR A FRIEND
AUTHOR: KARA H L CHEN
PUB DATE: 07.23.2024
I enjoyed rooting for Taiwanese American teen Juliana Zhao - she is certain and determined, and only wants perfection in everything she does in life - the perfect daughter in every way until … she isn’t quite sure anymore. I enjoyed every moment between the unlikely friendship between Garrett and Juliana, as they navigate expectations from immigrant parents, and learning to balance their quest for success in life and love.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
January 31, 2024
As an Asian and a brown woman, I'm always on the lookout for books representing different cultures. I think this book did an okay job of talking about the pressures and struggles of being an immigrant, because I could more than relate to the superficial relationships and high expectations. I do feel that the story could've been executed much better and made more enjoyable with immersive writing style and refined editing.
Though I don't think this novel is very memorable, I loved the little nuances showed in Juliana's relationships, and the intensity of her emotions. I appreciate the backstory and context the author gave for the negative actions of the characters, humanizing them in their portrayal. Not something I would enthusiastically recommend, but nevertheless, it's not bad.
Though I don't think this novel is very memorable, I loved the little nuances showed in Juliana's relationships, and the intensity of her emotions. I appreciate the backstory and context the author gave for the negative actions of the characters, humanizing them in their portrayal. Not something I would enthusiastically recommend, but nevertheless, it's not bad.
August 6, 2024
Somewhere between 3.5-3.75 stars
January 25, 2025
This was probably the cringiest and lamest book I've read in a while. It was kinda rough to get through and the only reason I read it is because I was looking for a light read. I do not recommend
August 6, 2024
I really enjoyed this YA enemies to lovers, opposites attract romance that sees two Taiwanese American teens paired up to win a STEM competition. Great on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Jennifer Yen. If you like relatable stories about second generation Asian children trying to balance following their dreams with pleasing their parents, this is the book for you. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!
September 1, 2024
3.5 stars;
Less about a cute romance and more about struggling through generational trauma, through grief and expectations, discovering yourself, and connecting with your heritage for a better good.
Less about a cute romance and more about struggling through generational trauma, through grief and expectations, discovering yourself, and connecting with your heritage for a better good.
February 23, 2024
This was a cute YA about dealing with strict/impossible parental and cultural standards and breaking the cycle of them to find yourself and define your own version of success.
July 15, 2024
Senior Juliana is hoping to win the Asian Americans in Business competition that was founded by her late father and which she hopes would be enough to get her off the wait list for Yale. The Taiwanese immigrant community has restrictive standards around gender roles and career goals; Juliana was planning to partner with classmate Eric in the completion, but Eric’s mom pressures him to dump Juliana because of the shame Juliana’s older sister Bella has caused by getting pregnant and dropping out of med school. Former friend Garrett’s art and design better fit for the web design part of the competition but Juliana’s mom does not approve of him, so Juliana lies to her mom about who her partner is - the beginning of a series of deceptions. This story shines when it focuses on the strains between first and second generations immigrants and what it means to honor family and community. Enemies to lovers with a lot of substance. EARC from Edelweiss.
December 12, 2024
I love how Kara writes such beautiful Taiwanese representation. This was fun, and it felt like a cozy book to settle into each night. I loved the characters and felt their struggles to fit in to both their families and expectations as well as to what they wanted for themselves.
The whole story was fun, with a lot of depth, and exactly what you want in a feel good YA read. It’s also one I feel comfortable recommending to my friend’s kids with no caveats.
I NEED this to be made into a movie.
The whole story was fun, with a lot of depth, and exactly what you want in a feel good YA read. It’s also one I feel comfortable recommending to my friend’s kids with no caveats.
I NEED this to be made into a movie.
June 8, 2025
Super cute YA romance about a Taiwanese-American girl walking the line between the expectations of her immigrant mother and beginning to figure out what she wants. Couldn't put it down.
August 27, 2024
3.5-4 stars?
WELL.
BLOG || INSTAGRAM
I’m of two minds. On the one hand, I think this has some great themes, is good for a younger audience and is a quick read. I liked the messages about staying true to yourself and making mistakes and learning from them. On the other hand, this is the same YA contemporary I’ve read at least 10 times. Which led me to having a harder time moving through this because nothing felt new. And since that’s entirely a me thing, it could easily be a book for others.
There is a little bit of language, but the romantic content is kisses only with no innuendo. It’s definitely a true to young adult book and that is its biggest strength. I did like the character growth from Juliana (even though it came a bit late). She stood up for herself and made the tough decisions facing a lot of nuanced aspects in her life.
Overall audience notes:
- YA Contemporary + Romance
- Language: low
- Romance: kisses
- Content Warnings: loss of a father (cancer, recounted)
WELL.
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I’m of two minds. On the one hand, I think this has some great themes, is good for a younger audience and is a quick read. I liked the messages about staying true to yourself and making mistakes and learning from them. On the other hand, this is the same YA contemporary I’ve read at least 10 times. Which led me to having a harder time moving through this because nothing felt new. And since that’s entirely a me thing, it could easily be a book for others.
There is a little bit of language, but the romantic content is kisses only with no innuendo. It’s definitely a true to young adult book and that is its biggest strength. I did like the character growth from Juliana (even though it came a bit late). She stood up for herself and made the tough decisions facing a lot of nuanced aspects in her life.
Overall audience notes:
- YA Contemporary + Romance
- Language: low
- Romance: kisses
- Content Warnings: loss of a father (cancer, recounted)
July 20, 2024
I always enjoy a good competition YA romance, as well as the whole grumpy-sunshine trope being one of my favorites. I also enjoy the cultural stories like this one. It was easy to feel for Juliana and how she felt she had to do what her mom wanted her to do. Not only was there the usual Asian family pressure to be winning at everything, but the whole contest itself had been founded by her own father, who had passed away, and now she felt she had to win because of that.
But also Juliana had the pressure of knowing that her older sister had been kind of kicked out of the family or disowned by her mother for getting pregnant and dropping out of medical school. As the middle child she also felt the pressure to do what she could to help her younger sister not have to face the pressure as much. However that meant she would kind of get on her sister to try to get her to do what their mother asked as well.
The boy she ends up on the project with, Garrett, is someone she has a history with. She’d thought at camp when they were younger, that they’d really connected. But something had happened on the last day, and he’d told her he didn’t want to be her friend anymore. So going to him to get his help with this was a big leap of faith for her. Unfortunately Juliana still let her mother’s biases get in between the two, because she didn’t tell her mom she was working with Garrett. She lied about who she was working with.
In the end there is more to this competition than what it seems. Juliana also gets to know more about the people in the community that her mother doesn’t consider “their people” the more she spends time with Garrett at the community center and gets to know those people. She learns things about her father she didn’t know because of the competition, things that look bad for him, but may not be the more she thinks about it. And she of course will learn why Garrett turned away from her all those years ago.
I really enjoyed this one, couldn’t put it down, sped right through it once I picked it up. Can’t wait to purchase it for my school library so my students can enjoy it as well!
Review first posted on Lisa Loves Literature.
But also Juliana had the pressure of knowing that her older sister had been kind of kicked out of the family or disowned by her mother for getting pregnant and dropping out of medical school. As the middle child she also felt the pressure to do what she could to help her younger sister not have to face the pressure as much. However that meant she would kind of get on her sister to try to get her to do what their mother asked as well.
The boy she ends up on the project with, Garrett, is someone she has a history with. She’d thought at camp when they were younger, that they’d really connected. But something had happened on the last day, and he’d told her he didn’t want to be her friend anymore. So going to him to get his help with this was a big leap of faith for her. Unfortunately Juliana still let her mother’s biases get in between the two, because she didn’t tell her mom she was working with Garrett. She lied about who she was working with.
In the end there is more to this competition than what it seems. Juliana also gets to know more about the people in the community that her mother doesn’t consider “their people” the more she spends time with Garrett at the community center and gets to know those people. She learns things about her father she didn’t know because of the competition, things that look bad for him, but may not be the more she thinks about it. And she of course will learn why Garrett turned away from her all those years ago.
I really enjoyed this one, couldn’t put it down, sped right through it once I picked it up. Can’t wait to purchase it for my school library so my students can enjoy it as well!
Review first posted on Lisa Loves Literature.
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January 5, 2025disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
"Are you, Juliana Zhao, starting to tolerate messiness? Uncertainty?"
Juliana is a Taiwanese-American teenager who gets dumped by her supposed-to-be project partner for the upcoming Asian Americans in Business Competition (AABC), which her late dad founded. She then partners up with Garrett, an artsy fellow classmate who her strict mom does not approve of, but she lies and says she partnered up with someone else. Juliana's story also opens with light context that her older sister Bella has been disowned by her mom (for getting pregnant & dropping out of med school), which ebbs quietly under the surface, until Juliana is brave enough to confront and name how she is feeling about that. As the middle sister, she also desperately doesn't want to make things harder for her younger sister Hattie, so she is intent on winning this competition and making her widowed mom proud/happy.
"Here is the thing about grief: it is always there. You think it has receded. You think you can carefully scoop up the sand of your life and pat it together into a little castle and pretend things are find. But the feeling of loss will still come, when you least expect it. It will crash and swallow everything." (39%)
"Our family had ended when I was eleven. We had shattered in a cold hospital room on an ordinary Friday, in the space of a stopped breath. But in all this time, over all the years since Dad died, we had ignored one very important fact.
"We survived," I said slowly... The worst thing happened, and we still lived. (87%)
I thoroughly enjoy Kara HL Chen's writing, and absolutely adored her debut novel Love & Resistance. She writes so beautifully, and though there can be a lot of exposition, I never mind it. It's a treat and privilege to read, especially when she is writing about grief and loss. There's a tenderness and compassion that comes through so seamlessly, and after recently losing my grandpa, I appreciated these commentaries and ruminations.
In this story, Juliana wrangles with feeling torn between doing well in the AABC competition that her dad founded, and actually wondering what decisions or life path would make her dad happy or proud if he was alive. "What had my parents wanted? They had pushed their own desires so far underneath their sacrifices that they essentially did not exist." (chapter 34). Those two are contentious at times, and Juliana finds herself feeling conflicted. I admired how curious she was in interrogating what her father actually stood for.
I also appreciated that though this was a business competition, Juliana also questioned if this was the only way to "do business". There were developers who wanted to rip apart Old Taipei and to basically gentrify it, pushing old community members out. Juliana questioned this, and didn't want to be part of something so destructive to her community.
As someone attempting to not be a people-pleaser anymore, I always enjoy a story about someone breaking free of the "good girl" mold that adults have thrown them into. Juliana not only questions business strategy and ethics, but she also begins to question her mom, another milestone in a young Asian American's life. She listened to her mom so vigilantly to make life easier for them all, and to avoid any pain, especially since she saw the fallout from her older sister. However, Juliana learns that pain is unavoidable, and in doing so, she was depriving herself of the good stuff too. Amidst her heartache, she wonders what being the "good girl" has actually gotten her. "I had done everything she had asked me to. But Hattie wasn't talking to me. I had lost Garrett. And our family was still broken. I wasn't anywhere close to happy. Close to the good life." (82%)
Juliana recognizes that her plight is not unique, and probably a common sentiment among young Asian American kids. However, it doesn't make her journey any less worthy or fun to follow along with. I was so proud of her for how inquisitive she became, and how she finally began to take charge of her own life, rather than being resigned to making others happy and fitting perfectly into the mold her mom created for her. "At what age can you stop saying, It was because my parents told me so, and take responsibility for your actions? When do you have to finally admit that your choices are who are you? I didn't think there was a set timeline, but I had the sinking feeling it was right around this moment. Now." (90%)
Though it was painful and not pretty, Juliana chose a different path than the one laid out for her, and she stood strong in that decision. She recognized that her dad left behind the money and privileges for them so they could have some breathing room and the "space to make choices," (95%) choices that maybe he or her mom didn't have. I loved this framing, and it was a great reminder that we should always interrogate what will truly make us feel purpose, joy, and hope.
"And now I, too, knew the imbalance of being set adrift on an uncertain ocean. But I wasn't defenseless. I had all the tools she had given to me over the years: perseverance, intelligence, optimism, resourcefulness. I would use them to build my own future. For me. For all of us." (100%)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Cancer, Racism, and Death of parent
"Are you, Juliana Zhao, starting to tolerate messiness? Uncertainty?"
Juliana is a Taiwanese-American teenager who gets dumped by her supposed-to-be project partner for the upcoming Asian Americans in Business Competition (AABC), which her late dad founded. She then partners up with Garrett, an artsy fellow classmate who her strict mom does not approve of, but she lies and says she partnered up with someone else. Juliana's story also opens with light context that her older sister Bella has been disowned by her mom (for getting pregnant & dropping out of med school), which ebbs quietly under the surface, until Juliana is brave enough to confront and name how she is feeling about that. As the middle sister, she also desperately doesn't want to make things harder for her younger sister Hattie, so she is intent on winning this competition and making her widowed mom proud/happy.
"Here is the thing about grief: it is always there. You think it has receded. You think you can carefully scoop up the sand of your life and pat it together into a little castle and pretend things are find. But the feeling of loss will still come, when you least expect it. It will crash and swallow everything." (39%)
"Our family had ended when I was eleven. We had shattered in a cold hospital room on an ordinary Friday, in the space of a stopped breath. But in all this time, over all the years since Dad died, we had ignored one very important fact.
"We survived," I said slowly... The worst thing happened, and we still lived. (87%)
I thoroughly enjoy Kara HL Chen's writing, and absolutely adored her debut novel Love & Resistance. She writes so beautifully, and though there can be a lot of exposition, I never mind it. It's a treat and privilege to read, especially when she is writing about grief and loss. There's a tenderness and compassion that comes through so seamlessly, and after recently losing my grandpa, I appreciated these commentaries and ruminations.
In this story, Juliana wrangles with feeling torn between doing well in the AABC competition that her dad founded, and actually wondering what decisions or life path would make her dad happy or proud if he was alive. "What had my parents wanted? They had pushed their own desires so far underneath their sacrifices that they essentially did not exist." (chapter 34). Those two are contentious at times, and Juliana finds herself feeling conflicted. I admired how curious she was in interrogating what her father actually stood for.
I also appreciated that though this was a business competition, Juliana also questioned if this was the only way to "do business". There were developers who wanted to rip apart Old Taipei and to basically gentrify it, pushing old community members out. Juliana questioned this, and didn't want to be part of something so destructive to her community.
As someone attempting to not be a people-pleaser anymore, I always enjoy a story about someone breaking free of the "good girl" mold that adults have thrown them into. Juliana not only questions business strategy and ethics, but she also begins to question her mom, another milestone in a young Asian American's life. She listened to her mom so vigilantly to make life easier for them all, and to avoid any pain, especially since she saw the fallout from her older sister. However, Juliana learns that pain is unavoidable, and in doing so, she was depriving herself of the good stuff too. Amidst her heartache, she wonders what being the "good girl" has actually gotten her. "I had done everything she had asked me to. But Hattie wasn't talking to me. I had lost Garrett. And our family was still broken. I wasn't anywhere close to happy. Close to the good life." (82%)
Juliana recognizes that her plight is not unique, and probably a common sentiment among young Asian American kids. However, it doesn't make her journey any less worthy or fun to follow along with. I was so proud of her for how inquisitive she became, and how she finally began to take charge of her own life, rather than being resigned to making others happy and fitting perfectly into the mold her mom created for her. "At what age can you stop saying, It was because my parents told me so, and take responsibility for your actions? When do you have to finally admit that your choices are who are you? I didn't think there was a set timeline, but I had the sinking feeling it was right around this moment. Now." (90%)
Though it was painful and not pretty, Juliana chose a different path than the one laid out for her, and she stood strong in that decision. She recognized that her dad left behind the money and privileges for them so they could have some breathing room and the "space to make choices," (95%) choices that maybe he or her mom didn't have. I loved this framing, and it was a great reminder that we should always interrogate what will truly make us feel purpose, joy, and hope.
"And now I, too, knew the imbalance of being set adrift on an uncertain ocean. But I wasn't defenseless. I had all the tools she had given to me over the years: perseverance, intelligence, optimism, resourcefulness. I would use them to build my own future. For me. For all of us." (100%)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Cancer, Racism, and Death of parent
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 19, 2024
Cute and charming! Our main characters setting out in this entrepreneur competition was so fun and the drama was very realistic. Thanks for the arc
July 20, 2024
Also on Snow White Hates Apples.
Okay, first off, I truly don’t think that this book should be labelled as a rom-com because this? This literally had me tearing up, crying my eyes out for the entirety of the final half of the book 😭
Asking for a Friend follows Taiwanese American Juliana Zhao who’s doing her best to make things easier for her widowed mum by leading a life her mum would be proud of. She’s working hard to win the Asian Americans in Business Competition (AABC) which her father created, trying to get into a humblebrag-worthy Ivy League school, and just trying to keep the remnants of her family together, especially after her once-beloved older sister has been estranged.
However, when she gets dumped by the guy who’s supposed to be her partner for the AABC, she’s left with no choice but to partner up with Garrett Tsai, the artsy guy her mother would disapprove of. But, what else can Juliana do when she has no other viable options? Nothing, because she really needs to win this competition.
Although I didn’t particularly enjoy the writing style since it was more tell than show, it grew on me as I got more and more hooked by the story. It helped that the characters were all (in varying degrees) relatable and the emotions came out stronger after the first few chapters of the book. It also helped that Juliana grows as a character while the story progresses. She’s quite naive and strait-laced at the beginning, but she undergoes trials and expands her worldview, realising that the world is more complex than initially expected. Moreover, the way Chen has written Juliana as a kid who loves their family so much that she can’t say no — much less disappoint them — hits close to home.
What I especially loved is the exploration of differences between generations consisting of immigrants and those raised/born a certain culture yet living another. It’s done so well and with so much care that even the characters we’re typically meant to dislike are simply human. I also loved how not everything is neatly solved in the end, reflecting the reality that not everything can easily be sunshine and roses. The explorations on grief, fighting for what you believe in, gentrification, and preserving culture and community were good too!
Everything considered, Asking for a Friend turned out to be an amazing read with great depth and nuance that I’d never expect from a rom-com. It’s a quick read that I think fans of Emma Lord or those who enjoyed Little Bang and Finding Phoebe would like.
Okay, first off, I truly don’t think that this book should be labelled as a rom-com because this? This literally had me tearing up, crying my eyes out for the entirety of the final half of the book 😭
Asking for a Friend follows Taiwanese American Juliana Zhao who’s doing her best to make things easier for her widowed mum by leading a life her mum would be proud of. She’s working hard to win the Asian Americans in Business Competition (AABC) which her father created, trying to get into a humblebrag-worthy Ivy League school, and just trying to keep the remnants of her family together, especially after her once-beloved older sister has been estranged.
However, when she gets dumped by the guy who’s supposed to be her partner for the AABC, she’s left with no choice but to partner up with Garrett Tsai, the artsy guy her mother would disapprove of. But, what else can Juliana do when she has no other viable options? Nothing, because she really needs to win this competition.
Although I didn’t particularly enjoy the writing style since it was more tell than show, it grew on me as I got more and more hooked by the story. It helped that the characters were all (in varying degrees) relatable and the emotions came out stronger after the first few chapters of the book. It also helped that Juliana grows as a character while the story progresses. She’s quite naive and strait-laced at the beginning, but she undergoes trials and expands her worldview, realising that the world is more complex than initially expected. Moreover, the way Chen has written Juliana as a kid who loves their family so much that she can’t say no — much less disappoint them — hits close to home.
What I especially loved is the exploration of differences between generations consisting of immigrants and those raised/born a certain culture yet living another. It’s done so well and with so much care that even the characters we’re typically meant to dislike are simply human. I also loved how not everything is neatly solved in the end, reflecting the reality that not everything can easily be sunshine and roses. The explorations on grief, fighting for what you believe in, gentrification, and preserving culture and community were good too!
Everything considered, Asking for a Friend turned out to be an amazing read with great depth and nuance that I’d never expect from a rom-com. It’s a quick read that I think fans of Emma Lord or those who enjoyed Little Bang and Finding Phoebe would like.
Many thanks to Sparkpoint Studio for providing me a copy of this in exchange for an honest review! Asking for a Friend by Kara H.L. Chen is available at all good bookstores.
July 21, 2024
Recommended: yep!
For a coming of age story with a lot of growth, for strong character development, for love in many forms, for parents being painted as people
Thoughts:
I'd say this is more of a coming-of-age story with a bit of romance in it, as opposed to strictly a story about a romantic relationship, as there was love of all kinds in it as well. Friends, family, community, and even self are all highlighted! So while it's a book about love, it's not necessarily a book about romance.
The love highlighted in the title and all is the thread throughout between Juliana and Garrett, and we do get a few chapters of flashbacks to see what their history is and how they've each gotten where they are today. It's all narrated from Juliana's point of view, and I enjoyed her as a narrator. She's probably 17 or 18 as she's a senior, and I felt like her decisions and thoughts made sense with that age and time of life for her.
One element of this story I was most impressed by is how parents are not painted as just people giving orders without any good reason or care for their child. While it can look that way sometimes in the story, there were often moments where Juliana pulled back and looked at her mother's history and why her mother would feel a certain way or make a certain decision even if it looked heartless or cruel. Her mother had a lot of trauma in her life, and Juliana's awareness of her mother as a whole person and not just "parent" lent a lot of compassion to their relationship and motivations. I think that's something that usually comes later in life for most, but made sense for her to see now given what they've gone through as a family.
Don't get me wrong, as with any person Juliana can be a bit of an idiot, but again, it's in a believable way that doesn't feel annoying. it's just a reminder that this is her first time dealing with any of these challenges and she is young. She's doing her best. She's very self aware, so there are times when she knows what the right choice is but also knows she's not brave enough or otherwise ready to face making it. That's another thing that feels like it comes a little later in life for most, and seeing her identify and try to overcome it made it really easy to cheer for her.
The scholastic and life pressure on the kids is nothing new as a story of course, so some beats were pretty well-worn but no worse because of it. That was a framework for the story, but the way it was filled it lent it life of it's own. And there were definitely some laughs in the story for me, and some lines I really liked, which is always a highlight!
Overall this had really strong character development and growth. There were clear motivations and conflicts for each character, a lot of consideration of right and wrong, lessons all around, and a sweet thread of romance to tie it all together.
Thanks to SparkPoint for a free advanced copy! This is my honest review.
For a coming of age story with a lot of growth, for strong character development, for love in many forms, for parents being painted as people
Thoughts:
I'd say this is more of a coming-of-age story with a bit of romance in it, as opposed to strictly a story about a romantic relationship, as there was love of all kinds in it as well. Friends, family, community, and even self are all highlighted! So while it's a book about love, it's not necessarily a book about romance.
The love highlighted in the title and all is the thread throughout between Juliana and Garrett, and we do get a few chapters of flashbacks to see what their history is and how they've each gotten where they are today. It's all narrated from Juliana's point of view, and I enjoyed her as a narrator. She's probably 17 or 18 as she's a senior, and I felt like her decisions and thoughts made sense with that age and time of life for her.
One element of this story I was most impressed by is how parents are not painted as just people giving orders without any good reason or care for their child. While it can look that way sometimes in the story, there were often moments where Juliana pulled back and looked at her mother's history and why her mother would feel a certain way or make a certain decision even if it looked heartless or cruel. Her mother had a lot of trauma in her life, and Juliana's awareness of her mother as a whole person and not just "parent" lent a lot of compassion to their relationship and motivations. I think that's something that usually comes later in life for most, but made sense for her to see now given what they've gone through as a family.
Don't get me wrong, as with any person Juliana can be a bit of an idiot, but again, it's in a believable way that doesn't feel annoying. it's just a reminder that this is her first time dealing with any of these challenges and she is young. She's doing her best. She's very self aware, so there are times when she knows what the right choice is but also knows she's not brave enough or otherwise ready to face making it. That's another thing that feels like it comes a little later in life for most, and seeing her identify and try to overcome it made it really easy to cheer for her.
The scholastic and life pressure on the kids is nothing new as a story of course, so some beats were pretty well-worn but no worse because of it. That was a framework for the story, but the way it was filled it lent it life of it's own. And there were definitely some laughs in the story for me, and some lines I really liked, which is always a highlight!
Overall this had really strong character development and growth. There were clear motivations and conflicts for each character, a lot of consideration of right and wrong, lessons all around, and a sweet thread of romance to tie it all together.
Thanks to SparkPoint for a free advanced copy! This is my honest review.
August 5, 2024
Note: an eARC was provided by the publisher.
Review: [Note: ASKING FOR A FRIEND includes several difficult familial issues, including parental death, disowning a child for a pregnancy out of wedlock, parents who probably ought to get divorced but don’t because of social expectations, conflicts between parents and children over school/career expectations, and additional threats of being disowned.]
It’s always a delight when you get a romance that hits all the right notes for you. ASKING FOR A FRIEND is one of those for me, thanks to a mix of a couple with real conflicts, family and community strife, and lovely moments of genuine connection. Juliana and Garrett are engaging characters in their own rights, and their reunion after an abrupt end of their childhood friendship had me rooting for them both. (Yes, even when they fought!) Their optimistic vs cynical takes on romance in their joint dating advice column were a lot of fun, too.
There is a lot going on in ASKING FOR A FRIEND beyond the central romance, but author Kara H.L. Chen interweaves the various subplots skillfully so that even though some things aren’t neatly wrapped up in a bow at the end (or even happily), nothing feels like it was abandoned midway through. I really enjoyed how much development characters outside the main couple got, particularly Juliana’s parents (even though her father has been dead for several years—no small feat!). Juliana and Garrett’s Taiwanese American community also felt well-explored and lived-in thanks to the interpersonal and intracommunity conflicts that played out in different ways throughout the book.
I appreciated that Juliana’s subplots with her family weren’t always resolved in ways that I initially assumed they would be. Grief, social expectations, and your parents’ dreams for you can complicate your view of yourself and your future. Juliana had to confront a lot of painful parts of herself in ASKING FOR A FRIEND, and her journey in establishing her own values and dreams was all the stronger for it. Even when she made what I felt were frustrating decisions, I understood why she chose the way she did and was ultimately pleased by where her character ended up. I also enjoyed Garret’s character arc and position in the story as one of the people who helped Juliana confront her own beliefs about the world as well as her role and future in it.
Recommendation: Get it now if you’re looking for a contemporary romance to wrap up the summer. ASKING FOR A FRIEND has a heartfelt romance at its center, which is complicated by conflicts between our romantic leads and within their families and community. There are a lot of great things going on in this book, and I’m looking forward to whatever author Kara H.L. Chen comes out with next.
Review: [Note: ASKING FOR A FRIEND includes several difficult familial issues, including parental death, disowning a child for a pregnancy out of wedlock, parents who probably ought to get divorced but don’t because of social expectations, conflicts between parents and children over school/career expectations, and additional threats of being disowned.]
It’s always a delight when you get a romance that hits all the right notes for you. ASKING FOR A FRIEND is one of those for me, thanks to a mix of a couple with real conflicts, family and community strife, and lovely moments of genuine connection. Juliana and Garrett are engaging characters in their own rights, and their reunion after an abrupt end of their childhood friendship had me rooting for them both. (Yes, even when they fought!) Their optimistic vs cynical takes on romance in their joint dating advice column were a lot of fun, too.
There is a lot going on in ASKING FOR A FRIEND beyond the central romance, but author Kara H.L. Chen interweaves the various subplots skillfully so that even though some things aren’t neatly wrapped up in a bow at the end (or even happily), nothing feels like it was abandoned midway through. I really enjoyed how much development characters outside the main couple got, particularly Juliana’s parents (even though her father has been dead for several years—no small feat!). Juliana and Garrett’s Taiwanese American community also felt well-explored and lived-in thanks to the interpersonal and intracommunity conflicts that played out in different ways throughout the book.
I appreciated that Juliana’s subplots with her family weren’t always resolved in ways that I initially assumed they would be. Grief, social expectations, and your parents’ dreams for you can complicate your view of yourself and your future. Juliana had to confront a lot of painful parts of herself in ASKING FOR A FRIEND, and her journey in establishing her own values and dreams was all the stronger for it. Even when she made what I felt were frustrating decisions, I understood why she chose the way she did and was ultimately pleased by where her character ended up. I also enjoyed Garret’s character arc and position in the story as one of the people who helped Juliana confront her own beliefs about the world as well as her role and future in it.
Recommendation: Get it now if you’re looking for a contemporary romance to wrap up the summer. ASKING FOR A FRIEND has a heartfelt romance at its center, which is complicated by conflicts between our romantic leads and within their families and community. There are a lot of great things going on in this book, and I’m looking forward to whatever author Kara H.L. Chen comes out with next.
July 24, 2024
I loved this book, but it stressed me out! Also, I don’t think the blurb really does it justice.
Juliana feels all the pressure to live up to the expectations of not just her Taiwanese-American family, but the whole Taiwanese expat community. Which means winning the business competition that her beloved father founded basically on his deathbed.
The pressure is even worse, since her big sister—gasp!!!—dropped out of med school because she was pregnant and unmarried. Juliana’s mother basically pretends the sister doesn’t exist.
As Juliana and Garrett work together on the competition and at the Taiwanese Community Center, Juliana learns that maybe it isn’t all about living up to expectations. She learns that her father maybe wasn’t so perfect, and that she’s allowed to want things for herself. It’s a difficult lesson for her to learn, and it’s full of big feelings that she isn’t always ready to feel.
Seeing the enormous pressures that Juliana’s mother and community placed on her was super stressful for me. I just wanted to give her a hug. Watching her grow and learn that there’s more than one way to do things, and more than one way to be, was a satisfying journey. The conflicts in the story pushed the plot along; her actions were realistic based on her circumstances. Of course, as an adult reading the book, I was ready to yell a few times, but I’m not exactly the target market. I feel like Juliana doesn’t reach a true resolution with her mother, but it’s a lot to expect.
Possible Objectionable Material:
Parental death. Unwed pregnancy. Same-gender couples. Lying to parent. Social pressure. Some swearing. Kissing.
Who Might Like This Book:
Those who like stories about over-achievers and having to deal with parental pressure. Those who like coming of age stories, or stories with a competitive element.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2...
Juliana feels all the pressure to live up to the expectations of not just her Taiwanese-American family, but the whole Taiwanese expat community. Which means winning the business competition that her beloved father founded basically on his deathbed.
The pressure is even worse, since her big sister—gasp!!!—dropped out of med school because she was pregnant and unmarried. Juliana’s mother basically pretends the sister doesn’t exist.
As Juliana and Garrett work together on the competition and at the Taiwanese Community Center, Juliana learns that maybe it isn’t all about living up to expectations. She learns that her father maybe wasn’t so perfect, and that she’s allowed to want things for herself. It’s a difficult lesson for her to learn, and it’s full of big feelings that she isn’t always ready to feel.
Seeing the enormous pressures that Juliana’s mother and community placed on her was super stressful for me. I just wanted to give her a hug. Watching her grow and learn that there’s more than one way to do things, and more than one way to be, was a satisfying journey. The conflicts in the story pushed the plot along; her actions were realistic based on her circumstances. Of course, as an adult reading the book, I was ready to yell a few times, but I’m not exactly the target market. I feel like Juliana doesn’t reach a true resolution with her mother, but it’s a lot to expect.
Possible Objectionable Material:
Parental death. Unwed pregnancy. Same-gender couples. Lying to parent. Social pressure. Some swearing. Kissing.
Who Might Like This Book:
Those who like stories about over-achievers and having to deal with parental pressure. Those who like coming of age stories, or stories with a competitive element.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is also reviewed at https://biblioquacious.blogspot.com/2...
February 16, 2025
4.4
I thought this book was cute and explored a lot of themes well, but it also fell flat in a few ways. This book is about Juliana, a Taiwanese-American senior in high school who lost her father at the age of 11. Since then, her mother has disowned her older sister, Bella, for dropping out of Harvard Medical School and having a baby with a man she does not approve of (because he’s white) but this also causes their family to be exiled and gossiped about within the Taiwanese community. Juliana grew up as the “perfect daughter” who never does anything wrong and never gets in trouble. She always gets A’s, holds the family together, is president of the Student Business Association, etc. Juliana is entering into a business competition for young Asian Americans which is also her father’s legacy competition. She was supposed to partner up with another well accomplished student, Eric Lin, per her mother’s request. This doesn’t work out and she partners with an aspiring artist, Garrett Tsai, for his help with web design. They create a website to give love advice from a grumpy (Garrett) and sunshine (Juliana) perspective. Chen does a great job exploring themes of grief, love, generational trauma, and Asian American communities. I felt really connected to the characters in most ways, except for a couple important things. For one, Garrett and Juliana supposedly were super close at a summer camp one year but they were not friends since because of her mom judging him for his potential future. I felt like their connection was a little bit underdeveloped. Also, I wish Juliana and her sister had reached out to Bella sooner, as soon as Juliana started to feel real strife with her mother and disconnected from the relationship. It is a YA book and the author’s second book ever, and I picked it up randomly at the library so I didn’t go into it with huge expectations. Regardless, I loved the culture in this book and thought it was so cute overall.
I thought this book was cute and explored a lot of themes well, but it also fell flat in a few ways. This book is about Juliana, a Taiwanese-American senior in high school who lost her father at the age of 11. Since then, her mother has disowned her older sister, Bella, for dropping out of Harvard Medical School and having a baby with a man she does not approve of (because he’s white) but this also causes their family to be exiled and gossiped about within the Taiwanese community. Juliana grew up as the “perfect daughter” who never does anything wrong and never gets in trouble. She always gets A’s, holds the family together, is president of the Student Business Association, etc. Juliana is entering into a business competition for young Asian Americans which is also her father’s legacy competition. She was supposed to partner up with another well accomplished student, Eric Lin, per her mother’s request. This doesn’t work out and she partners with an aspiring artist, Garrett Tsai, for his help with web design. They create a website to give love advice from a grumpy (Garrett) and sunshine (Juliana) perspective. Chen does a great job exploring themes of grief, love, generational trauma, and Asian American communities. I felt really connected to the characters in most ways, except for a couple important things. For one, Garrett and Juliana supposedly were super close at a summer camp one year but they were not friends since because of her mom judging him for his potential future. I felt like their connection was a little bit underdeveloped. Also, I wish Juliana and her sister had reached out to Bella sooner, as soon as Juliana started to feel real strife with her mother and disconnected from the relationship. It is a YA book and the author’s second book ever, and I picked it up randomly at the library so I didn’t go into it with huge expectations. Regardless, I loved the culture in this book and thought it was so cute overall.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2024
At the center of Asking for a Friend is Juliana, a young woman who feels the weight of her mother’s and community’s expectations on her shoulders. Winning her late-father’s competition would not only fulfill her “duty” but a promise she’s made to herself.
And she knows she can make that happen.
Except — what with her partner dropping her before the competition even begins — things don’t start off well.
That’s where Garrett comes in. Garrett who she once thought could be more than a friend. Garrett who turned his back on her. Garrett for whom she may still have feelings for.
As advice “experts,” Juliana and Garrett become Sunny and Cloudy respectively. These personas are a good juxtaposition, but also serve to show where the two started and where they finish.
This all happens against the backdrop of the small community in Old Taipei. Some of the best moments are born out the community elements and ideas — both old and new.
Asking for a Friend is a fast-moving read that explores topics of family, friendship, expectations, gentrification and community.
Though Asking for a Friend is recommended for readers ages 14 and up, that suggestion is based on character age rather than content. Asking for a Friend is a sweet coming-of-age story with a bit of PG-rated romance.
And she knows she can make that happen.
Except — what with her partner dropping her before the competition even begins — things don’t start off well.
That’s where Garrett comes in. Garrett who she once thought could be more than a friend. Garrett who turned his back on her. Garrett for whom she may still have feelings for.
As advice “experts,” Juliana and Garrett become Sunny and Cloudy respectively. These personas are a good juxtaposition, but also serve to show where the two started and where they finish.
This all happens against the backdrop of the small community in Old Taipei. Some of the best moments are born out the community elements and ideas — both old and new.
Asking for a Friend is a fast-moving read that explores topics of family, friendship, expectations, gentrification and community.
Though Asking for a Friend is recommended for readers ages 14 and up, that suggestion is based on character age rather than content. Asking for a Friend is a sweet coming-of-age story with a bit of PG-rated romance.
October 13, 2024
Asking for a Friend brought me back to the "bad old days" of high school, but told in a relatable, funny, and engaging way. Juliana is the typical good girl over-achiever type (reminds me of myself) but with more conflict due to the overlay of her Taiwanese family expectations. The choices she makes in the first instance are designed to please her mother. But early on, we get the sense that Juliana must hide her true intentions to avoid disappointing her family and the "Aunties" and "Uncles" -- the traditional elders in the Taiwanese community. She finds allies -- people at the local community center, who help her find her moral compass and her own path forward.
Juliana's relationship with Garrett is complicated. She always had a crush on him but after the summer when she thought he ghosted her, she turned away. The disapproval of her mother, who wants Juliana to team up with a Harvard-bound (or other equivalent Ivy) boy makes her sneak around, avoiding what she feared would result in her being ostracized from the family.
Kara Chen weaves the story elements -- Taiwanese culture, school and social expectations, the desire to honor her deceased father's memory, wanting to be with a boy seen as second-tier, and fighting for the good of the Taiwanese community in the face of corporate greed -- in a compelling way, making this YA story a real page-turner.
Juliana's relationship with Garrett is complicated. She always had a crush on him but after the summer when she thought he ghosted her, she turned away. The disapproval of her mother, who wants Juliana to team up with a Harvard-bound (or other equivalent Ivy) boy makes her sneak around, avoiding what she feared would result in her being ostracized from the family.
Kara Chen weaves the story elements -- Taiwanese culture, school and social expectations, the desire to honor her deceased father's memory, wanting to be with a boy seen as second-tier, and fighting for the good of the Taiwanese community in the face of corporate greed -- in a compelling way, making this YA story a real page-turner.
December 14, 2024
Thanks for @booksparks for the gifted book! This review is very much delayed but life lifed and I lost track of this one. 😅 That said, maybe this was meant to be - it's a great book to gift to those who read YA and are looking for something sweet and emotionally deep but not too heavy.
I'vr read a lot of books around the culture clash with 1st gen kids and their immigrant parents but this may be one of my faves dealing with the topic.
Because it's YA romance and guaranteeing me a happy ending, it was easy for me to fall into the story of this book even though the topic hit home for me and could have brought up a lot of negative past experiences. However, there was a lot of bravery and joy from the FMC as she figures out herself and her own value system and ultimately figures out what her next steps should be (vs the path her mom wants for her).
The romance was sweet and well done though my favorite relationship in this book was between Juliana and her younger sister, particularly in the back half of the book.
Pick this one up if you love a read with coming of age, banding together with community, and finding a new found family.
I'vr read a lot of books around the culture clash with 1st gen kids and their immigrant parents but this may be one of my faves dealing with the topic.
Because it's YA romance and guaranteeing me a happy ending, it was easy for me to fall into the story of this book even though the topic hit home for me and could have brought up a lot of negative past experiences. However, there was a lot of bravery and joy from the FMC as she figures out herself and her own value system and ultimately figures out what her next steps should be (vs the path her mom wants for her).
The romance was sweet and well done though my favorite relationship in this book was between Juliana and her younger sister, particularly in the back half of the book.
Pick this one up if you love a read with coming of age, banding together with community, and finding a new found family.
December 11, 2024
This book went a little bit everywhere as there ends up being about five different conflicts instead of one. I'm also 24 years old and enjoy reading fun YA books to see what is popular and to learn the writing technique better. For me, this was very YA. It felt like the audience it aimed at was maybe 13 years old rather than 17 to 18-year-olds. It covered a lot of very common Asian(-American) problems/conflicts seen by younger, and at times, older people. So even though I found the writing to be a bit amateur, because of the conflicts that were brought forth, I think it still proves to be an important book to read. Though I will say, this was a lot of conflict and responsibility put on a senior in high school. For a book of average length and trying to have a hopeful ending, it felt like a bit much. Maybe that was intended though to make the reader feel the overwhelm of a lot of young Asian daughters.
July 13, 2025
It was an okay book. I liked the idea of the plot but the execution wasn’t great in my opinion. I think I mostly didn’t love it because I thought the main character was insufferable and had no real growth at all throughout the book. I was under the impression that she was going to learn that she didn’t have to do whatever her mother wants and that she is her own person with her own opinions and goals like her sisters learned way before her but at the end of the book she was still talking about pleasing her mother. I didn’t like her mindset that she was the only one holding her family together and that if she wasn’t there, her sisters would ruin their family’s name. I think she gave her sisters zero credit and thought way too highly of herself in holding the family together and having to be the one that continues her father’s legacy. I also thought that the main romance in the book had no real growth or chemistry. I just wasn’t a fan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 29, 2024
I did not expect this story to go as deep as it did, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. There's a lot of exploration not only in the enemies to lovers dynamic, but also there's a deep dive into family dynamics and relationships and how those can shape a person. I really felt for Juliana as she went through her journey in this book, not only navigating her relationships, but also her internal struggles, grief and more. What I thought was going to be a lighter read definitely much more than that. I really enjoyed Juliana as a character and her counter in Garrett is great throughout the story. All in all it was a really great read and had far more depth and heart than I had initially thought it would.
September 13, 2024
I enjoyed this YA contemporary romance by Kara H. L. Chen. Asking for a Friend follows Juliana as she attempts to win an entrepreneurial competition while navigating familial pressures, the college application process, and her evolving feelings for a pesky frenemy. While this book had all the makings of a cute rom-com, it also had much more depth and emotion. There were some heavy themes in this one: coping with the death of a parent, toxic family interactions, and the effects of gentrification on a Taiwanese-American neighborhood. I generally don't love books that are set in the world of business/tech, but I did appreciate the way Chen wrote this story.
Thank you to Goodreads and HarperCollins for my gifted copy!
Thank you to Goodreads and HarperCollins for my gifted copy!
July 18, 2024
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Asking for a Friend begins with grief. With mourning someone, but also the not knowing if the person we know, the person we love, is the person they were. In the same story, we love a good frenemy and a business competition. What I loved in Asking for a Friend is the way it takes this business competition and uses it to chat about family dreams, our own ambition, and love all at once. She wants so badly to win to honor her dad's memory, to feel connected to him, but what happens if it turns out that's all it is. That we don't want it any more.
Asking for a Friend begins with grief. With mourning someone, but also the not knowing if the person we know, the person we love, is the person they were. In the same story, we love a good frenemy and a business competition. What I loved in Asking for a Friend is the way it takes this business competition and uses it to chat about family dreams, our own ambition, and love all at once. She wants so badly to win to honor her dad's memory, to feel connected to him, but what happens if it turns out that's all it is. That we don't want it any more.
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