All the Way Around the Sun

by XiXi Tian

From the acclaimed author of This Place is Still Beautiful comes an evocative, achingly romantic road trip story about grief, diasporic identities, and deep-buried secrets that haunt us, perfect for fans of Past Lives and The Farewell.

Stella Chen’s life ground to a halt when her brother unexpectedly passed away a year ago. Raised together by their grandmother in the Chinese countryside before rejoining their parents in the United States, his absence destroys the connective tissue in her family. With another jarring move her senior year, from rural Illinois to unfamiliar surroundings in San Diego, she is left alone and adrift in her family’s suffocating silence and the void of unanswered questions around her brother’s death.

So when Stella’s parents force her to join her estranged childhood friend Alan Zhao for a college tour all over California, Stella dreads it. Alan is a reminder of everything Stella wishes she could be — popular, gregarious, unburdened — and a reminder of how lost she is.

As this road trip takes Stella and Alan down beautiful coastlines and through fraught family dynamics, Stella can’t help but feel the spark of why she and Alan were once so close. Before long, they find themselves pulled into each other’s orbits, forcing unspoken feelings and long-hidden truths into the light.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction, Grief, Realistic Fiction, Mental Health

304 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2025

About the author

XiXi Tian was born in China and immigrated to the United States when she was a year old. She grew up in central Illinois. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in history and then graduated from Harvard Law School. She is a tech lawyer by day and a writer by night. Although she now lives on Long Island with her husband, son, and cat, she is a lifelong Midwesterner at heart.

Reviews

[Marieke (mariekes_mesmerizing_books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, Sam.

This story is about Stella, but the more I read, the more my heart ached for Sam, her brother, who died nine months before.

Stella captures it perfectly in the chapter "The halfway point." She and Sam lived as two different people: in China, like fluttering butterflies, free and light; in the US, wearing their armor, day after day. And Stella learned that last part from the best: Sam.

On the surface, this book could be pitched as a story about two ex-friends going on a road trip to visit colleges and slowly falling for each other. But that’s just the top layer. Beneath it lies so much more: themes of belonging, expectations, and communication.

Stella never learned how to talk about her feelings. Worse, in her family, no one talks at all. They keep secrets, burying the things that hurt. So, they don’t talk about Sam. Not once. They just go on like he never existed. Alan is the opposite, at least when he’s with Stella. Sunshine Alan wants to fit in so badly. But he also knows those two worlds. I loved their road trip, watching them slowly open up to each other, realizing that even Alan, who seemed to have it all, was struggling too.

But the flashbacks—Stella talking to Sam—were the most precious and intimate moments of all. While reading them, rage and love battled with each other in my chest, along with sadness and frustration. Tears pricked my eyes more than once. And when I finally learned the full truth about Sam, I nearly screamed.

Sweet, sweet Sam, I only got to know you through Stella’s eyes, but I wish we could have met somehow. Please know that you’ll always have a piece of my heart.

Actual rating: 4.5 stars

Thank you, HarperCollins Children’s Books and NetGalley, for this beautiful ARC!

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[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the death of her brother, Stella Chen’s life is turned upside down. Her life feels incomplete, and her family feels like they are breaking at the seams because her brother was the glue that held them together. With him gone, Stella has a lot to live up to. What makes matters worse is that her parents decide to move from their home in rural Illinois to sunny San Diego. It’s times like these that make Stella yearn for the countryside she and her brother grew up in under the care of their grandmother back in China.

Another blow comes when Stella’s parents go back to China for a family matter and force her to tour colleges with her childhood ex-best friend, Alan Zhao, who is popular, easy-going, and confident–everything Stella is not. As much as she dreads the trip and Alan’s incessant need to talk to her like nothing happened between them, Stella is enchanted by the stunning coastlines and the fun times she is having with Alan. She begins to forget how heartbroken and lost she is. But can a few days really heal the wound that has been hurting Stella? Will she ever find herself amongst the shards of loss, disappointment, and regret?

I love books like this. Some might find them pessimistic, too emotional, or negative compared to the fun, colorful books that are popular nowadays. But I think these kinds of stories are beautiful. Life isn’t always a bunch of rainbows, witty banter, and perfect days ending in sunsets. Life is sometimes spoiled by stormy skies and raging winds. Sometimes talking is too much of a hassle, especially to those who see through the mask you are wearing and ask, “Are you okay?” and you can’t tell them that you’re not because you don’t want to be a burden or seem like you are the only one in this world that is troubled. And there are days that are ruined by reality and what feels like bad luck, knowing that the saying “hurt people hurt people” rings too true for you. ❤‍🩹

As I reached the end of this book, I was kind of shocked at the way it ended. There was some closure, but there was room for the reader’s imagination to guess what happened to Stella. But isn’t that the point of books? 😅😂

I don’t really have any complaints about this book. If I had to reach for one, though, it’d be that I wished there were more showing than telling. Like, instead of saying that Stella and her brother Sam were close, show me in the chapters that reflect on the past. I think it would’ve been a 5-star read for me if that had been incorporated because I did feel like it was lacking some connection and depth in that department.

But everything else was great. The plot kept me intrigued the entire way through. I rooted for Stella and Alan as they embarked on their journey of touring colleges together. I liked them together and was wondering what in the world broke them apart. And can anyone hate the perfect weather and beauty of California? The breeze, blue skies, and beach–ugh! It was so great. XiXi Tian is a fantastic writer!

I totally recommend this book, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! 💛

Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s Books and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review! All opinions and statements are my own.

❗Content Warnings❗
Loss of a loved one & grief
Swearing: Some
Spice: None

[Noi (in & out) · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I think all of us do that, to some degree. We see ourselves Becoming, in the grander sense, where we go...

The truth is, a place does not decide who you are. The people around you do not decide who you are...

We should all be loved for ourselves, because that is the only love that really matters...

Each of us, slightly cracked but still hopeful."

[jo ୨୧ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am writing this review at midnight, because that's when I remembered to write it. so here is my semi brain dead but somehow cognitive review. I don't question how brains work, but im in a low-key melancholy mood, and that's what this book does to a person. it puts you in a mood that can only be described as sad. Tian draws the story centered around grief in a way that makes you feel like you are. right. there. living. it. I mean painfully so, but in such a masterful way that now you are bawling. Stella's grief after losing her brother and the story that goes with it made tears come yo my eyes a few times. we are taken between the past and the present in such a way where it reads like you are watching a home movie and suddenly it all comes back that the person you cared about is no longer there. the relationship between Alan and Stella is complicated yet simple, and I loved how we got to see that play out in the story, along with the bittersweet but happy (because sure sadness is happy) ending.

all in all, if you wanna cry, read this book. if you are recently dealing with grief, this book might heal or hurt in either way. all in all, we are all the way around the sun and to the end of this review.
i reccomend.


full review to come !!

thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review

[michelle (magical reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

read on my blog

rep: Chinese-American protagonist and love interest
cw: death of a loved one (brother) due to drug overdose, grief, depression

**I received an ARC from the publisher through Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**

I was going to make it that first year. I would survive the earth’s full revolution, all the way around the sun. I wouldn’t feel better, not every day, but I would keep going.

I had picked up this author’s debut back in 2022 and I remember being blown away by it, so I was really excited to read her sophomore novel! This book had similar vibes as the first one and I enjoyed this one just as much, if not more. All the Way Around the Sun had gorgeous writing, complex sibling and family relationship, and a heart-warming romance in the midst of a resounding coming-of-age story.

A year ago, Stella‘s older brother passed away unexpectedly. Now, she and her parents are moving to San Diego for her father’s new job, so she’s starting her senior year at a new school where the only person she knows is Alan, her former childhood best friend. When Stella’s parents have to go to China for a family emergency, they enlist Alan into accompanying Stella on their planned college tour throughout California. Throughout it all, Stella and Alan resolve their differences as she grapples with her inability to communicate with her parents emotionally.

I loved the complex sibling relationship in XiXi Tian’s debut, and the sibling dynamic here was even more layered. Stella and her older brother Sam grew up with their grandmother in China for most of their childhood before emigrating to the US to be with their parents. As a result of this, they have never been able to fully connect with their parents and feel out of place in the US, Stella even more so.

There are interspersed chapters where Stella addresses Sam while recounting childhood memories, which only reinforces the fact that she felt so close to him growing up in China then felt rejected by him when they moved to be with their parents. Still, Sam was always the person who knew her the best because he had the same shared experiences. Now that he’s gone, she doesn’t know how she can function in a world without someone who knows what she knows, who’s experienced what she’s experienced. I cried at multiple points of the book honestly, and the childhood chapters were most of them.

I tell you that we are the only two people in the world who have lived the same lives. The same memories growing up. The same arc. We flew over the sea together, you and I. I think this must mean that even though you are gone, I carry the parts of you onward. I tell you that I will remember everything about us. I tell you that I wish you were here.

Stella similarly had a strong connection with Alan before he “betrayed” her; Alan also moved to the US from China around the same age although his situation was a bit different. They spent a full summer together where they became very close, only for Alan to pretend not to know her once they start school. Years later, when she runs into him in California, he does the same thing.

When her parents strong-arm her into going on their planned college tour with him instead, she’s reluctant to interact with him due to her feelings of anger and disappointment, which have only strengthened over the years. I really enjoyed their dynamics and their conversations, as Alan apologizes and tries to draw her out of her shell. It’s clear that the two of them still get each other on an emotional level. He also helps her realize that she needs to confront her parents about the emotions they’ve been avoiding otherwise her life will always feel lacking.

All the Way Around the Sun was a haunting, gorgeous tale of love and grief and finding your place in a world when the person who knows you best is gone. I loved the writing and the characters, and I can’t wait to see what Tian writes next. I can’t recommend this book enough, and if you haven’t read Tian’s debut, you should pick that one up as well!

original review:

oh this was a haunting, gorgeous book about love and grief and finding your place in the world when the person who knows you best is gone. I really enjoyed the sibling dynamic and writing in this author’s debut and I’m happy to say the same of this one, although this book is more emotionally charged…I honestly started crying at the end 🥹

[Stacy40pages · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the Way Around the Sun by Xixi Tian. Thanks to @booksforward for the gifted ARC ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Stella feels left behind her senior year of high school after her brother passed away after he left for college. When her parents go back to China, she’s forced on a college tour with an estranged childhood friend.

This story is exceedingly deep for how fast moving and easy to read it is. Grief is displayed very genuinely and through the eyes of children of immigrants who have cultural differences from the families, leaving communication difficult. I loved Sam and how we got to know him through Stella’s memories and chapters of the past.

“There was an entire world out there, shaking itself awake and preparing for the stars. With chances to be taken and mistakes to be made. I knew where I wanted to be.”

All the Way Around the Sun comes out 9/30.

[Gina Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

It's not often that I let a book touch the grandma-shaped hole inside of me but ouch this one did!!

Stella is a high school senior, and she's kind of struggling after her brother died in his dorm room at Harvard. She is kinda scarred and is scared to go to college too. She also is unique to her classmates in that she and her brother grew up until they were like, 8 or so with their grandmother in China. Then they moved to be with their parents in (I think) Indiana, and after her brother's death, her family moved to California.

After their recent move, she reconnects with her childhood friend Alan. He's also someone who grew up in China but back home in Indiana, he ghosted her and so she has beef with him, naturally. So when her parents send her off on a college tour with him while they go to China to deal with a family problem, she's a little less than thrilled.

In between the present-day narrative, we learn about Stella and her brother, Sam, growing up told in second-person POV to Sam from Stella. They were best friends in China and their relationship changed a lot when they moved to America.

The writing style and the, like, depth of what's being said is definitely where this story shines. I have to say, I didn't care a lot about the Alan x Stella storyline. Like, he helped her uncover things about herself and whatnot, but I just didn't think he was given a WEALTH of character or anything. But the parts about family and living in different countries and just the experience of all of it, something so culturally different than my life, was really special to read.

But yeah there's definitely something about that daggone grandma that made me sob.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
All the Way Around the Sun follows Stella Chen, whose brother unexpectedly passed away a year ago. Raised together by their grandmother in the Chinese countryside before rejoining their parents in Illinois, his absence destroys the connective tissue in her family. With another unexpected move from Illinois to San Diego in her senior year, Stella is suffering in her family’s suffocating silence.

Stella’s parents send her on a college tour all over California with her estranged childhood friend Alan Zhao. As they tour colleges, they grow closer to each other and bring each other’s walls down.

Stella, our main character, feels like she belongs nowhere because of the many times she has moved throughout her life, and I think a lot of us would relate to her. This book really tells you that you are not alone in feeling that way, and I think that does wonders for a lot of us.

I really liked the writing style of the author. There were chapters written to ‘you', Sam, which gave a lot of insight to the readers about Stella’s life before Sam died and how it affected Stella.

I liked the focus on how Stella’s family shut off their feelings after Sam died, which helped no one, and at the end they had to open up to each other. I liked how they showed it was incredibly difficult, but still the parents and Stella were trying their best.

Stella and Alan’s friendship was so important to me; I loved their conversations and how they made each feel safe. I would have loved this book even more if the author would have taken just a little more time to develop Stella and Alan’s romance.

Overall I really liked the book and the themes it dealt with. This book is perfect for fans of Ann Liang.

[USOM · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)

All the Way Around the Sun is a multi-layered story about family, identity, and loss. My heart was on an emotional roller coaster and I loved it. It begins with the grief of losing her brother. The gap a loss like that has. It's full of memories, tender moments, and feelings of resentment. Yet, it's also about the future and the fears. The fact that we begin to approach a full year around the sun without him. Or the ages when we surpass them. All these moments of grief and the silence within her family. The sibling relationship brought tears to my eyes as we see the fights, the support, and the secrets.

[Shannon]

This was more of a YA coming of age, mental health journey story than it was a light-hearted romance and I was okay with this. The FMC, is struggling to care about applying to colleges in the face of her older brother's unexpected death (understandably) but she wasn't expecting to be reunited with her first crush as they are forced together to tour potential California colleges together. It was good on audio and I would recommend for fans of authors like Maureen Goo but for me I wanted more emphasis on the romance. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Calissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

With tender, aching prose, this story cracks open a part of your heart and gently works its way in. XiXi Tian paints a vulnerable portrait of complex family relationships; of navigating a pain so heavy it crushes your lungs; of going back to the beginning and choosing to hope, even after everything. I felt each facet of Stella’s grief story, not only in the loss of her brother, but also as she grieved the person she used to be, the golden childhood she couldn't return to, and the lost years in her relationships with her loved ones. And yet, time marches relentlessly forward, and everything changes eventually. As hard as that is to accept sometimes, there’s also hope in it—that against all odds, we can keep going, and make it all the way around the sun too.

4.5 ⭐

We flew over the sea together, you and I. I think this must mean that even though you are gone, I carry the parts of you onward.
I tell you that I will remember everything about us.
I tell you that I wish you were here.

[YZ (wordwanderlust) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in a day! Really good but I wished it was more emotional (probably because of the more tell-y aspects)…I wanted to cry but didn’t. Also the ending is not my fav sing it’s so abrupt and kinda gave mw whiplash

[Honora Reese · Rating 4 out of 5]

I honestly don't know how to sum up my thoughts on this book. It was heavy but beautiful. The romance was lovely yet bittersweet. I didn't love the chapters in second person as much (usually because I wanted to get back to Stella and Alan) but at the same time they were genius and very well done. I think a little part of me healed through this novel.

[Royal · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s college application season, but Stella’s mind is elsewhere, as she is grieving the loss of her brother, Sam who passed away at Harvard. Applying to college reminds her of how she lost Sam during college.

This book is deeply moving, personal, and relatable yet comforting at the same time, and the characters are rich and complex. So many pertinent Asian American experiences are captured in this compelling novel, from immigrating to a new country, moving to a new city, the pressures of school and AP classes and being compared to your peers, having parents who don’t understand you and want to keep bad memories in the dark, and my personal favorite, the descriptions of family meals and food.

Stella’s story combines two major stressors in adolescent life - dealing with grief and applying to colleges. Author XiXi Tian did an excellent job capturing the melancholic emotions and mixed feelings of youth, such as comparing yourself academically to other stellar students (Sam as well as her friend Alan) while struggling with school and feeling that you don’t measure up. The story also covers Stella’s move from living with her grandma in China to moving in with her parents in Illinois to LA, which contributes to her feeling of not belonging and also of nostalgia for a better time. As someone who also went to a university in LA, I also appreciated the college tour that Alan and Stella embarks on, where the characters’ impressions of the school also reflects on their current mental state and personal growth.

If you liked reading You’ve Reached Sam (incidentally also about a character named Sam who passed away) or I Am Not Jessica Chen, the themes of loss and the pressure and stress of applying to colleges will seem familiar in this novel.

Special thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books, Quill Tree Books, and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest, independent review.

[Karis · Rating 3 out of 5]

~~Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!~~

3.5/5 stars rounded down.

So, I didn't expect to read and finish both of Tian's works within a short period of time. But here I am. And this was a solid read filled with a lot of heart.

The strongest impression this book left on me are the themes of grief, the ways in which the yawning void a loved one's death leaves in the silence they vacated, throughout Stella's story. From her fears of going to college to the awkward, stilted conversations with her parents due to things she doesn't know how to express, the girl's going through a heavy emotional journey that weighs heavily in the prose. The best written chapters in my opinion were the ones with flashbacks to her and her brother's childhood and she was directing addressing him as 'you.'

Despite all that, I still found myself not as into the rest of the story. Stella and Alan had some cute moments, but I just didn't vide with the romance as a whole. I found myself wishing they either stayed platonic or all intentions of romance were implied for the future where Stella was in a better place emotionally to be in a relationship. But, as frustrating as I found it in the beginning, the development of Stella and her parents' relationship was very satisfying, and her relationship with her grandma is very cute.

All in all, a good read, but not something I personally connected to all that much. I can already see many people loving it very much; maybe I could, too, if I ever decide to reread this sometime in the future.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ooh man this book had me crying multiple times. There is such incredible depth and nuance in this novel, and I’m blown away by how Tian writes about the complexities of different Chinese-American immigrant families.
I loved following the journey of our protagonist, Stella, as she navigates grief and young adulthood. There’s a strong lesson of being okay with uncertainty, and of bravery in not trying to fit the mold. I sincerely loved this book and its characters (particularly 奶奶)— All the Way Around the Sun holds a special place in my heart.

[brontësaurus · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Something happened to you. It's okay," he said softly. "Do you want to tell me?"

it is rare for me to enjoy a ya contemporary but my how beautiful this was. it so masterfully covers topics of grief, family, and social acceptance and the romance was so pure and sweet. this book is about a girl grieving her brother who joins her childhood friend in a trip to tour colleges. a romance does blossom between the main characters but their feelings for each other are complicated by a fallout years ago. i did feel that the main plot twist was quite sudden, with very little build up. it definitely surprised me, but i think it should have been hinted at even slightly. this was overall a very strong ya novel and i will continue to read from this author. my cynical self admits defeat.

How do people go from being friends to something more? Where is the tipping point when you look at the other person, who you've known for so long, and suddenly your heart goes, Ah, yes?

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartbreaking book. The moments where Stella reflects on the loss of her brother, or how much she misses “home”, or how much she just wants to share true feelings with her parents - so beautifully written and emotionally wrenching. This one will stick with me for a while.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

What seems like a simple story of two former friends, on a college road trip is anything but. There are so many layers with Stella and Alan's respective pasts and how they weave in and out, it would take book too tell. What was done exceptionally well was how 1G and 2G immigrants have a hard time communicating and how Chinese families, especially, keep secrets out of love. Peeling back layers of grief, the Chinese diaspora, assimilation and expectations, this book will not only wring you out while also bring joy. This book just grabbed me and will stay with me for a long time.

I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.

ETA: Staff Pick 10/25

[Haneen · Rating 3 out of 5]

♡ ❝I tell you that we are the only two people in the world who have lived the same lives. The same memories growing up. The same arc. We flew over the sea together, you and I. I think this must mean that even though you are gone, I carry the parts of you onward. I tell you that I will remember everything about us. I tell you that I wish you were here.❞ ♡

↳ 🌅💛 Overall Review: 3.5 ⭐️

I feel like this book is underappreciated. The writing is brilliant and makes you feel the emotions of the main character deeply. It made me scared to think that the things she went through could happen to me in the future, and how I'd feel if they happened.
The first half of the book was emotional, but I didn't feel so attached to the characters and was just feeling bad for them. The second half of the book destroyed me , though. I kept crying and every time the tears stopped, another event would make me cry again.

♡ ❝If we had known that you wouldn't return, we would have never let you go. We would've forced you into the car and driven all the way back downstate.
We would've kept you here.
We would've made you stay.❞ ♡

↳ Plot:

The story didn't intrigue me much from the beginning, but later on, I really wanted to know what had happened to her brother and between her and Alan. I didn't expect that I would cry that much over it.

♡ ❝You promise yourself. Right now, you just need a little help for the week. You need to sleep. You chase them down with a glass of water.
You get into bed.
You never get up. ❞ ♡

↳ ☀️🏯 Characters:

⤳ Stella Chen
I can't really judge her personality after all the trauma she's been through and all the expectations, pressure, and emotional baggage that she had to hold inside her heart. I felt really bad for her and I wish I could give her a hug.

♡ ❝This is what it is. And I've tried and tried and tried to make myself into what they want and not make waves, not make them have to worry about me. I'm splintering a bit on the inside. I think I'm losing it.❞ ♡

⤳ Alan Zhao

At first, I was really curious to know what Alan had done that was so bad to Stella, but when they told us, I was really pissed at him. I understand why he wanted to do that, since he has a stupid father , but I was still upset that he did it.
I experienced what Stella went through when Alan pretended not to know her, and I know it feels horrible, and you feel like someone stabbed you in the heart. I forgave him, though.
I wanted to see more of him and what happened with his father towards the end, just like Stella fixed things between her and her parents.
Alan was really nice during their trip, and it was obvious that he felt guilty for what he did.

♡ ❝Better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.❞ ♡

↳ 🚉 Characters' Relationships:

↬ I liked Alan and Stella's relationship, but I wish we could've seen more of them.

♡ ❝Can't you see? Because I loved you. I always loved you, even when we were little. I remember when we met, and you liked my magic trick, and I don't know, I think that was it. You were so hopeful, so strong. Every time I looked at you, I couldn't believe you even wanted to hang out with me. I was so afraid that you would hurt me one day, I preferred for you to hate me. It was ridiculous. It hurt me anyway. I thought about you all the time. When I saw you again here, it just felt like--I had to fix it. I missed you too much.❞ ♡

↬ I didn't feel that Stella and her brother got along that much through the memories she recalled. I felt like they were almost like any normal siblings. Their relationship wasn't that deep, is what I mean. But I really felt bad cause Stella adored her brother.

♡ ❝The forty-nine days after your death are a blur, except for the one thing I feel in my soul: that you are not here. I do not feel your presence. I do not see a flicker of you in the lights at home. I do not dream of you. I look for you all over, as your spirit is supposed to linger, but I find nothing. People always talk about how they see loved ones in cardinals, in butterflies. I wonder, is there something wrong with me? Am I not looking hard enough? Or worse: Are you just not there? Is there nothing to look for?❞ ♡

↬ Ugh!! Stella and her grandma broke me, and I don't think I can recover. I'm personally not close with my grandma, but I still felt really emotional. The way it ended was really sad. .I still want to know if the grandma knows about Sam's death or not. It broke my heart when she asked about him, and they just lied to her.

♡ ❝The past can be a gift. I am grateful for the memories. They're good for me, an old woman. Future hopes are for the young.❞ ♡

[Chelsea]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

All the Way Around the Sun by XiXi Tian is a first person-POV dual-timeline YA contemporary dealing with the impact of losing your older brother. Stella’s life changed when her older brother, Sam, went to college and then passed away. Her parents have become distant, she stops taking advanced classes, and her family even moves away from her hometown. But when her parents head to China to be with her paternal grandmother and leave Stella to do her college tour with a family friend, she might finally be able to start to move on.

One of the things that’s very cool is that some of the chapters take place before the story starts and Stella refers to her brother as you, which puts the reader deeper in her head as we see their younger years. It helps to sell their relationship as well as putting the reader in the headspace of a young person who’s whole world was their older brother and their grandmother and now, as a teen about to enter adulthood, their grandmother is on the other side of the world and their brother is gone. The choice to use this POV style really shows what was lost instead of the reader just being told.

Stella and Alan, the son of the family friend, have a complex relationship when the story opens. The two have known each other for a while but have barley talked since Sam’s death, even though Alan’s family moved to the same area as Stella’s and they are in the same school. It's them spending time together touring colleges and finally discussing what's happened in all that time that makes them slowly open up. It is more of a slowburn and this is definitely not a romance novel, but I thought it was a nice addition to the grief narrative as it helped show the various ways Stella has been struggling and how she is more of a late bloomer.

I really appreciated how Stella feels adrift as an immigrant not only in the US but also in relation to what is happening back in China. Being Gen 1.5 is to always be somewhere in between no matter how assimilated you are because some part of you is still stuck back where you used to live. XiXi Tian really hammered in some of the smaller details that contribute to that feeling of isolation, especially if everyone around you has come from families that have been in the US for several generations or came over much more recently.

I would recommend this to fans of YA that explores grief and the transition to adulthood and readers who love stories of being Gen 1.5

[Pine Reads Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Life could be big and bold. It could be fearless. You could expect pain and disappointment, but you could expect a lot of other things too. You couldn’t choose what to let in and what to keep out. You’d have to let it all in, everything all at once. Even if it felt like too much. A soul could stretch though. I believed that.”

Raised by their grandmother in China, Stella Chen and her brother Sam have felt disconnected from their parents ever since they joined them in America and left their grandmother behind. When Stella’s brother unexpectedly dies while at college, her family picks up and moves from rural Illinois to San Diego. Stella feels even more alone in the face of his absence and thousands of miles from home. In an attempt to get her to finish her college applications, Stella’s parents force her on a road trip through California with her childhood friend Alan Zhao. Between their falling out years ago and her fears surrounding her future, Stella doesn’t want to go. However, somewhere along the way, they reconnect and begin to mend the relationship that was fractured so long ago.

All the Way Around the Sun was perfect. I can’t remember the last time I read a YA contemporary romance that had such power behind its words. Yes, there is a romance in this novel, but it is truly about Stella healing herself and discovering who she is and what she wants in the aftermath of her brother’s death. The romance, which starts as the reconnection of old friends, just helps her get there. Alan Zhao understands her better than anyone, which is why she is able to open up to him and tell him things that have been holding her back since Sam’s death. What I really loved about this book, though, was the storytelling. Tian swapped between first person point of view and second person, where Stella addresses her brother after his death by using “you.” She uses these chapters to tell stories about their past and what happened leading up to his death, and they truly enriched the narrative. Not only did these stories give the reader insight as to how she was feeling and what her brother was like, but they also illustrated their complicated family dynamics before and after his death. Stella struggled a lot with feeling disconnected from her parents as a result of the years spent away from them in China, and she had to reflect before she could begin to mend that relationship. The ending left many questions unanswered, but that is how life works. Everything about this book and the ending was crafted so beautifully I cried as I read the last page. I have no notes, All the Way Around the Sun was simply perfect.

Pine Reads Review would like to thank Books Forward and Quill Tree Books for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.

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[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stella Chen's brother died a year ago effectively snuffing out the family's brightest star. Stella doesn't know how to navigate Sam's death when her parents never talk about him, when they never tell anyone how he died. She doesn't know how to measure up to the gaping hole he left in their family where Stella can barely function and her parents are coping by moving the remaining family across the country from rural Illinois to San Diego, California. Worst of all Stella doesn't know how she can possibly go away to college herself next year when she is so terrified she won't come back either. Just like Sam.

Actually going to college is a future concern, though, since Stella still hasn't completed her applications and her grades are in freefall.

College tours are the last things on Stella's mind when her parents announce a road trip throughout the state to tour the prestigious in-state options. The trip becomes even more unappealing when Stella finds out her travel companion will be Alan Zhao--the estranged childhood friend who seems intent on ignoring her now that they're at the same school again.

Traveling across California, Stella wishes she could go back to her childhood when everything felt easier living with her grandmother and Sam in the Chinese countryside before coming to the United States to join their parents.

Spending time away from her parents and memories of Sam give Stella the space she needs to come back to herself as she comes to term with her past and decides what should come next in the future in All the Way Around the Sun (2025) by Xixi Tian.

All the Way Around the Sun is Tian's sophomore novel. Chapters alternate between Stella's first person narration in the present and flashbacks where she talks to Sam about their shared past.

Stella's loneliness and grief are palpable as she navigates growing up while knowing that her brother will not. Her family life is further complicated with her grandmother's changing health and her parents' decision about how they do (or do not) share the news of Sam's death with friends and family. In traveling away from home, Stella begins to see that grief is a faceted thing and that while it feels unbearable now she will eventually come to terms with it.

Nuanced characters and a quiet story line make All the Way Around the Sun the perfect book to savor. Recommended.

Possible Pairings: Vinyl Moon by Mahogany L. Browne, This Side of Falling by Eunice Chan, No One Here is Lonely by Sarah Everett, Tell Me Every Lie by Ellen Hagan and David Flores, Break This House by Candice Iloh, All That's Left to Say by Emery Lord, Where Was Goodbye? by Janice Lynn Mather, The Weight of Everything by Marcia Argueta Mickelson, Midnights With You by Clare Osongco, Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim by Particia Park, I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom by Shannon C. F. Rogers, The Queens of New York by E. L. Shen, Catch the Light by Kate Sweeney, You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao, No One Is Alone by Rachel Vincent, All the Tomorrows After by Joanne Yi

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

[mary rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

thank you to netgalley, quill tree books, and harpercollins for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for my honest review! i am not sure what originally drew me to this book, but i am incredibly grateful to have read it. stella was a lovely protagonist to follow, and her internal monologue is incredibly compelling. she is somewhat aimless in the same way that tori of solitaire fame was, despite the difference in their circumstances, and i rooted for them in similar ways. stella’s journey to figuring out what she wants is deeply satisfying, and her reconnection with alan is mildly clumsy but sweet nonetheless. where this book really shone for me was its discussion of grief, both regarding sam and another character i won’t name for spoilers’ sake. while i have not lost an older sibling or experienced most of what made stella and sam so close, i can certainly sympathize with stella. to be perfectly blunt, i lost my grandfather in october, and i happen to be writing this right around the six-month mark of losing him. that grief has not left me, and like stella’s grief for sam, it will not for a long time. but stella slowly coming to terms with all of her grief and not letting it rule her or outright abandoning it was fantastic to see. this is probably the first time i’ve seen grief on such a scale and in multiple dimensions tackled in a YA novel, and the experience of reading this story is not one i’ll soon forget. if you’re interested in reading, i’d recommend checking content warnings ahead of time.

this review is also available on instagram here!

[Kat ⋆.˚ ☾ .⭒˚ · Rating 5 out of 5]

To know another person's secret was to be able to hurt them, and I was always too afraid of this.

After the tragic death of her older brother Sam, Stella doesn't want to go to college. College would mean leaving what she knew behind again. It would mean stepping into a world that had killed the one person who understood her. So right before college applications are due, her parents do what any good Asian parent does: send their child on a road trip tour with an old friend. While trying to reconnect with Alan, someone who doesn't really understand why Sam doesn't want to connect, the two share grief, love, and a newfound realization on what it looks like to live.

This is described as a mix between Past Lives and The Farewell and boy is that accurate. Xixi Tian is able to build up and bottle the emotions of Sam as our main character, letting it all simmer as the book continues until it finally explodes at the end in a bittersweet but optimistic way. I rarely get my heart chewed out like this in a book, but I was up late feeling all the feelings. Even thinking about it now it's a lot.

The plot is not that complicated; it's a road trip book. But that lack of complication allows for the characters to really shine. Alan is a good friend. He's complicated and the discussion behind race and what makes someone American vs Chinese was well-fleshed out for teenagers. I think the romance aspect was a little underwhelming and the relationship would've served the same purpose without it, but because it was so minute in terms of the whole plot that can be overlooked.

Anyways, I'm going to go stare at a wall and think about my feelings.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books, Quill Tree Books, and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to thank Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

It is very rare for a book to make me cry, and this book did just that. My heart aches for Stella, for the burden that is placed on her after her brother Sam dies, and the burden she feels to take his place and keep her family together after their loss.

This book delves deep into how grief shapes us, the pain and stress it can put on a family. It also delves deep into family responsibility and traditions, the responsibility both Stella and Alan feel they need to keep up to both their parents, the choices they make based on what their parents want. And the fear to speak up and out of turn.

It delves deep into identity, the pain that comes from immigrating and the pain of assimilation. The pain Stella faces from moving from a rural town in China to Illinois and then to California, the need to mold yourself into what people want around you or else they discriminate against you.

It was a heartfelt and story for many that are going through grief or have been through grief, the many burdens that can be placed upon us in family, and the pains of immigrating.

[Luv2TrvlLuvBks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A trifecta of themes in this book that were melded beautifully.

Sibling loss, young love, and immigrant diaspora straddling multiple countries and states.
This author's teen voice is Stella. A young teen on the cusp of adulthood with the leap from high school to college. Her parents sacrificed so much to give her and her brother, Sam a better life by initially immigrating to the US without them.

The term "satellite babies" was one I was unfamiliar with prior to this book. The author lays out this concept well thru her fictional characters without rendering harsh judgments. Then there's exploration of the family dynamic with the loss of Sam. What happened? How is the fragmented family coping as a whole and individually without Sam? Finally, Stella's relationship with her beloved grandmother who essentially raised her and her sibling but is a whole world away and aging is explored.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Children's Books | Quill Tree Books, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#AlltheWayAroundtheSun #NetGalley

[Alyssa Knappenberger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy of this book through a promotion through Epic Reads.

Going into reading this book, based on the back of the book, I thought it was going to be a book about two old friends who reconnect by going on a road trip through California to visit colleges. Although this was what happened in the book, the plot was so much more than that. This book explores loss and the grief that comes with losing someone you love. It deals with the pressures and expectations that are faced by family. It deals with finding out who you are and how to face challenges.

My favorite part of this book was Sam and Stella's chapters. These chapters are easily identifiable, as they are named, and are spread throughout the book. These chapters are Stella speaking to Sam, her brother who passed away at college months before the book starts. They range from their childhood in China until shortly after Sam's death. Sam's story is absolutely heartbreaking, but it was beautiful to see Sam and Stella's relationship on the page, as it is not something mentioned much in the current timeline in the book as Stella is still in the grieving process. These flashback scenes were crucial to the book and the story being told and made this book a 5 star read for me.

This book made me feel all the emotions on the spectrum, from happiness to heartbreak and sadness, but overall, it was a beautiful story. This is the first book I read by XiXi Tian, but after reading this book, I will not hesitate to pick up one of her books in the future.

[Katarina Xie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me feel things that I haven't felt in in book to put it simply. I'd rate this as a solid 4.5.

I related to the family dynamics that Stella experiences. The amount of grief, heartache, but also hope made me turn every page. Many of the descriptions fill and occupy my head with wonderful imagery. My heart tumbled and ached at Tian's description of Stella's grief for her brother, Sam, in recollecting her thoughts about the past and mourning the remnants of her beloved brother. The slight build of friendship to romance is quite fascinating and fitting for Stella's current needs. If I was in highschool applying to college, I would also relate to Stella's struggles. I'd recommend the book to any senior in high school. The topics dive into many aspects of being an Asian American teenager.

[Jennifer S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stella Chen is adjusting to life in San Diego, where her parents have moved the family in the middle of her senior year of high school after her brother dies in his freshman year at Harvard. Plenty of adjustments amidst the grief and the family doesn't really talk at all. Stella feels the heavy weight of expectations compounded with grief. When her parents leave for China unexpectedly, she is sent off on a college visiting road trip with Alan, another Chinese boy who she knew in middle school but who has repeatedly brushed her off. There is much to unpack, between her grief, her family dynamics, and her friendship with Alan.

Living in a community filled with high-expectation immigrant parents, this book really resonated with me. 4.5 stars.