David Yoon

Two friends. One fake dating scheme. What could possibly go wrong?

Frank Li has two names. There's Frank Li, his American name. Then there's Sung-Min Li, his Korean name. No one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. Frank barely speaks any Korean. He was born and raised in Southern California.

Even so, his parents still expect him to end up with a nice Korean girl--which is a problem, since Frank is finally dating the girl of his dreams: Brit Means. Brit, who is funny and nerdy just like him. Brit, who makes him laugh like no one else. Brit . . . who is white.

As Frank falls in love for the very first time, he's forced to confront the fact that while his parents sacrificed everything to raise him in the land of opportunity, their traditional expectations don't leave a lot of room for him to be a regular American teen. Desperate to be with Brit without his parents finding out, Frank turns to family friend Joy Song, who is in a similar bind. Together, they come up with a plan to help each other and keep their parents off their backs. Frank thinks he's found the solution to all his problems, but when life throws him a curveball, he's left wondering whether he ever really knew anything about love—or himself—at all.

A Novel

Frankly in Love

Thais Souza Passos

** spoiler alert **
           Brit Means deserved so much love and happiness ❤️❤️❤️❤️💜💜💜💜 and also other little things that didn’t make me happy at all :( 
Just... a cute book and everything, but a lot of things didn’t work for me.

Isabela H 

Ngl, when I was planning this review in my head, I was gonna complain about the writing and how some things felt too awkward or confused, but then I realized that it was just me struggling to relate to Frank. Now, however, my opinion is completely changed because I absolutely loved this book.

I recommend this book to anyone struggling to navigate while stuck between two worlds, never sure which one you belong to, or want to belong to, and how to add love into that complicated equation.

Thank you so much Putnam for the arc!

Absolutely wonderful! Relatable, funny, heartfelt. I sobbed, I laughed. I connected with Frank so much! David Yoon’s writing flows, keeps you stuck to the book. It’s a page turner for sure. The plot was something I’ve experienced in my culture. I loved learning about the differences yet similarities cultures can have with regards to raising children. It was so funny, I fell in love with the characters! Especially Frank! Favorite contemporary of the year... ALL THE STARS!

Frank Li is a high school senior living in Southern California. Frank's parents emigrated from Korea, and have pretty much one big rule for Frank - he must only date Korean girls. But he's got strong feelings for a girl in his class, Brit - and she's not Korean. His friend Joy Song is in the same boat and knows her parents will never accept her boyfriend, so they make a pact- they'll pretend to date each other in order to gain their freedom. Frank thinks fake-dating is the perfect plan, but it leaves him wondering if he ever really understood love - or himself - at all. David Yoon's debut novel is a quirky, authentic, heartbreaking romantic comedy and a refreshingly different take on race, immigrant communities, friendship and family.

mafe

okay.. i started reading this because of the fake dating trope so i’m a lit bit of disappointed but for me that just finish high school i relate it a bit with frank and his friends

l.h.

Shan

This book is now one of my top favorite YAs. Although predictible at times, this book brought insight to so many more things than just young love. Yoon did a phenomenal job portraying race, sexuality, family, friendship and America.

As someone who was starved of representation of characters who weren't white, as a child, this book was a delight in the fact that I felt I was able to see myself in the pages. Frankly in Love is a coming of age book about a teenage boy who deals with attempts at love, identity and cultural conflict, and the looming fact that he has to leave for college soon. As a first generation immigrant, I felt like I could see myself in Frank, in the way that he thought and his own experiences. The writing style is on pitch, with the author managing a task that has eluded many a writer: capturing the voice of a teenage boy without sacrificing authenticity or dumbing it down.

mary

è stato un libro molto carino e leggero,però non mi sono particolarmente affezionata ai personaggi e alla fine è tutto troppo veloce

Charmaine

This book was awesome.
It was so truthful and brutally honest about life and its mishaps. I am frankly in love with all the love between everyone. I laughed, gasped, and cried. There was such splendor in this book. Now that I have finished it, I am dismayed to part with all the humor, metaphors, and wonder in this book.
This book is beautiful❤️

Alexa Jade

Why must I be so disappointed this year???!!!

Camila Eduarda Vilela Lobianco

Achei muito boa a noção de cultura que o livro trouxe. De acordo com relatos de amigos meus, a representatividade é muito fiel à realidade, então acredito que esse seja o ponto mais forte do livro. Não sei se o romance era para ser o foco, mas se alguém for ler pelo romance acredito que ele foi meio fraco e sem graça, o que acabou retirando algumas estrelas.

Nadine 

This would be a four star review for just about everything in the book - the discussion of racism in immigrants, the complexity of choosing partners, the inter-Korean snobbery. The only down side was the excruciating descriptions of all the many kisses ....

Frankly In Love

Lincy

Tori W.

this whole ripped my heart apart and the ending was so good 😭😭😭😭😭

Aroosa Qureshi

Truly a fun and interesting read 🥰 Had so many emotions and this is one book that will have you thinking a lot about the characters situation and I truly love Frank and he’s a character I truly sympathise with the most. I also love a lot of the characters and Joy and Q made me laugh throughout the book. 

Truly recommend this book ❤️

Sahi K

CW: Gun violence, Cancer, Racism (challenged) 

I first noticed this book because there was so much hype during the release week, but I somehow didn’t really feel interested in it. But then my friends started saying wonderful things about it, and I received the audiobook, so I just thought why not give it a try. And I’m not exactly sure what I’m feeling after finishing it but maybe I will by the end of this review.

The first thing you’ll notice about this book is it’s writing style. It’s very unique, almost like the main character is having a conversation with the reader. There are a lot of broken sentences, hyphenated sentences, very current teenage lingo and a lot of gaming references. All these things would be perfect for the right audience, but I unfortunately I am not one of them. I found it a little difficult to follow in the beginning, but once I decided to not overthink everything and go with the flow, it became a much easier read. In parts it felt like the author was trying too hard to sound like a teenager, but there were parts where it felt really authentic. Its a slice of life kinda story, exploring the life of our main character in his senior year, but the pacing was always fast and I never got bored. The author also manages to bring lots of laughs, makes us think and ultimately also made me cry. The narration by Raymond J. Lee is awesome, him bringing a lot of authenticity and uniqueness to the various characters. My only quip is that his voice sounded a little old for a teenager. 

I’m an Asian immigrant too but I’ve only lived here for a little less than a decade, so my experiences are vastly different from either the parents in this book or the kids. But it’s just all so relatable in a way that I can’t explain. The author does a great job exploring the lives of immigrants like Frank’s parents - who come to America to make something good of their lives but never want to lose that connection to their homeland, and they keep at it by socializing only with their fellow countrymen, hoping that their kids date others of the same race and essentially live in their own bubble, which ignores the rest of America. And I can’t deny that most of us Asians do this, including me and everyone else I know. 

The author also doesn’t shy away from discussing the deep rooted prejudices and racism in the Asian community, particularly regarding the African-American community or the Hispanic community - and how this is a bone of contention between the older generations and their much younger Americanized kids who also happen to be more educated and progressive. And this feeling of not belong to either their parents’ homeland or America, and how much this looking for belonging and identity can affect the lives of these first generation immigrant kids was depicted very thoughtfully by the author. We also see stark differences between the kind of relationships that kids and parents have with each other across communities, and this was another aspect of the writing that I felt was done very realistically. 

And along with all the important themes of identity, racism and privilege, the author also gives us an authentic look at how crucial the senior year is to the kids. The unending expectations of excellence from the parents regarding SATs and college applications, the fear of disappointing them, the joy of going to a dream college and the utter sadness of losing all our close friendships - it was written so beautifully that it made me very nostalgic and emotional. It’s really been a while since I’ve read such an authentic and relatable high school experience that it really impressed me.

I absolutely loved all the kids characters in this book. Frank is a smart, hardworking, responsible and respectful young man and I just wanted all the happiness for him in the world. I felt every single emotion that he felt, particularly towards the second half of the book. He really feels everything with all his heart and it made me very sad whenever something not so nice happened. Brit is a very woke and progressive young lady, and I admired her being so thoughtful and sweet. Joy is a real spitfire, extremely smart and ambitious, but like a normal teenager doesn’t want to disturb the status quo a lot. Q is Frank’s best friend and gaming nerd and adored their friendship so much. They were just there for each other without any expectations and it reminded so much of my best friend whom I haven’t seen in years. Their last scene together made me sob (and I’m also crying right now while typing this) and I just wish we could have gotten more of their scenes together. There are other high school kids as well with whom we only get a few scenes, but they were all written with a lot of care and it shows in the writing.

Finally, I just want to say that this book has taken me completely by surprise. It’s beautiful and poignant and very resonant in a way I haven’t felt in a while. If you love YA contemporaries where everything is not always hunky dory but it hits you right in the feels, then this is the book for you. If you are an Asian immigrant or a first generation American, you will definitely find something very relatable in these pages and I highly recommend this book to you. I just realized there is going to be another book in the series and I really really hope we will be following the same set of characters because I don’t feel done with them yet.

Grace O'Callaghan

*2.5 ⭐️

It's been a short while since I read this and I just don't think about it at all. There were things I loved about it and things I really disliked. Please know that I don't think this book is for me so if you love high school settings and cliche YA romance this is probably for you.

I feel very ambivalent towards Frank. His humour just wasn't very funny to me. The rest of the characters were fine, but none really stood out to me. I thought the chemistry between Joy and Frank worked, which is why it was frustrating when we're told so many times about their love for one another. I actually quite like love triangles but this one was done pretty poorly. Brit clearly wasn't as fleshed out as Joy so it was clear Frank and Brit wouldn't end up together.

This may be considered a spoiler so I'll tag it but what I absolutely hated the most was the (view spoiler)[ way the cheating was handled. I don't mind cheating in YA books but when the narrative seems to gloss over it and excuse it I really don't like it. When you're supposed to root for the protagonist it's hard to do so when they never face any repercussions for cheating. I may have interpreted it wrong but it almost seemed like the book was saying it's okay as long as you love the other person you're cheating on.  (hide spoiler)]

Something else I didn't really like was the (view spoiler)[ *twist* at the end that Frank's best friend was gay. The book already has many going on that this wasn't really explored enough at all. It just felt cheap and like ticking a diversity check box. It just felt unnecessary.  (hide spoiler)]

I have no issues with the plot actually. I thought the reason for Joy and Frank fake dating is more realistic than most. I'm saying that as someone that loves the fake dating trope. The parts that focused on high school and the romance weren't really for me. I think I've slightly grown out of wanting to read about fairly generic high school and romance drama.

There were a few things it did differently that does set it apart from a lot of YA contemporary. I loved the discussions on culture, identity and family. I thought that it took a more nuanced approach to these topics than just the typical progressive view most YA seems to fall under. My favourite part was Frank and his dad learning to be close to each other despite their differences. It was so heartwarming.

There are also quite a few heavy subjects such as racism, cancer, a shooting and death in the book so be warned.

Overall, I do appreciate what this book was trying to do and I think it delivered for the most part. It was the actual high school and romance things I didn't enjoy which are most of the book.

“I have no idea, I realize, is a big part of who I am.”
that hit different, but in a good way. the strongest part of this book was by far the portrayal of growing up korean-american. from the casual racism, to the 1500 on the SAT expectation, to the sculpture of the tiger and eagle fighting. i’m not too sure the point of that last one, but i too, am korean-american, and i also have a statue of a tiger and eagle fighting lying around somewhere in my house. it was small details like this that really helped to make the book, in comparison to whatever the plot was trying to be.

the romance. there was an attempt at romance, and from reading the summary, i thought most of the book would be centered around the fake-dating. i love the fake-dating trope. anyway the fake-dating turned into real dating about 200 pages in and then there was just so much more book that didn’t really feel necessary. it also felt like there was no development of the romance, either between frank and brit or frank and joy. childhood friends to lovers is also a good romantic trope but that did not feel well developed since it didn’t seem like they were ever friends, but acquaintances who fell in love via shared google calendar. also once frank and brit broke up brit dipped and rarely showed up again even though they had so much calculus together.

the pacing. the first half-ish of the book was fine. they went to school, took the SAT, went on dates, etc. but towards the end, once the school year ended, the timing was all over the place. there was some summer, then like three months of q and frank playing d&d passed in one paragraph. suddenly they’re going to college and then oh look it’s thanksgiving wait fuck it’s christmas. it felt very disjointed, like suddenly there was a rush to fit everything into some sort of great epiphanic epilogue even though there were a hundred pages previously with not much happening.

the “plot twist”. uhh spoilers maybe-ish. however once q refused to tell frank who he had a crush on i knew he was gay idk the coming out at the end was kind of weak. not feeling it. that’s boring find another way to make your book interesting.

the representation. i have said this before but i will say it again. “When Mom-n-Dad say American, they mean white. When they refer to themselves--or me--they say hanguksaram, or Korean. I never call myself just Korean. I call myself Korean-American, always leading first with Korean or Asian, then the silent hyphen, then ending with American. Never just American.”this quote? top tier. chef’s kiss. mr yoon you are right and you should say it. if yall non asian-american people can take away one thing from the book it’s this. the differences between two cultures, constantly feeling not asian enough and not american enough, and trying to figure out where you belong in all of that. 

in conclusion this kinda went off in terms of the korean-american experience™ but not much else.

Jelke Lenaerts

This book has content warnings for racism, shootings and cancer.

I immediatly fell in love with this book. I loved following Frank Li and his narraration. His humor was fantastic. I found myself laughing a lot whilst reading this book. I was completely sucked in from the start. I loved the friendship dynamic portrayed in this book and there are many of time. Frank doesn't just have one friendgroup, like most YA characters, but has multiple that all represent the different parts of his life. The family aspect was also something I really loved in this book. It shows how complicated family can be but how important it is at the same time. Every different character in this book has a different relationship with their parents and I like how respectfull this was portrayed. But all of those things took backseat to the romance. Romance is the main focus of this book and it's also the part were this book lacked a little bit for me. Everything was so fast moving when it came to the romance and it never really got room to breath, which made for the romance storyline to be done just over halfway through the book. It's not like nothing happened for the rest of the book because at that part family took over a bit more but if the whole book's main focus so far has been romance it just feels a bit jarring to have that wrapped up and still have so much book left. Overall, I still really liked this book and my excitement for it definetly wasn't missplaced.

Kath Lau

*Huge thanks to PRHInternational/PRHGlobal for my free copy. This did not affect my overall opinion of the book.

Frank Li was born and raised in Southern California. He’s a son of two hardworking Korean immigrants. His parents want the best for him including who he should end up with. They want him to date (and eventually marry) a Korean girl. The problem is, Frank’s dating a white girl named Brit and he is afraid to tell his parents about her especially after what happened with his sister who dates a black man. So he comes out with a “brilliant” plan to pretend he’s dating Joy Song, one of his Korean girl friends who is also dating a non-Korean guy, while secretly going out with their real partners. It sounds like a perfect plan, right? Well, it’s not.

I honestly have mixed feelings about Frank. I didn’t like him for the most part so I was really thankful that he has at least redeemed himself towards the end. Frank’s character is very relatable not only for Korean Americans but for all teenagers. I remember being in his situation before. I also grew up not telling my parents a lot of things especially when it comes to my lovelife. I didn’t question their decisions because it’s disrespectful so I just kept my thoughts to myself. They have their own ways of protecting and showing how they love us which was really infuriating that time but I’m way passed it because I now get it. My relationship with them right now is so much more better than before. I love my parents so much and I appreciate everything they have done (and are still doing) for us.

My most favorite character would be Frank’s bestfriend, Q. I wished there was more about him in this book because he’s really interesting and such a great friend. Same goes with Brit, Joy, and Hanna (Frank’s sister). They felt one-dimensional. Also, did David, Nicola, and their daughter made a cameo in this book? Because it’s so adorable.

I am personally not a fan of fake-dating trope especially when there’s micro-cheating involved. I also thought that Frank and Brit’s romance escalated too quickly. I have to admit that eventhough the writing is really good, I kept putting it down. It took quite awhile for me to get used to the writing. I’m not sure how teenagers talk nowadays but the dialogues in this book are quite strange for me. Some of them are really funny though.

There are some Korean language (texts) in this book and I thought it was clever. I had no idea what they’re talking or arguing about but it somehow put the readers in Frank’s shoes. One scene in this book made me teary-eyed because it reminded me so much of my relationship with my parents. It’s just heart-warming and full of love. I liked that this book is unapologetic. Because newsflash, Asian people can be (terribly) racist too. Not only to white or black but to fellow Asians as well.

Frankly in Love is a coming-of-age story about identity, acceptance, family traditions, and more.

Ruth Parker 

I originally gave this 5 stars but I’ve changed my rating down to a 4 as this book just hasn’t stuck with me the way I thought it would. It was super cute and super sweet but it’s not a book I’ll go back to again and again.

Samantha Seeman

4.25* 
The writing was really what took away from this one for me. I personally did mesh with it well. And even though some of it was predictable, it was still a really unique story. 
I always get really self conscious reviewing books that I read as ARCs because of a fear that things were changed between the copy I read and final publication so I rarely do it but I guess today I am. Frankly in Love is the debut novel by David Yoon who is the husband of famous YA writer Nicola Yoon (known for The Sun is Also a Star & Everything Everything). It is a story about a Korean American teenage boy named Frank Li who is struggling with his identity. His family has strict ideas about how his life should be because of their Korean heritage (so much so that they have disowned/isolated their daughter for “not following the rules”). But Frank lives and has been raised in California. He often feels like he’s got one foot in Korea and one in America, making it hard to identify himself. Anyway, he falls in love with *gasp* a white girl, and decides to fake date his Korean friend Joy (who is dating a Chinese guy) so that they can each continue seeing who they really want to be seeing. As expected things get dicey and all hell breaks loose. The thing about this book though is that it could have been over at least a dozen or so times. It felt so long. Not necessarily in a bad way but it was certainly an unexpected ride. I really loved all the issues it addressed and the content itself, but I struggled a little with the writing style. It was a little hard for me to get into. While I didn’t exactly mesh with his style, I will definitely be keeping Yoon on my radar because I actually think I liked his book better than both of his wife’s.

Nathalie Matsuda

3.5stars 

What I liked: 
- super relatable for people with Asian background (not only Korean) 
- the representation
- Q and Frank's friendship 
- the narrator was so good
- hilarious, I laughed out loud a lot 

What missed the mark for me 
- the romance
- didn't feel a connection between any of the love interests 
- no real conflict (or it was just too juvenile for me; but I do miss the target YA audience by around 15years)

Grace Emilia Machon

Laugh out loud funny, absolutely glorious debut. What a talented family. Sometimes when I read teen fiction I think about how wonderful it is that the books they read are so inclusive and heartfelt with 100 of types of friendships and lives all sat side by side. This book is part of that and it gives me so much hope

Also fake dating is my fave and I cried like a baby.

Frankly in Love A Novel

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