The Way You Make Me Feel

THIS BOOK MADE ME LAUGH. Which is rare. I IMMENSELY enjoy and get HIGHLY invested in a few books too many than is healthy, but I very rarely laugh because of a book. The Way You Make Me Feel, in a nutshell, was an adorable read, filled with GREAT FOOD, diversity and anxiety rep that also made for a wonderful, light summer read and the perfect way to close out my last summer as a student (hello, senior year and my twenties *bursts into tears*) There were a lot of things I really liked about this book, so let’s break it down: 1. KOREAN – BRAZILIAN FUSION FOOD: If you read the synopsis, (directs you upwards) you’ll know that our main character spends her summer working in her dad’s Korean-Brazilian fusion food truck and OH MY GOD THE DESCRIPTIONS OF FOOD AND THE DIVERSITY IN THE FOOD WERE ESSENTIALLY THE BEST THING IN THE FOOD. 2. ALL THE DIVERSITY: Our main character, Clara Shin is Korean and Brazilian. Her co-worker on the food truck is African American and it all just felt right. It was so well done, and I loved how Maureen Goo portrayed her characters, especially how their skin color and roots were a part of who they were, and they were also so much more. 3. THIS WAS KIND OF HILARIOUS?: I read a sampler before requesting this book, and this book made me laugh in the VERY first scene which contained feminism, prom queens and tampons and I kept laughing after. 4. IT JUST MADE ME FEEL GOOD: Reading this story made me feel happy. I don’t know if it was Hamlet, the ADORABLE love interest, the fact that it was a summery read and also a love letter to LA and delicious food OR Clara’s personal growth, but I loved it regardless. The One Thing I Thought Could Have Been Better: 1. The Lack of Connect/ The Extreme fast pace of everything: When I read The Way You Make Me Feel, I felt disconnected from the story and all the brilliant elements playing out on the paper. I quickly realised it was because I felt like the dialogue was… insubstantial and very fast and there was SO MUCH TELLING AND NOT SHOWING, that I simply didn’t enjoy it as much. Would I recommend this book? YES. The Way You Make Me Feel was a hilarious, feel-good, summer read with some great character growth, diversity, romance and family.

one of my favorite novels of this year -- possibly ever. this is a love letter to LA, Asian-ness, family, friendship, and i'm HERE FOR IT.

Made me laugh on the first page......so far pretty good book