I Hope This Doesn’t Find You (Ann Liang, Penguin)

Ann Liang’s third young adult novel, I Hope This Doesn’t Find You, is a feel-good rom-com that uses all the well-worn tropes of the enemies-to-lovers subgenre. When people-pleaser school captain Sadie Wen isn’t helping her single mother run their family bakery, she does everything she can to pursue her dreams of acing high school, attending an Ivy League, scoring a high-flying career and supporting her family. Yet all her plans are jeopardised when hundreds of Sadie’s draft emails—which she’d used to vent about her grievances towards other students and teachers—are accidentally sent. Most of these hate emails are directed at one person—Sadie’s co-captain and rival, the arrogant but handsome Julius Gong. Sadie must now take on the ire of her entire school; although her principal seems mostly concerned about the public animosity between the captains. As punishment, he throws them together on various projects to try to foster a truce, which turns out to be a prime recipe for romance. Although Julius and Sadie’s relationship has a satisfying and well-paced arc, the subplot of Sadie’s home life, including unresolved feelings towards an absent father, is not given sufficient weight. There is also a missed opportunity to delve deeper into the theme of class and how this might play out for Sadie socially at her prestigious school. Nevertheless, this is a light-hearted and joyful book that will leave readers smiling, appealing to fans of Jenny Han and Jandy Nelson.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Charlotte Callander is a freelance writer and educator at Melbourne Museum. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

Category: Friday Unlocked reviews Reviews