The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: I Hope This Doesn’t Find You

Series: Standalone

Author: Ann Liang

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Rivals-to-Lovers

Rating: 4.5 stars

Review:

Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a “pleasure to have in class.” It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She’d never send them of course — she’d rather die than hurt anyone’s feelings — but it’s a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie’s work.

All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. “You’re attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain . . . I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you’ve been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft…”

Sadie doesn’t have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them… that is, until they’re accidentally sent out.

Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It’s her worst nightmare — now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they’re not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there’s one person growing to appreciate the “real” Sadie — Julius, the only boy she’s sworn to hate… – summary from Goodreads

This is the fourth time I have read this book, and I love it so, so much! This book brings me such joy and I just adore it!

There were parts where I was laughing out loud, and some where I was gasping, and others where I was just loving it!

There are times when I struggle with contemporary romance, mainly because I love the action and adventure of fantasy books. This book will always be an exception! The characters are wonderful, and the story is just amazing.

Why someone would write their frustrations about their classmates and teachers in ADDRESSED emails, is beyond me. But it sure does make a wonderful story! It is also reminiscent to All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, just featuring longtime academic rivals!

Saide, the main character, was a hardcore people pleaser. At times this could be a little irritating and you just wanted to shake her and tell her to not worry so much. On the other hand, it was so realistic and I related to it a lot. As I have been getting older, I have recognized this in me as well, and I liked the representation, and that it was done in such a wonderful way. I also really enjoyed Julius. In the beginning I saw Julius the way Sadie does, but as the story continued, he got better and better. He is such an amazing character, and I loved all the scenes he was in!

In If You Could See the Sun, the romance felt sudden. In this book the romance didn’t become a thing until the very end, but there was more of a growth to it. I loved the build-up, and I especially liked the interactions between these two characters. They had wonderful banter and chemistry!

Ann Liang writes such realistic characters. I absolutely love all the characters and their flaws. In some books, I think the characters are realistic but not real. That was not the case with these characters, especially Sadie. If Sadie magically popped out of the book and said she was real, I would be hard pressed to disagree.

I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is a wonderful young adult, rivals-to-lovers novel. It has realistic characters and an entertaining storyline! I highly recommend this wonderful book!

Quotes

“If you knew the effect you had on me, how often I think about you, the things I would do for you… I wouldn’t stand a chance against you ever again. You would have taken everything from me. Not just a debating championship or some points for a test or a fancy award or a spot in a competition- but my whole heart. My pride. God, my sanity. It would all be over. You would annihilate me.”

“I want you to hold me like a grudge, keep me like a promise, haunt me like a ghost.”

“You will never be inadequate. You will never be anything but good.”