Book Review :: Frankly in Love, by David Yoon

Frankly in Love by David Yoon
ISBN: 0241373433
on 2019-09-12
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary
Pages: 406
Source: Penguin Books NZ
Find at Penguin Books NZ
Goodreads

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 Chinese American 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.

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Frankly in Love: The Story

Frank Li is an adorable character. He’s feisty and strong, and loving and caring all at the same time. While he loves his parents, he recognises how stuck in their Korean ways that are compared to him, a Korean-American who is less concerned with the traditions of his parents and more into the Southern Californian life he’s grown up in. Mom-n-dad (as he calls them, collectively) only want him to date Korean girls, but Frank falls for Brit, who is not Korean. She tries hard to get his Mom to like her, but Frank knows he can never tell Mom-n-Dad about their relationship. So Frank and his friend and fellow Limbo (the kids of four Korean families who have dinner every month at one of their houses), Joy Song start fake dating to make their parents happy, and so they can see their actual girlfriend and boyfriend without getting caught.

It’s clear and obvious from the start what’s going to happen, so it’s not a spoiler when I say that Frank and Joy eventually start to fall for each other during their fake-dating escapades. When they break it off with their gfs and bfs, they can finally start being together for real. Frank hates to admit it, but he’s dating a Korean girl, just like his parents wanted. As the story goes on, Frank tries to do well by his parents, get good grades in his AP class, smooth things over with his best friend Q when he misses DnD games, and keep his sister’s secrets from their parents. When disaster strikes in the Li household, everything Frank has ever known is twisted on its head, and he struggles to deal with it.

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My Thoughts on Frankly in Love

Hopefully you get the general idea of the story. I really enjoyed Frankly In Love. Like I mentioned before, Frank’s character is fun, and I was definitely cheering for him the duration of the story (unlike many main characters I’ve read). While there were iffy parts to his character (why does he have to call Q’s sister “Q’s smoking hot twin sister Evon” so many times? Cool it, man! She’s a babe, we get it! That’s not all she is!), I enjoyed his voice throughout the story. His friends were gold, especially Q, and their relationship was a joy to read.

“Laughter is the music of the deep cosmos connecting all human beings that says all the things mere words cannot.”

While the story was about Frank and finding love, it was so much more than that. It was about racism, tradition, family dynamics, friendships (both the good and the bad), about hiding who you are because you know your family won’t approve. It’s about love, yes, but it’s about growing up and figuring out who you are in relation to that love, and to all the other things that surround you when you’re 17.

Have you read Frankly in Love? What did you think?

Thank you to Penguin Books NZ who provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. This does not affect my review, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.