Synopsis:
For fans of Crazy Rich Asians or Jane Austen Comedy of Manners, with a hint of La La Land
When eighteen-year-old Ever Wong’s parents send her from Ohio to Taiwan to study Mandarin for the summer, she finds herself thrust among the very over-achieving kids her parents have always wanted her to be, including Rick Woo, the Yale-bound prodigy profiled in the Chinese newspapers since they were nine—and her parents’ yardstick for her never-measuring-up life.
Unbeknownst to her parents, however, the program is actually an infamous teen meet-market nicknamed Loveboat, where the kids are more into clubbing than calligraphy and drinking snake-blood sake than touring sacred shrines.
Free for the first time, Ever sets out to break all her parents’ uber-strict rules—but how far can she go before she breaks her own heart?
Publication Date: January 7th, 2019
Publisher: HarperCollins
Genres: Young Adult, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Travel, Asian Literature
My Rating: 
My Favourite Quotes: *subject to change*
All the important questions in life, I ask my best friend or the librarian. I never take to my parents about the books I read or the music I love or the dances in my head. I can’t trust them not to take what bit of sol I offer them and hurt it into a dumpster.
Whatever his dad wants–better grades, not a toe out of line, prostrated nose-to-pavement filial piety. Xavier wasn’t just taking it like an Ever Wong.
He’s fighting back. Can it work? Is it even possible?
“Why do you trust me?” I ask. […]
“You never told anyone about my drawings.”
“I did before I knew it was you.”
“Exactly.”
The chopsticks came out occasionally, and they left no scars, but the shame has lingered.
“Let them wallow in their disgrace,” I whisper.
The firelight make this cheekbones prominent, like blades. His jaw tightens. With a single finger, he traces a line down my nose. Then over each brow. Then, fro, corner to corner, my lips. Drawing me. Seeing me.
[…] “Or maybe you’re just finally doing more of wha you want to do,” she says wisely.
Book Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository | B&N | Kobo | iTunes | Google Books
My Review
A big shout out and thank you to FFBC for including me in the tour and to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!
Everyone I know, all my darling friends, have been gushing about this book. It’s always always a joy to be a part of their shared book love! The book both flew by and remained with me at the same time. In the beginning, the parental pressure, the hurling words of guilt and shame made me cringe, turning the sides of my lips down and the extent to which I felt stifled on behalf of Ever was … shocking. Even at the moments where she bowed down in the face of their sacrifice, love and the guilt, I could connect to Ever deeply.
All the decisions in this book that Ever makes, even if they were perhaps a little shocking, made sense. Why? Because when you’re never allowed to fly and for the first time you spread your wings, you take that little bit of time to find ground/balance before flying true to your ability. I like how this concept was handled and the explanation was arrived at. The growth that we see in Ever, how she turns from a stifled, caged bird into one who glides the skies with her own two wings was lovely to see. Ever is swift to clasp at stability and finding her balance, reacting to difficult situations with great maturity and coming to a good understanding of her own thoughts and what she wanted.
The strength that she grows was healthy and true and not based off of what someone else told her, or someone else made her do. I was moved at many moments towards the end that Ever shares with her friends/family. Another subtle message I loved was watching Ever (who had also made a mistake) never bad-mouth a friend after a certain situation. You can be angry and feel wronged but still keep from bad-mouthing someone you love, it was fantastic integrity in character that was portrayed.
The only aspect I probably had a problem with was the romance. Not that it was bad, it just didn’t fit in my head. Her choice, (perhaps because it’s different from mine?) didn’t feel like I had gotten closure or an ending. The best part of this was that Michelle @LoveStarsAndBooks told me that there’s a second book. *prays fervently*.
Author Bio
Abigail was born in West Virginia to a family of immigrants: Her mother is from the Philippines and her father from Indonesia, and her grandparents emigrated to those countries from Fujian and Shandong provinces in China.
Abigail grew up in Ohio and graduated from Harvard University and Columbia Law School. She worked in Washington DC for the Senate, as a law clerk for a federal judge. and now in Silicon Valley in venture capital and artificial intelligence. She also earned her Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.
In her spare time, she enjoys long walks with her husband and two boys, and hanging out with friends and over 100 family members in the Bay Area. She loves music and dances to it when no one is watching.
Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Instagram
GIVEAWAY!
Win (1) of (2) copies of LOVEBOAT, TAIPEI by Abigail Hing Wen (US Only). This giveaway starts on the 1st of January 2020 and ends on the 15th of January 2020
LOVEBOAT, TAIPEI Blog Tour Stops
January 1st
The Unofficial Addiction Book Fan Club – Welcome Post
January 2nd
We Live and Breathe Books – Review
Read.Sleep.Repeat. – Review + Favourite Quotes
Kayla Reads and Reviews – Review
Young Adult Media Consumer – Review
Write, Read, Repeat – Promotional Post
January 3rd
Library of a Book Witch – Review
Bookishaestha – Review + Favourite Quotes
Jinxed Reviews – Review + Playlist
Mahkjchi’s Not-So-Secret Books – Review + Favourite Quotes
Heart’s Content – Review + Favourite Quotes
January 4th
Sometimes Leelynn Reads– Review + Favourite Quotes
The Layaway Dragon – Review + Favourite Quotes
Cluttered Books – Review + Favourite Quotes
Yna the Mood Reader – Review + Favourite Quotes
My Bookish Escapades – Promotional Post
January 5th
Novelishly – Review
String of Pages – Review + Favourite Quotes
Fanna Wants The World To Read – Review
Playita reads – Review
Kait Plus Books – Promotional Post
The Mind of a Book Dragon – Review + Playlist
Books and Blends – Review
The Baroness of Books – Review
Words of Hannah Kay – Review
Utopia State of Mind – Promotional Post
January 7th
Magical Reads – Playlist
Confessions of a YA Reader – Review
Reads and Thoughts – Review + Favourite Quotes
biblioxytocin – Review + Playlist
To All The Books I’ve Read Before – Promotional Post
Heart's Content 
Great review, Ahana! I’ll definitely be picking this up sometime! Ever sounds like a very relatable character.
LikeLike