Frankly in Love by David Yoon Book Review

Title: Frankly in Love
Author: David Yoon
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Books for Young Readers 
Release Date: September 10, 2019
Pages: 432

Two friends. One fake dating scheme. What could possibly go wrong?

Frank Li has two names. There's Frank Li, his American name. Then there's Sung-Min Li, his Korean name. No one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. Frank barely speaks any Korean. He was born and raised in Southern California.

Even so, his parents still expect him to end up with a nice Korean girl--which is a problem, since Frank is finally dating the girl of his dreams: Brit Means. Brit, who is funny and nerdy just like him. Brit, who makes him laugh like no one else. Brit . . . who is white.

As Frank falls in love for the very first time, he's forced to confront the fact that while his parents sacrificed everything to raise him in the land of opportunity, their traditional expectations don't leave a lot of room for him to be a regular American teen. Desperate to be with Brit without his parents finding out, Frank turns to family friend Joy Song, who is in a similar bind. Together, they come up with a plan to help each other and keep their parents off their backs. Frank thinks he's found the solution to all his problems, but when life throws him a curveball, he's left wondering whether he ever really knew anything about love--or himself--at all.

In this moving debut novel--featuring striking blue stained edges and beautiful original endpaper art by the author--David Yoon takes on the question of who am I? with a result that is humorous, heartfelt, and ultimately unforgettable. 

Buy it on Barnes & Noble or Amazon  

My Thoughts

Frank Li is the son of Korean immigrants living in California. His parents have a whole set of rules he has to follow like only allowing him to date other Korean Americans, so that becomes a big problem whenever he starts having feelings for Brit, someone who is definitely not Korean. 

When I told Mom-n-Dad, they stared at me with pity and disbelief, like I was a little dead sparrow in the park. And Mom actually sad this, for real: Don't worry, we still love you.

He wants to date her but he knows that his parents will never approve. But lucky for him, Joy, another Korean American, has the same problem with her Chinese American boyfriend so they decide to hatch a plan to advert their parent's attention.

We all sit and nod for a moment, letting Ella's words float before us. We all just want to love who we want to love. 

But what happens when things don't go as planned?

Star Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3)

Frank Li was funny and he made me smile, but at the same time, I thought that he was a little like the typical teenager. His actions sometimes seemed a bit immature and a little like he didn't put much thought into them.

More than just a love story between two teenagers, it goes more into the struggles growing up Asian American. As someone who is also Asian American, I can relate to a lot of the differences and struggles that Frank had to go through.

Although I wanted to love this book so much more, Frankly in Love was a good read about Frank and his road to finding himself in society. It deals with his struggles as an Asian American but also incorporates a fake dating tope which I enjoyed.

About the Author

David Yoon grew up in Orange County, California, and now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, novelist Nicola Yoon, and their daughter. He drew the illustrations for Nicola’s #1 New York Times bestseller Everything, Everything. He is the author of Super Fake Love Song and the New York Times bestseller Frankly in Love, which was a William C. Morris Award finalist and an Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature Honor book.