First Love Language Is an Exploration into Many Firsts

 

Image copied from NetGalley

First Love Language by Stefany Valentine is a refreshing YA contemporary romance that explores so much more than love. In fact, it explores many firsts from first love to firsts in terms of one's birth country, language and identity. The premise for the story is also very timely for the Gen Z readers it is marketed to. Love language represents many things for these young adult readers and it is a very important thing for them in terms of communicating how they care for those important to them whether they be friends, sweethearts or their family. I have often heard my children refer to someone's form of expressing themselves as their love language. I think it was very on point and clever for Valentine to develop her romance for her main character, Catie, around this concept. It also provides a vehicle in the plot for us as readers to engage with Catie's dad even though he has passed away before the story begins. He gifted Catie, before he died, with a book that he'd annotated called The Five Love Languages. It was a book he referred to both while he was dating Catie's mom and later as his daughter and stepdaughter grew up.

In addition to this romantic element the novel also gives a first-person account of what it is like to be a biracially adopted child struggling to find your identity after losing touch with your culture from your birth country. At the beginning of the story, we learn that Catie has lost her white dad from cancer and is faced with moving to Salt Lake City, Utah from San Diego the summer before her senior year with her stepmom, Andrea, and stepsister, Mavis. The upheaval brings to the fore the missed opportunities she had to question her dad before he died about why he and her Taiwanese birth mom divorced and why he brought Catie to the U.S. afterwards, causing her to lose touch with her birth mom. Not only that, but the move means living with her stepmom's very conservative Mormon sister and her family. But things begin to look up for Catie when she finds a summer job at a successful Korean spa and beauty salon. Her first day on the job, Catie lies to a customer about having a boyfriend to stop him from hitting on her, and Catie's co-worker, Toby, concocts a plan to have Catie coach him on dating if in return he'll help her re-learn Mandarin, Catie's original language. Using the book on Love Languages that her dad gave her, Catie begins putting together a series of practice dates for her and Toby to go on. From there their friendship soon starts to blossom and Catie's quest of self-discovery, on so many levels, begins.

Of the many things I loved about this novel, one is the humor involved around Catie and her practice dates with Toby. She becomes a surprisingly glib liar about her knowledge of dating and relationships. The most amusing part is that she is no more experienced on either than Toby. With each date, their friendship deepens and their connection slowly blossoms into first love. The ideas centered around expressing love through the different languages such as acts of service, gift giving, among others is very sweet, making for a quiet and tender romance. In relearning her first language, Catie also learns to open up to Toby about things she hasn't ever felt she could discuss with her adoptive family since losing her dad. Even before her dad got sick, Catie had trouble finding the courage to ask him so many of the questions about what happened between him and her birth mom, about why her birth mom agreed to give her up. We also see firsthand the racial bigotry and negative stereotyping that Catie has endured growing up in the U.S. that are sometimes intentional and sometimes not, but still annoying and painful. 

Other themes that are explored in this novel are ones about reconciling one's religious upbringing with one's own identity if you are not white or straight. In Catie's case, her dad and stepmom were both raised in the Mormon faith, but stepped back from the faith when Mavis, Catie's stepsister, identified as being pan sexual as a young teen. Being with Catie's aunt and uncle, who are both strict Mormons, is a hard adjustment for both Catie and Mavis for different reasons and the author does not shy away from portraying how hurtful and confusing it can be to be told that God only accepts those who fit a very narrow and restrictive mold for Christianity. In the midst of being forced to attend church with her stepmom's family, in return for being able to move in with them, a door opens for Catie, though, and she does find unexpected support and acceptance from a woman of the church who works in the genealogy office. There she helps Catie search for answers to what became of her birth mom and for how Catie can reconnect with her Taiwanese roots.

The journey of love and self-discovery and acceptance that Catie, Toby and even secondary characters Mavis and cousin Rayleigh go on is rich and includes a few unexpected twists and turns along the way. However, the way the story ends is both realistic and satisfying. Catie not only learns to importance of accepting herself, she also learns the importance of facing up to the truth when her false claims about being a love expert are exposed. But as this is a romance at it's heart, nothing stands in the way of true love in the end. Nevertheless, I think that the many themes explored in this book make it so much richer than that. I think many YA readers who might have similar things they are coming to terms with will find themselves represented here, whether it be searching for answers as an adopted child, dealing with cultural bias as an Asian American, or facing bigotry and intolerance for identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community. In her author's note at the end, Valentine admits that this book was loosely based on her own experiences as a biracial adoptee and that her hope is that anyone reading this book will feel seen in some way in it. If you love contemporary YA romance and can appreciate one that is quiet and sweet while also complex and heartfelt in terms of other things it explores, I highly recommend First Love Language which comes out for publication in mid-January of 2025.

I cannot believe that this is the last book review post for 2024. I hope you have found this a good source of reading material throughout the year. I plan to continue posting more reviews in 2025 and invite you to continue exploring new works coming out in the new year with me along with some older published gems. For January, I will be reviewing an adult romance, Here Beside the Rising Tide by Emily Jane from NetGalley and I will be reviewing an old favorite that is a work of historical fiction from Judith Merkle Riley, A Vision of Light. Below are book covers and blurbs of both copied from NetGalley and Goodreads, respectively.

A romance author takes a trip to her childhood beach home, but her summer is upended by the startling return of a deceased childhood friend, newfound love, and . . . sea monsters?

At age ten, Jenni Farrow and her new best friend, Timmy Caruso, enjoy a glorious summer on Pearl Island filled with fireworks, beach days, and carnival rides (not to mention that strange sea creature they rescue from a tide pool). Then, one late summer day, Timmy disappears.

Thirty years later, Jenni—now Jenn Lanaro, bestselling author of the Philipia Bay action-romance series—is desperate to escape the fatigue of her career and her soon-to-be-ex-husband. With her Pokémon-obsessed kids in tow, Jenn rents a summer house on Pearl Island. But shortly after she arrives, a boy emerges from the nighttime sea. His name, he says, is Timmy Caruso. He’s ten years old. He’s on a mission to save the world, and he needs her help.

In the days that follow, as Jenn grapples with work deadlines, spirited children, and her burgeoning interest in a very sexy contractor, alarming and mysterious events unfold along the coast. And when a terror appears in the deeper waters, Jenn begins to wonder if, just maybe, Timmy is onto something.

This second book by the author of On Earth as It Is on Television continues her voice-driven, genre-bending multiverse of fiction that is just flat-out fun.

Set in England during the fourteenth century, A Vision of Light introduces Margaret of Ashbury, an unforgettable heroine who resembles a contemporary woman in spirit and thoughts. Young, wealthy, twice married, Margaret has a modest enough ambition: she wishes to write a book. But this is 1355, and the notion of a woman wanting to record her experiences and thoughts is not just arrogant, it's possibly heretical.

Three clerics contemptuously decline to be Margaret's scribe, and it is only starvation that persuades Brother Gregory, a renegade Carthusian friar with a mysterious past, to take on the unseemly task of chronicling her life. As she narrates her life story to Brother Gregory, we discover a woman of unusual resourcefulness who has survived the Black Plague, invented the forceps, and been accused—but acquitted—of witchcraft. But most astonishing, Margaret has experienced a Mystic Union—a vision of light that illuminates her soul and endows her with a miraculous gift of healing. To every person she encounters in her life, she becomes special—to her traditional parents, to the band of traveling players who adopt her, to the bishop's court that tries her for heresy, and ultimately to the rich merchant who saves her and whom she marries.

With exceptional narrative power, Judith Merkle Riley has recreated in full and rich detail a period that has fascinated her since her adolescence. Although her professional career has taken her into other byways, it has never lessened her long and intense interest in the fourteenth century. At the world-renowned Huntington Library in California, where she did much of her research for the book, Judith Merkle Riley uncovered remarkable primary-source documents. When she felt she knew the fourteenth century as well as a twentieth-century woman could, she set her pen to paper. The result is a remarkable novel that challenges all of our notions about women's roles in the medieval era. Anything but ordinary, Margaret of Ashbury is a heroine for all time.

YA Fantasy, Dark and Grimm

 

Image copied from Goodreads

So, before starting off with the book review can I just say that this cover gives teen romance fantasy vibes that remind me of the old 80s romance book covers. The artwork and colors are gorgeous though and I think the artist captured the romantic lead, Axel, very well based on his description in the story. Just saying. 

Anyhow, on to the review! 

What did I think of The Forest Grimm? Well, I really enjoyed it! From the first line I was drawn into the story. Who wouldn't be intrigued when the book begins with:

Tell me again, Grandmére, the story of how I die.

From there we learn the Clara and her family live in a village that has a magical book that can grant each villager one wish. The village was gifted this book by the magical forest that borders it. We also learn that Clara's grandmother is able to read someone's future with a special tarot deck and that it foretells an early death for Clara in the magical forest. Years later we discover that things have taken a turn for the worse for Grimm's Hollow. Someone used their one wish in a nefarious way and the forest retaliated by cursing the entire village and taking away the Book of Fortunes. Not only that, but since then several villagers have disappeared after venturing into the Forest Grimm to either find their magical book and break the curse, or to seek those who have gone into the forest and become one of the Lost. 

Sadly, the first to become one of the Lost after the curse was Clara's mother. Since then, she's been determined to find her. A task that has been made nearly impossible by the forest, who repels any villager who tries to enter it, sometimes in a deadly way. But clever heroine that she is, Clara figures out a way to circumvent the forest's magic. Her quest begins from there to save her mother, accompanied by her best friend, Axel. It seems Axel's fiancé Ella is also one of the Lost. She was seen entering the forest in her wedding gown and veil on the eve of their wedding day and has been missing for over a year. 

The setting of this whole novel is rich, dark and yes, magical. Once Clara and Axel enter the forest, even with their protection that Clara has devised for them, we don't know what to expect. The Forest Grimm is ancient and full of life and vegetation, something neither Axel or Clara has seen in their drought riddled village in a long time. But it is not welcoming to those under its curse and finds ways to still put Clara and her companions in peril at every turn. It also becomes obvious early on why no one can navigate their way through it and return home again. It's very hard to know where you are heading when trees and landmarks can literally change overnight. 

As promised in the book blurb they also encounter fairy tale characters. But oh, are these characters different from what you might expect. They are subversions of the original tropes, but in a way that completely fits with the original versions of any Brothers Grimm fairy tale. Let's face it, those stories were full of devious and monstrous beings who were often out to kill and murder any unwary traveler or hero that came across their path. The way that Kathryn Purdie accounts for the madness of these fairy tale beings fits in so well with the overall plot of the story as well. When the rules of gifted magic are broken, these are the consequences and as always, in order for a curse to be lifted a price must be paid. 

I found main character, Clara, very easy to empathize with and her love interest, Axel, was funny, kind and brave. I liked Clara's best friend, Henni, as well, though she seemed a little less fully developed to me. I also liked that Clara has a disability we don't often see portrayed in stories. But she perseveres in spite of it. The friends-to-lovers trope is also one I often enjoy and it was done very well in this case. 

The main reason I gave this a 4/5 stars though was that there were a few plot points throughout that I didn't quite feel were ever fully explained. For instance, how did the people who ventured into the forest and become lost not get instantly repelled like so many other villagers have who've tried to enter the forest? In one part of the story one of the characters they encounter implies that she's able to live there because she and the forest have made their peace. But it is never fully explained how this came about and why this seems to lead to the characters in question then being able to tap into and control some of the forest's magic for themselves. How is this possible and why? These were questions I didn't feel I got clear answers to. However, this did not deter me from enjoying the story overall. 

If you enjoy dark fantasy with some strong horror elements to it, you will likely enjoy The Forest Grimm. But be warned, entering the forest is definitely not for the faint of heart and you do so at your own peril.

As for what's up next, I am switching gears in a couple of weeks. After reading and reviewing two dark fantasy novels in a row, I will be switching to contemporary YA dramedy for my next review of Stefany Valentine's debut novel, First Love Language. It is a NetGalley read and is set to come out in mid-January of 2025. Check out the cover and blurb, both copied from NetGalley below.

For fans of Frankly in Love and Tokyo Ever After comes a romantic dramedy about finding love and reconnecting with your culture in the most surprising ways.

Taiwanese American Catie Carlson has never fit in with her white family. As much as she loves her stepmom and stepsister, she yearns to understand more about her culture and find her biological mother. 

So Catie is shocked when an opportunity comes knocking on her door: Her summer spa coworker, Toby, says he’ll teach her Mandarin. In exchange, she needs to teach him how to date so he can finally work up the courage to ask out his crush. The only problem is that Catie doesn’t actually have any dating experience. But she can fake it.

With her late father’s copy of The Five Love Languages and all his annotated notes, Catie becomes the perfect dating coach. Or so she thinks. As she gets dangerously close to Toby and to finding out what really happened to her biological mom, she realizes that learning the language of love might be tougher than she thought.

Stefany Valentine’s debut novel is both a fresh, fun romance as well as a profound, luminous story about grief, family, transracial adoption, and what it means to truly follow your heart.