If you’re looking for a cute contemporary story about love and secrets, this is for you. This Time It’s Real is a heartfelt story about lying and secrets, love and performance. Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin’s essay about meeting the love of her life unexpectedly goes viral, her entire life changes overnight. Now she has the approval of her classmates at her new international school in Beijing, a career-launching internship opportunity at her favorite magazine…and a massive secret to keep.
Eliza made her essay up. She’s never been in a relationship before, let alone in love. All good writing is lying, right?
Desperate to hide the truth, Eliza strikes a deal with the famous actor in her class, the charming but aloof Caz Song. She’ll help him write his college applications if he poses as her boyfriend. Caz is a dream boyfriend — he passes handwritten notes to her in class, makes her little sister laugh, and takes her out on motorcycle rides to the best snack stalls around the city.
But when her relationship with Caz starts feeling a little too convincing, all of Eliza’s carefully laid plans are threatened. Can she still follow her dreams if it means breaking her own heart?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
This Time It’s Real is multi-layered. On one level, it’s a story about how we don’t feel like the main characters of our own lives. On another, it’s about how we always feel like the ones we love leave us, that it’s just a foregone conclusion. And on another, it’s about how we can think we know what will happen before it even starts. How we doom ourselves before even embarking. I deeply empathized with Eliza and how she feels like she’s lost her sense of home. Of her sense of people who will have her back.
I loved Eliza from the very first moment I met her. Her vulnerability, her writing abilities, and her feeling of being a romantic cynic. One of those people who are cynical of love, but also wishing that the romance, those incidents, that person, could happen to them. Throughout This Time It’s Real, Eliza realizes how arbitrary and flimsy fame is. And this line between perception and reality. The perception of the ones closest to us, of strangers, and how we see ourselves.
If you’re looking for a charming cute contemporary, this has to be on your TBR. It deals with friendship, family, and love all at once. There’s emotional depth which will have your heart swooning and melting. I think the theme I loved the most was this idea of knowing how something might end, the fears of loss and danger, but also knowing it’s worth trying. That leap where we think, “this could be real”.
Where to Buy
Book links:
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February 7th
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February 12th
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February 13th
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About the Author
Ann Liang is a graduate of the University of Melbourne. Born in Beijing, she grew up traveling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. When she isn’t writing, she can be found making overambitious to-do lists, binge-watching dramas, and having profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who’s a good dog.
Author Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16624571.Ann_Liang
Website: https://www.annliang.com/
Instagram: https://instagram.com/annliangwrites
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AnnLiangY