[REVIEW] LOVEBOAT, REUNION - ABIGAIL HING WEN (ENGLISH REVIEW)

 All reviews here are purely personal opinions and do not intend to degrade or glorify the work of others. Everyone has their own reading tastes. Thank you.

 

source: Goodreads

Title: Loveboat, Reunion

Author: Abigail Hing Wen

Published date: 25 January 2022

Pages: 448 pages

ISBN: 9781471192968

Language: English

BLURB

Sophie Ha and Xavier Yeh have what some would call a tumultuous past.

It’s a classic tale of girl-meets-boy, boy-meets-other-girl, heart-gets-broken, revenge-is-plotted, everything-blows-up. Spectacularly.

At least they’re friends now. They’ve left the drama behind them back in Taipei—at their summer program, Loveboat—forever.

Now fall is here, and it’s time to focus on what really matters. Sophie is determined to be the best student Dartmouth’s ever had. Forget finding the right guy to make her dreams come true—Sophie is going to make her future happen for herself. Xavier, on the other hand, just wants to stay under his overbearing father’s radar, collect his trust fund when he turns eighteen, and concentrate on what makes him happy, for the first time ever.

But the world doesn’t seem to want Sophie and Xavier to succeed. Sophie’s college professor thinks her first major project is “too feminine.” Xavier’s father gives him an ultimatum: finish high school or be cut off from his inheritance.

Then Sophie and Xavier find themselves on a wild, nonstop Loveboat reunion, each trying to resist the chemistry that originally led to them to combust. As they grow closer, they hatch a plan to take control of their own futures. Step one? Break all the rules.

 

REVIEW

Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster UK Children’s for providing this ARC to me.

After the first book, Loveboat,Taipei, I didn't really have high expectations for this book. I'm interested because this book tells about Xavier, in the previous book I sympathized with Xavier's character more than the others. However, it turns out that Sophie Ha is also the main character in this book. This book is a new chapter for these two characters after they really messed up in the first book.

This book tells the story right after the events in the first book are finished. So, if you are really interested in reading this book, you must read the first book to know more about the characters, their back stories and you will be able to see the extent of the changes experienced by these characters. Since the focus is on Xavier and Sophie, here we will find the conflict that revolves around them. Xavier is trying to escape and be free from his family, especially from his father. Meanwhile, Sophie is determined to focus on college and put aside all matters related to men.

When I read this book, I felt like I was seeing a different characters. Xavier and Sophie weren't the ones in the first book. The changes in their characters are extraordinary or they are only seen because in the first book they were not the focus. Xavier, who is famous for being a playboy, actually looks like an ordinary teenager in general and tends to be introverted. Meanwhile, Sophie, who we know is crazy about men, only focuses on her college project. I think this is an interesting development, how they try to focus on what they want to achieve. Moreover, here Xavier and Sophie are attracted to each other again, even though they remember their past which was quite bad but it turns out that they become a place to lean on to each other.

As for the conflict itself, following the Xavier family, which is very rich, for me, it's a bit too heavy for Xavier and Sophie themselves. For some reason I feel a little dissatisfied with this conflict, I can't see that Xavier and Sophie can solve a problem which I don't think is an ordinary problem because from the start we can see that Xavier is not involved at all in his family company but suddenly he being able to save it seemed a bit odd to me.

However, the conflict from Sophie's point of view is very realistic and I can say I really enjoyed reading this part. Seeing Sophie, who has done so many things for her college project, really made me change my mind about Sophie. Even though she's still a bit childish sometimes but much better than the previous book.

This book consists of two points of view, from Xavier and Sophie. So, we can see what they are really thinking and feeling. How big is their problem and how much it affects them. Their romantic story is also more interesting to follow than Ever and Rick. Xavier and Sophie start over from scratch, they become friends and build their relationship slowly and better. Seeing them helping each other out, always being there for each other makes the relationship they live in that much easier to follow. Although the author seems to really like the triangular relationship, there is a little mention of other love interests but they are not too prominent and disturbing because the relationship between Xavier and Sophie is very strong. I admit the love story here is much more interesting to follow!

I give this book a 4/5 ⭐ rating! This time I like the romantic story and the struggle of Xavier and Sophie to get the dream they hoped for. Here also mention a little about Ever and Rick, who knows there are people who misses this couple.

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