Welcome friend! I am reading more of what fellow readers have loved and thanks to Aysha, there is another Young Adult story I like! This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang follows seventeen-year-old Eliza as she seizes the opportunity towards a brighter future with some help from the actor in her class. Take a look at how that comes about:
Ann Liang | Goodreads
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?
Get ready to fall in love in this hilarious romcom about a girl who begins a fake relationship with the famous actor in her class, perfect for fans of Meg Cabot and Jenny Han.
This Time It’s Real – Review
This Time It’s Real looks at falling in love through the lens of a girl whose family has been a nomad for years. The struggles of moving schools and countries all the time and not being able to have a solid friend circle to rely on has rubbed off on Eliza’s expectations of her love life. Throughout the book, Eliza struggles with the changing relationship with her longest friend of two years, Zoey. She has seen the realities of disconnecting with friends once she moves away but she is still young and sometimes assumes that people intentionally did not want to stay in touch when life naturally drifts them apart. As an immigrant, I relate to her struggles and this is indeed a hard lesson to learn.
The Essay and How it was Received
A personal essay that Eliza decides to tackle as an imagination exercise goes viral and makes her sought after in online circles. Initially, part of me had wanted to dismiss Eliza’s experience and call her going viral unbelievable. People swooning over a teenage romance? And wanting to know more of how teens are managing their relationship? As a teenager, would I have sought to read such experiences? If blogging was as big a deal, maybe. But again, here I am reading the book, knowing exactly what was going to happen so it must have appeal. 😀
I stopped myself then. I reminded myself that I have to let the plot unfold and see what happens. Eliza writes an essay and it is so well received that people can relate and want to connect to her, isn’t it the dream come true for a writer? I want to rejoice in her success and luck rather than be dismissive!
Even though the assignment had asked her for an authentic experience and she had made up what she submitted, there is truth behind what she wrote and it shines through because of her skills as a writer. As a teen it is hard to write about something on the spot. I related to Eliza’s anxiety of doing well and being believable. I remember the rare assignments that I made up because I could not find any personal experiences to write about.
Her essay was about how she wanted her love life to look like and how she felt surrounded by all that love. Its feelings and experiences are so well written that an audience is moved. Just because the original assignment was different, the response from other people is more about the writing. There is the big picture of the facts of Eliza’s skills over the circumstances that led to the essay. This Time It’s Real beautifully portrays the nervousness of sharing our words.
Pretending it’s real with Caz, until it isn’t pretending
Eliza devises a plan to make her imaginative love story look real with the help of Caz, an actor in her class. The viral essay becomes the catalyst for Eliza to reach out to Caz and propose a mutually beneficial arrangement. They would pretend to be together. This book has many hilarious moments. Like when Eliza makes a powerpoint to convince Caz. How he starts reading her essay out loud because he had only heard of it, not read it by that point. Through her internship at a prestigious blogging platform, Eliza will promote his career while building her name. His public image will continue to improve. After the internship is over, they can go their separate ways. Eliza does not count on falling in love with Caz. Neither does Caz for that matter, but he doesn’t fight his feelings while she gets tangled up in them.
Caz is the character who surprised both Eliza and me. Through the moments they shared, I found him to be genuine. As much as everyone alludes to him being self-impressed, there are other sides to him. I liked his candidness in all situations and he forced Eilza to be honest with herself. He used his knowledge in acting to help make their fake relationship look real. He succeeded in getting Eliza to open up to him and challenged her when she gave him mixed signals.
The book primarily focuses on Eliza and Caz’s relationship but also gives insight into other characters like Eliza’s younger sister, Emily, and her best friend, Zoey.
Overall, This Time It’s Real is the sweet tale of a young writer trying to make her name in the world, while balancing high school and friendships. I hadn’t ever read a YA novel set in China before this book.
If you are looking for something light with some moments of thinking deeper, give this book a read! I think the story will appeal to a wide audience, particularly writers. Add it to your Goodreads or request from your local library. 🙂
If you have YA book recommendations, let me know in the comments or add via this form. Another YA I recommend is Daniel Aleman’s Brighter Than the Sun.
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