Chandrika Manikandan

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Ryle told us from the beginning who he was... Spoilers When we meet Ryle, he's literally attacking a chair. Red flag number one. Five minutes into meeting this girl, he calls himself selfish, that he only cares about his career and he's never wanted to be in a relationship, much less have children. At least he's being honest? Still, red flag number 2. They go their separate ways which is good for Lily who still thinks about him. They meet again and it's straight out of a romantic comedy so already this book is setting everything up for a romance between Lily and Ryle, but based on everything that he said to her in the beginning, we know he's a narcissist. Why would Lily fall for that? Lily is portrayed as smart, and a go-getter, yet she quits her corporate marketing job (how cliche, by the way) to open a flower shop- in the middle of Boston. Where is she growing these flowers? Perhaps we will never know. Somehow our two overly-sexualized main characters get in a relationship because Lily playing 'hard to get’ and being more attractive than the average girl is obviously what all men want, even if it means giving up everything they believed in just a year ago. And then- another character is introduced. Lily's first love, the first 'naked truth' she told Ryle. And of course this tall, dark, handsome, brooding, 'all I want it a success' man becomes jealous that Lily's first love is in her life again, even though he's not really 'in her life' again yet. The book takes on some dark themes that it does not execute well. I read the epilogue in which Hoover says the book is based on real situations her mother has dealt with. The epilogue was the most moving thing about the book. She managed to take a very real trauma experienced by someone she loves and cares about and romanticize it to the point that I genuinely believed Lily would take Ryle back after the third time he hit her. Atlas, her first love is portrayed as nothing more than her saving grace during her time of need, and none of the other characters are developed. Ryle's sister is Lily's best friend and prompts her to take him back after the first time he hit her because 'he has past trauma.' News flash Ryle's sister (I never bothered learning her name because she adds so little to the story), if you have serious past trauma to the point where you're being emotionally and physically abusive, you shouldn't be in a relationship... The book read like a Wattpad/mafia story. I don't think she meant to considering her own circumstances, but she romanticized abuse and then added a pregnancy at the end that added absolutely nothing to the story. Even without it, the book would get 2 stars, but because of it, I could barely even give it one.

I understand the point of the movie where the mother realizes (or is forced into the realization, more accurately) that her daughter is her own person with thoughts and feelings. I’m 21 years old and not a mother myself, but I do remember being 13. I won’t lie, the movie does portray Mei, a 13 year old girl pretty well. I did find myself relating to her boy-band obsession, but, I didn’t love the way the movie said that Mei was right all along. Honestly, when I was 13, I thought I was always right, but if I was allowed to do whatever I wanted at 13, I would have “Loki’s wife” tattooed on my arm and would thoroughly regret it now. The message of the movie, although in my opinion, correct, definitely missed the point while getting there. There’s no way, no matter how angry a mother as loving and caring as Ming is portrayed to be, would attack her daughter. There’s also no way that Mei doesn’t suffer any consequences for her actions. Essentially the movie teaches children that they can do no matter what (lie, hide things, run away, etc) with good consequences. Life doesn’t work that way, and 13 year olds don’t know what’s right for them. Of course parents shouldn’t be ruthlessly controlling, but this movie takes ten different routes to get there, and doesn't even stop to enjoy the destination. The saddest part is, at the beginning, I thought they were on track, but the movie did a 180 towards the middle. Please don't mistake this review as anything against everything Meilin did in the movie. I don't care that she drew 'explicit' fan-art. Children should be allowed to express themselves without being shamed for it and (even though the movie takes place in 2002) it is 2022, and impossible to shield children from everything. Overall, I can't tell your children not to watch this movie, and according to the movie itself, neither can you, but with the added step of telling your children you'll give them an ice cream cone if they do something you tell them not to. The movie completely misses the mark and I'm not even sure they know the point they're trying to make. I would have enjoyed it more if the ending had been something more like Meilin's mother telling her "Even though I can't allow you to do whatever you want (because you are 13) I promise I will not read your journals or private notebooks and humiliate you in front of everyone for it. I also promise that I will /take/ you to concerts (within reason) so that you do not need to lie and sneak out to see an artist you really like." (Obviously this is not the only issue, it is just an example.) As I said, I'm 21 so I really do remember what it is like to be 13, but teaching children that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want is wrong because they will end up in danger. Also, to anyone pointing out stories like the Little Mermaid who was 16 and went against her father's wishes and everything turned out alright- you do know that's a) a fairytale, not real life, and b) a /Disney/ fairytale where of course they have happy endings. In the original one, Ariel turns into sea-foam because her prince didn't love her back. Before watching this movie, just keep in mind that children are children for a reason.