Private Label audiobook

I loved this sweet and moving YA story about finding the strength to pursue your dreams and fit in when you feel like an outsider. I think I pretty much devoured this in one listen. The writing was simple and flowed nicely and I could genuinely relate to the predicaments that the teens found themselves in. There are a few Asian family tropes in there and some unlikely business scenarios but they weren't unreasonable enough to have me rolling my eyes. Very enjoyable!

It's about accepting all the pieces of you, however complex and hard. I used to want so badly to fit into a neat box. Now I know there is no neat box. I'm a composite of all my identities. . and my fortunes. You can see Kelly Yang's heartprints all over this new YA novel. Serena and Lian tell their story in alternating chapters. Serena dreams of being a designer like her mother. Lian wants to be a standup comic. Their unlikely pairing is a thing of beauty. There are lots of fashion industry inside looks (including a Vogue photo shoot) and clean comedy courtesy of Lian. I'm taking one star off for too much foul language and sexual content. Not recommended for teens younger than sixteen. Thank you to Katherine Tegen Books and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5Hm. Eu AMEI todos os livros da Kelly Yang até aqui — não sei onde esse se encaixa para mim. Não é um livro ruim, mas é bem abaixo do que ela já mostrou que consegue entregar. Algumas cenas precisam que você ignore um bocado da realidade para acreditar no que está acontecendo. A mensagem é bonita, mas também não fez muito por mim.Apesar de não ser o público-alvo, eu ainda curti os personagens, os dramas e a narração do audiobook. A nota da autora, como sempre, é bem tocante. É meu sétimo livro da autora e já estou maluco para ler o oitavo!Recomendo para quem curte YA contemporâneo.

It’s no surprise that Kelly Yang’s latest is fabulous. The perfect mix of serious and fun. I love all of her YA books and will always read them 💖

This was my first Kelly Yang book and I enjoyed it. While it may not have checked all my boxes, it was definitely a nice, sweet read. What I like about the book: 1. It is well written. It has an easy flow and it’s entertaining with all of Lian’s jokes.2. I really like Lian. He is probably the sweetest male character I’ve ever read, and I want to see more characters like him in the future. • He respects Serene, • he isn’t some fuccboi who brags about his accomplishments, • he helps his sister to realize her dream on his own dime,• he helps Serene and his sister appreciate their culture,• he carries his coat in case Serene gets cold, • oh my god! That pendant contract was everything!, • he asked if he could kiss her (that is so high school sweet!), • he printed and mapped out on his bedroom wall the Great Wall of China so he could “take Serene there” as his grand gesture, and• he is downright hilarious! Seriously, his comedy is what kept me reading and wanting more of the chapters in his POV.3. There is a revolving theme of assimilation and not being welcomed because of who you are. I felt the author did a very good job of highlighting some of the messed-up stuff non-white people go through in America. I appreciated the deep thoughts around how different people dealt with it and how the strongest character, Lian, helped Serene and others see that being yourself is most important at the end of the day. What didn’t do it for me: 1. I really wanted to like Selene, but she just fell flat for me. She had sweet moments, especially when she acted really mature with her mom’s illness and taking care of her. But there were a couple things about her that bugged me.She spent way too long being in a relationship with Cameron and arranging her life to try to make him/his group of friends happy when she even realized she didn’t really like him all that much anymore. I also felt she was really hypocritical of her mom. In one breath she’s pissed that her mom changed her name from “Li” to the more Americanized spelling “Lee”, but then she’s changing everything about herself to fit in at school too. At the end of the day, be you, not who others want you to be and don’t be a hypocrite. 2. I felt this book should have had a wide range of emotions and it fell short of that goal. Going into this book, I wanted to be devastated with her mom’s illness, and I wanted to be in love with Serene’s and Lian’s love story. Neither of these happened. While her mother’s illness was a focal point to the story, the points where real emotion could have been interwoven in were highly glossed over. At no point did I want to cry, and this should have been a book to wreck me. As for Serene’s and Lian’s love story, it just felt…abrupt. One second Serene doesn’t know who he is and the next she thinks about kissing him instead of her boyfriend. It also seemed strange how fast they recognized the other as their “best friend”. They barely knew each other…Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Children's Books, Katherine Tegen Books, and Kelly Yang for the opportunity to read this ARC. The opinions expressed above are my own, honest opinions. 3.5 stars!

i love kelly yang 🥰🥰okay this was just so gorgeous and reallike it’s actually realistic the writing, like always, impeccable the characters were all just so relatable and normalloved the plot(i also loved seeing the wechat stuff. LITERALLY THEY USED THE WECHAT EMOJIS 😭😭)so so good, 5 stars

Such a tender dual perspective YA romance with depth and heart!! Aspiring fashion designer Serene is reeling when her mom is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and aspiring stand-up comic Lian, is feeling pressure from his Chinese parents to get into Harvard. Two of the only Asian kids at their elite California high school, Lian and Serene bond while spending time together at the Chinese club (of which they are the sole members). This story tackles some serious issues as Serene has to decide whether to test for the cancer gene her mom has, search for her absentee father and singlehandedly save her mother's fashion empire business. Lian also has hard choices to make, finding the courage to stand up to his parents and fight for both his relationship with Serene and his desire to pursue a career in stand-up. Great on audio narrated by Natalie Naudus, this was really enjoyable and highly recommended for fans of books like Parachutes by Kelly Yang.

Read my full review about this book hereI got an surprise ARC of the book from the publisher and didn't know about this book prior to it. I immediately picked this book up because of the gorgeous cover and finished this book in 2 days.I loved this book. Highly recommend.

Wow, this book is incredible. It moves you to tears, through laughter, the pain and intense emotions such as how hard it is for immigrant families to try and make life better for themselves in different countries and how in different ways one family trying to keep with their community but also trying to assimilate into American society, whilst the other family have already been interested into American society but also at the same time have forgotten so much about their culture that when Serene and Lian meet it at first seems like they are too different, one a capable student trying to impress his parents into doing what they want him to do be an engineer as it’s safe and pays well, but in his heart he yearns to be a comedian talking about being Asian in America. Serena has it all, a boyfriend, she is popular at school, has a loving relationship with her hard working fashion designer mum, but then the cards start to fall, her wonderful, strong mum gets a diagnosis that feels like the end of the world, the dreaded C word (cancer) and it’s stage 3…. She yearns to be a designer like her mum and yet with her mum ill and the investors in her mum’s fashion house getting cold feet she feels like everything could topple, but meeting Lian might bring these two together in ways that help both of them through their struggles and help them achieve their dreams. This is about love, fear, anger, trust and friendships as well as believing in yourself and allowing others to help share your burden. A wonderful book that everyone should read.

Kelly Yang can do no wrong. When I started this book, I feared it would not live up to my love for Front Desk and its progeny. While it started out very shallow, very 90210ish, it really developed into a marvelous story. You won't always like the characters and you may well despise a few here and there, but overall, the story of Serena and Lian coming together, overcoming tragic circumstances in their respective homes, but still finding love and hope is very inspiring.Serena's character development was amazing. She starts off as a shallow whitewashed Asian and becomes an assertive strong boss! While the perfect ending and ability of teenagers to pull off these insane feats is pretty far fetched a la Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead, Kelly draws from her own experiences so it's only my short sightedness that underestimates the ability of teenagers to succeed in adult environments.People may find the overbearing Asian parent trope to be too much, but it's super accurate. As a first generation immigrant (parents from Pakistan) the pressure Lian feels to succeed, the demands to be perfect and early, and kibosh on all things leisure or a personal life and hobbies that are not something you can put on a college resume, it's all true, real, and relatable. The only surprise is how quickly his parents came around! All in all, this was a perfect read.

Thank you to Harper audio for the complementary audiobook. Private Label is a YA novel about a Chinese- American teen girl dealing with her moms cancer diagnosis. I found this book to be sad yet hopeful. Reading about cancer is never easy, even more so when kids are involved.This book also touches on how difficult it is for immigrants to adjust. I thought that was really well done. I really liked most of the characters. I had issues with the parents of the male MC Liam. I do understand the difference in cultures though it was still frustrating to read. Overall I really enjoyed this one. The audiobook was fantastic, I really loved the narrator!

The author's note at the end of this book had me in tears. I follow Kelly Yang on social media, and I felt like I lived through the pandemic with her. Coming to the US, her mom being sick, leaving her husband behind in Hong Kong. OMGosh. I have met this woman and HOLY COW--she IS Serene. Beautiful.

Crying my eyes out after finishing this book and I’d urge everyone to pick it up if they’re after a heart-tugging read. ARC received from the publisher (thank you!!) but this doesn’t affect my opinion and I will definitely be grabbing a finished copy for myself. Full review to come soon 🧡🧡

This was so sweet. Such a good mix of important and serious and fun—the winning formula for any YA. Lian’s sections were admittedly my favorite. Not only was he hilarious, but is there a more wholesome book boyfriend alive? I think not. PSA don’t skip the author’s note at the end (like I’m sometimes guilty of!) It adds a personal perspective to the story that really moved me.