YEAR OF PUBLICATION: June, 2022
PUBLISHER : Running Press
GENRE: Romance (YA)
TROPES:
- Friends-to-Lovers
- Slow Burn
TRIGGER WARNING : Grief, mention of spousal death
“Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgallery for providing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.”
The Signs & Wonders of Tuna Rashad is a YA Romance book which traces the journey of a superstitious teen – Altuna Kashmir Rashad. Sure, the genre is YA Romance but I got a sense that the author wanted it to be more than a cliched, cheesy romantic story of two teenagers.
Honestly, I had conflicted feelings after I finished reading this book. On the one hand, it was a light read, definitely a fresh aberration from my more recent reading-scapades. For one, it was a story that featured a diverse lead and two, it had been a while since I read a YA book. The story-line had immense potential. I entered this book chuckling at the hilarious premise of a semi-normal high-school girl wanting to date her crush. But, it makes me sad to admit that this book tipped a little towards the disappointment side.
I absolutely adored the premise which showed our diverse female protagonist as a superstitious girl of Caribbean heritage who has a pretty vociferous family. Her brother is a recent widower and he carried the grief of losing his husband which is affecting all his relations. Though I was into the premise, the story quickly lost interest. I found Tuna a little too overbearing for my taste and while I respect her beliefs, I found them to govern her life a little too much.
The chemistry between the main characters was alright – not too much and not too less – but it was a little more hot-one-minute-cold-the-next. In addition, I also found Tuna was way too selfish and conceited. Especially when it came to her brother’s life. I do not stand by any of her actions in the book and it was more like she’s an 11-year-old girl in the body of an 18-year-old.
I wanted to enjoy this book, I really did. But the characters didn’t set well with me at all. I couldn’t relate to them and hence, I didn’t really grow up to care about them. In a nutshell, it was a one-time read but I don’t see myself picking it up again anytime soon.
𝚁𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 = ☆☆☆
