The good: The heroine of The Kiss Quotient has autism and so does Khai in this book. However, that's where the similarities end. They have different personalities and the accommodations required for them are different. It's actually great to see autism represented as the spectrum (pun intended) that it is.
Hoang's writing is easy to read. I read this in a few hours over a couple of days and it was quite a delight. I enjoy how well she draws characters within just a few paragraphs and that characterization is always maintained and built upon. Even the side characters feel real to me and not just like people thrown into the storyline so that a sequel can be written.
The bad: The underlying story is that Khai's mom recruited Esme/My from Vietnam to marry Khai. A green card/immigration storyline is already stressful enough, but Khai is keeping secrets from My (his autism and the amount of money he has) and My is keeping secrets from Khai (that she has a DAUGHTER in Vietnam). Frankly, when these secrets are revealed, there's not even a real discussion about them and the ending is just *bam* (at page 282/296 the daughter still had not been revealed - I almost started biting my nails).
I kind of wish Khai's mom had just met My in a grocery store or something in the United States and the whole immigration thing wasn't present because I feel like these green card stories just reinforce negative stereotypes of people getting married for citizenship. I just...was so stressed out the whole time that ICE was about to break down doors. Ugh.
Regardless, I think Hoang is an author to watch out for. She's not exactly writing for me as her main audience, but I think the racial and ethnic diversity of her characters, as well as the autism component, are a much needed addition to the world of romance novels. I'll be keeping an eye out for whenever The Heart Principle, her next book, is available at my library in mid-2021.
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