If you’re looking for a book that’s hard to put down, definitely check this one out. It’s not only filled with captivating settings, but plenty of shocking plot twists. You’ll also find the author’s writing style very refreshing and filled with beautiful descriptions that will instantly capture your imagination.

The study is told in dual perspectives. The writing is beautiful and very descriptive. The characters are well developed. The dialogue felt unrealistic at times

This wasn't bad, just not for me. I was wanting it to be something it just wasnt. I did finish it and did so fairy quickly, but just didn't feel connected to it.

Thank you NetGalley!
A tale of courage, love and loss, and the bonds that bring diverse people together. The authors writing is beautiful and descriptive. I love reading through Luna's journal entries that tell her innermost thoughts and feelings. I also love the alternating chapters between the two main characters. Overall, I really enjoyed this story and have recommended it to my fellow reader friends.

After two heartbreaking losses, Luna wants adventure. Something and somewhere very different from the affluent, sheltered home where she grew up. An adventure in which she can make some difference.

Lucien, a worldly, well-traveled young architect, finds a stranger’s journal at a café. He has qualms and pangs of guilt about reading it. But they don’t stop him. His decision to go on reading changes his life.

Meeting later at a bookstore, Luna is fascinated by Lucien's stories and adventurous spirit. She goes to a rice-growing village in a country steeped in an ancient culture and a deadly history. What she finds there defies anything she could have imagined. Will she leave this world unscathed?

I’ve always enjoyed this author and this book is no exception. You feel like you’re part of the story and no matter how many characters there may be in a book you feel like you’re a part of that world and invested in these characters as well.

I really wanted to like this book as the precis was appealing but it just wasn't for me. I struggled to engage with the angsty teenager and even though I persevered hoping that it would become more interesting, unfortunately it just felt flat throughout.

This book by Evy Journey was quite enjoyable as it took me down memory lane. It portrays the deep family ties that the main protagonists have with their grandparents.
Written in a daily journal or diary style, the book is engaging as two strangers discover each other, interact, fall in love, and experience life together. It is a romance and a YA novel rolled into one, with a feel of a memoir.

What begins as a tender story later on develops into a slightly more complex account as layers are added on. The first-person point of view of the central characters makes it an interesting read.

Journey has also described the thoughts, scenes, and settings, especially of Hawaii and Cambodia, rather well. Coincidentally, I was watching a TV series based in Hawaii when I was reading this book.

Overall, it was as relaxing as sitting quietly on a bench under the shade of a mango tree!

I wanted to like this book more than I did, but it was honestly just okay for me. I really enjoyed Luna's relationship with her grandmother, and Luna and Lucien's journey. I enjoyed how Luna and Lucien met, and how they worked through their issues and baggage. But Luna's trip to Cambodia felt completely disjointed from the rest of the book and I struggled to make it fit in with the rest of the story. It was a bit like the author realized half-way through that she was writing a romance novel, and that really wasn't what she wanted, so she decided to throw a new genre section into the mix to give it a different twist. The other piece of this that didn't quite jive with me was Luna's childhood with her grandmother - I never quite understood the details of that part of her story, and since I loved the parts of the book with their relationship, I would have liked to see that developed more. Had this focused more on Luna and her grandmother, and Luna and Lucien, I would have rated this higher.

The Shade Under the Mango Tree is a coming of age story that follows Luna and her evolving relationship with Lucien. I was initially intrigued because it appeared to be more of a travel-filled story, but that piece only picked up steam at the very end and then was rushed. Much of the novel was angsty teenage challenges, interspersed with Luna's family relationships, which was more interesting.

Luna and Lucien "meet cute" if awkwardly when he finds her journal, reads it, and then returns it to her. She has led an interesting life having spent the first years of her life in Hawaii being raised by her grandmother before joining the rest of her family in California. This grandmother died recently right after she lost her longtime boyfriend. He left her to marry another woman Luna didn't even know existed. Lucien, a world traveler, has suffered a major loss of his own.

Luna is going on a new adventure. She goes to Cambodia to teach English. A tragedy mars her experience when the father of her host family commits suicide.

In the middle of all this she and Lucien fall in love.

This is an exciting dramatic romance novel between two people of very different backgrounds.

The Shade Under The Mango Tree follows Luna’s life in the years she spent growing up with her grandmother in Hawaii, the year she faced the loss of her grandmother and the years she spent afterwards grieving and trying to find her way.

This was a bittersweet read full of the moments that shape us. This book battles grief and trauma and how those emotions greatly effect us. It had elements of self discovery as well as finding our place/meaning in this world. The extent of a family’s complexities is showcased throughout this book both in Luna’s own family, as well as culturally.

I enjoyed how the book came full circle with the mango tree. I feel in a way that tree was as much of a character as the actual people. I liked how letter writing was an important role in this story.

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC.

This one was great. I have no doubts it will be the conversation at a lot of book clubs. The cover is great too!

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had me turned pages without even realizing. It was so good!

This story is so beautifully written and I just wanted to keep reading. Reading the story of Luna and the relationship she has with her grandmother brought back sweet memories of me and my late grandmother. This story also made me want to write more in my journal because it's something I would really like to do more of. I didn't feel like Luna was looking for adventure. If anything she was looking for her own place in life and wants to make her own decisions. Overall this was a great comfy read and I would recommend it. Thanks to the publisher and NetGally for the opportunity to read this book and provide my unbiased opinion.

This novel wasn't as I expected it to be, still, I found it enjoyable. When Luna's lost journal is found in a cafe by Lucien is the beginning of their friendship. It is through the journal and letters that a lot of the story is told. This novel is about family and dealing with the past, and in part, it is a love story. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley. I received a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

It’s always difficult to write a review for a book that you don’t enjoy. I was really looking forward to reading this book because of the blurb, but unfortunately it did not live up to the billing.

I appreciate the fact that I got the opportunity to read the eARC of this book and I thank Evy Journey and NetGalley for the opportunity.

I will state, this book just wasn’t for me. There may be some that really enjoy it and it could be very well that chemo brain has affected the way I feel about it.

I do not like giving 2 star reviews but unfortunately I have to with this one.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I was enticed by this story of two people who find each other through a journal and the need to seek out adventure after loss.

I enjoyed the way the author made complex characters out of the protagonists Luna and Lucien. There’s a lot of their personal journeys that pull them through the story and their motivations are clear.

Unfortunately I found most of the story too wordy for my taste and it ended up being boring. A lot of what is happening is described in extreme detail, and it ends up feeling like reading a textbook. A couple times the physical description of someone’s body type is described and it seems unnecessary and made me feel uncomfortable. Also there is a scene involving Luna’s roommate and I was very put off by how it was portrayed.

Overall it’s an ok book but just not to my personal taste.

While i enjoyed this story, i had a little trouble staying with it while waiting for the adventures Luna craves. The writing, however, is beautiful and i will look for more of Ms. Journey's work.

I’d describe this book as realistic fiction. The author has done an amazing job at creating imaginary characters and situations that depict the world and society. The characters focus on themes of growing, self-discovery and confronting personal and social problems. This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Beautifully written story about the relationship between Luna and Lucien, who meet because he found her journal. He inspires her to see more of the world. This book was very descriptive and at times, long-winded. It was way too flowery for me. What drew me to this book was the prospects of travel but it took way too long to get to that and lost me about a quarter of the way through.