A beautifully written book that made me laugh, cry and cycle through all kinds of emotions.

I really loved our protagonist and his journey as he sets out to honour his recently deceased mother's memory by entering the Mooncakes contest that she wanted to. This book is very much about family, about the lengths we go to for the ones we love, and how, even in the face of devastation, family keeps us going. I really loved Dylan's family and how much they supported him, but also every he was willing to sacrifice and all the effort he puts in to support them too. I also really loved all the references to Singapore/Chinese culture and how much of the food was intigrated into the whole story too.

Fake dating is my all time favourite trope, its always so much fun and I love the barely concealed pining, and I feel like this book did it okay, but it fell a little flat in places. It felt a little rushed and glossed over and like the two protagonists barely discussed the parameters of their fake dating to make it convincing to Theo's family and Theo did just throw Dylan in the deep end by not telling him a single thing about his family and the current legal situation with his Aunt and Father, or his motivations behind wanting to fake date him until it had become a problem™, a problem that could have been avoided if he'd just communicated with Dylan.

I liked the romance, I do think it was sweet, even if it was a tad bit rushed, there were so many sweet moments between the two of them that I absolutely adored.

The last part of the book, primarily the Mooncakes contest and the parts after made me sob uncontrollably until the end. I just thought the whole rembrance and memorial of Dylan's mother was absolutely beautiful, and its so sweet after to see things FINALLY go Aunt Jade's way after all her hard work and all the hardships that had befallen her

I haven’t been enjoying YA books as much I used to but this one sounded amazing so I decided to give it a try and I’m so glad I did. It was such a joyful book🥰 I’m obsessed! Dylan and Theo were the absolute cutest and they have my heart.

I loved them so much! They were both such nice people and I loved seeing them fall in love and find the happiness they deserved. It is undeniable that they live very different lives - whereas Theo is rich and his family dynamics are far from ideal, Dylan’s family’s restaurant is struggling but he is surrounded by love and his family would never hesitate to help each other when needed. But even though their lives might not look the same, they have one big thing in common: they are genuinely good people with huge hearts who deserved to be happy. So of course it was heartwarming to see them grow closer and fall in love, and also how Dylan’s family welcomed Theo with open arms and immediately fell in love with him as well. After everything they went thought, I was so glad to see them heal and find comfort in each other.

There was a bunch of adorable scenes in this book that made me smile like a fool but it also deals with grief and toxic family dynamics, which made my heart ache for Dylan and Theo. I loved how the author dealt with these issues though they could perhaps have been explored in a bit more detail.

Also I have to talk about this cover, which is absolutely gorgeous!😍 This book also talks a lot about Chinese and Singaporean cultures, which I loved to learn more about.

If you’re looking for a cute YA romance with a bunch of fluffy scened that will make you smile so hard your face will hurt check this one out! I know I’ll be buying a copy when it comes out. I can’t recommend it enough

★ 5/5 Stars ★

A huge thank you to Macmillan Children's Books and Netgalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Books for approving my request to read this book.

Fake Dates And Mooncakes was a highly anticipated book for me and so I was so excited to get to read it early. I read it in a day and throughly enjoyed it. It really liked the characters and the different family dynamics of each of the mains. The two main plot points were both equally interesting and engaging, and kept my attention throughout.

I loved learning about Chinese and Singaporean food and culture and also got excited at a favourite show of mine being mentioned- Word Of Honor.

The only thing I wasn’t happy about in the book was the use of the ableist C slur, which really has no place still being used in 2023. Other than that, I really enjoyed the book and will be recommending it to my audience.

I will be updating my review with a link to my post on my Instagram review once it’s posted.