An Instant New York Times Bestseller and #1 Indie Bestseller!A William C. Morris YA Debut Award Finalist An Asian Pacific American Librarians Association Honor BookTwo friends. One fake dating scheme. What could possibly go wrong?Frank Li has two names. There’s Frank Li, his American name. Then there’s Sung-Min Li, his Korean name. No one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. Frank barely … name. No one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. Frank barely speaks any Korean. He was born and raised in Southern California.
Even so, his parents still expect him to end up with a nice Korean girl–which is a problem, since Frank is finally dating the girl of his dreams: Brit Means. Brit, who is funny and nerdy just like him. Brit, who makes him laugh like no one else. Brit . . . who is white.
As Frank falls in love for the very first time, he’s forced to confront the fact that while his parents sacrificed everything to raise him in the land of opportunity, their traditional expectations don’t leave a lot of room for him to be a regular American teen. Desperate to be with Brit without his parents finding out, Frank turns to family friend Joy Song, who is in a similar bind. Together, they come up with a plan to help each other and keep their parents off their backs. Frank thinks he’s found the solution to all his problems, but when life throws him a curveball, he’s left wondering whether he ever really knew anything about love—or himself—at all.
In this moving debut novel—featuring striking blue stained edges and beautiful original endpaper art by the author—David Yoon takes on the question of who am I? with a result that is humorous, heartfelt, and ultimately unforgettable.
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I loved, loved, LOVED this book, which miraculously manages to be a love story, a treatise on racism, a peek into adolescence, and a welcome to Korean-American culture, all at once. Frankly, Frank Li is a character you need to meet.
It takes a lot for a book to move me to tears but frankly, by the end of this story, I was drying my eyes. David Yoon’s contemporary YA debut perfectly captures the bitter and sweet of being in high school, and the nostalgia hit hard during Yoon’s descriptions of Southern California, first kisses, first break ups, senioritis, the stress of college admissions, and late nights eating shitty food with friends.
There are some hard truths, and Yoon doesn’t skirt around them. For example, Frank’s parents are racist, full stop. They won’t allow him to date outside his race (and have already disowned his older sister for doing so). Even when it comes to his friends, they are completely tone-deaf and oblivious to their own microaggressions. Though there is a learning curve and progress is made, it’s slow to arrive and there is no cheesy “A ha!” moment, no overnight conversion.
I won’t spoil any plot points here, but I what I admired most about Yoon’s book was how it never once catered to a prescribed narrative — either of young love or of the second-generation experience. I’m so excited to read more of David Yoon’s work — please pick this book up, if you can!
I fell fast for David Yoon’s masterful debut that’s big-hearted, honest, hilarious, and achingly romantic. I smiled, I laughed, I cried, and I closed this book wiser. Get ready to fall in love with Frank, world!
Frankly in Love shines with an incredible voice and a searing, honest, and deeply human story about what it means to love someone. David Yoon isn’t afraid to confront every angle, both the beautiful and the ugly, but he tackles it all with great care. This is a classic in the making.
This is a really enjoyable read in the wonderful, funny voice of a snarky, nerdy young man who’s very aware of the math of only being able to bring home to his prejudiced parents a Korean girl in a country where Korean Americans aren’t exactly in huge supply. (His sister has married a Black guy and been disowned.) His parents have difficulties of their own, though, and have their own arc in this novel. Yoon turns an old romance trope — the fake relationship that becomes real — into something more ambitious here. Highly recommended but not really the romance the current cover might be suggesting, just in case that’s a deal breaker for you.
Frankly, I am in love with David Yoon’s debut novel!!
This book is an anthem for any of us remembering or currently going through living in a household where there is a generational, cultural or communication gap. Though the Korean culture is the focus in this book, I find that everyone has something they can relate about. This book is for any of us who have lived through parents that have their own set of beliefs and are extremely unaccepting to other cultures other than their own. This is me reliving my most memorable decade of my living existence. Frankly, this was my life too!
Frankly In Love beautifully addressed issues of first loves, love of parent and family, grief over loss, acceptance and understanding each others’ differences. The relationship between Frank and his family especially with his father had me in tears. Frank and the store, Frank and his really smart friends especially his best friend Q, and Frank with his first loves Brit and Joy, are what makes this book so amazing and truly enjoyable.
This read gave me a lot of laugh out loud and unforgettable moments that kept me glued to this book no matter what, for the days I was devouring this! I was yelling “YES!”, slapping my hands on the table, shaking the book, and texting my friends and family about some of the situations described in the book. Every page is just as exciting as the next.
The book explored and did try to attempt to be inclusive of races – learned lots of Korean quirks. But I have always been fascinated with the Korean culture so much living in Los Angeles, being first introduced to the cuisine, Kdrama, Kpop, that I even made the decision to go to Seoul and Busan for our family’s spring break trip (BTS had nothing to do with it). So when this book came across my radar I knew I had to read this.
This book checks all the boxes for what makes an exceptional Contemporary YA novel and I am not surprised at all that this book will be picked up as a movie. This book just reinforced my love for the YA genre and this book was not short in giving a brilliant exploration to growing up as a teen in America.Thank you @Davidoftheyoon for an amazing and brilliant novel.
Thank you PenguinTeen for the ARC copy of this amazing book for an opportunity to read and review.
Frankly In Love is frankly amazing (sorry, I had to!). Frank is a lovable character, who can be relatable not only to teens but to adults as well. His internal struggles with his identity and how it relates to love, race, and acceptance are well-written and moving. David Yoon has crafted a heartwarming, unputdownable, coming-of-age book that isn’t the run-of-the-mill YA romance, but rather a love story that spans familial love, self love, and platonic love. Frankly, you should go read it.
This is a genre I do not read much of but this story was easy to follow. Reading about Frank’s struggle with breaking free from traditions and following his own path was interesting to read. Enjoyable in the moment but not one that left me wanting more.
This author is a very talented writer. Just be aware he uses profanity profusely throughout the book.
I love ya romance books and decided i did this book was so good and i loved the fake dating trope i loved that the book explored the struggles of having immigrant parents. Frank is often conflicted over his identity what really got me to read this is his wife Nicola Yoon who is the author of “the sun is also a star” and “everything, everything”.
The main character Frank Li, is smart, and funny and likes a girl named brit even though he knows his strict Korean parents wouldn’t approve of frank dating a white girl so him and joy start fake dating to get their parents of their back and they wouldn’t be suspicious of frank dating brit.
I thought this book was cute and quirky and enjoyed it a lot
I almost quit on this book at the 40% mark, but decided to soldier on. The last third is really quite eloquent and as I finished I abruptly realized that Yoon has earned himself four stars!
This author’s writing is actually near-perfect, with many poetic moments and his crisp observational style. The writing is “wise” and astute throughout, which I appreciate. I spent three wonderful years working at a Korean-American church, and his angst about YA life and parent-child tensions within that dualistic culture is spot-on.
Halfway through the story I think I would have complained that the main characters are essentially “vapid,” partying their way through their senior years and celebrating nothing but their high SAT scores. But again, the concluding chapters have Frank going through two hard break-ups and dealing with a death in the family and there are some sweetly poignant exchanges.
Having said that, readers need to know that this entire book is needlessly and relentlessly scarred with obscene language. On some pages the repeated F bombs are a real distraction. I’m an aging white guy so I realize this story isn’t targeting me, but this one flaw certainly keeps me from offering David Yoon’s otherwise clever story to my own grandkids. And that’s too bad.
Though I am a senior, I wanted to read this book to understand the dynamic of a first-generation teenager of Korean (Asian) culture. Yoon held my interest and I learned much about the racism that can exist in immigrant families, issues of identity, the complexity of family relations and what it is like to be a teen, an AP teen, specifically. Sad, funny and memorable, this is a story of coming of age, of teens growing emotionally toward adulthood. Well done!
Audiobook is best!
In the tender and funny Frankly in Love, David Yoon gives us some of the truest and most lovable characters I’ve read in a long time. This book is pure joy.
A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining story of self discovery, young love, friendship and the bonds of family!
I would like to thank G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers and Penguin Teen publishers for the privilege of receiving an Advanced Readers Copy of this book through BOOKishFIRST in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. I truly appreciate the wonderful opportunity of receiving a copy of this amazing book!
I was completely surprised by how much I enjoyed reading Frankly in Love by David Yoon. This story about Frank Li and his senior year experiences completely pulled me in from the very first page. The detailed, descriptive, and often colorful writing style held my attention and the wonderfully developed characters in this story totally captivated me. Quite “Frankly” I fell in love with Frank, his friends and surprisingly even his parents. This is a beautifully written story of self discovery, young romance, friendship, and family. This coming of age story is thoroughly entertaining and I highly recommend it! It is definitely an outstanding story that I believe will be enjoyed by readers of all ages!
Frankly in Love is David Yoon’s first novel. It is a stand-alone Contemporary YA book that is written from a first person point of view and is divided into three sections. It explores subjects such as cultural differences, racism, violence, illness, death and grief. I also feel it gives a very realistic view of a high school teenager’s life, in particular their expectations, stresses, and experiences throughout their senior year. Finally, it depicts the challenging transition from high school senior to college freshman. This story follows the main character Frank Li through his senior year of high school as he struggles to rise above the cultural conflict of being a first generation Korean American teenager and deals with his heartfelt frustration of wanting to love freely.
~ “We all just want to love who we want to love.”~
Frank Li is beginning his senior year of high school. In many ways he is a typical high school “nerd”. He’s taking multiple AP classes, preparing for the SAT’s and applying to colleges. He loves hanging out with his best friend “Q” and enjoys socializing with his friends from his AP classes known as the “Apeys”. However, Frank is very different from most of his friends because he is also a Korean American. His parents, who immigrated to America, firmly hold onto their Korean customs and beliefs. Although Frank was born and raised in Southern California and can barely speak Korean, his parents expect him to follow many of their Korean traditions. Most importantly, they expect him to marry a nice Korean girl.
Frank Li lives between two worlds- his Korean life at home and the very diverse American world he experiences outside of his home. When going to school and hanging out with his friends he is a typical American teenager but at home his life is very restricted by his parents’ culture and racist views. These racist views affect his friendship with his best friend Q who is black and have even banished his older sister for marrying someone “not Korean”.
Brit Mean is one of Frank’s Apey friends. Frank considers her intense, funny and a nerd just like him. She is the girl of his dreams but she’s not Korean. When Brit suggests they be partners on a calculus assignment everything changes. Frank and Brit become close and decide to date but this presents a huge problem for Frank. How will he date Brit and keep it a secret from his very intrusive parents? How can he possibly tell Brit his parents are racists and will never approve of her? When he finds out that Joy Song, one of his Korean friends and part of the Limbos, is in a similar circumstance they come up with a plan. The plan is “to pretend date each other” to keep their parents off their backs. Frank and Joy have known each other forever, sharing a friendship that was always just part of the Gathering. This plan sounds like the perfect solution! It makes their parents happy and also allows them the freedom they seek to date others. As Frank and Joy are thrown together by the circumstances of their plan, they become very close and are surprised by how much they enjoy each other’s company. Soon Frank begins to question the wisdom of their plan. Will Brit understand if she ever learns the truth about his plan with Joy? Will he be able to keep this a secret from Brit? Would it be easier to date someone his parents approve of like Joy? Does he even understand what love is? As the plan begins to unravel, will Frank follow his heart at all costs?
When Frank is unexpectedly confronted by violence he begins to appreciate the sacrifices his parents have willingly made for him and tries desperately to connect with his father. Through this experience, Frank comes to a new realization about acceptance, understanding and loyalty to friends and family. He begins to understand himself, and suddenly realizes how important his relationships are. He sees his friendship with Q, the Apey’s and the Limbos as precious and he’s grateful to know them. His relationship with his parents and his sister strengthens and despite tragedy he begins his new journey as a college freshman as someone no longer divided but someone who wants to be whole. “Life is but a dream. My dream? So beautiful dream I’m having whole life, God giving me…Beautiful son,” Definitely a lot of crying for me!
I thoroughly enjoyed this amazingly descriptive, incredibly witty, and often hilarious story! I immediately connected with Frank and I could easily relate to his feelings of being stuck in the middle of two very different cultures. His struggles of trying to keep his parents happy while also trying to grow beyond the prejudices of his parents’ culture are all too real. I was drawn to Frank’s easy going personality and especially appreciated the respectful way he dealt with his parents despite his frustration with their antiquated and often racist views. I loved the authors detailed and often colorful descriptions of things like the “Lake Girlfriend”, the stores worn counter and the Korean Gatherings. I absolutely loved Frank and Q’s unique friendship and the secret that Q was holding onto was definitely a very emotional discovery! (More crying!) The author’s sense of humor was evident with the description of typical AP nerds, fart phones, and the awkward high five/fist bump of male nerds. I truly enjoyed the authors engaging writing style and I frequently found myself laughing at his descriptions and metaphors which often created a nice balance between humor and real life anxieties.
Considering Frankly in Love is David Yoon’s first novel, he definitely wrote a very impressive inspirational story that showcases his amazing writing talent. Although this book is written as a young adult book I believe there is something for everyone in this story. I absolutely loved this exceptional story and look forward to reading future books by David Yoon! This is one of those outstanding stories that just stays with you for a long time after finishing the book. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy and experience this incredible story for yourself!
I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher through Bookishfirst.
I LOVED this book. Oh man. It gave me all the feels. It will definitely be at the top of my favorite reads this year. Funny, honest, gut-wrenching, and heartfelt, Frank Li will be a character that sticks with me for a long time. I love when books teach me something and make me think about things and people in a new way. This book did that and more. I can’t wait to read more from David Yoon!