I Hope This Doesn't Find You by Ann Liang
For a change, I was smiling like an idiot at the end of a book instead of ugly crying. My last three reads were all tearjerkers, and I was left with that heavy feeling in my heart after finishing each one. I badly needed a break from all the emotional damage, and I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang was exactly what I needed.
Sadie and I are so similar (except for the athletic part lol). I’m an overachiever, too responsible for my own good, and a chronic people pleaser, just like her. I’ve learned to handle these things better now that I’m older, but they still bring out the best and worst in me from time to time. Honestly, I wish my younger self could have had a chance to read this book. I love it a lot even now that I’m older, but younger me would’ve felt so seen and comforted.
And Julius Gong. Need I say more? Literal butterflies every time he entered Sadie’s orbit. I would’ve had a massive crush on him too 😂 I have more to say, but I’ll just leave you to read the book and find out for yourself. Haha! Not to sound like a total fangirl, but he’s perfect!
Seriously though, this is easily one of the best YA romances I’ve ever read. Ann Liang captures the emotional highs and lows of young love so perfectly—every overwhelming, exhilarating, messy feeling. It’s real and relatable and will probably have you feeling nostalgic about that ridiculous crush you had back in the day.
This was my first book by Ann Liang and definitely not my last. I’m already planning to binge-read the rest of her books next month 🤞 I Hope This Doesn’t Find You is 100% a comfort read I’ll be coming back to again and again. I absolutely cannot wait for the novella! ❤️ I’m not ready to say goodbye to Sadie and Julius just yet 🥹
Rating: ★★★★★
Snarky and romantic, I Hope This Doesn't Find You is Never Have I Ever meets To All the Boys if Lara Jean wrote hate emails instead of love letters.
Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course -- she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings -- but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work.
All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. "You're attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain . . . I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you've been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft..."
Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them... that is, until they're accidentally sent out.
Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It's her worst nightmare -- now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie -- Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate...