Never Thought I'd End Up Here by Ann Liang
Ann Liang has a way of uncovering my childhood traumas and insecurities and somehow making me feel seen and validated through her stories ๐ฌ She has never failed to bring true-to-life characters that I can relate to and empathize with.
In Never Thought I'd End Up Here, Leah's struggles with self-esteem is a never-ending battle that so many of us fight in silence. Itโs incredibly hard to overcome, but having someone who loves us even when we canโt love ourselves makes everything a little easier. For Leah, the very last person she ever expected that someone to be is none other than Cyrus SuiโNumber One Enemy from childhood, Stealer of Scrunchies, Destroyer of Lives.
Can I just say that Cyrus might be the most poetic out of all Ann Liang's main characters? His words always hit me right in the feels (see below quote!) ๐ฅน it was pretty obvious that he was in love with Leah from the very beginning and everyone knows it except her haha
"๐ ๐ข๐๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐: ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ'๐จ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ช๐ง๐จ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ก๐ ๐ ๐๐ง๐ช๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ง๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ก๐๐๐; ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐ง๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐จ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ข๐, ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค; ๐ค๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐จ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ค๐ง, ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ก๐ฌ๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ง ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฉ ๐จ๐ค ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ฃ'๐ฉ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง๐จ, ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช'๐ง๐ ๐ก๐ค๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐ค๐ฃ๐, ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐ก ๐ง๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฉ-๐ฌ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ก๐ฎ, ๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐๐ช๐ก ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ฃ'๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐ฉ, ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ก๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ'๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ง๐จ, ๐๐๐๐๐ช๐จ๐ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ'๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ฉ, ๐๐๐๐. ๐ ๐๐ค๐ฃ'๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ง๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐ช๐ง๐ซ๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฉ."
Never Thought Iโd End Up Here will not only take you along the scenic places in China but will also take you on a journey of falling in love, of learning to love yourself more, and of finding people who make life a little brighter in unexpected places ๐
And before I wrap this up, I canโt not mention Oliver and Daisy, my absolute favorites (aside from Leah + Cyrus) ๐ฅน They deserve their own book! Please, please make it happen, @annliangwrites ๐
Leah Zhang has spent her whole life in LA - it's all she's ever known. But after accidentally wishing her cousin ill health and a very depressing marriage at her wedding, her parents stage an intervention. She's forgotten most of her Mandarin, has zero regard for etiquette, and can't hold a conversation with her own grandparents for longer than a minute. Their solution? Send her on an intensive two-week travel program across China's most beautiful cities. To them, it's the perfect opportunity for Leah to get back to her roots. To Leah, it's simply a much-needed escape.
But before Leah can even begin to enjoy the luxurious hotels, stunning scenery, and mouth-watering cuisine, she finds that also on the trip is her former classmate and least favorite person cynical, sarcastic Cyrus, who's somehow only gotten more annoyingly handsome since they last saw each other.
While Leah might be tempted to shove him off the peak of the Yellow Mountain when nobody's looking, she can't get rid of him just yet. After all, she might never get another chance to get revenge on the boy who ruined her life.
Yet the deeper they wander into China's provinces, the deeper Leah finds herself falling in love - with the boy she once thought she despised, the home she never thought she'd call her own, and the parts of herself she thought were already lost.