The Epic Crush of Genie Lo
by F.C. Yee
♦publisher: Amulet Books
♦release date: August 8th, 2017
♦hardcover, 320 pages
♦intended audience: Young adult
♦series
♦source: from publisher for honest review
The struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes sixteen-year-old Genie’s every waking thought. But when she discovers she’s a celestial spirit who’s powerful enough to bash through the gates of heaven with her fists, her perfectionist existence is shattered.
Enter Quentin, a transfer student from China whose tone-deaf assertiveness beguiles Genie to the brink of madness. Quentin nurtures Genie’s outrageous transformation—sometimes gently, sometimes aggressively—as her sleepy suburb in the Bay Area comes under siege from hell-spawn.
This epic YA debut draws from Chinese folklore, features a larger-than-life heroine, and perfectly balances the realities of Genie’s grounded high school life with the absurd supernatural world she finds herself commanding.
Enter Quentin, a transfer student from China whose tone-deaf assertiveness beguiles Genie to the brink of madness. Quentin nurtures Genie’s outrageous transformation—sometimes gently, sometimes aggressively—as her sleepy suburb in the Bay Area comes under siege from hell-spawn.
This epic YA debut draws from Chinese folklore, features a larger-than-life heroine, and perfectly balances the realities of Genie’s grounded high school life with the absurd supernatural world she finds herself commanding.
Review: I'd been looking forward to reading The Epic Crush of Genie Lo since first hearing about it months ago and when it popped up as a new title on Audible I decided to try out the audiobook. Good call. The reader was great and I think this exciting and visual story really lent itself well to being read out loud. This was such a fun story---think Scott Pilgrim heavily steeped in ancient Chinese mythology. Which brings me to another great reason for going the audiobook route---the narrator is Chinese actress Nancy Wu, so it was awesome to hear all the language and know it was pronounced correctly. Who knows what kind of crazy mispronunciations I would have come up with trying to read it myself xD. It made experiencing this story and all of it's inlaid myths and legends all the more immersive and fun.
As for the story itself--okay, it was a little cheesy at times, but still so fun. Genie had a great sarcastic humor to her character and despite some confidence hurdles to overcome, still managed to become a badass and own the fate she was handed AND keep hold on the fact that she couldn't let all this demon business come between her and her college goals. Loved that. Her and Quentin had a great bantery chemistry, but I'm not sure I was ever quite feeling the romantic spark between them. I also really felt for Genie as she tried to hold her normal teen life, friendships and her already straining family together through it all.
The whole things was super fast paced---I don't remember even one dragging moment. An exciting superhero story with a few fun (maybe a little predictable at times) twists. For me, it felt genuine and rang true where it needed to, but also was wild and over-the-top like any good superhero story has every right to be LOL.
I definitely recommend this one as a fast, fun read, and if you can, definitely go for the audiobook.
•ABOUT THE AUTHOR•
F.C. Yee grew up in New Jersey and studied economics at Brown University. For his debut novel, he drew inspiration from the best and wisest people in his life. Outside of writing, he practices capoeira, a Brazilian form of martial arts. He currently calls the San Francisco Bay Area home.
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