I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Loveboat Forever by Abigail Hing Wen
Series: Loveboat,
Published by HarperTeen on 11/7/23
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 399
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Pearl was ready for a worldwide stage. Instead, she needs to stage a comeback.

Seventeen-year-old music prodigy Pearl Wong had the summer of her dreams planned—until a fall from grace leaves her in need of new plans…and a new image.

Where better to revamp her “brand” than at Chien Tan, the Taipei summer program for elite students that rocketed her older sister, Ever, on a path to romance and self-fulfillment years ago.

But as the alumni know, Chien Tan is actually Loveboat—the extravagant world where prodigies party till dawn—and there’s more awaiting Pearl there than she could have ever imagined, like a scandalous party in the dark, a romantic entanglement with a mysterious suitor...and a summer that will change her forever.

Short and Sweet Review

Pearl Wong is on her way to being a music prodigy until one of her performances goes viral on Tik Tok for all the wrong reasons. Her invite to an exclusive music program is rescinded, and her manager advises her to lay low. So Pearl decides to go to Taipei and maybe have the same amazing experiences her sister Ever had, while also making a comeback.

Loveboat Forever follows Ever Wong’s younger sister Pearl. I loved this book. Pearl is a musician a pianist to be exact and after finding out how cruel people can be on social media she ends up having to stay out of the spotlight and to do that she goes to Taipei. Loveboat is different than when Ever was there, but the kids still want to go out and have fun and at a masked party Pearl ends up kissing someone but she doesn’t know who it is. Honestly, this book follows the same formula as the first book, while Pearl is immersing herself in the culture she also finds herself in a love triangle. Pearl ends up meeting Ethan Kang who is also a musical prodigy in his own right but he’s a bit controlling and doesn’t know how to be himself. Kai on the other hand is hard to get to know and is very judgmental towards her and the other kids at love boat. Ethan and Pearl decide to team up and do a duo for the end of the program talent show which is Pearls chance to get some good publicity. Kai and Pearl on the other hand work together trying to get back Pearl’s great grandmothers pipa and also they play music on the street. I did like Pearl and Kai together mainly because she was allowed to be herself and not worry about the outside world telling her who she needs to be. My favorite part of this book was how we get to see characters from the past books like Ever, Rick, Sophie, and Xavier and honestly their involvement in this book is what upped my rating.

Loveboat Forever, was magical and fun and it just keeps alive the feelings you had from reading the other books. Pearl had a lot of character development throughout the book and I was so happy to follow her journey. We get to see Pearl immerse herself in culture and learn more about her family and also about herself. Definitely check this book out and relive the magic of Loveboat one more time!

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Loveboat Reunion by Abigail Hing Wen
Series: Loveboat,
Published by HarperTeen on 1/25/22
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 444
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

Sophie Ha and Xavier Yeh have what some would call a tumultuous past.

Hearts were broken, revenge was plotted—but at least they’re friends now. They left the drama behind them back in Taipei—at their summer program, Loveboat—forever.

Now that fall is here, they’re focusing on what really matters. Sophie has sworn off boys and is determined to be the best student Dartmouth’s ever had. Xavier just wants to stay under his overbearing father’s radar, collect his trust fund when he turns eighteen, and concentrate on what makes him happy.

But the world doesn’t seem to want Sophie and Xavier to succeed. Sophie’s college professor thinks her first major project is “too feminine.” Xavier’s father gives him an ultimatum: finish high school or be cut off from his inheritance.

Then Sophie and Xavier find themselves on a wild, nonstop Loveboat reunion, hatching a joint plan to take control of their futures. Can they succeed together . . . or are they destined to combust?

Short and Sweet

Sophie and Xavier don’t have the best past, everything that happened on Loveboat was not the ideal situation, but now that the summer is over and they’re leaving Taipei, they decide to move on as friends. Sophie is now at Dartmouth and is focusing on herself and trying to impress her professor with her project proposal which unfortunately is working. Xavier is in LA and has to redo his senior year at his fathers request otherwise he won’t get the trust that his mother left him. Somehow both of Xavier and Sophie’s project lead them back to Taipei where they have a lot of work to do, feelings to fight off, and a loveboat reunion!

Characters

Sophie: It seems like Sophie has grown a lot maybe it’s because she’s leaving loveboat and decides it’s time to focus on herself. She seems more mature and throughout the book we see her learn about herself. She’s still impulsive and sometimes her ambitions are too much for even her. The best thing that Sophie learns to do is to think about things before she actually pursues it, which happens more times than not in this book.

Xavier: After loveboat we see the relationship between Xavier and his father. His father has Xavier in his palm and he knows it and the only way for Xavier to get the trust his mother left him is to play his father’s games. Xavier is resentful towards his dad and we see him do things he know his father won’t approve of just to push those buttons. Xavier still struggles with his learning disabilities and tries to find a way to work around them. Xavier cares about those around him and will try to help them if he can.

Romance

Sophie and Xavier: These two have an interesting dynamic, we see in the first book that their relationship on loveboat blew up spectacularly. But now that they’ve gone there separate ways these two seem better just as friends. Sophie is trying to fight off her feelings for Xavier but it’s hard when she sees him for who he truly is, her heart wants him but her head is saying no, she even goes as far as to try and pair him with another girl. Xavier knows that he has feelings for Sophie, it may not have worked out on loveboat but after leaving he knows that he wants to try to be with her. I thought the relationship between the two worked out better this time around than it did in the first book, but it was hard to see how much Sophie was trying to push Xavier away when she really wanted to pull him closer.

My Thoughts

At Dartmouth Sophie is on the waitlist for a computer science class and the only way to get in is to impress her professor with her proposal, which he rejects because there’s not enough data and Sophie is determined to prove him wrong, and that her idea will work. Xavier on the other hand is redoing his senior year in LA, much to his dismay. When Sophie finds out that a fashion brand has a creation close to what she wants to make for close, she knows its her chance to figure out how they make it work and deliver that information to her professor. The fashion brand is owned by Xavier’s family and he helps Sophie get an interview and also makes his senior project about his family and this is how they end up going back to Taipei and inviting other loveboat friends to join the ride.

We see a lot of different loveboat students some we seen in the last book notably Rick and Ever and we meet some new ones who were at other programs. It was nice to see how Sophie (despite all the pressure) tried to keep everyone happy and plan activities that would be exciting, even though she had other things to worry about. Upon getting to Taipei we see that there’s been some problems with Xavier’s family’s business which he knew nothing about because his father has kept him away so Xavier is in the dark about everything. We see Sophie work on her project and help Xavier with his. We also see Xavier learn more about his family and try to save the business in the end.

I liked the loveboat reunion, I will say that some of them didn’t deserve to be there (Bert, Priscilla). We see Xavier and Sophie get closer and I liked learning about the family business which Xavier has tried to avoid, and seeing the family dynamics.

Overall

This was an entertaining and heartfelt companion novel to Loveboat, Taipei. I did not want to put this book down I just wanted to see what would happen next. Sophie and Xavier were amazing characters to follow and this book did not disappoint!

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen
Series: Loveboat,
Published by HarperTeen on 1/7/20
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 432
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon

“Our cousins have done this program,” Sophie whispers. “Best kept secret. Zero supervision.”

And just like that, Ever Wong’s summer takes an unexpected turn. Gone is Chien Tan, the strict educational program in Taiwan that Ever was expecting. In its place, she finds Loveboat: a summer-long free-for-all where hookups abound, adults turn a blind eye, snake-blood sake flows abundantly, and the nightlife runs nonstop.

But not every student is quite what they seem:

Ever is working toward becoming a doctor but nurses a secret passion for dance.

Rick Woo is the Yale-bound child prodigy bane of Ever’s existence whose perfection hides a secret.

Boy-crazy, fashion-obsessed Sophie Ha turns out to have more to her than meets the eye.

And under sexy Xavier Yeh’s shell is buried a shameful truth he’ll never admit.

When these students’ lives collide, it’s guaranteed to be a summer Ever will never forget.

Short and Sweet

Ever Wong’s parent send her to Taiwan to attend Chien Tan an education program for the summer, but when Ever arrives she ends up finding love boat instead. Loveboat is where hookups take place, night clubs are attended, and all the adults turn a blind eye. For the first time in Ever’s life she has freedom and she plans on trying things that she wouldn’t be able to back at home.

Characters

Ever: Ever is our main character and her parents expect a lot out of her which is essentially why they sent her to Taiwan. Ever just wants to dance but her parents want her to be a doctor. Chien Tan isn’t what Ever expected, she has more freedom and she plans on breaking all the rules that she would have back at home. I liked Ever as a main character she was smart and she cared about the people she met in Taiwan and I’m glad that she was able to explore and do things that she normally wasn’t allowed to.

Sophie: Sophie is boy crazy and in her head she needs to find a man. Sophie is excited about all the hookups and she even has her eyes set on a guy. I think that Sophie was a good character she’s smart and is very persuasive and could run a business, she was just a bit much when it came to the boys.

Rick: Rick is Sophie’s cousin and to Ever he’s “Boy Wonder” It’s almost like Rick is good at everything he does. Rick is more cautious then some of the other people at Chien Tan but he does have a good personality and I think he’s a good person.

Xavier: Xavier is like a player. He has a reputation but honestly he’s not that bad. I think he’s actually so sweet and he has learning disability which he’s been hiding from people.

Romance

Ever and Rick: When they met Ever and Rick had a connection but Rick already had a girlfriend. The more time these two spent together the more their feelings for each other developed. I liked that they started as friends and we can see their feelings for each other mature.

Ever and Xavier: There’s a bit of a connection between the two but in the end it didn’t work. But they were good friends and I’m glad that they stayed friends even though things didn’t work out romantically.

Sophie and Xavier: This was a fling but honestly Sophie was more interested in Xavier than he was with her. There’s not much about them except for the short amount of time they spent together.

My Thoughts

~ Loveboat was interesting I think my favorite part of it was how the students would sneak out and explore the city and also go to the clubs.

~ Ever got to explore more of her passion for dancing and even found a studio to attend. I liked that she got to see what it would be like if she did decide to pursue her dreams of becoming a dancer instead of a doctor.

~ I was also happy that Ever got to do things that made her happy and for once did things for herself instead of her parents.

~ Besides sneaking out and exploring, Ever also got to learn more about her asian heritage and in the end she had more of an appreciation for it.

~ At one point something happens to Ever (I don’t want to spoil it) but the way she handled it was very impressive but at the same time I felt so bad for her because she didn’t deserve it.

~ I really enjoyed this book there wasn’t a dull moment or a time when I wanted to put it down. I think everything came together and it made for an amazing book!

Overall

This was such an amazing debut novel! I loved all of the characters and how they interacted and I enjoyed the setting of Taiwan and the nightlife. I’m excited to read the sequel! This book was so much fun and I was hooked from the very first page.