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

Best friends Jia Lee, Ariel Kim, and Everett Hoang are inseparable. But this summer, they won’t be together.

Everett, aspiring Broadway star, hopes to nab the lead role in an Ohio theater production, but soon realizes that talent and drive can only get her so far. Brainy Ariel is flying to San Francisco for a prestigious STEM scholarship, even though her heart is in South Korea, where her sister died last year. And stable, solid Jia will be home in Flushing, juggling her parents’ Chinatown restaurant, a cute new neighbor, and dreams for an uncertain future.

As the girls navigate heartbreaking surprises and shocking self-discoveries, they find that even though they’re physically apart, they are still mighty together.

Short and Sweet Review

Jia, Ariel, and Everett are best friends but this summer they’ll be apart. Jia is staying in New York helping with her parent’s restaurant in Chinatown, Everett is going to an acting school in Ohio, and Ariel is in San Francisco on a STEM scholarship. Throughout the book we see each girl go through different struggles and in the process learn more about themselves and with the help and support of each other they make it out of each situation better and stronger than they thought they were.

Let me start off by saying, I truly loved this book and the characters. We have Jia who ends up staying in New York and her parents have her future planned out for her: go to community college and eventually take over the restaurant. Over the course of the summer Jia meets Akil which is great but she also starts to wonder if she can do more with her life than what people have planned for her. Everett is our actress and she’s in Ohio and I’m sure she would be great if she was given the chance to show her full potential, unfortunately she’s written off and has to deal with racism. Ariel is in San Francisco on a scholarship but she can’t get her sisters voice out of her head. Bea died a year earlier in Korea and Ariel knows she needs to head over there to figure out what happened. Through the course of the book we see the girls go through their different struggles and we can see how supportive they are through their text and email exchanges. I did enjoy seeing their correspondence with each other and we can see how close they really are. This book shows the different responsibilities that these girls are expected to uphold in their Asian households and how sometimes they need to go against the grain before they break through and are supported fully by their family. We get to read from each girls POV and they’re all powerful in their own way and it’s even better when we see the girls together and using their voices to make a change.

Overall, this book was so good! I didn’t think I would go into it giving it five stars but it blew me away in the end. Jia, Everett, and Ariel are the Queens of New York, and I’m hoping you guys check this book out!