It's Not Like It's a Secret

De: Misa Sugiura

Narrado por: Emily Woo Zeller

""Well-paced, brimming with drama, and utterly vital.""—Kirkus (starred review)

This charming and bittersweet coming-of-age story featuring two girls of color falling in love is part To All the Boys I've Loved Before and part Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature!

Sixteen-year-old Sana Kiyohara has too many secrets. Some are small, like how it bothers her when her friends don’t invite her to parties. Some are big, like the fact that her father may be having an affair. And then there’s the one that she can barely even admit to herself—the one about how she might have a crush on her best friend.

When Sana and her family move to California, she begins to wonder if it’s finally time for some honesty, especially after she meets Jamie Ramirez. Jamie is beautiful and smart and unlike anyone Sana’s ever known. There are just a few problems: Sana's new friends don't trust Jamie's crowd; Jamie's friends clearly don't want her around anyway; and a sweet guy named Caleb seems to have more-than-friendly feelings for her. Meanwhile, her dad’s affair is becoming too obvious to ignore.

Sana always figured that the hardest thing would be to tell people that she wants to date a girl, but as she quickly learns, telling the truth is easy…what comes after it, though, is a whole lot more complicated.

Beautiful story

The performance of the reader was absolutely magnificent! She manage to perfectly represent each character uniquely

A Little boring

This book started very well however it just went on for to Long
And i personally didn’t really like the narraters voice

Excellent performance and interesting story

The performance and 90% of the story are near flawless but some bumps in the writing prevent me from giving it a perfect review. The story feels slow at times and rushed at others, especially towards the end. I would have liked to have seen more of Jamie and Sana rekindling, and perhaps more of Jamie's friends.

The supporting cast is extremely strong, and performed expertly by Emily Woo Zeller. It's rare that one can read/listen to a book one time and remember ever secondary and supporting character, even those only mentioned two or three times.

The cultural aspect really elevates this story above others in its respective genre, and the race dynamic between Jamie and Sana is far more nuanced than I expected going in.

To summarize, "It's Not Like It's A Secret" is a YA novel done right with rarely a dull moment, even in the parts where the story slows down. A must read for anyone interested in LGBT representation, asian culture, race dynamics, or just good reads.
8/10.

sensationally amazing

couldn't stop listening to it.

lots of tough but important issues that teens, and everyone really, were brought to life beautifully and with a realness that is greatly appreciated. a realness that is rarely seen in the YA genre.

ok

got bored and annoyed half way through but stuck it put. it gets better near the end.