Synopsis from Edelweiss:
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 that 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 anymore.
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.
About: It’s Not Like It’s a Secret is a fiction novel written by Misa Sugiura. It will be published on 5/9/17 by Harper Teen, 400 pages. The genres are GLBT, Young Adult Fiction, Contemporary, and Romance. This book is intended for readers ages 13 and up, grades 8 and up. According to Harper Collins’ website, the company is the second-largest consumer book publisher in the world, originally founded by two bothers, James and John Harper in New York City in 1817 and currently has publishing operations in 18 countries. Please see below for more information about the author.
My Experience: I started reading It’s Not Like It’s a Secret on 3/31/17 and finished it on 4/3/17. This book is a great read! It’s fast paced, easy to read, and relatable. It has diversity like The Upside of Unrequited and light hearted like To All the Boys I Have Loved Before. I like the humor & diversity in this book. This book also have the feels of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by having foreign languages in the mix. This quote below, it is exactly my perception.
“I am teaching you to see the world the way it is, not the way you want it to be” 13%
In this book, readers will follow Sana Kiyohara, a Japanese American 16 years old high school student from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (yay! I used to live there! And yup I know about Wisconsin Dells & Lake Michigan :-)) being the only Asian girl who couldn’t fit in to the Midwestern Famer’s Daughter. She feels secluded not only by her looks but also by her strict parents. Then her family relocated to California where everywhere she goes, majority of the people are minority (Japanese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, etc). She finally has friends who understands her because other Asian parents are strict too. Through discovering where she can fit in, she’s also discovering herself. In the meantime, she also accidentally found out a secret and hesitated whether she should come forward or keep it hidden. Her mom always taught her to “gaman” which means to endure when face with difficulties. This book also introduces stereotypes, racisms, and poetry.
“you start off sharp and broken, and then over time you become smooth and beautiful and like, your own piece.” 21%
This book is very relatable to many Asian readers but also a good reminders to the general population. The stereotypes labels about people are ongoing and this book just brought it out in the open for discussions. I like learning about Japanese cultures in this book and how alike they are to other Asians. This book is packed with a lot of happenings. There is no dull moment. I’m not good with poetry and the poems in this book are explained and I like that. I like Sana and all that she’s exposed to. I highly recommend the read to everyone!
Pro: friendship, humor, diversity, acceptance, stereotypes, fast paced, page turner, poetry, relatable
Con: none
I rate it 5 stars!
Grab yourself a copy here: Harper Teen Website or Book Depository
About the Author:
Misa Sugiura’s ancestors include a poet, a priestess, a samurai, and a stowaway. She grew up in Northfield, Illinois (which is less rural than it sounds) and went to college on the East Coast. She lived in Japan for three years before moving to Silicon Valley and becoming a high school English teacher. During her years in the classroom, she met the many wonderful Asian, Latino, and LGBTQ students who inspired her to write It’s Not Like It’s a Secret. Misa lives under a giant oak tree with her husband, two sons, two cats, and a gray-banded king snake. (Info obtained from Edelweiss).
More Information about Harper Collins
Website: https://www.harpercollins.com | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarperCollins | Twitter: https://twitter.com/HarperCollins | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harpercollinsus
***Disclaimer: Many thanks to the author Misa Sugiura, publisher Harper Teen, and Edelweiss for the opportunity to read and review. Please assured that my opinions are honest.
xoxo,
Jasmine
Nice review! I’m really looking forward to reading Simon vs the homo sapiens agenda and the upside of unrequited for some diversity…this seems like a really great read as well! Especially with the added minority concept…
U may not remember this but a few months back i’d thought of doing a buddy read with u sometime in April… let me know if u are still up for it!
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I remember.. I have a note in my little blogging notebook haha.. Which book are you interested in reading first? I know you have a list of them. I would like to add The Bone Season to the list. I haven’t read it yet. Have you? We can also read any eARCs you have that is common with the ones I have. Do you use NetGalley?
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Hey..thank god…I thought u had forgotten 😬😬
Nope, I don’t use netgalley..
But I do have a goodreads account…maybe we can look at the books each of us have in our ‘to-read’ shelf and decide on the book?
The eARC thing is a great idea! But I’m kinda new to the whole thing… so it would be really kind of u if u could guide me through the whole process..
And no..I haven’t heard of the bone season…what’s it about?
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Can you go to my “About Me” page and add me on Goodreads? Have you read all of those books on your list from January yet? I haven’t read The Fault in our stars, if I stay, or any of morgan matson’s books yet.
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Done.
I’ve read tfios and if I stay…. ‘the unexpected everything’ by Morgan Matson has been on my TBR since forever…😊
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I see you have The Perks of Being a Wallflower.. I still haven’t read that yet. Do you want to read? We have many books in our TBR in common 🙂 I didn’t read the synopsis of The Bone Season because I want it to be a surprise but I have seen many 5 stars reviews. It’s YA fantasy.
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I’ve seen the movie and I absolutely loved it 😊..I’ve been wanting to read the book since then…
I saw the synopsis of the bone season…it seems like a really great book, but I didn’t feel like reading it at the moment…
We could read the perks of being a wallflower…but let me know if u have any more suggestions…since I kinda already know the story…
I noticed that about our to read shelves too…😊
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I really want to read The Lunar Chronicles again. I read them too fast the first time around and didn’t write a really good review for it. Do you want to read that?
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I’ve been really aprehensive about the Lunar Chronicles, because I’ve heard it’s like a combination of science-fiction and fantasy… and science fiction isn’t really my thing…
But I’ve really wanted to read Heartless for a long time now and infact I was planning on starting it today…maybe we can buddy read the Lunar Chronicles sometime later if I end up liking Heartless.. 🙂
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Sure 🙂 we can plan on A Darker Shade of Magic at the end of this month right? I will make a note for it 🙂
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Yes… I’ll be looking forward to it 🙂
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I’m really in a mood to read fantasy though…do u have any ideas for YA fantasy?
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A Darker Shade of Magic and The Bone Season are two fantasies I really really want to read hahaha.. I have seen so many 5 stars for them.
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Yes! I really really want to read a darker shade of magic…😊
I’ve ordered it online, but it says it’s going to deliver in the end of April…if u could wait I’d really love to read a darker shade of magic with u 😊
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Yeah sure!
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Yay…that’s great! Is there any other way that we can contact each other? 😬
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Twitter. Do you use that? Or Goodreads Message.
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Hehe no…I’m really inactive on social media😬😬..but maybe ill create an account later this month for my blog…
Goodreads message is a good idea… 😊 see u there!
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Ok!
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Great post. Thanks for sharing!
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I’m so excited for The Upside of Unrequited and I adored To All the the Boys I’ve loved Before, so I’m glad to hear about those aspects. It’s so great you loved this! It sounds so cute and I’m super excited to read it now. ❤
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I’m liking Diversity reads so far and this book has it all. I hope you will get to read it soon and I look forward to seeing what you think of it 😊
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Oh my gosh this book sounds so great! This has been on my TBR list forever and I’m so glad you liked it! Sana sounds like a relatable and likeable character.
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I hope you will get to read soon!
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This sounds like a really cute, diverse read! Plus, Japanese culture? Count me in!
Great review, Jasmine 🙂 And I’m glad you enjoyed it so much!
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It’s a fun read. You will love it. Hope you will get a chance to read it later 🙂
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This book sounds great! I just requested it on Edelweiss so fingers crossed 😀
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Best of luck Lia!! I hope you will enjoy this read!
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Thanks!
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The cover of this book is really cute, and based on your review it seems that I would really like this because of the general type of book it sounds like, to me. I am really excited for this to be released, and I hadn’t known about it prior to reading your review, so thank you for recommending this! *Adding it to my TBR right now!* 😁
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Great! It’s a fun read! It covers many areas that you will find it enjoyable. At the same time, readers will get to learn some Japanese hehe
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