Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Wed Jul 06 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

An intrepid college freshman pushes past her comfort zone to investigate an unsolved murder.Brookings University freshman Anna Xu, back home in Michigan after a whirlwind summer in Beijing with relatives, is on a mission. She hopes to discover who killed Melissa Hong, her childhood babysitter, who was a sophomore at Brookings 7 years ago. Her stealth investigation isn't easy to carry out when she's also making new friends, navigating the college social scene, and fielding sinister threats resulting from her sleuthing. Not to mention worrying about Sweetea, her immigrant parents' struggling Chinese bakery, now that old family rivals the Lus have opened a bakery of their own nearby. Not only that, their son, Chris Lu, is a fellow student, and Anna isn't sure how she feels about him: Is he a competitor, a friend, or perhaps something more? With the help of Chris and others, Anna edges closer to learning what happened to Melissa. But will she discover the truth in time to prevent more tragedies? Anna is realistically drawn-at times socially uncertain but relentless in her search for answers about Melissa's murder. In addition to the fast-paced, well-crafted main plot, subthemes abound and are all given full play: anime geek culture, White male domination of the Asian studies field, anti-Asian hate, and the sexual fetishization of Asian women.A complex and layered campus mystery that explores pernicious stereotypes. (Mystery. 14-18)

ALA Booklist (Thu Dec 28 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Zhao's haunting thriller follows Anna Xu as she grapples with adjusting to college life, excelling in academics, complicated family dynamics, and a dark secret that swims below the picturesque surface at Brookings University: the unsolved murder case of her childhood babysitter. Zhao's lush prose explores this atmospheric setting as various unexpected twists show up. Chris Lu, Anna's middle-school nemesis from a rival family, reappears in her life, but when his family's bakery undergoes racist harassment that matches a clue in the case she's following, he might just be the person to accompany her on this whodunit wild-goose chase. As Anna and Chris work together and something sparks, they are faced with the terrible feeling that their hometown isn't as safe or accepting as they once thought and hoped. With an addictive plot and a slow-burn rivals-to-lovers romance, Zhao's story touches on social activism and the AAPI experience as Anna and Chris realize that if they want things to change, they need to stand up for themselves and their community.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

An intrepid college freshman pushes past her comfort zone to investigate an unsolved murder.Brookings University freshman Anna Xu, back home in Michigan after a whirlwind summer in Beijing with relatives, is on a mission. She hopes to discover who killed Melissa Hong, her childhood babysitter, who was a sophomore at Brookings 7 years ago. Her stealth investigation isn't easy to carry out when she's also making new friends, navigating the college social scene, and fielding sinister threats resulting from her sleuthing. Not to mention worrying about Sweetea, her immigrant parents' struggling Chinese bakery, now that old family rivals the Lus have opened a bakery of their own nearby. Not only that, their son, Chris Lu, is a fellow student, and Anna isn't sure how she feels about him: Is he a competitor, a friend, or perhaps something more? With the help of Chris and others, Anna edges closer to learning what happened to Melissa. But will she discover the truth in time to prevent more tragedies? Anna is realistically drawn-at times socially uncertain but relentless in her search for answers about Melissa's murder. In addition to the fast-paced, well-crafted main plot, subthemes abound and are all given full play: anime geek culture, White male domination of the Asian studies field, anti-Asian hate, and the sexual fetishization of Asian women.A complex and layered campus mystery that explores pernicious stereotypes. (Mystery. 14-18)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Midwestern teenagers and academic rivals join forces to solve a cold case while navigating the aftermath of a hate crime in this intense thriller by Zhao (How We Fall Apart). After returning to Michigan from a summer with extended family in Beijing, Anna Xu starts her freshman year at Brookings University. Best known as the elite alma mater of many of Anna’s affluent white neighbors, it’s also where her former babysitter, East-Asian-cued Melissa Hong, was murdered in a seven-year-old cold case that Anna, hoping for closure, resolves to covertly investigate. As she balances college life with her inquiry, she reconnects with childhood rival Chris Lu, whose family soon opens Sunny’s, a bakery in direct competition with the Xus’ own struggling business, Sweetea. But when Sunny’s is vandalized with a racial slur, and signed with a tag that is related to Melissa’s murder, Anna and Chris begin a dangerous search to resolve the dual investigations. Unease permeates the narrative, and the mysteries tap into the feel of contemporary social consciousness. Zhao thrills and perturbs with a fast-moving plot that examines themes of racism, fetishization of Asian women, and white privilege. Ages 14–up. Agent: Penny Moore, Aevitas Creative Management. (Nov.)