Bianca

Dec 03, 2021

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

4.5/5 stars

No one is surprised but I yet again finished a romance book in under 24 hours. Some may call it addiction some may call it a hell of a time. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion. But straight up I had a blast reading this book. I thought the plot was cute and quirky with one of our main characters Khai's mother going to Vietnam to find her son a wife and coming back to the US with a bride to be and giving her son 2 months to decide whether he would like to be with this girl or not. The girl that came from Vietnam is named Esme and she is from the slums in Ho Chi Minh City and she hopes this opportunity in America will be the break her family needs. I, of course, loved the two main characters. I really loved Esme's perspective since she explains so well what it's like moving to America with little English and what it's like dealing with America's culture with having people view you as lesser just because of an accent. Esme is very inspiring and driven and patient and kind and I love all her little quirks. Esme's quirks create great chemistry with Khai. Khai is another great character to love, I like reading his POV since he is diagnosed with autism and reading the way he is able to experience different scenarios is very interesting to read. The way he portrays his love for other people is so cute and I really loved his arc throughout the story. If you want a fun easy read that is bound to give you a smile I would def pick this book up.

*SPOILER SECTION*

This book was such a joy to read. I liked when Esme and Khai were learning to live together and how Khai subconsciously started to do things to make Emse happy hoping she would want to stay with him longer. I liked how Esme had her own job and took it onto herself to go back to school and get her GED. I really did love all the scenes they had together and I thought they meshed well together. Like when Khai took the day off to go to Berkley with Esme in hopes of finding more info about her father. The reason this book was not perfect for me was because the ending felt a bit rushed and unrealistic to me. For example, everyone just accepts the fact that Esme has a daughter even though she lied about it the whole time. Also, when they found Esme's father he immediately came for her. I did like how Khai finally accepts the fact that he can love and he does love Esme in his own time I thought that was quite cute and I'm glad that they didn't get married right away. Again, kinda unrealistic how she just got into Standford but then again it's a romance novel and I'm here to read a happy ending so I can go with it. Overall, this gave what it was supposed to give. I went in with high expectations for a cute romance and I was served exactly that. I will definitely be getting my hands soon on Helen Hoang's next book!