I'm thinking that maybe this book should be a NA and not YA? The blurb is also very misleading as this story does not have a strong romantic arc. I did enjoy the writing, the humor was funny and the characterizations consistent and believable.

This was a great little peak into what it's like to be a young adult, totally in over your head with being an Adult and falling in love while feeling like you don't deserve any of it. Pablo's story is all too relatable. Not knowing what you want to do with the Rest Of Your Life, feeling like a failure when asking for help or advice or just admitting what's going on in your brain, and the eagerness to please people you like so that they'll never leave you. I think we're to assume that Pablo has an anxiety disorder, and I think that's right. The ice, the rubber band, the way he bounces his foot and makes Mrs. Kim worried... it's all very anxiety. I loved that representation and felt that it could even have been addressed more later on in the book as a partial reason to other things he did. I'm trying to be vague to avoid spoilers lol. Truly, I think there is no sophomore slump for Choi, this book was even better than her first. The writing was super easy to digest, the dialogue was so refreshingly twenties American that I was laughing just at the accuracy of it. I felt Pab's dread at being a young person in this America and I Really Felt his mom's opinion on the country. Hard. I think this book may have been sold as a story about a guy dating a famous woman and I think that that was maybe the wrong way to go, as though that is part of the story and definitely a catalyst for a lot of it, I think this was mostly about a young man learning how to find himself while also randomly dating a famous woman.

I just finished this book and I'm sitting here thinking about what I thought of it. There were parts that were funny, parts that were oh so relatable as a college student with looming student loans payments coming up next year, parts that made me smile and think wow true.

I really liked Pablo. He was such a sweetheart and even though he had his flaws I still really enjoyed reading about him. He was also such a relatable character with his student loans and having to be an adult. He's honestly such a solid character and the new love of my life. I was also really satisfied with how his story ended.

Next up we have Lee who was an interesting character but I didn't really like her all that much. She complained about being famous but didn't want to stop being famous. I didn't really like her but I did like the love story between her and Pablo.

I really like Choi's writing. I was under the impression that this was another dual POV book like her first one but it only had Pablo's POV which I surprisingly enjoyed. I don't read many books where it's solely a male point of view.

I think the story was great and for when it does come out it's going to be a great fall read. I liked how even though it is a romance there were other struggles going on with the main character. I feel like older readers of YA would enjoy this book as the characters are in their 20s.

I really enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it especially to people in their 20s who enjoy young adult books. This is the first book in a long time where I really related to the characters. It makes me wish that I read more books with characters in their 20s rather than books about teenagers which seem to be what young adult is full of.

This was a great coming of age novel for new adults. I loved the characters and how they're not sure what they want to do with their lives. Students can't hear that enough. So many times they feel like they have to have it all figured out by middle school. I liked that this showed that's not the case. The romance was cute too. I love Choi's writing style.

Emergency Contact is one of my favorite books of all times and automatically made me add everything Mary H. K. Choi would write at the very top of my to read list. Permanent Record, her sophomore novel, was one book I was so, so eagerly anticipating and, when I got the chance to read an early copy of it…. I screamed.

Obviously, when it comes to expectations, you’re almost always bound to be disappointed. Here, if I felt like Permanent Record missed a teensy tiny thing to make it to my ultimate favorites’ shelves… it’s not far from it, either, at all.

A SLICE OF LIFE CONTEMPORARY
☂️
Permanent Record is one of these slice of lives kind of contemporary. It doesn’t feel like an action-packed kind of book, where everything is packed and happening all at once. Character-focused, it’s more about the main character, Pablo, a college drop-out, as he tries to figure out his own life and has a strange meet-cute with a famous singer that turns his entire life around, too. More than a romance, this story is about Pablo and him trying to find his way through life, his place in the world and most of it all, what he is supposed to do with his life when everyone else seems to have figured it all out.

All of these themes deeply echoed with me and are, if you ask me, everything we need more and more in books destined to some of the young adult readers, the ones heading off to college and a little lost about the process of it all, too. Despite having left university for a while now, I could find myself in a lot of Pablo’s confused thoughts and even now, about which path to take next and where you’re supposed to be. Permanent Record is this delicious book that doesn’t shy away from the confusion and messiness of life around that time and for that, I loved it all the more.

GREAT MAIN CHARACTERS AND REALISTIC RELATIONSHIPS
☂️
Told from Pablo’s point of view, Permanent Record was, at first, a little strange to get into. Pablo has a particular voice through the story, yet it was one I got used to and one I could empathize with early on, as well. I grew fond of him and, most of it all, wanted him to be okay. The growth he went through, as the story went on, was incredible and before anything else, realistic. There is no straight path to happiness and there are no certainties. Pablo, his path as he tries to figure it all our, are, really, the heart of the book and I loved that.

Permanent Record has, yes, a strange meet-cute and a romance at its heart, complicated yet compelling. I adored the relationship between Pablo and Leanna, from the moment they met to their endearing conversations, seeing their feelings grow through time and the complications as their relationship went on.
The story also gives a great place to the family, with Pablo’s complicated relationship with his mother, father and little brother. I loved their interactions, I loved the fact that they didn’t agree, they messed up and none of them were perfect, but in the end it all was so realistic, I loved it so much.

OVERALL
☂️
Permanent Record is not perfect and I never asked for it to be, either. It’s messy and complicated and it perfectly reflects life as a whole when you’ve dropped out of college and are at a loss for what’s happening next. With a side-romance that made me happy, Permanent Record offers an incredible slice-of-life, character-focused story that I feel like would be perfection for these looking for these new adult books we all have been needing more in the market. Mary H. K. Choi: I’m a big, big fan.

Final rating: 4,5 drops!
Trigger warnings: anxiety.
Diversity: biracial main characters, Pablo is half-Korean, half-Pakistani, Leane is half-Mexican. Diverse side characters: Miggs is Puerto Rican & Dominican, Dara is Jewish & Sicilian.

Emergency Contact was one of my top reads last year, so I looked forward to Choi’s next book. I wasn’t disappointed. Pablo and Leanna are such solid, unapologetically messy characters that I could feel them, and boy did they hurt me and rip my heart out. Their relationship was quite refreshing and something I’d like to read more of.

There’s something special about the writing itself. Choi has a way of creating beautiful prose and infusing that with a particular slang, very dry or no-nonsense words and modern things that don’t feel out of place.

The book explores the build up of relationships and the insecurities or anxiety in maintaining them, young adults figuring their lives out, and the joys and cons of social media. Pablo’s heritage/identity is also explored and quite relatable to me as someone of the Asian diaspora. I was worried about Leanna being one of those perfect love interests seen through the male admirer (protagonist)’s eyes, but she surprised me.

A couple things that I had issue with. The other characters were a little underdeveloped and I wish they were more fleshed out to feel connected or care about them. The other issue is that there are several ableist terms thrown around and they aren’t challenged. So a heads-up if you’re going to read the book.

Overall, Permanent Record is an enjoyable and relatable read that speaks to your soul. It makes you feel less alone if you’re going through a tough time or figuring out your messy life.

Rating

📖📖📖📖

2.5 stars

I had high hopes going into this book. I know that Emergency Contact has really polarizing reviews, but from what I had seen of the early reviews of this I was expecting to enjoy it.

yeah... no such luck.

Things I liked about the book
1) His family. In fact, Pablo's father was probably my favorite character of the book. He was full of nonsensical Yoda wisdom which was highly quotable.
2) His friend group and roommates. They really seemed to care about him in their own ways. They were all so quirky and fun, but all really loved each other.
3) The ethnic diversity was great. Both main characters were mixed race and really tried to celebrate their multiple heritages.

The things I didn't like
1) I 100% did not buy the relationship. It was way too insta lovey (a trope I really do not get along with). I'm sorry, you're 20 years old you don't just hop on a plane with someone you've spent less than 24 hours with before that time and confess your love to them...
2) His relationship with his mother. There wasn't really a reason as to why he never went to his mother with his problems prior to this. She's a doctor... She makes good money... I don't know, as someone who has struggled with finances in the past and hasn't had a safety net to fall back on, (view spoiler)
3) I found both of the main characters rather annoying. They both really complained about their life situations, which neither one could relate to because they were on such opposite ends of the spectrum, but for literally 90% of the book it was just complaining and not fixing their situations, and it made them both sound bitchy.

This isn't a bad book. Not technically. The writing style is still good and all that, but then there were the characters. Boy, oh boy, these characters. I just didn't like them. 

No, scratch that. It's not that I didn't like them. It's that I didn't care. Lee was so boring to me. So superficial. And yeah, maybe that was the point, and you know what? I still didn't like her. At times she didn't even feel like a character at all. She felt like a caricature pulled right out of someone's fantasy in order to be the perfect idea of a girl. 

But then again, maybe that was the point? At least, I hope that was the point?

In seeing her only from Pablo's mind, we're only shown an idea of Lee. An idea over which Pablo obssesses, ignoring friends and family and responsibilities. As Pablo goes deeper into his relationship with Leanna, the more his life spirals out of control. 

The reason I couldn't cheer for Pablo and like him as a character was that he never did anything about it. He just kept digging himself in deeper, letting the spiral run out of control, willingly as he chased Lee around. It felt like he complained a lot and did little to actually help his situation and that got boring and annoying for me.

Some other issues I had was that there was like, no plot? Maybe I missed it? But also, where was this going? What did the characters actually want? Idk.

Pablo and Lee's relationship was also a bit questionable perhaps. I personally would have loved it if the book focused more on Pablo and his family. His little brother Rain was cool and his parents had an interesting dynamic. Instead, we focused on Pablo drool over a girl for several hundred pages.

All of that said, I did enjoy the ending, although it was a bit cliche. I liked seeing Pablo try to get his life back on track. I would have liked to see a bit more focus on the fact that Pablo was very clearly depressed and needed some serious help. They briefly mention it and then it's sort of ignored and he's magically better.

Overall, despite everything I just said, I actually thought the book was pretty ok. Not great, I certainly didn't love it, but it also wasn't bad. It was more than meh, less than wow.  Make of that what you will.

Permanent Record is a coming-of-age story that is relatable. This contemporary novel seamlessly blends the woes of young adults. Readers encounter financial struggles, family expectations, how social media affects lives, life after high school and how to live a meaningful life.

Mary H.K. Choi includes a male POV in Permanent Record which I am grateful about. I love reading from a male perspective in YA novels because YA is dominated with female voices within the novels. Diversity is important in this novel as finding your identity. Pablo Rind is half Korean and half Pakistani and he learns what it means to be mixed. He conquerors who he is and who he wants to become. I enjoyed reading his internal monologues even though he may be uncertain about himself. He struggles regarding what to do with his life. This is exactly what we see in young adults today! There is too much pressure for young adults to make the "right decision." However, sometimes, they need a break from societal expectations and they need to focus on self-care.

Pablo meets Leanna Smart at the bodega and they click despite their many differences. Pablo is currently working a graveyard shift in order to pay back student loans and credit card debt. He drops out of college in order to take care of his debt but is debating whether to go back to NYU. Leanna, on the other hand, is a celebrity who is social media famous. Sometimes opposites attract. Although this pairing is not common in the real world, this can meeting can happen.

Choi writes about financial struggles which I enjoy seeing in a book because nowadays, young adults are struggling to make ends meet. Cost of housing, food, college loans, etc. are rising to the point where young adults are willing to work more hours, cut down on meals and make huge sacrifices but at what cost?

Permanent Record is the perfect read for those who want to know more about the time bridging high school and college. If you are a fan of Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell or Emergency Contact by Mary H.K Choi, you will enjoy this novel.

Enjoyed this read! It was highly relevant to young people today where you're expected to know what to do for the rest of your life while still being incredibly young and vulnerable. I felt feelings I had as a younger college student echoed in this book!

The writing was wonderful and I loved the lighter/cuter plot points. The pacing was a little fast for my taste, but, overall, I didn't mind.

Where the book fell flat for me was with the characters. I didn't connect with them in the way I had hoped. The character development didn't happen until late in the book which I found a little disappointing as I like to see the development happen throughout the story.

Overall, I think this is an enjoyable read and I give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Permanent Record is a YA novel written by Mary H. K. Choi. Even though I’m one of those jaded xennials and moving farther away from the target demographic every year, I was excited about the opportunity to read this book because the premise sounded interesting.

Pablo dropped out of college, and now spends his nights working in a NYC deli, and he’s quick to inform the reader that even though it’s open 24 hours, it’s not a bodega because it sells all sorts of fancy rich-people-food.

One night, a girl comes into the not-bodega, and Pablo recognizes her- she’s Leanna Smart- a child star who grew up into an international pop sensation. They strike up a conversation, and Leanna is impressed that Pablo doesn’t recognize her right away. This is, perhaps, why she invites Pablo into her inner circle.

And so, Pablo- who had a cosmopolitan childhood, although he didn’t grow up wealthy- finds himself whisked around on a private jet, as he becomes better acquainted with the real Leanna Smart. He’s supposed to be sorting out his own life, and now he finds himself experiencing a lifestyle where maintaining a façade is a prerequisite for success.

This was an interesting book. Choi uses a first-person narrative, and Pablo is an ideal narrator. He’s astute, and he has a delightful sense of humor. He’s fairly reliable: he has a lot going on that he’s been avoiding, but he knows he’s avoiding it, so therefore the reader knows it as well. He’s a savvy kid, so it was funny to see him befuddled when Leanna suggests something completely outlandish (although normal for her).

Leanna, for what it’s worth, is sweet, but she’s been caught up in the entertainment complex for almost her entire life, so she takes some things for granted (although this is likely unintentional). She’s fiercely private, and taking a chance on Pablo is a big risk.

I should also mention that I appreciated that the diversity in the characters. Pablo is half-Pakistani and half-Korean, and his friends are also multicultural as well. Even Leanna, who presents as generically European, is half-Mexican.

I would recommend Permanent Record. This is a thoughtful take on the futility of Generation Z; these kids are growing up in an uncertain world, and just trying to make their mark on the world as countless generations have done before them. Leanna arrives into Pablo’s life during a time in which he is most in need of change. He’s not sure what to expect with Leanna, and doesn’t quite know what to do with what he receives. I enjoyed reading this book, and I’m certainly going to check out more of Choi’s books in the future.





I received a copy of this book from Netgalley/the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

2.5/5
This book is a little hard for me to review, because I almost DNF'd this three times (but it was from net galley so I kept going), but at the same time, some of the themes and the quotes were so powerful.

First of all, this should have had dual POVs. Pablo was fine, but lordy I did not need to read 400 pages of his inner thoughts. I know Lee was supposed to be "mysterious" but since we did not see inside her head there wasn't anything that made me like her. It is also too long for a single POV and a serious lack of plot.

Choi tends to have character driven novels that do not have much plot (which I typically do like), but since I did not like the characters it was a struggle to get through. I liked Pablo enough at the beginning, but by the end I was annoyed and bored of his monologue.

I did laugh at loud at times and enjoy SOME of Pablo and Lee's conversations, but this book was 100% not for me, which is disappointing bc I thought I would enjoy this one.

What really drew me to Permanent Record is the fact that it’s about someone who just has no idea what to do with their life as a twenty year old. It’s that stage after high school when everyone now views you as an “adult” and they ask you about your major and your career aspirations when really, a mere year or less earlier, you were just a kid sitting in class and getting through high school. It’s like an unspoken leap onto another level and while everyone else around Pablo seems like they’ve got it together, he has dropped out of NYU, works at a bodega and is struggling under massive student debt and has no idea how to tackle it all.

It’s just all very relevant and is a great look at what so many post high school people deal with. The fact that you are just supposed to know what you’re going to do (for the rest of your life!) and get started on those classes asap in college has always been a topic that I get passionate about because it’s sort of absurd. And while you’re trying to figure it out, you may not be taking those correct classes you need but you’re still racking up the tuition fees! So I really appreciated the close look at that aspect in Permanent Record. It’s so true to life and just a great contemporary tackling those issues and seeing how Pablo is going to navigate that.

So while Pablo is sort of floundering, he meets Leanna Smart, famous singer who is highly successful, at the bodega he works at and they have a whirlwind-esque romance as she whisks him off on private planes all over. I liked the part that this relationship played in shaping Pablo and what it did for his growth but man, I never clicked with Lee. She always felt sort of distant to me and I never really got the draw or attraction there.

While I didn’t click with certain aspects of the story, I did like seeing how Pablo ends up navigating his life. It’s a good coming of age story that’s very relevant and relatable! I think this is the epitome of that “new adult” category and I’m excited and hopeful to see more contemporaries target that age group.

Mary H.K. Choi's first book, Emergency Contact, was one of the best books I read last year. She has such an ear for dialogue and creates characters so real you swear you know them. I had really high hopes for Permanent Record, but I just didn't connect with it as much as Emergency Contact.

While I sped through this book—the writing is fantastic (duh), and I was fascinated by the relationship blossoming between Pablo and Lee—by the end, I realized three things:
1) Pablo was giving me ALL the secondhand anxiety.
2) There was little to no plot.
3) I needed snack food, pronto.

Pablo Neruda Rind, Pab for short, is a half-Korean/half-Pakistani college dropout with an ever-growing mountain of debt. He works the graveyard shift at a bodega in Brooklyn and spends his time dreaming up the best snack food combos and wondering what to do with his future - Should he reapply at NYU despite not being able to afford it (and not fitting in the first time)? Should he apply elsewhere? Can he even do anything with all the debt following him around?

And then all that falls out of his head when Leanna Smart, former Disney star, current pop phenomenon (and amalgamation of about 15 real-life celebrities) walks into the bodega one morning. Alone, sans entourage, vaguely disguised to "fit in." She's there for snacks, Pab's greatest weakness. The two feel an undeniable spark. But this is a relationship destined to go nowhere because they couldn't come from more different worlds. But they kind of can't resist each other...

There is a plot here. It's very minimal for the majority of the book, as we simply bear witness to Pablo and Lee's relationship. And while I appreciated the perspective on celebrity and the magic of being caught up in someone, after a certain point, I wanted something more to happen. Pablo was stuck in some sort of suspended animation and it took him until around 80% through the book to actually figure anything out. He was pretty terrible to everyone around him, and while I get it, it's not fun to read about...

The only person he wasn't terrible to was Leanna, but I wasn’t rooting for the romance at all. I wasn’t engaged with that aspect of the story. I never had the feeling that things would work out in the end, and it's a bummer to know that from the start.

But this is a story worth reading. For Choi's amazing writing, to meet Pab, who I swear I just passed on the sidewalk, and to remember that the future is undoubtedly terrifying, but the people around you want to help you and will be there for you if you let them. Choi will always be on my automatic-read list.

Sharp and sweet at the same time, this book is a gift to teens who are looking for more adult fare. I loved this book!

Permanent Record is a very realistic and I appreciate the way Mary H.K. Choi writes her stories. It's very fresh and unique from what I've read before. But where it fails is in the characters. Both Leanna and Pablo are insufferable and tiring. I didn't find myself caring for them or how they develop as people because it felt like they were staying stagnant the whole time. It isn't until the end we see some sort of character development, but it isn't enough for me to like this book.

Life for Pablo is definitely taking a troubling turn. They guy has a lot going on in his life and he’s making choices that continue to multiply and exacerbate those problems. When Pablo looks at his bills and tries to think about what he’s going to do with his life, he pushes everything away and decides not to decide. He’s basically stuck and doesn’t know how to get out of his own trap. He uses his charm in an attempt to save himself over and over again when he’s not just blowing people off and treating them horribly. Some readers may not like him spite of the wattage of his charm.

His central plan is avoidance or distraction. This is true with debts, decisions, and in relationships. I felt for the guy though. At one point he ponders about how unfit young people are to make life changing decisions like college majors. Brains aren’t even completely developed when most people are starting college and choosing their life path. Young people are asked to make huge decisions with lifetime ramifications when some of them are simply not ready yet. Pab cannot figure things out and in the meantime his looming debt is just making every single thing more stressful.

The kid is bright though and his word play and repartee had me laughing even in the midst of his often cringey decision making. The conversations between Leanna and Pablo are especially entertaining. Leanna can also make some sketchy decisions and both of them managed to show their humanity and individuality. They’re coming of age in a bumbling sort of way which makes the whole story more endearing than annoying for me. Pab is also talented when it comes to making and choosing snacks. I definitely wanted to give some of those a try.

I really appreciated the look into Pab and his relationships with his parents. His mother is Korean and his father is Pakistani. They live their lives in two very different ways, but they both want good things for their children. Pab thinks he knows what his parents think and why, but there have been misunderstandings between them for a long time. His little brother is also a lot of fun. He adds yet another interesting perspective. He is quite precocious and enterprising. The two siblings really care for each other and that relationship was a highlight for me even though it wasn’t a huge part of the story.

Though much of this story is outside my lived experience, the book was very relatable as Pab questions his future and gets bogged down in mistakes. Even his failure to simply ask for guidance or help was almost too realistic for me. I’ve been there more times than I’d like to admit.

Recommendation: Get it as soon as you can especially if you enjoy your contemporary novels with a bit of romance, a dash of social media drama, friendship and family complications, and interesting snack ideas. Pab and Leanna will likely inspire laughter as well as introspection.

While I sped through this book—the writing is addicting, as is the burgeoning relationship that Choi writes between Pablo and Lee—by the end, I realized two things:
a) nothing much had happened
b) it all moved so fast

There is a plot here. One that is very minimal for the first two-thirds of the book, as we simply bear witness to Pablo and Lee's relationship. And while I appreciated these sweet moments, I felt that after a certain point, I wanted something more to happen. It took too long, in my eyes, for the action to really get going, and for some consequences to occur. Pablo lived in this bizarre dream state/depression and it took him until around 80% through the book to actually figure his shit out. I get that this was catalyzed by some previous events, but meh, I just thought this could've been a bit shorter. With maybe less straggling narration of every conversation or thought Lee and Pablo have—it got a bit repetitive after awhile.

And, of course, the relationship between Pablo and Lee moved so quickly. He was just so fascinated by her that after maybe.. an hour total of interacting with her he thought it would be totally chill for him to fly to LA with her. I found this kind of absurd, and shocking. They skyrocket to quite an advanced stage of intimacy and fascination with each other so quickly that I was left feeling a little confused. How did this all happen in the span of a few pages? I don't read YA romance-y books that often, but is this something that happens frequently? If so, maybe the genre just isn't for me. I just wanted a biiiit more time to build up their relationship, and then they could go gallivanting around the world.

I did enjoy this book though. It is cute, fast-paced, diverse, and thoughtful. Choi brings up a lot of important subjects, and tackles them from a perspective that a younger person could easily understand and relate to. I loved Pablo's family, and all of the secondary characters, who were all very fleshed out and real. I would definitely recommend this book as a quick, fun read, even with its pitfalls (which are more likely to stand out to a reader of adult fiction/non-fiction, as I am).

I've come to the conclusion that Mary H. K. Choi is just not for me. I could not bother to finish this because Mary was not fascinating me with her weird and flawed feminist thoughts. She has grown since the last book, but PR was still not everything I hoped from her sophomore release.

I don’t think it’s a secret that I was {am} borderline obsessed with Emergency Contact and I was so eager to get an arc of PR in my hands...sadly, this wasn’t what I was looking for.

Pablo and Lee are just okay characters. He’s fairly apathetic and she’s so busy it comes across as self-centered. They’re both struggling in their own way and even with that, I couldn’t connect with either of them. There’s a pretty large cast of characters here and no one really stood out for me.

Plot wise, it was booooooooring. Pablo’s inner monologue was a struggle and I constantly felt like there was a portion of the story I was missing. Or that I should have just known. There was some growth on Pablo’s part {he was at least in a better place than the beginning}, but by the time it happened, the book was nearly over and I was glad.

Overall, I did think about DNFing, but something kept me reading. I’ve also written this review 5 different times and it still doesn’t sound right to me, but I can’t articulate any further.

**Huge thanks to Simon & Schuster for providing the arc free of charge**