A light fun read that included sightseeing, fashion and social issues. I did not realize there was a book 1 and the novel was still enjoyable.

This is the second book in a duology and should not be read as a stand-alone (which I made the mistake of doing). A lot of the character and relationship building for the main characters happens in the first book, and the storyline from the first book is referred to frequently throughout this one.

There are several things I liked about this book, but also some things that fell a little short for me.

I liked Clementine and felt that she was fun and quirky. She is passionate about eco-fashion, which is something that has recently come into my sightline, so this feels really timely for me. She is also a blogger, and I always love a blogger. Clem is also terribly insecure and seems a bit immature. I’m not sure exactly how old she is supposed to be, but she is shown drinking wine in a bar in New York, so I’m assuming early twenties, but she has a distinct child-like quality at times.

I enjoyed the friendship between Jake and Clem, but feel like there was a lot wanting in her relationship with Jonathan. I think this would have been different if I had started with the first book and seen their relationship come about. I also liked that Sandra was there for Clem in China when she needed her.

As far as Henry, let’s just say that my opinion of Henry never changed throughout the story. But his interactions with Clementine did change my feelings about her at times. I can’t really say more without spoilers on this.

I felt like some of the storylines were wrapped up a little too neatly and easily, but I guess a rich benefactor can do that. But then I also felt like there were some loose ends left that weren’t completely resolved. I don’t know if there was a 3rd book planned and this is why, or if the author just chose to let us make up our own ending.

All in all, this was a fun, pretty quick read. But definitely start with book 1, Bonjour Girl, before starting this one.

Disclaimer: I received a DRC through Net Galley on behalf of the publishers in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Bonjour Shanghai was just an okay read for me. This was one of those books that I had to put down, pick up again, and debated whether it was worth finishing.

As you all know I like books about books. Well did you also know I like books about blogging as well? That is what made the Bonjour Girl Series such a find for me. I originally discovered them on Netgalley and accidentally read them in reverse order. Both these titles can be read in whichever order the reader prefers. I see a lot of myself in Clemintine. She may write about fashion, while I write about books, but she still has some of the same hopes and dreams that I do. Like making a difference, even if it is just one reader at a time. One of my favorite things about her blog is that as part of her “doing good in the world” initiative she blogs about things that matter like eco-friendly fashion. Or her best friend and the fashion line he hopes to create for the disabled.

I hope that the author decides that there is more of the story to tell and puts out another sequel! Until then make sure to enjoy these two!

This book has a good premise, however it missed the mark. The characters and culture within the book were noticeably not nuanced nor an ownvoices, which is always important to telling a story. This book felt more like a white lens on Asian American culture that made it more stereotypical and cliche instead of authentic.

A fun, quick read! I loved the fashion blogging, social media stuffs, and the places! Contemporary read recommended for Young Adults.

This was another dnf book for me, mostly because of its nature. I felt as if the plot was not progressing and we weren't learning anything about the character.

This book was such a fun read! I mean who doesn't want to travel the world WHILE doing something they love! Clementine was such an adorable main character! I loved the vibe this book created! I would definitely recommend!

I was happy to read this YA novel featuring biracial/bicultural (Chinese/French) fashion blogger Clementine Liu. I especially enjoyed the setting and learning a bit about Shanghai, which rarely pops up in fiction for young people. And I loved that Clementine's best friend Jake was designing fashions for wheelchair users. Although light on plot, this breezy read brought up some tough issues such as the environmental damage caused by fast fashion, bullying, sexual harassment, and addiction making it a not-quite-so-guilty pleasure.

It is an impulse pick up for me as the main character is asian, like me. I kind of regret reading this book at this age. If I am a few years younger, i might love this book much more. The main character is so childish it's kind of annoying at times.

I hate the fact that I requested this on Netgalley before reading the first one because I just really didn't want to spend more time with these characters ... Gosh ... I just ... I was in pain throughout most of this book. The main character is so dramatic and everyone just goes along with it like it's normal. Nothing is ever her fault. Like at one point in this book she gets under fire for promoting a designer who is racist and she puts the blame on this guy who introduced her to the designer. "I didn't know he was racist." Honey, you want to be a journalist DO YOUR FUCKING RESEARCH! ALWAYS DO YOUR FUCKING RESEARCH! This whole plot point could have been resolved if she would have done her job as a journalist and DO HER RESEARCH. Not a lot happened in the first half of the book and the conflict that happened in the second half was resolved incredibly quick. It's supposed to be the end of the world but it's fixed in 5 seconds. In the end, just like in the first book, the main character, her best friend and her boyfriend just get everything their hearts desire for the most unrealistic reason ever. The beginning had me a bit hopeful because it set up a sexual assault case and a character with a gambling addiction. The discussion around those things could have been so interesting but as soon as the main character dissapears to Shangai (which is very quickly) who almost never hear about these things. Please, don't waste your time on this one like I did.

Starting with the good-

This is one of the fastest reads I've come across in a long time. I'd read a few books around the 300 page mark around this time. Bonjour Shanghai is only slightly shorter than that and I zoomed through it in a couple of hours. The writing style is simple in ways that are both good and bad, the good being its brisk readability.

While the details about Shanghai are sparse, Clementine (the heroine) does make some worthwhile observations. For example, she is very interested in environmentalism and sustainability. These aspects are mentioned in a direct and simply appealing way, not too clinical or boring. The sections about jean production causing pollution were interesting.

Having not read the first book in this series, this sequel was surprisingly approachable and nicely self-contained, I definitely didn't feel like I was missing out on a massive larger plot. The first book sounds like it might be entertaining, based on the little references sprinkled throughout this volume.

Now for the not-so-good-

While Clementine wasn't markedly dislikable or grating, she isn't a heroine with a lot of depth and comes off as flighty and short-sighted. The few emotional sections have her coming off as exceptionally immature in comparison to other YA heroines in contemporaries I've read.

Though a light and simple contemporary, I really felt like the focal points are shallow even within that context. I was never left with an immersive sense of Shanghai or fashion or the angst of Clementine's relationships (there is a love triangle here) beyond a surface level. Also, it took way too long for the trip to Shanghai to start.

I feel like this book was a bit too cutesy and simplistic for YA. Clementine reads as so much younger than her age, closer to 13-14 years old than late teens. But I could imagine the descriptions of colorful fashion and the heroine's fun life as an aspiring fashion designer might have a more dazzling effect on a younger, middle grade audience. Barring a couple moments of harsh language and a short, undetailed paragraph hinting toward characters getting intimate- I could easily imagine tweens enjoying a tweaked middle grade version of this one.

Disclosure : Many thanks to Netgalley and Dundurn Press for providing me an e-ARC of this title for the purpose of review.

I really wanted to like this book, and to me it fell a little bit flat. The writing was good I just couldn't connect to the characters as much as I wanted to!

I loved all the fashion elements within this story, and the settings of New York and Shanghai were captured perfectly, I felt as though I was there with Clementine!

The only thing that bothers me is that I didn't know that it was a sequel before reading it?? So I felt a little lost on a lot of the backstory, details that would have made the plot (and characters) a lot more understandable and easier to connect to.

It was cute and light though, and I did enjoy reading it nonetheless!

Thank you so much to both the publisher and Netgalley for providing an e-arc in exchange for a review.

I went into this book not realizing that it was the 2nd book in a series and i was like....should i even read this? To my surprise it didn't tarnish my enjoyment as it didn't feel like i was missing out on too much context, except for the constant reminder on how she was always getting bullied. Liked many aspects of this book especially the ones about sustainable fashion and blogging. Was going to rate this lower but the plot twist in the end surprised me so much that i couldn't afford to not rate it a tad higher.

Ugh. Let me start by saying that I received this as an ARC through net galley.

1) I didn’t realize this was a sequel. It does not read well as a stand alone because they don’t do a great job of explaining the bullying that happened in the previous book that makes our heroine so touchy.

2) all of the characters are pretty much cardboard cutouts. Literally every character is more interesting than our heroine except for her boyfriend, and all of their issues feel so, so incredibly contrived.

3) I really don’t like Clementine. She’s insecure, annoying, entitled, and despite the author’s best attempt at making her interesting, comes across as pretty shallow. I’m not sure how my eyes are still in my head after this gem “Sometimes in a girl’s life, macarons fresh off the plane from Paris are the only thing that can save the day.” Yes, Clem, because we’ve all been lucky enough to experience that.

4) Spoiler alert: when our heroine has her big reveal, she writes this super amazing blog post and, due to the formatting of the ARC, I was unable to read it. I’m curious to know what it said. (But not curious enough to find the book after it has come out.)

Sometimes you want a little bit of brain candy - something light and fluffy that you don't have to think too deeply about, but is still fun and has you rooting for the characters and their happy endings.

If that's what you're seeking, look elsewhere.

I hadn't realized that this was a sequel when I downloaded it, and based on reading this book, I won't be seeking out the first. This was like the clothing and destination descriptions of Crazy Rich Asians without the satisfying snark and the author's self awareness of how insufferable the characters are. Clementine is the book's main character, yes, but the way that she places her life concerns over those of everyone else, the way the other characters allow and even encourage her to do so, was so unappealing. (By the time she talked about how sad she was that her friend Jake was too caught up in his own - extremely significant - troubles to support her if she were to call him, rather than considering giving him a call to offer her support, my eyes were basically rolled permanently back in my head.) Significant issues like addiction, cheating, and even the message of conscious consumerism which is meant to be Clementine's passion, are not given significant depth, and the relationships seemed shallow and given attempted emotional weight through telling rather than showing.

While not actively harmful, and made up of readable sentences (which bumped it past one star) I would certainly give this one a miss.

I voluntarily read and reviewed and advanced copy of this book, received through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

When I requested an ARC of this book I wasn't aware that this was a sequel. Luckily, it was quite easy to understand the main storylines and what had happened in the previous book, Bonjour Girl. However, I felt like the characters weren't developing along, maybe because I missed all that growth in the previous novel.

The plot of this book revolves about Isabelle, a young French-Chinese design student at Parsons who writes a blog about fashion and is interested in protecting the environment, going to Shanghai for a summer program and all the challenges she has to rise up to during her stay in China. As a premise, it was very interesting, however, there were a few details that didn't allow me to enjoy the book as much. For example, how all of her focus on her career is continuously interrupted by the dramas of the male characters. Her best friend gets into trouble, which she feels she only can fix. Her boyfriend starts being secretive and a new love interest appears all of a sudden in Shanghai. Some of these things felt like they didn't make sense at all, like Clementine just giving in so easily to her attraction towards Henry even if she claims to be madly in love with Jonathan.

Despite this, Bonjour Girl is a fast read and enjoyable if you like YA books. It follows the simple equation of teen romance, travelling and a dose of drama to keep things interesting. I also found fascinating how it promotes sustainable fashion and being more responsible and environmentally conscious as customers. Overall, an amusing book to pass the time.

I tried very hard to get into the book, the story, the characters but found that no matter how hard I tried it was impossible. The characters all seemed to be stereotypes of one another and superficial to the point of unlikability.

The cover is really cute however.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this copy of my Arc. All opinions are my own.

*Disclaimer, I recieved this book as a arc from netgally"

When I requested this book I was not aware that it was a sequel. I am trying so hard to finish it but it is just not grabbing me