This is a YA book. The characters are teens. They think, speak, and act like teens. Add into all the teen angst the expectations of the son of immigrants. It can be a lot but David is up for it until girls enter the picture. His mom says no dating until he gets a college acceptance. David is a junior who took the SATs as a sophomore and studies test MCAT questions to calm himself, as a reader I felt rather confident that a good college was in his future! I can't speak to how accurate David's mom and her attitude are, but it felt like a true presentation of a parent who has put all their hopes and dreams onto their child. The characters are predictable but the story is a sweet, and sometimes bittersweet, look at what it is like to be young and trying to straddle the expectations of two different cultures.

I really really really wanted to like this one. Especially as someone who works in college admissions. It just.... fell flat for me. I couldn't get into the storyline/writing style. Might be a book I give another try in a few years since I ended up DNFing part way.

Just got dragging and frankly boring at some point - the whole never-ending stream of consciousness took over and it's like there wasn't a story anymore, or was there even one to begin with? Just felt like a huge expose-slash-rant from a teenage Asian-American hero and it never developed into more from that... Shame, because this had the potential to be super funny and engaging

This was an enjoyable read. As an educator who has worked with a lot of Asian families, some of the stereotypes here were familiar while others were exaggerated (or so I thought). Like many families, David's is over infatuated with the Ivy League and restricts his activities until he achieves their dream. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

At first, I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this book, but as the characters became more and more fleshed out and their worlds' more realistic, I found myself really invested in the story. I found it super relatable as someone who went to a majority Asian, academically rigorous high school where Ivy Leagues were a pretty attainable goal for lots of students.

It's definitely has a more middle grade writing style, but I also felt it was very accurate to the dialogue of a socially awkward teen. I think this is good if you want a more lighthearted read; I read it alongside a heavier read, and so it was a refuge and a breezy read that didn't have much consequence. I like that it is a very Asian American story, that isn't super rooted in the large Asian diaspora, being a foreigner, etc.

The writing style is a bit bland, and I did feel myself losing interest at certain points, but overall not un-enjoyable.

I wanted to love this one but the misogyny in it was too much. I ended up DNFing around the 50% mark so i'll be rating the first half of the book.

I did enjoy how Ed Lin set up "David Tung Can't Have A Girlfriend Until He Gets Into An Ivy League College". It's set in a wealthy town in suburban NJ with high performing schools but David Tung's family is middle class. His parents sacrificed a lot to ensure that he has better opportunities than they had and they let him know that they expect him to maximize these opportunities.

Lin handles the issues of class and race with a deft hand, differentiating between and among the different levels of Chinese American society (wealth, when they arrived in the US, the types of professions, etc) as well as among other Asian Americans.

As an Asian American immigrant, I could understand and found his points well made.

Overall this was an enjoyable read. It focuses on a working class Chinese American teen who feels out of place at his elite private school in suburban New Jersey. It brings into sharp relief issues of class and race as well as offering a more nuanced view of Sino diaspora identity through characters from different ethno-linguistic backgrounds. David's romance with Betty is sweet and cute and wholesome. His relationship with his parents is also super touching. In my opinion, the story was hindered by its heteronormativity and application of the cis male gaze. There was some unnecessary sexism toward a female character that I wish had been absent or at least addressed. There was also a weird thing about "reverse racism" with a white character that I thought was bizarre and misplaced.

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

This is a spoiler but right off the bat I can tell you it really irked me that we don't find out if David gets into college at the end of the story! I know he is still a few years away but I felt like the title and book description promise the reader a conclusion in the form of a prologue or fast forward. Unfortunately, this book was a little bland for me. David also had quite a few sexist comments and his guy friends were crude. I can't say that this book ever built a plot, there was nothing that the details were working toward.

I wanted to love this one but the misogyny in it was too much. I ended up DNFing around the 50% mark so i'll be rating the first half of the book.

This book was my first NetGalley experience, and I'm so sad I couldn't finish it. I really tried, going past 50% of the story, but I just couldn't connect with David. There wasn't really a compelling line to the story, and, even though I really enjoyed how the author portrayed his family relationships and how they impacted his life and overall choices, I didn't see David as a good narrator or a good character. As many other reviewers said, his opinions were a little difficult to go with, even for a teenager. I think the idea was to give off immature vibes but they were too immature for someone his age.

This was just something I really couldn't get into. I had different expectations going in, but was let down. The insight on Chinese culture at home, in academia was interesting and relatable to a large extent as a fellow Asian person. But some statements like David not being able to comprehend a girl being smarter than him/doing better than him academically just wasn't it and I can't justify anything higher than 2.5-3 star rating. I'm sure someone will enjoy this but it just wasn't for me.

DNF 76%
At first i thought the book was going to be light. fluffy and fun but around 3-5% in , as other reviewers has mentioned David talks about how he can`t believe a girl is ahead of him in rank at school and that she`s attractive and smart, and he can`t believe she is smarter than him. THAT dragged the book down and i tried to hold out for a while - but i was just bored. it was just blabbing after blabbing and i didn`t feel it was any progress with the story at all.

What a painfully relatable novel. In the vein of Oseman’s Radio Silence and Silverman’s You Asked For Perfect, Lin perfectly captures the reality of academic perfectionism, especially when this is reinforced by parental and societal expectations. Wonderful.

3.5 stars !!

I genuinely struggled in deciding whether or not to give this book 3 stars or 4 stars, hence the 3.5 stars (unfortunately rounding down to a three).

All in all, I enjoyed this book. It was a fun, relaxing read and a book that I'm sure will be enjoyed by many others.

David Tung Can't Have a Girlfriend Until He Gets Into an Ivy League College is a novel following David, a teenager in high school in the US. It focuses on various areas of his life – academic, home and at Chinese school – and offered an interesting glance into Chinese life and culture, especially that of immigrants in the United States.

I liked the characters in this book, though I felt that perhaps one of the book's more major shortcomings was that there was not much character development aside from that of David and perhaps Betty, at a stretch. Whilst David was an interesting character, I feel that it would have heightened my experience as a reader to learn more about the book's other characters.

Plot-wise, this book was alright. It didn't exactly shock me anywhere, and at times the events of the story felt a little bit predictable. On occasion the writing style also felt a bit bland, and the book slow-paced.

Despite all this, it genuinely wasn't a bad read. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to everyone or reread it, but that's not to say I didn't enjoy it or feel that nobody else could enjoy it.

I liked this book for the most part but it was hard for me to relate. I am a white young woman who never had a desire or pressure to go to an ivy league school. I just think this one was for a different target audience than myself. But the writing kept me engaged and overall is a good book!

Unfortunately I found it hard to get into this book and ultimately did not finish it. It might be one for other readers

I really like this one! David is an interesting character and the story is a lot of fun! I this was a great coming of age story.

Really enjoyed this book.David Tung a Chinese American boy going to high stress high school in New Jersey.His life centers around getting into an Ivyschool,I can completely relate also went to a school that stressed testing study littlefun,Really enjoyed David and his Saturday School Chinese friends will be recommending,#netgalley#kayapress

As a fourth grade teacher with a class of primarily Asian students, this book was so relatable and accurately reflected their experiences with school and education. Although my students are several years younger than David, they constantly voice the pressure to succeed academically to actively prepare for their future. School is a top focus and priority and many of them attend Saturday Chinese school that is depicted in the book. I found the central conflict with David not being able to attend the dance with a girl to be comical yet very sad and revealing of the strict expectations placed on him by his parents. While it would not be appropriate for them to read now, I would definitely recommend it to my students once they reach high school!