.4.5 stars

This book should be getting so much more buzz than it is currently, and if it isn't on your to-read list yet, I highly recommend adding it ASAP.

Xia, the m.c., is living with her mom in Massachusetts and dreaming of getting into the Foundry, which is an elite boarding school for young folks with big ideas in tech. Readers and Xia learn RIGHT at the start of the novel that this dream is coming true, and it is exciting to see Xia leave the isolated, lonely life she knows for a totally different experience in Northern California. Like all slightly more experienced readers know, Xia's change in environment won't result in an automatic change in HER...

There is so much fantastic material to love here. First, Xia is just the right balance of naive and smart. She makes mistakes appropriate for her age and experience, but unlike so many characters - teens and adults alike - she's no fool. It's empowering to watch her learn from those mistakes and do better next time. This theme is expressed expertly not only through Xia's thoughts and actions but through her main project, Wiser, which is designed to be a more experienced advice giving version of the user. I LOVE the way both Xia's work product and her own life evolve to highlight her personal growth.

Much of Xia's growth happens as she navigates being a teen and a student, but two standout areas include what it means to grow up as a young woman and how to manage the romantic trials of one's young life. Xia has some extremely challenging experiences professionally, and there are some heartbreaking moments that are definitely mentioned but not necessarily delved into throughout the narrative: TW sexual assault and sexual harassment. I appreciate the realistic treatment of these areas, though I do think a bit more attention could have been paid to their aftermath. Additionally, there is some important commentary about who is to be trusted and that a person's outside should not be the deciding factor on this.

The romance is so well devised because it is an important part of the novel but not the CENTRAL part; that's Xia as a human not as a romantic partner. From the start, readers know that Xia is in an online-only relationship with a person she has never met and whose identity she does not know. The evolution of this relationship - and the mystery surrounding this person's identity - also highlight Xia's growth and add complexity to the narrative overall.

I came into this novel expecting a light YA summer romance, but there is much more substance here. Woon is now on my must-request/must-read list and should be on yours, too. Recommended!

Thank you so much to HarperCollins Children's Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved this YA contemporary! This book did a great job of describing the enticing yet cutthroat nature of Silicon Valley and following Xia on her journey of self determination and standing up for herself in a precarious environment. Please keep in mind that although this is a YA novel, the book does feature content that may be triggering for readers, including assault, racism, and substance abuse. I’d give this book 4 stars total!

If You, Then Me follows Xia Chan, a 16-year-old programmer desperate to escape her slow Massachusetts town to glittering Silicon Valley with Wiser, her self-designed artificial intelligence app and her mysterious online crush she knows only as ObjectPermanence. One day Xia finds the opportunity to travel to California, through the Foundry, an app incubator for tech prodigies in Silicon Valley. Once in Silicon Valley, Xia finds herself thrust into a world of cutthroat competition, dangerous influences, and new love.

I loved the influence of Silicon Valley and computer science mixed in this story (the opening chapter was so cool!). Although I am not as knowledgeable in programming languages, I still found the lingo and references easy to comprehend. Yvonne Woon does an excellent job of highlighting important social issues within Silicon Valley culture, such as women in STEM having to fight their way to be seen among their male counterparts, classism, harassment in the workplace, and the exploitation of minors. I loved rooting for Xia in this story, even when she made the wrong decisions, and was so glad to see her find her way in the end of the novel.

The romance aspect of this novel is not a super prominent storyline compared to Xia’s own personal journey and therefore I didn’t find myself too invested in the love triangle. However, it was interesting to try to guess ObjectPermanence’s identity throughout the novel (although the answer became a little obvious towards the end). I love books that feature two characters meeting anonymously online without realizing each other’s identity, and this book lived up to the trope!

Overall, if you’re a computer science & YA contemporary lover, I’d definitely recommend this book!

Yvonne Woon, author of the Dead Beautiful trilogy, again takes us to a boarding school for exceptional young people, but the only supernatural forces at work this time around are wealth and greed. Set in present-day Silicon Valley, If You Then Me follows the story of Xia Chan as she navigates the hyper-competitive world of internet startup culture, while also coming to terms with her own identity as a creator and as an adult.

Identity is a key theme of the book, with Woon skillfully, and sometimes brutally, portraying the layered hostilities of racism, sexism and classism that exponentially complicate the professional and personal lives of Asian-American women working in the tech industry. It is telling that this is not a book about racism or sexism. It is a novel about values, priorities, hard work, and integrity. But when the protagonist is the daughter of a single mother who emigrated from China, the story must also address how racist aggressions (both micro and overt), sexism, sexual assault, and the tidal forces of privilege and wealth all exhaust someone like Xia, long before she even has the chance to start putting in the necessary work to succeed.

The nature of “success” is also a key theme of If You, Then Me. Woon vividly portrays the emptiness and superficiality of a world in which poorly-socialized geniuses receive too much wealth and power too quickly. The novel asks important questions about what is real, what has value, and what sacrifices are too great.

Those questions are not subtle. Xia and her friends are a group of hyper-intelligent outsiders who are both keenly introspective and wryly articulate, a hallmark of Yoon’s young-adult writing. Despite some obviously dangerous blindspots, Xia and her peers are often thoughtful observers of their circumstances and their responsibility for them, an indication of Yoon’s respect for her audience and of the reality that older teenagers are often much more cognizant of the exigencies of their lives than adults give them credit for.

Bright teenagers butting heads against unnecessary obstacles will find much to relate to in If You, Then Me. Likewise adults who want to step fully into a vital and authentic depiction of the world of one such teenager will find much to enjoy, and even learn from, here. There are important ideas here for adults as well, as most of the non-teens in the novel have a parasitic relationship of one kind or another with Xia. The novel asks: When faced with the brilliance and creative vitality of youth, how many of us see at as a resource to exploit rather than as a wonder to nurture and support?

The book moves smoothly and briskly through these themes, driven primarily by sharp dialogue interspersed with sparse exposition. My one real complaint is that I wanted there to be more – more of the daily life at the Foundry, more backstory on the lives and works of the supporting characters, more time to fully digest the relatively predictable but nonetheless satisfying conclusion.

My only other quibble is that the nerdspeak sometimes feels forced or contrived. Those of us who grew up on Usenet or Reddit recognize when an outsider is speaking our native tongue, even when they do so fluently. Woon clearly researched Silicon Valley thoroughly, but this is still a book written about tech nerds, not by a tech nerd.

It is also a book that is well worth your time. Xia Chan is a complex, honest, compelling character whose journey kept me completely fixated for a cover-to-cover read in a single session. Yvonne Woon may not be a tech nerd, but she clearly knows what it’s like to be a smart, young, Asian woman fighting to define herself and her creative voice in a milieu dominated by powerful, white men. We need to hear more stories like Xia’s, and Woon has the skill and artistry to make those stories come alive.

This book has a lot, teenagers dreaming of success, academic challenges, feeling like you don't fit in, struggling to balance school and the pressures of outside life, peer pressure, social media pressure, and really just growing up. I enjoyed this book, it was relatable in the sense that it was painful to watch Xia make mistakes but also refreshing to see her character grow as hurdles were thrown her way. The drama at times felt like to took over the plot of this book, but I appreciate that this book wasn't just a teenage love story. This definitely reminded me of When Dimple met Rishi in some ways, but these two books had different purposes. When dimple met Rishi is a love story with a side story about smart teenagers figuring out what they want in life, and if you then me is a story about growing up through all the inevitable mistakes and successes with a side love story thrown in.

This provided great insight into how it is or can be like for a woman in the male dominated tech industry. As a reader, you find yourself sympathetic to the protagonist Xia right away, and the common themes of loneliness and parental discord are sure to resound in many teens. It's a bit painful reading of her struggles in school, and the downwards spiral she eventually gets into, but her search for her online love while coming to terms with her feelings for another boy provides some distraction. A solid story.

Xia is a programmer genius that get's into this super exclusive (all-expenses paid) program in California. She gets to spend one year learning more about programming and business in an attempt to build up her revolutionary idea--an AI that provides you advice from the POV of your future self--to a real company. She has an online connection with a ~mysterious but insightful mans and also a flirtationship with a cute boy in her program. Xia learns to navigate the glitzy and cutthroat world of Silicon Valley while trying to find who she is as a person.

This is such a beautiful book told from such a unique viewpoint I rarely see in books. As an Asian student studying business and CS, this book was sooo relatable I was so shook. I was crying two chapters in with Xia's discussion with her mother about her future and duty. Idk why but Asian immigrant stories and family duty vs. passion stories always get me 😫😫😫. All the characters are written in a really refreshing way, and I just LOVED the programming puns and references, I was laughing so much.

I would describe this book as a crossover between Loveboat, Taipei and lowkey You've Got Mail. I think Yvonne is able to weave in all the classic romance / YA tropes in really well. Even though you know exactly what's going to happen, it's enjoyable to read through the journey. While it's superrrr obvious who her online ~friend is, I still enjoyed reading Xia work through it.

The only thing I was kinda miffed about is I wanted a more girls help girls book, because I think it's sooo important to show the supportive environment of women supporting other women. Without getting into too much detail, a few scenes in you can already tell how backstabbing and toxic some of these relationships can get, and while there still is mentorship / support to some degree, I just wished it could be more prominent. Additionally, self-destruction storylines aren't really my thing so I was hardcore cringing in the later parts of the book, but I think there's a decent enough redemption arc to overcome it.

But for a fun and inspiring read about a young girl working to break barriers in such a male-dominated industry with a cute dose of romance on the side, If You, Then Me is a great read!!

Xia feels like she is stuck in her small town in Massachusetts with a busy working single mom, no one who understands her tech savvy ways, and her two biggest friends are a boy online in a coding chatroom and her artificial intelligence app Wiser that she created to have someone to talk to. This all changes when Xia gets the opportunity to attend The Foundry, a one year program for gifted programmers, designed to help them develop and launch the students' apps.
Suddenly, Xia is thrust into the life of silicon valley surrounded by like-minded teenagers. But sometimes things don't exactly turn out like we expected or go according to plan. Will Xia finally figure out where she belongs?
There is no need for a tech background to enjoy this story that in essence is about a teenage girl navigating that difficult place between child and adult. Xia's experiences are relatable for teenagers of all walks of life, as she deals with loneliness, insecurities, and figuring out how to fit in. Everyone will see a little bit of themselves in Xia's experiences. Filled with thought-provoking moments, cringe-worthy scenes, and a loveable character, this book will leave you feeling "all the feels".

16 year old Xia Chang is something of a computer prodigy. She has created an AI program called "Wiser" that replies to your questions with the advice you might give yourself when you're older. She lives in Massachusetts with her Mom, a political science professor, who is hardly home, as she works at 4 different colleges.

Except for her neighbor, Gina, Xia is pretty lonely and created Wiser to keep her company. Knowing Wiser is a unique creation, Xia has applied to a school for tech prodigies called "The Foundry". The unthinkable happens and Xia gets a call from the Foundry's director inviting her to join them in California's Silicon Valley at the institute, where all her expenses will be paid as she works on further developing Wiser.
While she waits to break the news to her mother who is going to be a tough sell, she has someone else to share her good news with. ObjectPermanence, her online soulmate, someone whom she's shared her secrets and hopes with, well, while using her own online persona U/ARRAYofLIGHT.

Once her mother finally agrees and Xia is off to the Foundry, we'll share her adventures as she joins the other 19 teens from around the country as they work to build their creations in hopes of startup money and becoming coding rockstars.

I loved this book! You felt you were part of the new world Xia has entered, and were cheering her on from the sidelines. Xia experiences so much in her new school, and is stronger than she thinks, as she faces the sexism of the largely male tech world and works at trying to fit in and make friends with classmates who are also competitors. There's also the verbal bullying from a couple of entitled white boys who delight in humiliating her right from the start. And there may be a boy, who seems to be someone who "gets" her. Could there be more to him than he seems? Does he like her... or is he just trying to find out the secrets behind her AI?
Then, something happens that takes her in an unexpected direction, at a party, Xia has a casual meeting with a young woman, famous for the apps she created, and whom Xia had idolized. What happens next and throughout the rest of Xia's whirlwind trajectory from nonentity to notoriety in this unputdownable story is something you've got to find out yourself!

I haven't read Ms. Woon's previous books, but she has created one of my favorite characters ever in Xia, a young woman so smart and resilient and quick and funny that you'll find yourself wondering about her and her future long after you've turned that last page. This is highly recommended, and one I'll be Militantly Recommending! Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the DRC!

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley!

I am giving this book 3.5 stars. Going into it, I was thrilled to see that the protagonist is a girl in tech (like me!) Xia is a determined teenager with an idea that spawns from her feelings of loneliness. She lives with her mom, who is a college professor, so she's not at home a lot. Xia finds happiness in learning how to code, and develops an app that takes personal data and public information and answers your questions and gives advice as if it were an older, wiser version of you. Eventually she finds herself invited to The Foundry, which is like a startup incubator program. Throughout the book are plotlines about Xia's conversations with an online friend (who she believes is also at The Foundry), her relationships with fellow students, and meeting her idol, an alum of The Foundry who takes Xia under her wing.

This book was a fast read. Some of the plotlines felt a little contrived, and I feel like the ending was SO rushed. I think the concept of The Foundry was weakly executed — each time technical programming concepts were brought up, it felt forced and awkward (very buzzwordy, if you will), and also there wasn't a lot of time spent fully fleshing out the other characters, to the point where they felt like caricatures of "students you'd find at a tech startup incubator". I did appreciate, however, that this book touched on the experiences of women in technology and business, with honest conversations about how women in these industries and positions are looked at.

A book with an interesting premise: a smart girl gets into an exclusive school for possible startups. She already has an online relationship with a mysterious boy, but then she thinks he might also be at her new school. The coincidences are a bit far-fetched for me, and the subplot with her getting in business with a former startup success became grating after a while. I just couldn't imagine this girl--or anyone--being so gullible. This book is likable in moments though: the girl's relationship with a real boy at the school is sweet. He likes her for who she is, and she can be difficult. Her friend that she makes at school is also true to her. I would read another book by this author because I think she writes some good dialogue, and has original ideas.

At its core, this book is about Xia, a girl who doesn't feel like she belongs, is very lonely, and is looking for her tribe. She also happens to be a brilliant coder and has created an amazing artificial intelligence (AI) app call Wiser. Wiser is a program that uses a person's personal data so that when asked a question, it responds with what your own older, wiser self might say. Kind of like Siri on a whole new personal level. Xia's dream has been to get into a program called The Foundry, an app incubator located in Silicon Valley, and Wiser is her key in.

Xia is lonely. She created Wiser to have someone to talk to. She has her best friend, Gina, and an online friend whom she only knows as ObjectPermanence and who she has a giant crush on. So flying to California to live among 19 other tech prodigies is both exciting and frightening. Xia is somewhat naïve, especially in comparison to some of her classmates that have grown up in the shadows of Silicon Valley. But the Foundry is a place where she also meets people who get her and where she feels like she fits in more.

But success at The Foundry isn't as straightforward as do good work and you will succeed. It is a competition through and through. The point of the program is to teach these kids how to get their startups off the ground and funded so, in addition to grades, they all have a personal stock value, have meetings with real investors to practice their pitches, and always trying to one up someone else. Xia struggles until she meets Mitzy Erst, a tech genius in her own right and someone Xia has admired since she was 10. Mitzy takes Xia under her wing and after being tagged with Mitzy on the equivalent of Instagram, her stock is suddenly soaring. Pretty soon she stops going to class and treating her friends differently. She also comes face to face with the snarky comments that people leave on social media when they are "anonymous." The question for Xia is whether she is becoming her best self or heading straight toward self-destruct?

At the same time, Xia is trying to figure out the dating scene. She has had a long-time crush on ObjectPermanence and thinks that he is also a student at the Foundry. But she has also starting building a connection with Mast, one of her classmates. The whirlwind that is Mitzy impacts Xia's behavior in a number of ways, especially hurting the relationships she has started building at the Foundry.

I found this book to be highly thought provoking, at times cringe-worthy, and pretty on target for the smart kid who doesn't necessarily have the best street smarts. Xia wants to be seen and as the book progresses, she realizes that seeing her and seeing the image or persona she has created are two very different things. She has to make decisions about monetizing an app that was created to be an honest future representation of you as an individual. She learns that people are not always what they appear to be on the outside and that a great many people in the world will try to use you. If You, Then Me is a very unique coming of age story that is appropriate for our social media crazed society where many look at money as the ultimate success. This is a story that will likely resonate with a number of readers as it delves into the world of personal image and social media much more than other books have. Great for the 13+ crowd.

Wow! I LOVED this book! Even though our main character, Xia, is a million times smarter than I’ll ever be she was also a very relatable one. We’ve all experienced many of the same insecurities that she has and made for a lovable protagonist.

Throughout the entire book, I rooted her on. When she laughed I laughed, when she felt embarrassed I cringed for her, and when she swooned I swooned. In those moments where she made bad or questionable decisions, I constantly wanted to reach through the book and shake some sense into her but never once did that make me dislike her as a character. I truly wanted to see her succeed which was exactly why this was a book I didn’t want to put down.

I also loved the important discussions that were had in this book about the treatment of women in the workplace and how they have to work that much harder to be recognized and taken seriously.

This truly was a great book and one I would recommend to everyone!

A special thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for providing me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I could not put this book down because there were constant surprises and twists. Xia thinks she leads a boring life so when she’s accepted into a tech innovative program, Founder, with 20 others in Silicon Valley she’s off. While dealing with new relationships in the program, Xia also has an online relationship/crush with ObjectPermanence. Xia’s app is called Wiser, which pretends to take you into the future and give you advice. As times become more difficult, Xia finds she need courage to face the dangers, hardships, and even humiliation she is facing. Then she meets her idol,Mitzy, who makes some amazing offers.. Another surprise is when Xia finds out that OnjectPermanence is at Founder too. To add to all of this,Xia has developed a crush on Mast, another tech prodigy at Founder. While dealing with these challenges, Xia finds she wants “people to see me” and to find her place in the world. She knows that growth comes from mistakes. In the end, Xia has to make some hard choices when it comes to the two men and Mitzy.

I was a little hesitant to start this book. I'm definitely not a tech person, so I was afraid I wouldn't understand some things or be able to get into it. But this book is very enjoyable, no tech or finance experience needed. Xia was a frustrating character to follow through, but not in a bad way. At times I did feel like watching a car crash about to happen. But she kept me engrossed and I was rooting for her all the way through. I think she made many mistakes we all make in that age, but hers had probably bigger stakes than my teenage life ever did, I think the friendship between XIa and er friends were very well developed, which I always enjoy in rom-coms. Sometimes I think friendships are used in this genre to move the plot or romance along, but I didn't get that feeling here.

The ending did feel a little rushed. I think it could have been a tad longer. The relationship between Xia and Mast could have been further developed a bit especially after Xia started to change. It would have made me more invested in their relationship. But I honestly forgot about Mast for a good chunk of the book, he pretty much disappeared for most of the middle. The plot line was also a bit predictable, with lots of clues as to what was going to happen. But that didn't stop me from being invested in reading.

If You, Then Me was such an original novel. You don’t need to have any particular interest in coding or start-ups to fall in love with this book. It’s about people and relationships and what happens when sixteen-year-olds are thrust into a high powered, high stakes adult world without much guidance or a real safety net.

It was funny, heartbreaking, and entertaining from beginning to end. Xia is a very relatable protagonist feeling at times lost, lonely, completely in control, and absolutely taken advantage of. The setting of the book, Silicon Valley in the cutthroat world of tech start-ups, was detailed and immersive. The parties, the people, and the meetings where everything is on the line felt real and easily overwhelming. Similarly, the complexity of all of Xia’s relationships kept them feeling realistic and interesting. If You, Then Me was full of insight and surprises and absolutely worth the read.