I read this book hoping to be able to add it to my collection as an #ownvoices selection so I was surprised to learn when reading the author's bio that she is not Japanese. Otherwise, this was a fun book for someone who watches too much HGTV but I'm not sure if those aspects will resonate with YA readers.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Faking Reality stars Dakota "Koty" whose parents are stars of an HGTV type of home improvement show. Koty has grown up on the show, but she is really looking forward to the current season being the last season. Koty wants to live a normal life without cameras around all the time. Koty is also "faking" that she doesn't see her best friend Leo as more than a friend, but that is getting harder to do know that Leo starts dating. Fujimura creates believable characters, but the story felt like something was missing throughout. Maybe a dual point of view would have made the story feel better. Overall, I liked the story, and I think teens will like the story, too. #fakingreality #netgalley

I was looking forward to this book as I had previously read another book by this author and really liked it. The blurb sounded great as I don’t think I have ever read a book where the main character’s family has a reality tv show, especially one on HGTV. I mean, who doesn’t love that channel?

There is a lot of good things about this book. One of those being diversity. I also liked the reality tv show idea and how it isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Dakota’s life doesn’t go smoothly because of it. It was also cool to see Dakota like doing building things. I know that is a terrible way of describing it but I can’t think of words at the moment, haha.

I wouldn’t say I ever fully connected with the characters but I can understand their situations and why they chose to make some decisions, not all of them though. Some were just not good.

Even though there were good things, there were also a couple things that left me not loving this book. The pacing was off for me and in certain areas it felt like the story dragged on. Some parts could have been left out and I think it would have made it stronger. The other issue was the romance. I couldn’t feel the chemistry behind any of the relationships going on. When it came to Leo and Dakota, part of this could be the fact that it is hard for me to enjoy friends-to-lovers but again, the chemistry just wasn’t there for me.

Overall, this was good but I wish I had loved it more. It will definitely make you hungry though, haha.

Cute story but it was slow in places and was hard to get through. I think the pacing should be looked at and some of the situations.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Dakota McDonald's parents are HGTV famous and after she was embarrassed during Homecoming she swore she wouldn't be a plot point for them anymore. When her best friend (and secret crush)'s family restaurant is in trouble what is a girl to do? Leo Matsuda wants to get out of a lifetime expectation to take over the family restaurant. As the family restaurant starts to do better he might decide he wants to stay.

I enjoyed the banter between the friends and the plot was solid. I am honestly ambivalent about the story. It was interesting but didn't hold my attention as well, so it took me a while to get through.

Sara Fujimura's Faking Reality is another charming multicultural romance by the award-winning author of Every Reason We Shouldn’t, a National Public Radio Best YA Book of the Year.

First let me just say all the things I love about this book
Asian representation, biracial representation, the mother making sure to represent and teach others about her family in their show and Fixer Upper vibes.

Ok to now form a proper review.

It's a book I wish I had as a teenager. Dakota is a girl that just wants to have a "normal" teenage life and not be surrounded by her families HGTV show (the Fixer Upper vibes). The only thing that really keeps her grounded is her best friend and maybe not so secret crush Leo. They have a fun friendship and obviously when you throw in some new romantic relationships things change. I liked how Sara had them both date other people and not make it so that Dakota got insanely jealous. I feel like that trope is too much sometimes. The lead tends to do dumb things when that happens. However, I think Dakota handled Leo dating someone very well. Maybe because that's how I would respond as well hahaha. It's a great way of showing that best friends can grow as separate people but still stay friends.

As the story goes on you see Asian representation all throughout the book and learn a bit of history of discrimination towards Asians. Dakota is biracial and she mentions a bit about how she feels about it. As someone who is also biracial I could relate to this. Dakota is also a girl that knows how to make and build things (I mean hello her parents have a HGTV show) and I feel like many teens or young adults might relate to that. I know that I was never into super girly things and liked to do hands on work like Dakota. Again I wish I had this book when I was younger!

Overall, I loved this story and would recommend it.

If you're in the mood for unique and cozy YA romance to lift your mood, Faking Reality by Sara Fujimara will be right up your alley. This book had a unique setup starring our main protagonist as America's DIY Princess, a teen who has a prominent social life. and is someone young content creators, or anyone with a social media presence can relate with. She's a pretty likeable character, with many little things that the author adds to her personality so that the readers can connect with her, and sure enough those things do their job. It's a fun ride as you reel through the the drama, fall in love with the quirky family and grow along with Dakota. It's a pretty light, feel-good romance, but there's also a well done representation of diverse cultures, which was refreshing to see.
The ending wasn't exactly done the way I wanted it go, but that's fine, I think, because it still delivered on its promise of a light-hearted, fun time.
And of course, I absolutely ship Dakota and Leo! They're adorable!

What a timely book. For every child star, and media star wanna be here is reality. I thought the author did a great job showing the balance of the benefits and downsides of being in the media. There will always be haters. It is a new world where you have no privacy. I appreciated the coping skills and therapy that were part of the story. We need to hear that. It isn’t all about the money.
That said, what a great book. I loved it. The characters were great - parents and teens alike. There is a lot to enjoy about this book. I would love to hear the friends stories now. They were interesting and I want more.

Dakota MacDonald has lived all her life in front of the cameras of her parents’ HGTV show. Her life can be measured in episodes. While Dakota is also a talented artist and budding digital star, she longs for privacy and normalcy. Her longtime best friend, Leo Matsuda, also longs for teenage normalcy and to not be so tied to his family’s Japanese restaurant. Amidst the growing pains these two face as they search for ways to be themselves, this story also presents unrequited love and love triangles (squares?) While I enjoyed learning about the Japanese culture and the history of Daktoa and Leo’s families in Arizona, there were a few times that the Japanese phrases were not translated for us and it made the story drag a little not knowing what was being said.
One thing that will keep me from recommending this book was the part of the story where Leo had apparently been about to take a big step with his girlfriend on Thursday and by that weekend, he had moved on to someone else. It seemed so cavalier and made me like his character much less.

I really wanted to love this book as HGTV and books combined are my favorite. Unfortunately the plot was slow for me and the characters especially Dakota did not seem relatable. They felt a bit flat.

I feel as though if the plot moved along at a quicker pace this may be a four star book. Unfortunately I felt that the beginning dragged and I had a hard time getting into the story.

Thank you netgalley and publisher for this advanced read. I give this book 3 out of 5 stars

Faking Reality was a fun light read. Dakota was a bearable character but I found hard to connect with her at some points. She wasn't very supportive of Alex during his family drama and only really cared about herself.

That was the one scene I really despised her but other than that she was alright. The backstory did help make her a more well rounded character but I still couldn't root for her. Leo was also alright. Nothing great but there wasn't anything bad about home either. I really liked Alex however and I really hoped something would happen between him and Dakota.

Nevaeh though was an incredible character. They were witty and funny and everything about them was interesting.

The writing was alright. The plot was quite slow. Quite a few pages could have been easily taken away. That would have made it a bit more paced and exciting.

This was a good read overall!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the E-arc!

Faking Reality follows Dakota McDonald as she navigates love, friendship, and her crazy life as an HGTV star. I really enjoyed it. I found Dakota to be a pretty relatable character, despite my lack of a connection with her throughout the first few chapters. I really struggled with this book in the beginning. It felt slow to me, and I think there was a bit of a culture shock as we dove in to learning about Japanese culture and everything like that. However, that became one of my favorite aspects about this book. After the first couple chapters, the plot picked up quickly and this became a book I didn't want to put down. I liked how the plot went in a direction I wasn't expecting, especially with the love story. There was quite a bit of resolution in the last couple of chapters. Overall, if you love HGTV or reality shows, you would enjoy getting to see inside this one. Definitely pick it up!

A quick and quirky read but unfortunately I just didn’t feel like I was rooting for any of the characters, which put me off a bit. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an egalley.

When I read the summary I was hooked, but when the book it didn't meet my exaptation's. The whole book I think was built on a shaky ground but never fixed itself before moving on, There are some things in the book I loved like the Japanese culture, and the best friends to lovers troop. But I think how it was handle could have been better, there were some points in the story where I didn't know who I wanted to end up together, and when your book is marketed as a love story that is an issue. (at least to me)

I cannot quite put my finger on why I did not enjoy this book. Initially, when I read the summary, I was STOKED to read this book. It sounded like the perfect read for me. However, I struggled to get through this story.

I did like all of the Japanese culture in this story. That was probably my favourite part of the entire book.

I struggled with the reality TV set up of this story, which I did not think I would have an issue with. I also found it difficult to root for Dakota and Leo.

I did think the cover was cute.

I received an eARC from Macmillan-Tor/Forge through NetGalley. All opinions are 100% my own.

Recommended for... fans of Fixer Upper, Japanese culture, and whiplash-inducing romance

I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel like there was just something about this book that made it hard for me to enjoy. It was missing something or something was off (or maybe I'm the problem,) but it just wasn't as enjoyable as I thought it'd be. Even though this had all the ingredients for a light, cute high school romance, it just didn't work for me.

I think part of it was the fact that the synopsis didn't really match the actual story. Most of the story was spent on Dakota's unrequited crush which is fine, but the blurb had set me up to expect a story about "secret crushes" and mutual pining. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with the story, but the false advertising threw me off. Like, the book's summary made it seem like Dakota was going to let her love life be HGTV fodder to save the Matsuda's restaurant, when she in actuality she was just "faking reality" to get a nice car.

I also wasn't a huge fan of the romance in this. A lot of it was just Fujimura telling us that different characters were kissing (they ranged from "G-rated" to "octopus arms,") and the relationships weren't developed enough to make it feel believable. It was a weird mix of unrequited love, jealousy, and fake dating, and it never came together to create a cohesive story. It also didn't help that I got second-hand embarrassment when I would read descriptions like "the person whose lips send arcs of electricity through her body." 

I did like some of the non-romance aspects of the book, including:

🙋🏻‍♀️ Asian American rep - Even if I don't love the books, I'm always a fan of Asian Americans in YA. I read this on Lunar New Year, and there was just something special about simultaneously seeing characters eat kagami mochi on New Year's (which I know isn't the same day) and eating a bowl of tang yuan.
🍙 Food - the Matsuda's own a restaurant, so Japanese food played a part in the story. My love language, like Fujimara's, is also food, so I loved the fact that Japanese dishes were showcased even if the descriptions had me craving miso Katsu.
🚫 One POV - The one good thing about the misleading summary was that Leo was not one of the narrators. Everything we learned was from Dakota's perspective, and as someone who's getting a little tired of the unnecessary use of alternating POVs in YA, I was very happy we got to stick to one protagonist.
🔨 Home Improvement - I have never had a desire to watch HGTV, but I actually found the parts related to "If These Walls Could Talk" pretty interesting. I don't know if I would actually watch DIY with Dakota (even though I probably should) if it were a real thing, but it was surprisingly entertaining to read about.

Unfortunately, the book as a whole didn't work for me. I never connected with any of the characters and wasn't invested in the story which was especially disappointing because I think this could've been a much stronger story with a little more focus. If this had been a little less scatter and had a little more direction, this might've been a very different review. As it is, I'm just left with a craving for yakisoba and a strong urge to go to Japan for tanabata.

There's a lot to love about this novel.

The author, Sara Fujimura, used some of her experiences to shape this story about two teenagers trying to embrace their cultural roots (the female lead is part Japanese and the male lead is a Japanese American helping his family run their restaurant.) The HGTV show element was fun.

What wasn't so much fun was how the plot strings got tied up in the end, especially the romantic plot lines. To me personally, there were too many moments that felt like characters were emotionally cheating or physically cheating on their significant others.

However, this book still has a lot going for it! (see Japanese Culture and HGTV show elements) Plus, the middle parts of the book where it deviates from what I was expecting because of the blurb were great. I did get some Pretty in Pink vibes from that section, which was a nice surprise.

All in all, this is a cutesy story about finding your own voice, embracing your culture, and finding your place. While the romance in this book wasn't my cup of tea, I did mostly enjoy this novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Tor Teen (Macmillan-Tor/Forge) for this e-ARC! I really enjoyed the opportunity to read this.

Unfortunately, there comes times where you really enjoy a premise and the characters but you find you just don't click with a book. In theory, this is a perfect book for me but in reality, it just wasn't a good fit. I can see how this book would be great for someone else and it does give you a cute story, easy to love characters and "I was born into the spotlight and want nothing more than to be normal" angst, it just wasn't the book for me.

The middle part of the book was the best part, in my opinion. In the beginning, I was rooting for Leo and Dakota, as the story was framed as one of those "best friends to lovers" tropes, and I was ready to support that. But then when Alex was introduced, I was totally ready for Dakota and Alex to last until the end.

I think this book could have benefited more by following that route, even though it deviates from the traditional cliche. It would have definitely made the ending stronger too. I just felt that I built up my support for the Dakota and Alex ship, only to have it be ripped apart and hastily patched with Leo instead. Didn't feel very convincing at the end and I felt prone to skipping pages because I didn't really have too much interest in the ending anymore.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Faking Reality was a nice, cute and quick read. I haven't read a book about teenagers in quite a while so that took a little getting used to. I enjoyed the sneak peek we got behind the scenes as readers of what it takes to film a reality show. Dakota was also a great MC. She wasn't annoying even if her character could have come off like that. She was actually quite like-ably. I also enjoyed the focus on the friend group and how they all came together to help Dakota. It was be great to get a second book or even a novella that focuses on the trip to Japan.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3885658098