Tuna, Tuna, Tuna - I enjoyed this story but there were parts that fell flat for me. I felt there were things that made sense for Tuna then things that were a bit immature. I disagree with folks who were like "she's too superstitious" like come on y'all...it makes sense. You just have to expand your world view. I also didn't buy the romance!! It would have been nicer if there was no romance there - I feel it made the story not as strong as it could be. I'm also gonna put a brief content warning (no spoilers) for death - just be careful for folks who have lost a family member or partner. It's a pretty sweet read but there were things I wanted different! And that's OK.

3.5 stars.
Altuna “Tuna” Rashad has been crushing hard on a classmate of hers for years, and as she has only some weeks left of the summer before she moves to Georgia for college, she plans to date him.

But she can’t just ask him as the signs and ancestors all have to be in accord before she can ask Tristan out on a date. Tuna, and her Caribbean mum and dad respect that there could be ancestors watching over them, though Tuna’s older brother Robby, a successful surgeon and grieving husband, pooh poohs these notions.

Robbie’s husband David died suddenly, and everyone in the family loved him. Problem is, Robby isn’t coping all that well, and to help him, everyone has hidden pictures of David in the family home and don't talk about him so as not to send Robby into a worse state.

So, shenanigans, tension, arguments, horrid indie movies and a dog appearing in their lives all happen while Tuna tries to find the opportune moment to ask Tristan out, while also trying to get her brother to reach out and connect with others, instead of spending all his free time with Tuna and their parents.

I liked Tuna, even when she did a couple of things I didn’t like. She's got a huge heart, confidence, forthrightness, a vivid imagination, and a tendency to create drama where ever she goes. She’s also deeply caring, and does not always use common sense. This gets her into trouble, particularly in her efforts to help her brother. Much as her heart was in the right place, I didn't like her methods.

The book started out well, but I found it dragged in parts. That aside, I liked the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Running Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Altuna (or Tuna) Rashad is about to leave for college, and she decides she wants at least one date with Tristan Dangerfield before she leaves.

Let's start with the main character, Tuna. Her voice was certainly unique, oscillating from hilarious to vaguely annoying at times, but it never got so irritating that I stopped reading. The juxtaposition of her religious beliefs to the maths and science of Tristan was interesting but never really explored enough for me. There were lots of pop culture references, some of which I didn't understand because I didn't know Sleepless in Seattle (though I'll be checking it out after reading this!).

I liked Tuna's family and the way she considered her ancestors. It was actually a really big highlight for me to see a religious character who took signs really seriously not drop her beliefs in the book and "convert" to being less religious. Though I personally am an atheist, I thought that was super cool! The fact that this story was also #ownvoices was a big plus for me, too.

My main issue with the book was Tuna, though. Some of the things she thought, said, and did really annoyed me. For example, at one point her older brother, Robby, is hanging out with her crush, Tristan, and Robby has recently lost his husband, who he had known for 30 years, since he was in pre-school. Tuna's inner monologue gets annoyed that Robby keeps stealing time from her with Tristan (to some extent, that's fair enough) but then she has the audacity to suggest that Robby has only befriended her crush to make sure she, Tuna, stays single??? Because her brother is so grief-stricken about his loss that he wants to sabotage her happiness? Girl what? After Robby has gone through so much?? Literally almost every thing this girl did annoyed me; she goes on a friendship hangout with her crush and before he arrives orders for him?? That would really annoy me if I was him, but Tristan just kind of goes with it but then she finds out she ordered it at a different restaurant across town? First of all she orders for him and somehow, SOMEHOW, gets it across town?? This girl.

Anyway, it also annoyed me how she kept being like "we're such nerds" when they were just being... people? Like they spoke once in an old-timey Victorian way to make a joke and she was like "omg we're such nerds" like girl sorry?

Also, a lot of the jokes were not that funny... and there were a lot of them.

I've been a little harsh. Tuna wasn't great but she had a couple of good moments. Fleeting ones.

Tuna and Tristan's relationship, also, didn't work for me. They just didn't gel together and none of their conversations ever indicated them liking each other, really, and it was just so flat. A lot of the things he said to her were total red flags and there was a lot of telling that they liked each other but no showing.

The ending was very unexpected and I didn't like it. I thought the end should have been about a chapter or 2 before where it really stopped.

You may have different opinions to me, but while I loved the family dynamics I just couldn't deal with Tuna's BS. The casual rep in this, though, was so good.

Tuna Rashad has a very close relationship with her family. Her Caribbean heritage is important to her, and she is constantly on the lookout for signs from her ancestors. Her continuous comments to her ancestors who have passed on were charming, and I really enjoyed the bond she shares with her parents and brother Robby (no matter how much he annoys her). After Robby loses his husband, the whole family is left coping with their grief in their own ways, and there were several touching moments throughout the novel that portray the different ways grief can impact a person.

Before going to college in the fall, Tuna wants to find love with her long-term crush, Tristan. Their nerdy banter was charming and entertaining, but I didn't love Tristan's comments about Tuna's beliefs. It doesn't seem like the kind of relationship that will last long-term, but the one thing Tuna's experience with loss has taught her is to value all of the time you have with the people you care about, and make the most of it.

This is a book is one that I completely understand as someone who is big on working with the ancestors and honoring them. Tuna was super funny and I loved the dialogue that she would have with the other characters in the book. There were some moments where I was in a bit in my feelings due to the grief within the storyline. As a Caribbean American, I completely understood so many of the superstitions and how Tuna moved throughout the book. I also appreciated how she wove in her love for screenwriting (and drama). This was a great read!

I DNF'ed this book at 11 percent. I had started the book a few months before writing this review, and read a little bit, but never picked it back up again. The story and the writing wasn't bad, and I am sure that many other people will enjoy this book. I definitely would recommend picking this book up if it interests you, because I do not think it was bad at all. I was just unable to pick this book up after I had originally started.

Rating: 3/5 stars

It's the summer before Tuna Rashad leaves for college, and she decides that this is her last chance to date her longtime crush. As a budding screenwriter, Tuna pictures this love story following the arcs and beats of a feature film, but the B plot keeps getting in the way.

This book started out with promise--a creative trying to forge a relationship with a science and math guy, a theme of family and chosen family, and deep-seated family and ancestral beliefs--but something just didn't work for me. I liked learning about Tuna's beliefs. I appreciated Robby's grief journey and how that impacted the grieving process for the rest of the family. I liked the dog.

I didn't really feel a connection or sparks between Tuna and Tristan. The relationship felt flat to me, and, although they each say they liked each other in the book, that feeling did not leap off the page.

Partway through, the storyline and arc began to feel like they lost consistency. I'm not sure how believable the ending between Tuna and Tristan feels considering how they treat each other during the rest of the book.

Also, I'm not sure that all the pop culture references are relevant to the intended YA audience. Are teenagers today very familiar with Sleepless in Seattle and Dante's Peak?

I was rooting for Tuna and her family. In the end, it just wasn't the book for me.

Content Warnings: grief, ableism, death of a loved one

Thank you to Running Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own..

Nice story with an unexpected ending. In my opinion, it’s hard for authors to write first person, contemporary teenagers without sounding cringe. And while that was the case for most of this book, I think it’s made up by the storyline. Though the ending was slightly rushed, I liked that it took a turn, this story isn’t what it seems in a good way! I always enjoy sibling stories, I liked how this book dealt with different kinds of grief but also normal teenagers aspects of life such as relationships and family drama.

CW: death/loss, ableism

I would like to thank NetGalley and Running Press for providing me with a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Altuna “Tuna” Rashad is aiming for her chance of dating long-time crush Tristan before heading off to Savannah College of Art and Design in the fall. Following the guidance of her ancestors, she spends the summer trying to get Tristan’s attention while dealing with her recently widowed brother’s grief.

While the plot may sound a bit cliche at first, Deen provides an excellent twist to the standard trope of the main character trying to win over their crush. Utilizing Caribbean heritage as a focal point for moving the story along, it was interesting to see a fresh point of view through Tuna’s perspective. Her commentary throughout the book is not only hilarious but relatable and that really allowed me to keep rooting for Tuna till the end.

The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad is an excellent #OwnVoices read for this summer and Deen is an author you should be keeping an eye on in the future.

I didn't hate this book but I didn't get hooked into loving it either. 🤷
I enjoyed the info on religious superstitions.
I enjoyed the family interactions. I have questions.

Maybe I'm just in the wrong headspace to enjoy this book. Maybe you will like it.

Unfortunately, I didn’t love this.
It felt a bit underwhelming and the romance just didn’t do it for me. At first I really loved the main character but the more I read the more annoying she got. I also personally found it hard to connect with her - although I appreciate the religious and superstitious elements.

So this book had some definite good points and themes I just found myself bored in some of the lulls. I also couldn't help but question how the f teenage kids could afford everything that they could. I definitely wasn't offering to buy dinner and coffee every day for my friends lol. It was a cute story and Tuna was pretty interesting with her quirks.

Thank you netgalley for this earc in exchange for an honest review

This book leaves me with mixed feelings. I really liked the idea behind the book but couln‘t really get into the story or connect to the characters. The sibling dynamics are captured well, but I find most of the characters quite annoying, especially Tuna and her way of making decisions. All. in all it‘s still a fun read, you just have to get used to Tuna‘s unique style of voice.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this book :)

Tuna Rashad, in full honesty, is an annoying main character but I think that serves the book well at times as a teenage protagonist in love. I’m not huge on signs so about half of the time reading I understood her intentions to wait for the right moment and the rest of the time I just wanted to yell at her (the way you do any YA character).

Tuna’s family is tackling the loss of her brother in law while she falls in love and this storyline was probably the part I liked best. It does a good job showing how people grieve differently and I wish we’d gotten more from this plot line.

This was a cute romance and a good palette cleanser but not in my top books. All of Tuna’s quirks and flaws are clearly meant to make her more real and usually done on purpose, but in the end she just wasn’t my fave.

Plot- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters- ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overal 3.75 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Running Press Kids for the e-ARC to read and review. I'd say my rating is more of a 3.5 stars rounded up because the writing and reading experience itself was so enjoyable.

I really wish that this book didn't start the way it did. While it was fun to see our main character, Tuna, in her element working with little kids at the pool, the intro chapter definitely makes it seem like the book ahead is a summer rom-com where the teenage girl chases after the guy she's crushing on before they head off to college. It's kind of true, but this book is definitely more about family and the incredibly complicated nature of grief -- I think some readers may be turned off by the fluffiness of the intro and not read further, while others would be surprised to find it's not a straightforward romance plot. Not that we lead with grief and gloom, but Tuna's tone is very bubbly and boy-obsessed right from the get-go.

What this book does best is show the ripple effects of grief, and how loss just continues to radiate throughout families and friend groups. We work through who really gets to "own" that loss - the person closest to the one gone? The family they leave behind? Everyone and everything because their existence altered everything and their loss does too? It's striking and powerful and extremely well done.

I also enjoyed how Tuna's own beliefs - a mix of cultural traditions, superstitions, and science-backed beliefs - are all what make her up, and that they're all equally important to her. She never once flinches when someone questions her blend, and it's my favorite thing about her - that no one is ever going to come in and make her feel bad for caring about butterflies or memories of her ancestors as signs for her next moves. It may be a little silly on paper that Tuna thinks her ancestors will intervene at exactly the right serendipitous moment to win over her crush, but I think it more shows how she is learning to make her own decisions and feel like she has the confidence and backing to deal with their consequences.

Definitely a book I came to love and the voice here is really unique. This one felt like a breath of fresh air and I love the cast of characters along with Tuna herself. I do hope we get to see more of Deen's books in the future.

Let’s be clear. No matter what her older brother, Robby, says, aspiring screenwriter Tuna Rashad is not “stupidstitious.” She is, however, cool with her Caribbean heritage, which means she is always on the lookout for messages from loved ones who have passed on. But ever since Robby became a widower, all he does is hang out at the house, mock Tuna for following in their ancestors’ traditions, and meddle in her life.

Tuna needs to break free from her brother’s loving but over-bearing ways and get him a life (or at least, get him out of hers!). Based on the signs, her ancestors are on board. They also seem to be on board with helping Tuna win over her crush, Tristan Dangerfield. The only hiccup? She has to do it before leaving for college in the fall. A ticking clock, a grief-stricken brother, and a crush who doesn’t believe in signs. What could possibly go wrong?

I liked this book but didn’t love it. I struggled completing the book because while I loved the spirituality and cultural aspects, I really disliked that Tristan made fun of her beliefs and she still was head over hills in love.

The author took too much time explaining things that really didn’t need a lot of explanation, It dragged the book out.

Overall I liked it and would recommend people read for themselves

2.75 stars.
This story was extremely cheesy and very very <i>cringy</i>. Tuna had some good moments, but also some bad ones... Espesially the way she acted was cringy and stupid. Robby sometimes felt like he was...a teenager than an actual adult. I get that he is grieving and he`s allowed to. But sometimes it was cringy there too. Some was enjoyable and Robby said some things that was good. But, what is up with Tristan and Tuna? why did they decide to date? They had nothing in common...and argued back and forth about it... idk. It did not sit right with me.

Very slow, I don't like the love interest, he was so disrespectful and it was just written off. Boring, repetitive and dragging.