My core problem with Tuna as a character is how borderline delusional her thoughts are when it comes to her long-time white boy crush Tristan; she holds the boy in a firm rose-colored view that she easily dismisses his questionable microaggressions toward her and her spiritual views. Furthermore, she keeps convincing herself that every small nice thing he does to her is the same as him reciprocating her affection when the reality is that Tristan doesn't even know that Tuna likes him. There is a difference between feeling confident that you can get together with the person you love and getting stuck in a fantasy land shaped by your own beliefs, and Tuna's entire self-motivated mission falls into the latter category.

Based on the cover and summary, I thought this would be a book I would really enjoy. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into the book and lost interest very quickly.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not the demographic for YA which shapes my perspective.

While this book starts out as a cute romcom, it had fizzled for me by the end. Tuna started as an interesting character, but seemingly everyone except maybe Robby become less likable and harder to root for throughout the book. I like the story of the screenplay within the book and how the story explores family.

Overall not for me, but a unique YA story.

The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad is a novel that will remind you what it’s like to be a teenager with a huge crush. The main character of the book, Tuna, has a big crush on Tristan and tries her best to get his attention so that they will start dating. While doing this, she is connected to spirits whom she believes will guide her and tell her what to do with her love life. My favorite part of this book are the themes of spiritualism and love. The spiritual aspect of this book is certainly unique and I know people will enjoy getting to see Tuna’s thoughts, joys, and fears. Tuna is a fun protagonist; she is a determined teenager and I could see myself here and there in her character, although we are not much alike. I didn’t love Tristan because he was not fully supportive of Tuna’s beliefs, and that was a major turn off for me. Although I am not particularly fond of their relationship, love is seen in a lot of different ways in this book. I especially enjoyed Robby’s story as it added a deeper layer to the story overall. I can see people really relating to his experience, as life is not always black and white. Spiritualism is probably the biggest theme in this book, and although it is overdone at times, I think it makes the plot and Tuna’s thought processes more interesting.

I like this book. Natasha Deen writes well; I especially like the dialogue and the inner thoughts of Tuna. The plot is interesting and the pacing is well done. Before I read the book, I assumed this story was going to go deeper than it actually did. Although I do like the themes; I believe the author could have made the story more intense, especially because Tuna has so many superstitions. I like Tuna but I did find myself frustrated with her at times, but that is just my own preference. The writing is good overall, but I can’t put my finger on it; I do think something is missing from this novel. I think the premise is good and the plot is interesting but it did not blow me away. Even though it was not for me, I suggest this book to anyone who is interested in spirits or spiritual things. This book teaches you that if you believe in something, it’s okay to stand up for your beliefs even if no one else understands them.

This was sooo cute! It was so adorable and funny and cute I really enjoyed reading this. I love Tuna and I find her very relatable.

I really like the character, Tuna, but her obsession about Tristan is really tiresome, and I genuinely does not like Tristan as a character. I think he is quite rude and not very openminded, it really put me off that he made fun of Tuna’s religion. I love that the religion was included and was shown in that way, I haven’t read a book with that kind of religion showed. The religion and her ancestors made the book more original, and made it feel like not yet another romance book, which can be very predictable.
I also liked the description about her thoughts and thinking process.

I loved that there was a whole side plot about her brother, Robby, and the grief he is going through, which moved me a lot. I also loved that they found a dog, and the love both Tuna and Robby have for her.

It was sad and true, it made me cry and laugh. At the same time, it somehow developed from being a romance to be about a different kind of love and about loss on a whole other level, than just a simple romance.
The romance between Tuna and Tristan became a side plot, where David and Robby became the main plot, with the focus on grief and loss.

The family in this is so real, and I related to it on a lot of levels. The loss and grief, the whole family goes through, is never easy, and it demonstrated how different people grief, but also how it changes a person and a whole family.

Also, Fi was probably the best character in the whole book, she was sarcastic, funny, and caring. She seemed like the only person that could make Tuna rethink her actions and decisions, which is someone everyone should have in their lives; a person to ground you.

SPOILERS!

I hate the ending; they should have just stayed friends. But I’m so glad that Magic stayed in their lives, I think she became the glue to their grief progress.

First off, this was such a fun and fast read! Whilst some parts of the story didn’t click with me too much, I enjoyed the overall storyline!

In this book Tuna tries to get the boy she likes to pay attention to her and date her before she leaves for college. This storyline coupled with a family’s grief and their beliefs became quite interesting.

Throughout this story, Tuna wrestles with her beliefs and cultural superstitions, grief and romance.

Whilst I found a couple of the characters frustrating, I did enjoy majority of the storyline. I liked that Tuna’s Caribbean culture was not lost through the storyline, it was a key factor in so many of the decisions she made.

Overall I would rate this book 4/5 stars. I found this quite a quick and enjoyable read. I would absolutely recommend it to fans of YA!!

The story dealt with loss all while trying to lock down love and I thought it was interesting mix of the two. I liked the realistic dialogue and the scenarios Altuna got herself mixed up in. I enjoyed the way it resolved and liked that she compared everything to the arc of a story. Not everyone will understand her voice but I thought it was authentic and sweet read. I recommend it.

I had such a fun time reading this book! I laughed a ton, cried a little, and just overall really enjoyed the novel.

I really liked Tuna as a protagonist. Even though she does some questionable things in the novel, her motivations are understandable and she acts like a real teenage girl. I could empathise with both Tuna and her brother, Robby, in their argument, and I could see both their points of view.

I thought that the romance was really cute, and I felt that it progressed really realistically. Tuna’s internal monologue around her interactions with Tristan was always hilarious and her shenanigans were so entertaining to read about.

Grief was also tackled in this novel well. Every character in Tuna’s family handled their grief differently, and it was heartbreaking to read about it. However, the book also showed the moving on from death in a way that was feel good, but also made me very emotional.

I also loved Tuna’s spirituality, and how she addressed that it wasn’t a part of her ‘quirks’ but an actual belief. I hate when people make fun of religion or spirituality now days because it’s the “edgy” thing to do. It was so refreshing to see Tuna as a character with conviction in her beliefs.

Overall I thought the book was amazing and I would definitely recommend it. It was such a fun YA book.

An exhilarating, emotional roller-coaster of a novel about grief, family and the signs that we use to guide the stories of our own lives. I was very much NOT into this novel for the first few chapters as I found the writing style/Tuna's inner monologue to be very juvenile/cringe-y. However, I slowly began to fall in love with the characters and their story, particularly Tuna's passionate faith in her "ancestors" and her rapport with both her love-interest, Tristian, and her overbearing brother, Robby. While I found Tuna's viewpoints (specifically concerning her brother's grief over the loss of his husband) to be extremely selfish at times, I could understand where both her and her brother were coming from as they butted heads throughout the novel and I felt Tuna was appropriately called out whenever she was being overly-insensitive, which is refreshing for a character like her. I also like the satisfying manner in which the story ends with the family planning on going to therapy and grief-counseling (I did NOT like how head-over-heels Tuna still was for Tristian despite how he MOCKED HER BELIEFS but whatever they're cute i guess..) All in all, this was an entertaining and heartwarming read (albeit mildly annoying), so I'd def recommend this debut when it comes out this summer!

This is a cute YA story. I don't know that it was for me personally, but I can see lots of other readers finding it to be exactly what they're looking for. The characters and plot, while somewhat tropey, are still interesting enough to keep the reader going. It's an all-around solid read for fans of YA.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

First off, THIS COVER!!! Gorgeous!!!

So as a non-religious person, I should agree with some of the other reviews on this book that the signs and ancestors bit was overdone. But I couldn’t disagree more. I absolutely loved those parts even though they aren’t aspects of my own life or culture. I thought the integration of the culture in this way was unique and unlike other books that use food or language to share cultural references. I appreciated learning about this aspect of the character’s heritage and upbringing. It really warmed my heart each time it was referenced. It also may seem a little overblown, but for an 18 year old, I think it seems reasonable.

There were a few parts of the writing that took me out of the story. There was a reference to a certain color and sign being missing from a cake but I didn’t understand the significance and spent 5 minutes backtracking to see if I missed something. It turns out I hadn’t and the significance of these two things were explained later, but separately and like a solid 50 pages later. There was also a reference to being “in cement” that I’m unfamiliar with and left me a little confused but I’m not sure if this is a cultural reference, or if it’s because I’m an elder millennial and am officially out of touch now.

I loved the sibling relationship, though I do agree with other reviewers in that the main character did seem a little too obsessed with her older brother's grieving process, but maybe that's just her way of coping with her own grief. I thought all of the narratives and portraits of their grief as a family were very authentic. It makes me think this is something the author has been touched by and I definitely cried at one point.

Where it started to fall apart for me was the lack of self reflection on Tuna's part. She was so busy psychoanalyzing everyone else and trying to orchestrate their lives, that she never did any growth on her own. She also blamed everyone else for the messes she got into. But...thinking back to how I was acting at 18, I probably acted and thought much the same. Even when confronted with her poor behavior, she blamed the person she hurt. Her brother lost his spouse and she acts like it had more of an impact on her than him. She claims she tried to respect how he mourned, but we didn't see any evidence of that anywhere. It was all complaining.

I also didn't love the part where a kid's mom was going to remove him from a situation where he was being bullied and she basically told the kid to stick it out. Yikes. What was this supposed to demonstrate to us?

The resolution to the romance also seemed immature (but again, 18 year olds so maybe it tracks). She is upset for how he calls her beliefs quirks but her best friend and brother both say the exact same things and she wants them in her life. She said she can respect Tristan's different view but she can't accept that he doesn't follow hers? And she calls him a coward while she has kept up a lie to him the entire duration of their friendship?

Also the dog ownership/reclaiming thing towards the end was....very bizarre. That really just pulled me out of the story and I kind of gave up and flipped through the rest.

Overall, I liked the connections to ones culture and ancestors, I think the grief was really well done, but the rest of the plot lines just kind of fell apart for me.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a free copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest review.

This book follows Tuna as she looks out for signs from her ancestors to help her win over her crush, Tristan, and help her brother, Robby, move on after the death of his husband, David.

This was such a cute book! I loved Tuna (and all the adorable nicknames her friends and family had for her)! Her passion for screenwriting and her tenacity when it comes to her beliefs was so inspiring and made her such a fun character.

I loved how she equated everything in her life to storyboard beats. It was so quirky and I think it added so much to her character and the story!

All of the relationships in this book were incredibly interesting, especially Tuna and Robby’s relationship. It took me a little while to figure out what exactly the dynamic between them was, but I think that just added to the complexity of their relationship.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good YA novel.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and statements are my own.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed it and it was well written.

This book that younger me would have loved to read in high school! I love how relatable the main character is, even to an old lady like me! I love how confident and honest Tuna is to herself and those around her.

At first glance, I would say this is a light-hearted read, but then you look a little closer and see a portrait of grief, the heart that beats within. Beneath the traditions and superstitions, the often light banter and ticking clock as college looms lays the gentle reminder that every journey with grief is different,

I believe this book nailed what a YA/ coming of age story should be! I would recommend this read to those who may work with middle/high school students.

The premise for this book sounded rather promising at a first glance, but this YA contemporary romance left some to be desired.

The plot of this book wasn't bad as it was centered on Tuna and her ancestral beliefs, her desire to help her brother Robby overcome grief, and her goal to date her crush Tristan. I loved how Tuna was passionate about her beliefs and seeing signs from her ancestors in every little thing and how so many incidences did seem tied to them, but like Tuna's best friend Fi pointed out, Tuna is rather detached from reality and treats everything in life as one of her screenwriting scripts. I also really liked how grief was portrayed differently in the characters and how it addressed how differently people experience it. It was more of the romance portion that I didn't care for as it didn't feel genuine and it felt like the friendship/relationship was forced at times between the two characters. I just didn't really see the connection there, especially after Tristan disregarded Tuna's beliefs so much and she still liked him despite their major personality differences and clashes in beliefs. The end felt a little off and just didn't seem to resolve as much as I had hoped and I disliked the characters more by the end than I did at the beginning.

As for the characters themselves, I found them all to be rather interesting, but I didn't really love any of them. Tuna was annoying quite often and was very selfish in her treatment of others. With Robby handling his grief so differently from Tuna, she had no respect for it and took it upon herself to attempt to push him along and therefore causing chaos in the midst of it all. I did like her interest in screenwriting and found that trait rather unique. Tristan was okay, but I just never felt like he was putting his all into anything, and while he claimed to like Tuna, it didn't really show in his actions or even a lot of the dialogue. I did like Fi and how she was the voice of reason for Tuna (even if Tuna rarely listened) and helped keep her grounded.

The writing itself was okay, but so many of the descriptions were lengthy, unnecessary, and even deterred from the scenes themselves. So many jokes were overexplained, and while I understand the narrative is from Tuna reflecting and "editing" her story, her rambling made it feel like a chore to read some parts. There were some good scenes though that I did enjoy, but not enough to make it a read to really connect with.

Overall, this book is okay, but not something I would jump to recommend. I am glad I read it as it did have some good qualities like strong cultural beliefs, conveyed the series topic of grief well, a little bit of LGBTQ+ rep, and a BIPOC main character. It just didn't have a "wow factor" or anything notable that made me love it as a YA coming-of-age story.

(Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an eARC in exchange for honest feedback!)

This is a contemporary fiction with an interesting blend of different emotions in it. The book focuses on the lead character named Claire. The plot takes the reader on a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings as we go along with our protagonist on a road of self discovery and development. The author has written down the an very interesting plotline where the plot focuses on the character development of the protagonist along with amazing characters and scenarios involved in it. The narration of the book is so smooth and easy that the readers are able to enjoy the spirit of the book. There are numerous characters involved yet each shines throughout the book as the author has well potraited each and every character. The book is being layered nicely with the situation and incidents that were quite interesting to read. The characters in the plot kept me hooked till the end. Each has been given sufficient scope to contribute to the plot. The language used is lucid. It is definitely a good read for all the readers.

The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad was a memorable book about loss, balancing different belief systems, and family. This book truly shines in how it depicts grief and loss.

Tuna Rashad is an aspiring screenwriter with a propensity to see her life as a screenplay. She’s constantly seeking out dramatic moments and looking for how her storyline will build and grow when reality disrupts her plans and shows her that life and Hollywood are two different things. Dramatic fights with your family don’t get resolved over a day, perfect Hollywood meet-cutes don’t play out like you’d hope, and there is no happily ever after because you are in the mix of life. Tuna is growing as the story progresses and realizing a lot of things in life are more complicated than she might like them to be.

This is a book about grief. Yes, it is also about Tuna’s crush on a boy and growing older and going to college, but at the core this is a book about grief. It’s a book about how grief shapes us and how we all grieve differently and how hard it can be to grieve alongside your loved ones. The synopsis did not adequately prepare me for how much this book was about grief and so I want to warn you because as lovely as it was, it was also hard. At the core of this book is David, Tuna’s brother-in-law who has passed away recently and how everyone impacted is coping, or not coping, with the tragedy. The brightest and most beautiful parts of this book are when the grief and loss are discussed honestly and I appreciated how Deen brought together the myriad of emotions that accompany grief.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had some mixed feelings all along my reading but at the end I liked it and it wasn't boring or just your usual YA rom-com.
This is a story that deals with some important issues of life and it made me feel for the characters. I found Tuna's character so cute, funny, smart and so right in her way of making her brother wake-up and move on, her parents didn't do their job correctly, so someone had to do what she did and she had the right to mourn the way she wanted and Robby had no right to do what he was doing to them all.

I also loved her character because she was strong and I loved the way she dealt with Tristan at the end because he kind of played with her feelings and she was right to not wanting to have any regrets, he was really a cold coward. Also,I loved her relationship with her family and her friend Fi, it was funny, smart and enjoyable to read all the dialogues and how Tuna saw things mainly her crazy obsession with the ancestors, signs and the butterflies, actually, I didn't take it seriously because she might grow up and see things differently, I didn't care about her beliefs, really, it was just something special about this character which made her different from the usual female MC in Contemporary YA.

All in all, I liked it and I had a good time while reading it. It was well written and I liked that it was not only focused on the romantic part.

This was a unique and fun read at first glance, then, you look a little closer and see a portrait of grief the heart that beats within. Beneath the traditions and superstitions, the often light banter and ticking clock as college looms lays the gentle reminder that every journey with grief is different, as demonstrated by the intricate threads woven within the Rashad family portrait.

I loved the premise set forth and as soon as I glanced over it I knew I wanted to read this story. And, for the most part, I enjoyed it. The sibling dynamics between Tuna and Robby was captured well, and I enjoyed the communication and teasing that went on between them. My heart harboured a soft spot for Robby and the struggle he was going through, aching for the love he’d lost, and I believe Fi was the perfect best friend to ground Tuna and deliver those much needed reality checks when her plotting went too far.

I loved seeing Tuna take pride in her heritage and her ancestors throughout the story even when others, her crush included, didn’t understand their value to her. The diversity that made up this story was great to see and I liked the different perspectives that this allowed on Tuna’s world. I did, however, wish to see Tuna taking some responsibility for the choices she made and wanted to see her making some decisions for herself without expecting a sign or two to support it. It did get a little wearisome after a while when everything needed to be rooted in a sign from her ancestors.

Unfortunately, I personally wasn’t a fan of the romance pushed between Tuna and Tristan, and the narrative style and internal dialogues Deen utilised did take some getting used to. This narration style, however, was a great reflection of Tuna and her ambitions, and the almost stream of consciousness vibes it gave did end up working well in this regard, so good choice author 👏

While this may not have met my expectations or ended up being the perfect read for myself, The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad is a fun story about chasing signs in pursuit of love amidst this particular scene stained with grief that the right reader is just going to adore. A light and easy read filled with ambition and superstitions, with a strong and quirky style of voice - which many can attribute to that same voice in our own head - this is sure to have young adults and adults alike laughing and face palming as they share in this snapshot of Tuna’s journey, while relating themselves in many ways.