“Thanks to the author, publisher and Netgallery for providing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.”

The Signs & Wonders of Tuna Rashad is a YA Romance book which traces the journey of a superstitious teen – Altuna Kashmir Rashad. Sure, the genre is YA Romance but I got a sense that the author wanted it to be more than a cliched, cheesy romantic story of two teenagers.

Honestly, I had conflicted feelings after I finished reading this book. On the one hand, it was a light read, definitely a fresh aberration from my more recent reading-scapades. For one, it was a story that featured a diverse lead and two, it had been a while since I read a YA book. The story-line had immense potential. I entered this book chuckling at the hilarious premise of a semi-normal high-school girl wanting to date her crush. But, it makes me sad to admit that this book tipped a little towards the disappointment side.

I absolutely adored the premise which showed our diverse female protagonist as a superstitious girl of Caribbean heritage who has a pretty vociferous family. Her brother is a recent widower and he carried the grief of losing his husband which is affecting all his relations. Though I was into the premise, the story quickly lost interest. I found Tuna a little too overbearing for my taste and while I respect her beliefs, I found them to govern her life a little too much.

The chemistry between the main characters was alright – not too much and not too less – but it was a little more hot-one-minute-cold-the-next. In addition, I also found Tuna was way too selfish and conceited. Especially when it came to her brother’s life. I do not stand by any of her actions in the book and it was more like she’s an 11-year-old girl in the body of an 18-year-old.

I wanted to enjoy this book, I really did. But the characters didn’t set well with me at all. I couldn’t relate to them and hence, I didn’t really grow up to care about them. In a nutshell, it was a one-time read but I don’t see myself picking it up again anytime soon.

The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad follows the story of a girl who is trying to win over her crush before she moves away to college. However, there seems to be one small problem in the way. Her brother, Robby. Not only does Robby consistently make fun of Tuna for always believing in signs and how she is constantly on the lookout for signs from her ancestors, he is also recently widowed. Tuna now has to balance her brothers sadness as well as her potential love life and make everything perfect all before she leaves for college.

This book was entertaining and enjoyable to read with the right mix of love and heartbreak. Being able to read about the grief that this family went through in a relatable way was a change of pace and made the characters very relatable.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone!!

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC for an honest review.

2.25 (2 stars)

The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad is a contemporary novel about Tuna, an aspiring screenwriter who is about to go to college. Before she goes to college, she wants to win over the boy she been hopelessly crushing on, Tristan. But this comes to a challenge as she believes in making decisions from signs from her ancestors.

I found myself having mixed feelings about this story.
I enjoyed the chemistry between Tuna and Tristan and I found some parts funny. However, I couldn't relate to characters, and at times found them annoying. The plot of the story is not memorable for me. The pacing of the book is decent and the book is quite short, but it took me forever to read. I found myself bored towards the end, as I was not really connected to the story.

Overall, this story was okay but has potential.
Also, I would love to say how gorgeous the cover is.

This was a fun and quick read for me. This was my first book by this author and am excited to read more of her books in the future. Will definitely be buying this as a physical copy!

Natasha Deen's The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad is my new comfort read.
This book deals with a lot of grieve. The complexities of Tuna's family's grief were so raw and loved the character building. Such a great book and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a heartwarming narrative.

A huge thank you to the Author, the Publisher, and Netgalley for providing the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

To be honest, I have mixed feelings after I finished reading “The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad”. But before I break down my points and opinions on this one, I want to tell first the overview or what is the story all about.

The story was all about the life and adventure of Tuna Rashad, and how she depends her decisions on her “ancestors”, “signs” and “superstitious beliefs”. But her beliefs will become a challenge as she will try to win the heart of her “smart and not believing in any signs” crush. It was not all about her “shenanigans” adventure towards her crush, but also all about helping her brother “Robby” to accept and move on with his life after David died.

Based on my overview, I know you already knew what will happen to the story, right?

As mentioned, I have mixed feelings about the story. For the story/plot, it was okay for me, but it didn’t leave a remarkable spot after reading it, but it was good at least. There were questions I have in my mind that I tried to find throughout the story, but I didn’t find any.

For the characters, there were times that I find Tuna annoying. She has this “rebellious” type character that didn’t think her actions very well, and there were times that she was selfish especially to her brother’s feelings.

To her crush, at first his character was okay for me, but during the last few chapters he became an annoying one too. If you are a real person, I will tell you honestly that you are infuriating because if you didn’t like a person tell her immediately and don’t give the hints that will make her think that you will end up as a couple. Well, that’s my opinion from the last few chapters, but well since this is a story… it still ends happily.

Well, the story was okay and has potential, but I rated it 3 stars because of the characters in the book. My favorite character here is Tuna’s best friend – Fi. She tells good opinions about the decisions or actions of Tuna, and here is the quoted opinion from her:

“I always wondered why you’re such a fan of screenwriting and movies. Now I get it. It’s because you’re useless in a real-life crisis.” – An honest opinion from Fi to Tuna.

Yeah, she made a good point there.

So overall, my rating is 3 out 5 stars. It’s a good story, I liked it but not the characters.

My Rating: 4 Stars

The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad by Natasha Deen is easily my new comfort read that I’d recommend to anyone who needs a heartwarming story with a hearty dose of humor.

This is a story of Tuna and her family. She believes in signs from her dead ancestors and lives her life around it. She is aspiring screenwriter and wants to date her crush Tristan before she moves to college.
This book deals with a lot of grieve. Tuna's brother Robby loved a boy since he was 5, they both grew up together through everything. Now Robby is a widower and spends all his time at his parents house.

The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad stars our protagonist Tuna, an aspiring screenwriter who wants to win over Tristan, the boy she has been hopelessly crushing on, before she goes to college. At first glance, I was interested in this book because it seemed like a fun contemporary novel, but what followed was so much more.

In addition to sections of fun and laughs, this book also dealt with the loss of loved ones and how a family puts itself back together after going through this. I found myself relating to what Robby, Tuna, and their family went through, which really allowed me to connect with the story. Despite this book being marketed as more of a contemporary romance novel, this plotline in the book spoke more to me. I also thought Tuna was a great protagonist to read about. She was passionate about the things she loved, funny, and extremely brave. I also really enjoyed the chemistry and dynamic between Tristan and Tuna. I was rooting for them the entire time!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the e-ARC, which was provided in exchange for an honest review.

Beautiful book that I loved so much!! Tuna was a brilliantly complex main character that I was so invested in. The intricacies of Tuna's family's grief were so raw and made me a little emotional. Tuna's outlook and how it clashed with her brother's made the book even more gripping because it showed how loss can hurt everyone differently, and there is no one way to cope with it.

Digital ARC provided by Netgalley

This book was so fun and entertaining! The main character was so fun and I absolutely loved her! It wasn't the most poetic or deep book, but it deals with grief in a very real way that I could relate to and understand. If you're looking for a fun and adorably one-of-a-kind read, this is for you!

Such a great book. It is the best book i’ve read (so far) this year! I will definitely buy it when it becomes available in physical form.

This is my first read from Natasha Deen and my last read of the year. I must say I am excited to read more from her. I do feel that this book felt a little too young for me. The relationship between Robby and Tuna reminds me of me and my sister (minus the whole dead husband thing). There is something about their sibling relationship that warms my heart. I will say the location (Ontario, CA) felt a bit unbelievable. I lived about 10mins from Ontario for 8 years and noticed some discrepancies. Overall, 3.5

I’ll admit, this book took a minute to adjust to as the MC, Altuna, has a unique voice. After a bit you get a feel for her as she sounds like a normal teenager obsessed over a guy. It’s cute because she is so overly dramatic like some people can be about an issue that could be simple. She believes in spirit connections and looking for signs. For some readers I’m sure she’s an acquired taste. I liked her dramatic thoughts and her goofiness. 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. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I found myself making my way through this book at a decent pace and enjoyed the headings given to each chapter. I did struggle with connecting with the characters and this always lets down the novel for me as I believe character connection is important. Whilst this was a fun and unique read, it isn't one that I would find myself picking up again. The cover is gorgeous, not colours you usually find on a YA book.

I liked the dialogue and descriptions beyond the poop in the pool incident. I really liked tuna but was vaguely uninterested after a point

The Signs and Wonders of Tuna Rashad
by Natasha Deen

This story will probably be enjoyed by many others.
The writing was great which had me flipping the pages.
The characters I just couldn't connect with.
The atmosphere of the novel was good.
It was fun to read, but it's not one that's going to stick to me.
This book was light, fun, and exciting. But at the same time, it lacked in some areas.

Genre• Teen|YA
Expected Pub Date• June 2022

Quality Of Writing• 4
Plot Development• 4
Characterization• 3
Ease Of Reading• 4
Enjoyability• 3.5
Overall Rating• 3.5

Running Press Kids,
Thank you for this eARC!
I will post and tag on my platforms closer to pub day.

I really liked the word building and the pace with which the story progresses. Characters were fairly interesting too, however I felt the ending a bit rushed.