Livia Blackburne’s Clementine and Danny Save the World (and Each Other) is a wonderfully engaging and thought-provoking novel that combines humor, hope, and heartfelt moments. This book strikes a remarkable balance between a compelling plot and deep character development, making it a standout read.
The story follows Clementine and Danny as they embark on a journey that is as much about saving their world as it is about finding themselves and each other. The narrative is both reflective and inspiring, delving into personal growth and the impact of one’s choices on the world around them. Blackburne’s ability to blend these themes with a medium-paced plot ensures that readers are continually engaged and invested in the characters' journeys.
One of the novel’s greatest strengths is its character development. Both Clementine and Danny are richly drawn, with their flaws and growth being central to the story. Their evolving relationship is portrayed with authenticity and warmth, making them incredibly relatable and lovable. The focus on their imperfections adds depth to their characters, allowing for a more meaningful exploration of their personal and collective challenges.
The diverse cast of characters adds another layer of richness to the narrative, reflecting a variety of perspectives and experiences that enhance the story’s depth. The book’s blend of humor and hope provides a refreshing take on its themes, making the read both enjoyable and uplifting.
While the novel excels in many aspects, there are moments where the plot could benefit from a bit more refinement to tighten the narrative further. Despite this, Clementine and Danny Save the World (and Each Other) remains an inspiring and engaging read that delivers a powerful message about personal growth and the importance of human connection.
In summary, Clementine and Danny Save the World (and Each Other) is a beautifully written, character-driven novel that offers a blend of humor, reflection, and hope. With its strong character development and inspiring themes, it’s a book that will resonate with readers looking for both entertainment and insight. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a thoughtful and enjoyable read.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed this novel!

I've been looking for a hopeful and inspiring book for ages, one that showcases the beauty of humanity and of community. I think after the years we've had with the coronavirus and lockdowns, this book's message had even more meaning, showcasing how important it is to come together. This community feel to the book easily was my favourite part, highlighting how businesses and cultural areas create spaces for diversity.

Other aspects I really enjoyed was the sort of enemies to lovers romance between Clementine and Danny. Clementine blogs under the username "Hibiscus" and constantly butts heads online with frequent commenter BobaBoy888 who claims she's out of touch with tradition and culture. When Danny's family's tea shop gets sold off to a massive corporation hoping to expand into the China Town area, he partners with Clementine to stand up for his community.

The characters, the community feel to this book, everything just blew me away. I'm writing this review a year after I read it and it's bringing me back all the happy reading memories. This is a book I'll definitely be recommending to everyone, I think this book came to me at the most perfect time in my life.

Thank you to netgalley for the arc! really sorry that i wasn't able to review this during the time it came out :/ i think this was a fun read and really really enjoyable. hope to see more of the author's works in the future!

The premise of doing good for community and community building absolutely hooked me as those are things I absolutely value, but I struggled with the bully romance element.

It was not exactly the book for me, but I would recommend it to people who want something with YA vibes that was light and not too serious!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book, as this book has already been published, I will not share my review on Netgalley at this time.

Cover Story: Rooftop Cuties
BFF Charm: Yay!
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Talky Talk: Blogger Babble
Bonus Factors: You’ve Got Mail
Relationship Status: Romantic to a Tea

Cover Story: Rooftop Cuties
An Asian girl with a long black braid and an Asian boy with an open shirt collar (hello, Danny!) sit on a rooftop during a sunset looking out at the buildings around them. This scene never happened in the book, but they’re cute, they’re enjoying Chinatown, and it’s reminiscent of San Francisco, so I guess it’s working.

The Deal: Clementine, aka Hibiscus on her online blog Babble Tea, loves to write reviews of tea shops in her Chinatown. Danny, aka Bobaboy888, is a commenter who always gives her grief. Hibiscus loves to innovate, modernize, and try new things like cream in her oolong. Bobaboy is a traditionalist who leaves sarcastic comments on Babble Tea. But there’s a little spice in their banter!

When Clementine learns that an evil corporation is trying to take over a strip mall in Chinatown, she joins a community outreach initiative to save the auntie and uncles’ shops. In the strip center is Danny’s parents’ tea shop, Fragrant Leaves. The two teens team up to try to stop Kale Corp from moving in. Along the way, they fall in love… without knowing that Clem is Hibiscus and Danny is Bobaboy, her sworn enemy. Can these two lovebirds make it work?

BFF Charm: Yay!
I absolutely loved Clementine and her type-A, go-getter ways. She’s a journalist for her school newspaper, and also host of an online community where she discusses tea. She’s enthusiastic, smart, and full of energy. Likewise, Danny is a devoted son who lives, studies, and works at his parents’ tea shop, but he has dreams of his own. He wants to move to New York City for college and do more than just pour tea and wipe down tables. Both of these senior-year students are motivated and kind, the type of kid you want to be friends with. And they surround themselves with good people, too (although Danny’s friend Bryan is a little bit of a troublemaker).

Swoonworthy Scale: 5
You know how Kathleen Kelly sighed about bouquets of pencils in You’ve Got Mail? Yeah, Danny will have you sighing about cakes of Pu’er (that’s a type of tea, if you didn’t know!). Clementine is beautiful and wears strawberry lip gloss; Danny is handsome with broad shoulders that fill out a shirt nicely. But more than just their outside attractions are their pleasant personalities. Even when they bicker as Hibiscus and Bobaboy, they’re not malicious. And with a healthy dose of community activism, their first kiss is swoonworthy!

Talky Talk: Blogger Babble
I’m a recent devotee of milk tea, and this book made me want to drink buckets of it. (So thirsty…) I loved the discussion of community in this book. Like, is community a place online where people come and drop comments then leave? Or is it a tea shop where regulars stay and play mah jongg for hours and hours? Or can it be both? Can a blog help change the world — or, if not the entire planet, a small chunk of Chinatown?

I also loved that I could barely tell when Danny’s parents switched to Mandarin to speak to their son, but it was kind of obvious that they were not having discussions in English. The author didn’t italicize or state that they were switching languages, which was refreshing. Dialogue was just dialogue, you know?

Bonus Factor: You’ve Got Mail
I meannnnnn, yeah, it’s a You’ve Got Mail type story, and yeah, it’s REALLY cute. What I enjoyed about this book was that, unlike Joe Fox who gaslights Kathleen into falling for him without telling him that he’s NYC152 until the very end, Danny doesn’t do that. The two have trust issues from figuring out that they are each other’s rivals, but they work it out like adults. Gen Z, you will save us from ourselves!

Relationship Status: Romantic to a Tea
Book, you were delicious and wonderful and I enjoyed reading you. Let’s go out for a boba date sometime soon.

In this young adult romance, Clementine and Danny team up to save an endangered beloved community staple when a big corporation wants to come in and knock it down. While working together, they fall for each other, all without realizing that their online personas have been fighting each other for years. It's an interesting tale of teamwork, budding romance, and young adult struggles.

Extremely cute and little underwhelming for me, but I think perfect for a teen/young adult. It has got romance, activism, and a look into a new world.

Clementine and Danny work together to save Danny's family Tea shop from being bought out by a big company all while being online rivals without knowing it.

I liked some parts of the books. Danny and Clementine share some sweet moments but unfortunately this one felt a little too contradictive to me. It was a lot of push and pull of personal choice that didn't sit right.

I'd still recommend reading to others but maybe just not the right fit for me.

I did like the writing style so I would definitely check out this authors books in the future.

- thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc to review!

- a solid book on activism, journalism, and tea, that explores the relationships between two feuding bloggers that are friends in real life, but don't know they despise each other online. the characters were believable and nuanced, and the aspect of activism and journalism was touched upon nicely.

I had high hopes for this book. I'm a big fan of the rivals to lovers trope so I was intrigued about how the romance between Clementine and Danny would pan out. It was sweet in the beginning but without getting into spoilers, there were some events that I wasn't a big fan of and had a hard time looking past. I also found that this book focused primarily on Danny as opposed to Clementine. I would have enjoyed learning more about her and her family and seeing her grow as a character. Speaking of the characters, I liked the feeling of community that was created, especially with the various shop owners in Chinatown. The discussion around gentrification and culture grabbed my attention and I was invested in reading more.

If you’re looking for a cute, fun, tea centered YA, then Clementine and Danny Save the World (and each other) by Livia Blackburne is the book you want to pick up.

The Good:
I loved how authentic everything felt in this book. It wasn’t crazy or hard to imagine. I could clearly see everything playing out, both the good and the bad. Clementine and Danny felt like they could be real people, with hopes and dreams, but not unrealistic. It was well written and was a quick read. No plot holes, lots of laughs and lots of tea references and information.

The Bad:
I kind of feel like this book could have had a different title that would have done it more justice. I can kind of understand what the idea was behind it, but it could be very misleading for anyone who doesn’t read the synopsis. That’s my only gripe on this one.

The Mentionable:
Death of a loved one, trolling, racism, cyber bullying.

I absolutely enjoyed reading this. Danny and Clementine are great characters who both have their moment to shine and it’s fun watching it all unfold. Grab a copy of this if you get the chance.

Thank you to Harper Collins Frenzy for the gifted e-Arc copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

While I didn’t love this book. It didn’t blow me away. The beginning hooked me pretty quickly and reminded me a lot of Tweet Cute by Emma Lord. The banter between the characters was enjoyable but then Danny fell for Clementine a little too quickly. What made the beginning enjoyable was their back and forth.

The characters felt flat, they were very underwhelming and forgettable which is probably why by the second half, the romance felt that way too.

I appreciated the cultural parts of the story. I liked the discussions around family obligations and following your dreams. It was interesting that Clementines family was so different from Danny’s, that was new.

There was a scene towards then end that was a bit of a surprise but by this point in the story I was no longer invested and just trying to finish it.

My review seems harsh, on the auto face level I enjoyed it. It’s a good average book. I just found it slightly dull and forgettable.

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for an eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Gentrification is real in many cities including the one where my high school is located. We have generified our collection and have Urban Fiction as a separate genre from Romance and Realistic Fiction. This will be a useful addition to that collection which is highly circulated. Using this as an issue to unite Clementine and Danny is a clever device that YA readers may relate to. One of the strengths of this novel is that although Clementine and Danny live in Chinatown and attend the same high school, they think differently. He is a traditionalist, while she is attracted to change. These characters will readers dispel the stereotype that all Asians are alike which is still too prevalent in our society. Thank you to #HarperCollinsChildrenssBooks and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book overall! A sweet, YA romance with a great twist on You've Got Mail (the food blogging rivalry was fantastic)! Anonymous pen-pals to lovers is one of my favorite tropes, and I loved that the book tackled gentrification as well. Overall, a great read in my opinion!

(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

I loved Livia Blackburne's fantasy books so I had really high hopes for this one. While I didn't end up loving it, I do think it's worth the read if you typically enjoy young adult contemporaries.

I did really enjoy the setting of Chinatown and the shops. The discussions of gentrification were included in a great way, and the book did a good job of making the readers really care about the struggles of the shop owners. I also loved the descriptions of all the different teas and how passionate the characters were about it.

My biggest issue with the book was with how the characters were written. Danny really came across as unlikeable when it came to anything to do with Clementine and that didn't get much better by the end.

This was an overall cute YA story featuring Chinese culture (especially the art of pouring tea), community activism, and a bit of romance thrown in for fun.

I liked all the parts about tea and how Clementine and Danny each had their own ideas for how to make tea, what flavors might be good, and whether tea should stay traditional or change with the times. I'm more about coffee, but it made me want to go to a teahouse to try some out!

Clementine is a bit too perfect in this, she manages a bunch of extracurriculars and classes, is charming and fun, runs a fairly successful tea blog, and has a great support system. I wish we'd seen a bit more flaws in her to make her feel relatable, especially when Danny seems so opposite to her.

I thought the online back and forth would be a bigger part of the story, but most of it happened before the story started. The romance could have featured a bit more too and the ending was more of what might be than anything solid.

I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All opinions are my own. Thank you to Quill Tree Books and NetGalley for the copy.

The cover drew my eye and even though I rarely read YA these days, it was an instant "please can I have this" click for me.

I was charmed by the activism and community. Clementine is a character after my own heart. Danny had his moments that made me want to shake him, but I understand his personality from a story perspective. I think this book did exactly what it set out to do- You've Got Mail with a twist.

And I want to add that I think it's so important that books continue to tackle these topics- gentrification and the implicates thereof.

Love Livia Blackburne and was excited to read something a little different from her previous books. This was a was a good read and lovely characters. I like her writing style and the way she helps the reader to feel things. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.