Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Truth According to Ember by Danica Nava!

An indigenous story by an indigenous author! This story was real and brutal at times but it beautiful and fun!
Ember is…. Complicated but don’t let that push you away. She is as real as a fictional character can get and yes she lies a bit and might be a tad naive, but I can tell you we’ve all done the same things she has. Struggling through a series of dead end jobs, a degree in the works but no end in sight she does what we all do on our resumes, she fibs. She lands a job and in comes the romance. I’ll end that there, spoiler free but I’ll say this Danica Nava knew what she was doing.
This story while a romance does not shy away from the racism and misogyny that exists in the work place especially for indigenous women.

I love the Native American representation and the rom-com-esque premise, but the romance ultimately didn’t do it for me.

The Truth According to Ember starts out with Ember in desperate need of a better job; she’s so desperate, in fact, that she lies about her experience on her resume and sends it in. Lo and behold, she gets the job. Ember is thrilled but nervous, especially because the job seems to come with very attractive IT guy Danuwoa — who Ember starts to date, even as her lies get murkier and murkier.

The plot is pretty much what you’d expect; from the start you know that it’s a car crash waiting to happen and that all her lies will come back to bite her in the end. I don’t mind this at all, but it’s one of the reasons why the romance didn’t work for me.

Even though Ember’s lies were looming over us, it felt very disconnected from their growing relationship. Danuwoa and Ember’s romance at the start felt, in a way, too easy. They met and liked each other pretty much right away, and then started to date. Character-wise, Danuwoa felt very thin when written from Ember’s perspective; I didn’t feel like I knew him outside of his job, his jokes, and his good looks. I wish Ember was written as a more careful and thoughtful character so there could be more tension in their relationship, and it would’ve progressed more slowly, allowing the relationship to feel more high-stakes, and the ultimate fallout to feel more impactful.

Outside of the romance, I felt like the plots and subplots were a little too on-the-nose sometimes. Bad characters are extremely bad, and they got their comeuppance in a way that was a little bit too dramatic.

Overall, I think this is a fun read but it really felt targeted to a younger audience than me. The writing style is easy to read, but the story and characters didn’t quite click.

I was not the reader for this title, but it is one that I will recommend to romance-loving patrons at the library.

This book was just too stressful for me, I could not enjoy any of it. If the constant lying doesn't bother you than you may like it.

This was such a fun rom-com. I had such a great time with it. Not only is it exceedingly rare in the traditional publishing space to have an Indigenous romance, much less an Indigenous romance where all the romantic heroes are Indigenous, but at the same time, the story isn’t hung up on being groundbreaking. It’s not trying to do too much. It’s a charming, funny, sexy romance.

I especially love Danica Nava’s use of physical comedy in the story. It struck this weird balance for me where it made me nostalgic for the kinds of rom-coms we used to see in the 90s and early 2000s, but it was also refreshing to see these characters—or at least Ember—bumble their way through this romance. There’s something especially messy about physical comedy, about fully committing your body to the bit no matter how disastrous things become, that I find so satisfying for a romance, because in a weird way, it allows the characters to build trust. Like if you start off a relationship with someone and they’ve already seen you at your worst or most chaotic and they still like you, that signals a sense of safety.

I feel like I can see where the story wanted to go in terms of this plot line about Ember constantly telling lies. To me, it seems like her childhood forced her to become this toxically independent person who learned that she can only rely on herself for anything and everything. So she doesn’t know how to ask other people for help, and she thinks that saving face at any cost is how she can avoid failing outright. There’s a lot of emotional depth there, and I do think the story is able to tap into that, especially with the rocky relationship that Ember has with her younger brother and her family. But at the same time, I think there was space for the story to go even further with that concept.

But all in all, this was a fun and delightful office romance. It has heat, it has endearing characters, it has some social commentary—although I also think the part about Ember lying about her ethnicity marker is kind of a red herring in terms of what the story’s actually about, But I had a good time listening to it. Would definitely read more from Danica Nava in the future!

THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO EMBER is a fun rom-com about a woman who tells a white lie, which then snowballs into much more.

My only complaint with this book was that there were TOO many lies. Ember is a Chickasaw woman struggling to get an interview. She lies on her resume, saying she is white, and ends up with her dream accounting job. I was okay with Ember embellishing her resume, but from that point forward, almost everything she said was a lie. It became frustrating as a reader, especially when she was lying about little, inconsequential things.

That aside, I really loved theswoony MMC, Danuwoa, and his connection with Ember. There were great family dynamics that added more complexities to the story as well.

I wish I would've picked this one up sooner, and I cannot wait for Danica Nava's sophomore novel!

3.5 stars. I really enjoyed this. I felt that it showed a perspective and a story that I had not seen before.

Ember was a fun main character and I loved her devotion to her dreams and bettering herself. I did struggle with her lies at times but overall a good FMC.

Her love interest and co worker Danuwoa is a strong MMC and I loved his supportive and kind nature.

I think this struggled with pacing at times and the overall continuing lying by Ember, but I would recommend it.

The Truth According to Ember is a romance - the first by a Native American author to be published by a major publishing house. The novel follows Ember, a Native American woman determined to beat the system that was built to put her at a disadvantage. A few lies on an application and she lands a dream accounting assistant job, where she meets Danuwoa.

Listen, in this economy? I can understand lying on a job application, even if I couldn’t do it myself. And I can relate to the shame that can come with knowing you are in a lower income bracket than those around you. The ways in which the author addressed real-world systemic racism and sexism was frankly badass and empowering to read.

But Ember lied so much and so often, it was difficult to empathize with or root for her. I didn’t know I would feel so strongly, but it turns out that having the protagonist lie over and over again is a frustrating way to create conflict. And in the end, Ember showed a lack of accountability that was surprising and a tad infuriating.

“Why was I always being punished for just trying to do the right thing, no matter what fucked-up way I had achieved it?”

I also struggled to see the sexual tension between the Ember and Danuwoa. Ember saying they had “hearts in their eyes” for each other just didn’t do it for me.

While I am not Native American, I am a woman of color, and I’m so glad we are getting a wider representation of what it means to be a woman in this world. I am just sad this one did not work for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I love a rom com and appreciated the unique premise of The Truth According to Ember! Ember stressed me out a little bit but I'm happy everything worked out in the end. Looking forward to reading more from this author!

The Truth According to Ember
Rating- 3.5⭐️/really enjoyed
Genre - Rom com/ contemporary romance

Thanks @berkleypub for the digital copy - this is out now🙌🏻

This was a solid debut! I loved the cultural bits about Native Americans and am always a sucker for good food in a rom com. The writing and setting were both descriptive without being flowery, and the pace was between medium to fast - what I prefer in a romance. Steam was light for those concerned about open door versus closed door. Overall, I'd definitely read more from this author in the future.

I thought this was a wonderful debut and I loved the culture added in!! This was the perfect romcom because I had my lol moments. This book also covered some heavier topics, which I thought was well done and not just thrown in there. I'll be looking out for Danica's sophomore novel!

I really wanted to love this book. The concept is great, and I enjoy supporting debut authors. I liked it—I truly did—especially the second half, when the pace picked up. However, it lacked the depth I was craving at the time. I just wanted a bit more.

Read this if you’re looking for a story that proves you can achieve anything you set your mind to, where formal education holds little weight in the real world. Or read it if you’re in the mood for a story about a hot mess finding love.

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley, thank you to them. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

First, I want to say how great the second half of this was. This book is the exact level of messy I do like. Ember was absolutely a hot mess, but I was rooting for her! The romance was nice as well and I liked them together. They had good chemistry right away in my opinion and the more they were together, the more I really liked their relationship. This isn't quite 5 for me simply because it took awhile to get going for me, and some scenes dragged a bit long. But overall, this was a great romance!

I cannot deal with the amount of lying in this book…I just came out of another romance with lying. I unfortunately did not vibe with this book at all. Which is a shame honestly but alas. Maybe it could work for some people and to that I say try it. Maybe I’ll try the author’s sophomore novel.

This was such a fun romcom! Our female lead was funny, and I liked the journey she went on through the story. I was so incredibly stressed every time she lied and had to juggle all of her stories. I definitely hit my peak, so if she told one more lie I may have exploded. Mostly because I knew it was going to be a mess when she was caught. It ended up being a great story of self discovery and growth. And the romance was great of course.

I'm so happy to be able to read Indigenous romance with more stories being published (Nava's being the first traditionally published!). We need stories of Native people falling in love with each other and living contemporary lives. I also think the romance genre, allows us to explore Indigenous topics and issues in a new way. Can't wait for more from Danica Nava!

I was excited to dive into The Truth According to Ember because of the Indigenous romance angle, but unfortunately, I found myself frustrated throughout the story. The constant lying became overwhelming; honestly, it wasn't even that clever. Ember's lies seemed more like a plot device to move the story forward, but it felt like it needed to be more authentic and engaging.
The lack of chemistry between Ember and Danuwoa only added to my disappointment. Their connection could have been more genuine and compelling, and I struggled to see what would make their relationship work. While I understand the book's central theme is facing the consequences of deception, the constant web of lies overshadowed what could have been a fascinating exploration of identity and love.
The pacing also felt off, with too much focus on the lies and not enough on character development or real emotional connection. Ultimately, I couldn't fully invest in Ember's journey, leaving me wishing for a more substantial, more meaningful plot.

I can’t continue with this story, Ember just lies and lies and lies and I can’t root for her. I don’t have an interest to see where this story goes and I’m so upset about it.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange of my honest review.

Ember has been turned down from a lot of jobs, so…she decides to get a little creative with her experience and race/ethnicity. And it works – she lands a perfect job. But after a meet cute with the hot IT guy, Danuwoa, she realizes that maintaining those “lies,” while also trying to develop a real relationship, is a bit fraught. And then…between a coworker catching the two in a compromising position and using that to blackmail Ember, family problems (her troublesome brother is back and just can’t seem to get his life together), and trying to figure out how to compromise her own life/personal goals with some of the “untruth” pickles she’s gotten herself into, things are really about to come to a head for Ember. Can she handle all that and manage to save her relationship with Danuwoa (the one very true thing she’s got right now)?

Ok, let me just get this out of the way first. If I’m being honest, lying as a plot point stresses me. Like, a lot. To the point where I usually steer clear of it. However, I had seen good reviews and wanted to give this a go. So, it’s a tough sell for me from that start, just to set expectations here at the beginning. That being said, the stress of this plot, the corporate blackmail and lying, truly is soooo stressful. And it’s not just the external stuff. The author parallels it (nicely, as far as writing and character development), with Ember lying to herself too. It applies to her interactions with both her brother and what the actuality is of the feelings between her and Danuwoa. And it extends, deeply, into her work thinking too. She keeps saying “just this one more thing and it’ll go away” to herself and I just…how does she not see that eventually she’s crossed so many work legal/ethic lines that being fired for dating a coworker would actually be the better outcome?? Like some of the stuff she’s doing has legit legal consequences, not just a workplace HR issue. I know she felt like she was between a rock and a hard place, but it was just difficult to swallow. On that note, I just don’t love the extremity of her “I don’t need to ask for help” – not just in her, but really in any characters that have this trait to an extreme – because there were multiple people she could have gone to for help, not even all with power imbalances to overcome either, and she chose to just dig herself deeper and hope it would go away. Overall, not my favorite type of character.

And yet…I didn’t dislike Ember herself. I actually found her “hot and cold” on Danuwoa, her (low key deserved) grudge holding her back from forgiving her brother, the general direction and situation of her life/job, etc. was all super relatable. She’s prickly and unsure, but her heart is in the right place and her frustrations are all based in very real unfair life situations, and that’s so real. Ember’s entire storyline was a really unique coming of age. One that highlights taking life one step at a time, making (and being proud of) achievable goals, and remembering you have a community around you (even if that hurts/has tough memories sometimes too), so you don’t have to do everything alone. It’s accessible and, again, super relatable, in a way that not all romcom leads’ stories are. For real, the ‘learning to ask for help’ piece alone was really impactful, and an important lesson for many to learn. I thought her general arc was fantastic. On the other hand, our male MC, Danuwoa, was a bit flat. Maybe too easy? He’s a cinnamon roll, which I love, but he could have used maybe just a bit more depth? There wasn’t anything wrong, necessarily, I just felt like, for how good Ember’s character development was (and really, her brother Sage’s as well), his was lacking something.

Last couple thoughts. There was an absolutely hilarious poking at corporate and professional culture BS. Like, how degrees and connections are required for basic level jobs that with reasonable training, literally anyone can competently do (even without the degrees and definitely without the connections). Lolz. Also, the authors note at the end is stunning. Seeing where Nava pulled from her own experiences to craft this story, and seeing where the fire and heart and fight for a happy ending that Ember had was crafted out of, adds such power to the messages in the narrative you just finished. The messages were already strong and necessary, so the added emphasis and strength was extra in the best, intense, way.

I’m coming away from this a fan of Nava’s writing and definitely interested in more! While some tropes/plot devices weren’t my personal favorite, the effect of the whole overcame that (which possibly makes it even more impressive).

I was unfortunately not a fan of this book and ended up dnfing. I just couldn't get into the story. I think I'll return to this at a later date but for now, I am closing it and hoping I'll like it later on.