cute! some parts of this storyline may have been suited it to be a young adult title as opposed to adult romance. that being said, it was fun and sweet and I had fun reading it.

I really wanted to love this book - it had all the ingredients to be a fantastic read… but it really fell short for me (his debut last year didn’t “wow” me, either). I hoped his sophomore release was going to be a writing and storytelling/storyline improvement, but I didn’t love this one. It was fine enough, but forgettable.

I once read a fantastic novel about a straight drag queen that three years later I still think about the brilliance of (by an Irish romance writer). I guess that is what I was hoping to find here, but Filipino and gay! Maybe I was holding it to those same standards and expectations?

I know that there will be many who connect to this one and love it so it’ll have a great following, but it wasn’t for me. It felt like it was 85% about the personal development of Rex and reconnecting to his drag past, and only 10% about his romantic relationships with the couple partners the book is about (with the other 5% about his family).

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the early copy. This is my honest opinion.

Dominic Lim’s writing is both heartfelt and fast-paced with the perfect blend of humor, nostalgia, and consciousness. I loved Karaoke Queen for its coming-of-age air while simultaneously tackling issues in the LGBTQIA+ community. Rex’s character has you invested from the first page and all the supporting characters bring this story to life. I cannot wait for more Dominic’s work!

3.5 rounded up. Very cute story, felt rushed in some parts. If you’re into romcoms, hallmark movie style writing, Filipino food/representation, drag queens, karaoke, healing familiar relationships, and being true to yourself - this book is for you! It reads VERY YA but is an adult fiction novel. I enjoyed it.

I liked this book but it didn’t quite hit for me as much as All the Right Notes. Possibly because there was a love triangle (which is one of my meh’s)? Also I feel like Rex was a little mean (in an unintentional thoughtless way) and more than once found myself thinking‘Justice for Paolo!’.

I did very much enjoy the peek into drag culture. And Rex’s mother is the sweetest, most supportive parent a queer person could have.

I switched between print and audio and enjoyed the narration by Manila Luzon.

I had a good time with this. I liked seeing Rex fall back in love with drag. I didn't fully get the point of the Aaron plot but it was fine.

I received an arc through netgalley.

This was such a lovely story of self-rediscovery and being true to who you are. I totally understand Rex’s fears of revealing his Drag persona and Paolo was the perfect book boyfriend. He was patient, he was sweet, willing to help and also funny. Plus, I love a man who pines 😭 that speech at karaoke? SO ROMANTIC! I can see this helping so many queer boys and drag queens out there who need this story of triumph despite the hate that may be geared towards them.

I highly recommend this book! It was a celebration of queer joy and drag. The book touches on homophobia and violence against drag queens, but the ending is happy and hopeful.

This book is also a celebration of Filipino culture and explores the Filipino American immigrant experience. The food descriptions were great, and I loved learning about baklâ identity. (Part of my extended family is from the Philippines, but I didn’t learn much about Filipino culture growing up, so I’m really glad books like this exist to help me learn!)

There were a few plot twists that I was able to guess in advance, but those moments weren’t any less enjoyable to read.

Paolo (the love interest) was so great and felt like the perfect match for Rex. I loved watching the gradual development of their relationship.

Rex’s mom, sister, and uncle are all so supportive of Rex’s drag and I look reading books with such great and affirming family relationships. Overall, the side characters were interesting and fun.

Much of the book is set in a gay bar that the characters are trying to save. The setting was well-described. It felt like it was a real place and the characters’ emotional attachment to the bar was clear. I think that part of the book will be relatable to anyone who has been in a queer-normative public place where they felt at home and like they could be their true self.

Overall, I recommend this book and I’m so glad the author wrote it!

Highlights:
- achillean romance
- joy of drag & karaoke
- Filipino culture
- exploration of gender expression
- supportive family

What a stunning amazing novel. Full of heart, complex relationships and love, this is one of my favorite reads of the year.

Perfect for fans of Drag Race, Chappel Roan’s Pink Pony Club and To Wong Foo.

What an absolute joy! This was exactly what I needed during a very stressful time. I read All the Right Notes last year and I could not have been more excited for Lim’s sophomore novel and it was just as exquisite and entertaining as the first! The characters are realistic and the romance is so wonderfully heart warming. This is an instant queer classic for me!

A huge thank you to Forever Publishing for the advanced copy of this book!
.
The squeals I squealed as I read this book can not be fully described. Lim's first book was one of my favorite novels of all time, I've already read it three times and I absolutely couldn't wait to get my hands on Karaoke Queen. Set in the same universe as All The Right Notes, this book brings the same sense of love and self-acceptance to life.
.
I don't typically enjoy love triangles, but I so desperately wanted Rex to get his happily ever after that I was willing to overlook it. For me, it was really the family and cultural love that took the cake over all. Can't wait to see what Lim comes out with next.

This was beautiful! It took me a bit to get into it, but I loved the found family! I could see this being adapted into a sitcom, it’s written like one with the silly hijinks. As a book it’s a touch chaotic but I could see it doing so well on TV.

All the Right Notes was one of my favorite reads of 2023, so I had high expectations for Dominic Lim’s sophomore release. It did not disappoint. This book was so freaking cute and an absolute joy to read. I was instantly invested and found myself blowing off my responsibilities to keep reading!

Rex locked away his drag persona years ago, but a chance encounter with “the one that got away” has Regina Moon Dee coming out of retirement to help save his ex (Aaron)’s bar. There’s just one little catch – Aaron can’t know that Regina = Rex. While Rex is sure Aaron is the one for him, he’s less sure about Aaron’s ability to love him as Regina, so he wants to keep that secret under wraps as long as possible.

As you would expect, there is plenty of comedy around the attempts to keep Regina’s identify secret, but Rex’s story also deals with a lot of personal growth, some complicated family dynamics, and a great found family. All of this runs alongside a super sweet romance between Rex and a man who not only accepts but loves and embraces every aspect of who he is. Truly, this book was an absolute joy, I loved every minute I spent reading it, and I’ve already bought the audio for a reread.

I don’t think I’ve ever eaten Filipino food, but this book has had me saving recipes like crazy! Can’t wait to try some of them!

I love this book. Loved loved loved loved loved. Buy it, buy a copy for your friend. Buy a copy for your mailman. Buy a copy for your book club. Buy copy for everybody

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!!

What a good book! I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I loved the main characters! They had great chemistry and worked so well together. I loved how the book just flowed. My first by this author but will not be my last!!!

CW: homophobia, transphobia, hate crime (recounted), violence (recounted),

I would like to thank Forever, Grand Central Publishing, for inviting me to review a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Please be aware that there are some minor spoilers in this review.

Rex has no interest for being in the spotlight. Well, not anymore. But after stumbling into his ex-boyfriend from college at their struggling gay bar, Rex has to bring his drag persona out of retirement to help save the bar. Yet, during the process of bringing back Regina Moon Dee, Rex learns to step back into the spotlight and as his true self.

I will state upfront that Karaoke Queen is NOT a second chance romance. I know the official blurb as well as how this book was marketed made it sound like it’s a second chance romance, but that was not the case when reading this book. Honestly, I thought it was second chance romance and when the book went to the love triangle, I got really confused about who was supposed to end up with each other.

But beyond my initial confusion over the book, I did enjoy reading it. It was funny and I felt that it was very easy to get sucked into the book, especially with Lim’s writing style in terms of developing character dynamics and interactions. Additionally, I felt that there was some really solid character development in both Rex and Paolo, specifically with focusing on how they struggle with hiding parts of who they are to appease others and they ultimately work addressing that issue.

However, I did had some critiques on the book.

First, there’s a plot twist involving Rex’s ex, Aaron, at like the 2/3 mark of the book that I don’t think it was absolutely necessary to include in the book. By that point, I felt that Aaron had done his role as a character and the plot twist honestly felt like something added to Aaron something to do in the book (even though it doesn’t really add much to the plot at that point).

Secondly, for the second half of the book, I felt that the writing was a bit too dialogue-heavy. When I would be reading a conversation play out on the page, the characters would be going on and on about whatever they wanted to talk about to the point where it just felt like, at least for me as the reader, that it felt forced. I could feel the character voice trying to emerge, but it was like that voice was reading directly from a script instead of genuine conversation.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy the book and I would honestly read it again. If you like romances featuring fun karaoke nights, delicious descriptions of food, and the greenest of green flag men, I would definitely check out this book.

I absolutely LOVED Karaoke Queen!

The message of this book is don't be ashamed to hide how you are. Although this is exactly what Rex is trying to do for portion of the novel to try and win back his ex-boyfriend, ultimately he's most comfortable when he isn't trying to be someone he isn't. I loved the characters throughout and thought the secondary characters were just as strong as the primary ones. There is also forgiveness present in this novel as characters learn to grow on their own. There are instances of homophobia so be careful with yourself if that is triggering.

The audiobook is super fun, read by Manila Luzon, who many may know from RuPaul's Drag Race. I dually read and listened to this book and would recommend either format for your reading experience. If you read Dominic's previous novel, All the Right Notes, you'll notice a couple easter eggs, one a little more present than the other. Dominic Lim has easily become an auto-buy author for me. I can't wait to see what he writes next!

Thank you to Netgalley and Forever for an e-copy in exchange for review consideration.

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a really cute, charming story. I liked the characters and thought the story was simple and fun. It's a good pick if you're looking for something light and colorful.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

This was such a fun read and I really enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley and Forever for the advanced copy!

In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices Queer romance-drama with the protagonist having an alter ego as a drag queen. Nice characters, wonderful storyline, decent romance, amazing inclusive rep. I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did, especially as it had a few too many YA/NA vibes for my liking.

Plot Preview:
Rex is openly gay and has embraced this part of his identity well. However, he has another identity that he has suppressed since many years. When he discovers that his college sweetheart Aaron, the one that got away, is back in town and struggling to keep his karaoke bar afloat, Rex jumps in. Or rather, his alter ego, the talented drag queen who goes by ‘Regina Moon Dee’, takes charge. There’s only one problem: Aaron has no fondness for drag queens, so Rex has to keep his Regina side a secret. As Regina grows popular, Rex finds it increasingly troublesome to reconcile his two lives. But can he openly be Rex and Regina without losing Aaron again?
The story comes to us in Rex’s first-person perspective.

Honestly, I had just one reason to take this book. In the last few years, I have consciously strived to be inclusive in my reading, but no book with a drag queen as a protagonist had appealed to me so far. Until I saw this one. Drag, Filipino background, karaoke, MM romance – four enticing elements that the book does justice to. Hooray!

Bookish Yays:
💃 A realistic book about drag queens, with a drag queen character as the main protagonist and several other amazing queens inside – take my Yay!
💃 Everything about karaoke, including the highs and the lows. Loved how karaoke was actually used in the plot instead of keeping it as the background device.
💃 The Filipino culture and all the yummy-sounding Filipino food 😋, thanks to Rex’s and Paulo’s Filipino roots.
💃 A book where most of the scenes are in a bar and yet alcohol is not overflowing at any point –so relieved!
💃 The entire drag journey, from the positives to the pains. I learnt wayyyyyyyy more about drag dressing than I had bargained for. But no complaints; I loved it!
💃 The importance of parental support in a child’s life. Rex’s parents were supportive of him in different ways: one wanted him to be everything he dreamt of, the other wanted him to have peace of mind and security. I love how his dad isn’t portrayed as the villain just because he wasn’t happy with Rex’s drag preference. The entire parenting arc comes out as realistic than ‘filmy’.
💃 A separate (and well-deserved) yay for Rex’s mom – the kind of mom every kid, queer or otherwise, should have. She might be a bit too loud but her heart is 24 carat gold. Probably my favourite character in this book.
💃 Paulo – the greenest green flag ever. Loved his character!
💃 The themes: mental health, parental problems, bullying, identity issues, and the struggles of coming out. All important, none over the top.
💃 The final few scenes – made my stony heart turn to mush!

Bookish Mixed Bags:
💄 Rex – a good main character but no head for practical thinking when it comes to love. I felt like shaking him towards common sense and making him understand the dangers of a relationship based on secrets. (Do note that my jaded middle-aged brain has partly to do with my feelings. I am sure those in their twenties would have loved Rex unconditionally.)
💄 I didn’t bargain for a romantic triangle in this plot, and as I am not too fond of these, I was a bit disappointed. Plus, it's quite easy to see who the winner of the love wars will be as the writing leaves no room for suspense. Still, the execution wasn’t so bad and the M/M romance was actually satisfying to read.
💄 The plotting is a bit too convenient, but that’s a hallmark of this genre, so this is not a major issue.

Bookish Nays:
❌ Personal preference. I am not fond of writing where every human interaction has to involve a reference to astounding anatomical attributes. (gorgeous eyes, beautiful lips, smooth hair,… you get the drift! It makes the book seem very YA.
❌ Rex supposedly works in the legal department of a biotech company but the only time we see him actually at work is when he's using the conference room to chitchat with his friend Kat about his plans for karaoke or drag. I wish his character-building had been more holistic.

All in all, I’m honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. I mean, I did have my moments of eyerolling when the talks went to the allure of the eyes and the lips and all that, but most of my complaints were based on personal reading preferences. I truly appreciate how this novel went much beyond being a straightforward MM romance-drama.
Definitely recommended to those looking for a typical love story but with highly atypical protagonists and many heartwarming moments.
4 stars.
My thanks to Forever and Grand Central Publishing for providing the DRC of “Karaoke Queen” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.