The fun parts of Ex Marks the Spot are Taiwan, the food, solving the clues Gemma’s formerly unknown and now dead grandfather left for her and art. I never did connect with Gemma – she overreacts to everything making me wonder how she manages to get around an unknown city (she has never gone anywhere before) and why Alex, who has been treated badly by her for four years, would still like her. I still enjoyed it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group for this DRC.
#ExMarkstheSpot #NetGalley

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. i have enjoyed Chao's previous books.

enjoyed the representation and learning more about Taiwanese culture and food; Gemma inherits a mysterious treasure hunt in her grandfather's will, although her mother does not want her to go to Taiwan. she finds a way to go through her high school nemesis Xander and a program that must be like Birthright in a way to visit Taiwan.

the adventures there were really interesting to read, however the characters were somewhat immature. as an adult reader, my perspective is a little different than the intended audience. i did like the enemies to lovers trope of this book.

well written and dynamic characters were a big plus.

please note this book was not available via Kindle and was challenging to read on my phone.

4/5 stars out 12/31/2024.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a YA book and I’m so glad NetGalley provided an ARC to this book. I loved it. I found it refreshing and fun with an absolutely feel-good competitive but meant to be relationship between the Gemma and Xander. Being of an Asian background myself I totally related to the stories behind the Asian families and how we don’t really see them as people themselves but more like entities we somewhat revere or feel not so attached to as we should like Americans seem to be like. I remember coming to the US when I was 6 years old and wanting to just be an American and how my parents wanted me to still call them respectfully in the same names of my country rather than Dad and Mom. I lost the ability to speak the language and regret not being able to pass it down to my own kids. But enough about myself. This book was brilliant and had me from the beginning with the adventure of a lifetime. I found it beautifully written and maybe someday I too can travel there to see the wonders with my own eyes.

This was soooo cute! I flew through this book. I read the last 50% of this in a night and absolutely loved it! It hooked me from the beginning and I loved Gemma's character development. I loved that it was more important than her relationship with Xander, but he was still a very important part of it. I love a good rivals to lovers, and a rivals to lovers with a found family? Sign me UP! The TARPers were so much fun to read about!

I had such a good time. The scavenger hunt was a good plot and I loved that we got to travel with them and try to solve some pieces as well.

One of my favorite books this year, I highly recommend giving it a read! And LOOK at that cover. I want the physical copy just so I can prop it up and stare at it forever.

Thank you so much NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for an advanced copy!

I need to agree that this was phenomenal!! If you want a good laugh and a good romance pacled with some angst, then READ THIS!!! I devoured the lovers to rivals to lovers so fast!🤭

Thankyou to Netgalley, the Author and the Publisher for this wonderful ARC!!

Booksta post coming soon🥰

What a fantastic YA read! This is the first book I have read by this author. I absolutely love the characters and how she brings the scenery alive for the readers. My favorite part of the book was all the different clues that they had to solve too!

This was an incredibly well-written book about a teenage girl trying to discover her roots after her estranged grandfather dies, leaving her with a series of puzzles that takes her all around Taiwan. As Gemma travels around Taiwan for the first time, we are also immersed into what she experiences in the culture and history of Taiwan. On her trip, she meets other children of first-generation immigrants, who each have a different relationship with their families and their culture. I resonated with Gemma's struggle of finding her own identity as an American with two cultural identities and how she balances the two. The book has a great message that there is really no right way to do this.

This book also focuses a lot on family. Gemma reconnects with long-lost family but also realizes the meaning of family. Just because they are blood-related doesn't mean they are her true family. As she finds out more about her grandfather, we kind of see her grandfather's life story revealed just as Gemma is also finding herself. It was heartwarming to see Gemma appreciate and understand her mom's perspective while also growing to be more proud of who she is and less insecure.

There is a lovers to rivals to lovers trope between Gemma and Xander, and I loved them together. While Xander seems to be more integrated into the Taiwanese culture, he still experiences struggles with his more traditional family. I thought Gemma and Xander balanced each other out very well.

Overall, I truly enjoyed reading this book. While there is romance, the book definitely focuses a lot more on Gemma's journey into finding her cultural identity. It goes in depth to the (mouthwatering) food culture as well as the language. I resonated with her struggles, and I would highly recommend this book.

Thank you to PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group and NetGalley for the ARC!

It wasn’t exactly what I expected but it was okay. It was a quick read and though there were parts that bothered me like the two leads didn’t seem to be fully fleshed out or even like each other. It was a book and I am always going to enjoy reading them.

LOOK AT THAT COVERRRRR!!

this was my first gloria chao book and boy did she not disappoint. this was everything and more!

thankyou netgalley and gloria chao for the arc. all opinions are my own!

Loved it!
Read this in an afternoon, What a fun story of a girl graduating from high school who goes on a trip to Taiwan where she discovers information about her family and herself. Gemma has grown up with her mother as her only family. Her mother has worked two jobs to support them and money has always been tight. This is a delightful story filled with fun, adventure and romance. I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend it if the synopsis sounds interesting to you. I will definitely be looking for other books by this author. Happy reading!

thanks to netgalley and penguin group for the free earc in exchange for a fair and honest review!

ok. this didn't work for me.
the entire first half of the book was xander and gemma being horrible people to each other. and not in the "oh, it was a misunderstanding all along!" type of way. xander literally calls gemma a wet blanket to her face for like 25% of the book, and he is not joking when he does so.
i do think the exploration of assimilation was interesting, and that aspect was most of the reason i rated this book 2 stars instead of 1. gemma's complete disconnect from her roots and the impact that has had on her was something i hadn't thought of before, and i was happy to be able to learn of something like that.
another thing that really bugged me about this book was that xander literally steals a painting frame off the wall of a museum and says he did it to like... teach gemma how to have fun? like normally i can suspend my disbelief but that one was... ridiculous.
this book isn't all bad. i actually did like the characters that were introduced and a lot of the activities and riddles throughout. honestly, the only thing i really disliked about this book was the main characters.

So much fun, highly recommend if you want a good laugh and a great romance. I love a good lovers to ex to lovers type romance

This is an extremely sweet enemies-to-lovers story, blending self-exploration, connecting with roots, Asian heritage, and an adventurous treasure hunt with lots of smart, impeccably and intricately developed puzzles!

I enjoyed most of it and felt the urge to order from the nearest restaurant after reading about the mouth-watering foods the author mentioned. But I think it's even better to travel to Taiwan to explore those tastes firsthand.

The story revolves around Gemma and her ex-arch nemesis and co-valedictorian, Xander (Alex). Recently graduated, Gemma learns from a lawyer that her grandfather passed away just two weeks ago, leaving her an inheritance filled with puzzles. It seems like a secret treasure only she can decode by visiting Taiwan to learn more about her roots and family history. Her mother's overprotective attitude, even lying about family history due to her father's controlling demeanor, gives Gemma complex feelings. She yearns for her lost grandfather and secret family past while still loving her mother unconditionally, who raised her alone after leaving her own country and culture to give her daughter a better future.

Barely able to keep a roof over their heads and facing upcoming college tuition payments, Gemma hopes her grandfather's puzzling treasure hunt might solve her financial problems. When her mother refuses to pay for her trip to Taiwan, she reluctantly requests help from Xander, who's part of TARP: a special student program covering all expenses to discover Taiwan. She plans to conduct her treasure hunt while attending the program, and luckily, a spot opens up at the last minute.

Before boarding the plane, Gemma discovers their mothers and even grandparents were also rivals, each blaming the other for stealing their wealth. It seems like they're a modern Romeo and Juliet, their relationship doomed from the start. But who cares about Xander when Gemma connects with her roots, befriends new hot TARP members, visits sacred locations, and devours amazing food?

Yet, Gemma finds Xander in her corner when she needs him most. Will this complicate things, especially given their families' rivalry and their missed chance in the past? Read to find out!

Overall, this is a delicious, entertaining, and inspiring journey that will make you want to book a ticket to Taiwan and explore those amazing places and fancy food! I'm planning to do it myself. But please devour the book first.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Young Readers Group/Viking Books for Young Readers for sharing this adventurous YA novel's digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

✰✰✰✰✰

This was genuinely exactly what I wanted to read atm! I devoured this in two sittings (one day). I really related to Gemma in terms of personality and (unfortunately) some of her interactions with Xander, though she def gave me some secondhand embarrassment (love her tho!).
It was so fun to read about Gemma and the TARPers exploring Taiwan (the food descriptions were incredible), and I loved following along with the treasure hunt. The puzzles and Chinese wordplay were creative, and I did feel pretty proud of myself for figuring some of them out (though my Chinese is not the best, so I also felt represented in this book in terms of those lacking language skills). It was great to see Gemma learning about her culture and discovering more about her family history (and how it connects to Xander's family).
With the romance, I did like the lovers-to-rivals-to-lovers aspect. Xander was a cute love interest! They felt so realistic, and again, I did relate to Gemma when she had trouble thinking of witty things to say or when things came out wrong when she was speaking to Xander. I definitely felt for both of them, like when they were being a little too harsh to each other during some moments, but of course, things work out and they grow!
Overall, I'll say that I want to do a reread, especially to take another look at the puzzles. Also, I love that cover!

There were some things that went over my head about this book, and will for you too, if you're not Chinese, but I think it's super important for everyone to have their own voices books, and that fact does not at all change my rating. This book was super sweet, and fun. The puzzles didn't make sense to me at certain times because I think it was something only the MCs were supposed to solve, but I did find myself able to play along and figure out things before they did at times and that lended itself to the mysticalness of the story. I honestly guessed the plot twists pretty quickly, but that was more because I wanted it to be true, and was making it up in my head but when it turned out to be true I shed a few tears at the tenderness of it all. All in all a sweet book.

Huge thank you to Penguin Team for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Gemma Sun and her mom are a team. For her entire life, it's been the two of them against the world. Gemma's family is all deceased, leaving no connections to her Taiwanese culture-not that her mom wanted anything to do with it anyway. Gemma speaks only English, eats American food, and is 100% a proud American girl. Unlike her ex-boyfriend and longstanding rival, Xander Pan, who is about as perfectly proudly Taiwanese as they come-another thing he likes to smugly rub in her face.

But when a man shows up at Gemma's doorstep with shocking news-her grandfather has been alive this entire time, only passing away recently, and has left Gemma a clue to a treasure hunt to find the inheritance he has left her. The catch? She has to physically GO to Taiwan in order to follow the trail...and through a series of chaotic events, she ends up going WITH Xander. Taipei is gorgeous, filled with culture and beauty, pieces of a self she never knew existed...and maybe a connection and a romance that Gemma has been refusing to acknowledge for way too long.

This book was absolutely stunning. Enemies to lovers, cultural identity, a stunning setting, and a story about connecting with estranged and lost family ties. I am not Asian, but as an adoptee, a lot of the aspects of family and rejection and connection was incredibly emotional and relatable. This was my first book by Gloria Chao but it for sure won't be my last-I was in love with her writing style and her way of making things somehow beautifully funny and deeply emotional on the same page.

This book will be available on 12/31/24 and I highly highly recommend that you pick it up when you're able. 10/10

This was a super fun romance and treasure hunt/adventure book! It felt like a two in one special. There's also rivals to lovers which is one of my favorite tropes. This is the first Gloria Chao book I've read but now I want to read the others! If you like today tonight tomorrow or the inheritance games I recommend!