Gemma Sun has always believed it was her and her mom against the world. But when she unexpectedly learns that her grandfather has recently passed- a grandfather she believed had died when she was much younger- Gemma begins to question everything she ever knew. Her grandfather set up a treasure hunt in his will and Gemma is determined to complete it, even if it means dealing with her academic rival.

This was an absolutely fantastic read. I would have completed it sooner, but I just didn't want it to end. There were a couple moments in the beginning where I almost couldn't keep reading. I am very susceptible to secondhand embarrassment and YA novels tend to use that frequently. But it was a nice change in pace that this one only had a couple moments.

I loved the growth that all of our characters gain throughout the novel, no matter how small of a role they played. There were multiple characters that were dealing with figuring out what their Taiwanese heritage meant to them, and they each found themselves in ways that worked for each of them. And in terms of our heroine, Gemma's character developed in multiple ways. She connects with her heritage after growing up completely Americanized, her relationship with her mother is both weakened and strengthened, and she even learns more about her rival.

Also, I am an absolute sucker for a good treasure hunt. And this one was a well thought out hunt that felt reminiscent of National Treasure. The ultimate conclusion of the hunt was so satisfying. Plus, adding a dash of potential romance and you can't really go wrong!

If Gloria Chao's other works are as beautifully written as this, then I will absolutely be reading more!

This started off so promisingly. The main character’s inner thoughts were quite funny to read about and I liked the writing style. I also liked seeing Taiwan as Gemma learned about her homeland and all the descriptions of food were making me hungry!

However, this lost quite a bit of steam for me toward the middle and through to the end. I didn’t think Gemma and Xander had much chemistry, and they didn’t really spend much time together until later in the book. I also found the clues of the scavenger hunt to be totally random and obscure and yet somehow two teenagers were able to piece them together with little difficulty. This felt like it was trying to emulate the twists and turns of The Inheritance Games but these clues were just so vague that it made the scavenger hunt hard to follow.

Overall this wasn’t a bad book, but I was expecting more from it than what I got, particularly from the scavenger hunt aspects.

I don't even know where to begin with how much I loved this book. Intertwined with a fun mystery and young love, there are really thought provoking topics and insights. When Gemma and Xander graduate high school, the nemeses have no reason to see each other again, until Gemma's grandfather dies and sends her on a treasure hunt half way around the world that may or may not have an actual treasure at the end. This is worth every word!

Chao has been hit or miss for me and, in this book started out feeling a lot like a miss. Gemma starts out as a sympathetic character, someone who isn't perfect but seems to always play second fiddle to Xander. Xander is played up as the typical foil. But as the story starts to unfold, I found myself disliking Gemma the more I warmed up to Xander, and I"m not sure that was the objective of the story. I was probably 100 pages from the end when I kind of got back to rooting for Gemma to find the "treasure." And I did hope that it was all she wanted. Maybe it was the point where she and Xander find out the truth about their grandfathers.

But overall, the book was enjoyable. The quest parts felt a little too much, and I had to take most of them on fait, because I really didn't care one way or another about how they got from point A to B to C. I also figured out most of the plot twists, including the big reveal at the end. So, anti climatic I guess, although the fact that the big reveal was in the epilogue 5 months after leads me to believe that Chao didn't really care if I figured it out before and was underwhelmed at that point.

The characters are enjoyable enough. The relationships are believable. And the secondary players remain secondary which is just fine.

So, while I didn't think this would get a 4 star from me, in the end, I bumped it up because the ending was satisfying and worked through some of the things that had irritated me throughout. But there were huge chunks when they were figuring out the clues when I really just wanted to skip ahead.

Gloria Chao is one of my favorite authors and really one of the only people I can tolerate romances from. I thought this idea about a treasure hunt around Teipei was absolutely inspired and perfect for someone unfamiliar with Taiwanese culture who wants to learn more.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

‘I exhale in relief when our train pulls out at 6:30 a.m. on the dot. I feel like a hero departing on an epic journey. And I'm thrilled to be with my partner in crime, metaphorically, and, after yesterday, literally. After all, X marks the spot.’

EX MARKS THE SPOT – by Gloria Chao

‘For Gemma's whole life, it has always been her and her mom against the world. As far as she knew, all her grandparents—and thus her ties to Taiwanese culture—were dead. Until one day when a mysterious man shows up at her door . . . .’

I LOVE This Book! The temptation to venture down Spoilerville Lane and fill you in on all the deets is admittedly tempting—Not Gonna Lie! But, I will refrain.

I will tell you that the story within these pages is educational, cultural, funny, heartbreaking, and heartwarming, topped with a dash of romance, and a fun-filled treasure hunt by way of well-crafted puzzles that our main character, Gemma, must solve.

I love solving (Or attempting to solve, let’s be honest. The Hint button is way too convenient when I’m stumped ) mind-bending puzzles. I am a huge fan of Puzzle Books and online Hidden Object games that follow a storyline, wherein you solve puzzles and collect various objects that will be needed to move further into the game.

I have never been to Taiwan, so I had a blast looking up various Taiwanese food, culture, and sites online, I was able to ride along and share Gemma’s journey in what felt like a tangible experience.

Thank you, NetGalley and Viking Publishing, for providing me with an eBook of EX MARKS THE SPOT at the request of an honest review.

Highly Recommend!

Age Range: 12 & up
Grades: 7 & up
Scheduled For Release: December 31, 2024 (Though Subject To Change) Pre-order Now!

I received a free ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have a guilty pleasure that isn't even guilty at all. I am not Asian at all and I LOVE these type of books. It is like getting bit and pieces of a culture I would love to be a part of while enjoying one of my favorite hobbies, reading. Overall this was a cute book. It was fun to watch her stumble though a culture shift just like I would if I end up in an Asian country. It was enjoyable to see the puzzles throughout the book and get to know the characters. I think she had true growth through it all and I can't wait to read more from Gloria.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Unfortunately, Gemma’s journey to get to know her family history was overshadowed by her continued focus only on money that may be at the end, and I was so frustrated that even towards the end she was lashing out at Xander and not being able to appreciate the journey on the way to the destination. I also don’t think that Xander and Gemma made sense. I love an enemies to lovers trope, but I don’t think anything really changed during this book between them to justify the switch to being romantic love interests. Gemma was rude to Xander over and over again and never tried to really understand him, while he tried really hard to get her to appreciate being in Taipei and went out of his way for her to be included. I know she ended up discovering herself and tried to appreciate more by the end, but I still don’t think she did well with Xander and his feelings, so their relationship didn’t make sense. I really enjoyed the concept of learning about your family history through puzzles though.

While I'm not usually a fan of enemies to lovers plots, the scavenger hunt involved in this story kept me hooked. Additionally, I appreciate that the two weren't necessarily as much enemies as competitors with some misunderstandings thrown in. I enjoyed learning about Taiwan, especially the food. I found myself Googling images of some of the places visited to further immerse myself in the experience. Great armchair traveling book!

There are some books about high school/college aged kids that are written for kids the same age, and then there are others that are written in a way that makes them seem like they’re intended for a younger audience. Ex Marks the Spot feels like the latter. I don’t read middle grade books, so I don’t know if this would officially fall into this category, but it reads a little bit too much on the young side for me to truly enjoy it. That said, I think middle school me would have enjoyed this story about Gemma and Xander, who are brought together on a treasure hunt across Massachusetts and Taiwan that helps them mend their personal rift and learn more about the relationship between their grandfathers. Gemma and Xander come from different backgrounds with different personalities, which brings the enemies to friends element to the story. The treasure hunt element feels too convoluted, but I often find it difficult to follow those in books, where you’re relying on context from the protagonists. The best part of this to me was getting to experience Taiwan through the eyes of Gemma, even though this sometimes gets short changed because Gemma is in such a hurry to solve the treasure hunt. A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Really REALLY wanted to like this because the premise was so cool, but got to about 20% before calling it quits. There was a real lack of plot continuity that was brushed off as “oh yeah i lied about that too,” between the mother and daughter. The relationship between Gemma and Xander made no sense either, nor did the connection between their families that isn’t revealed until 20% in that seemingly neither of them knew?

Chao’s exploration of family secrets and cultural roots adds a profound depth to the story, transforming what initially seems like a quest for treasure into a journey of self-discovery and love. I was captivated by how every twist not only revealed hidden treasures but also the richness of Gemma’s heritage. This book is a delightful blend of adventure, romance, and emotional depth, making it an absolute must-read for fans of contemporary YA!

A well written and endearing tale that I couldn’t put down from the start. The descriptions were beautiful and the story was exciting!

I was very excited to get this book. However, it was not able to be sent to kindle. Therefore, it has to be read on the NetGalley app. Which is fine, I’ve started books through the app before. What is different is that this book is a PDF. It looks like the pages were scanned in. You cannot change the size of the font whatsoever. This made is extremely difficult to read and at the end of the day stopped me from finishing this book. I also don’t know how someone who has possible vision issues would be able to read this. Some people need bigger font or prefer bigger font.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun and flirty romance. I really enjoyed the adventure in the book. This was so much fun.

Thank you to NetGalley for letting me preview this book!

This book keeps you guessing with its variety of puzzles/clues, constant will-they-won’t-they vibes, and the emotional roller coaster that is this story. The author does an incredible job of adding just enough detail into the story to make it really come alive, and OMG the FOOD descriptions. I literally salivated!

But seriously, she captures the essence of what it means to not only discover who you are for yourself, but also how that relates to and changes with each new person you meet and let into your life, even if you don’t realize it. The emotions the characters work through and their actions and reactions are realistic and relatable, and overall it’s really just a job well done!

This was a really fun YA enemies-to-lovers book. All the characters were likable, both secondary and main. The treasure hunt and settings were fun in a unique kind of way. I liked that it was a relatively low stakes adventure. It made for a nice, light, entertaining story.

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

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.