A cute sapphic coming-of-age romance that is much more coming-of-age than romance. I did like how much it focused on all of the relationships in Lynda's life and how they were shifting, but I do wish a little more weight had been given to her romance with Angela. It was at the point when I started the book that I didn't know which of the characters she was interacting with was going to be her love interest and had to go back and check the summary to be sure. I did appreciate that both characters were asexual (though I wish Lynda's realization had either already happened or had a little more weight than her friend handing her an ace romance book and immediately afterward, with no thought, she goes "oh I'm ace!"), but since neither is aromantic, I wish their chemistry had been a little stronger.

Lynda also falls firmly in the "very realistic teenager, but infuriating to be in her head as an adult" space. She's very determined and sure of what she wants, but since she's...sixteen, this comes with a lot of "but what if this isn't it" and her doubling down with "no, this /has/ to be it". Again, very realistic sixteen-year-old, but especially during the third-act-meltdown, it got to be A Lot. So your mileage will vary on that.

All in all, I did love the otome game aspect of it and thought that was a really cute way to build Lynda and Angela's relationship and learn more about each other.

<4.5>

the romance in this was absolutely adorable but in my opinion, it’s not the main plot of the book. it’s more coming-of-age than romance. i loved the characters, the friendships, and the family dynamics. all in all, a cute and mostly lighthearted read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s/Delacorte Romance for providing me with an ARC!

I had a really fun time reading this book and enjoyed it a lot!!

Things I liked:
1. The plot. This book was heavily arts focused. I loved that there were art and music based characters. There was so much comparison between the two characters, both wanting to go professional at some point during the novel.
2. The video game aspect. It was a major part of the plot, with Lynda doing character art for Angela, but it wasn’t overpowering. I don’t know anything about otome games but it was still easy for me to understand the basic premise of them and how they are created.
3. The development of family relationships. The book starts of with Lynda’s dad getting remarried to the mom of someone in her grade. Lynda begins by feeling less wanted than her stepsister, and not really fitting into the family, but her journey through the story with them was great to see.

Things I didn’t like (as much)
1. Lynda could get REALLY ANNOYING at some times. Her feelings towards how she was being treated were very valid, though I think it was a little overdone. She wasn’t my favorite MC to read about.

From dealing with a new step sibling to a broken tablet her dreams of going to RISD on the line, sixteen year old Lynda Fan will do anything to make her dreams come true, even start designing game characters for the most unlikely girl in her class... who she begins to have a crush on as well. Theres a lot of change happening in Lynda's life, from her dad remarrying to her moving out of her apartment and now giving up her room to her new step sibling. Lynda's only focus is getting into art school at RISD, despite her dad and her new step mom focusing on only funding her stepsister's violin lessons rather than help Lynda. Things only get worse when her new step-cousin breaks her drawing pad... and her dad won't buy her a new one so to her great surprise another opportunity comes, in the form of a rich and arrogant classmate, Angela Wu. Angela offers to hire Lynda to design the characters for Angela's otome game and in exchange she will buy her a new drawing tablet and for any extra work Lynda does, Angela will compensate her. It's too good of a deal to refuse and Lynda desperately needs the money for her college funds. The more time Lynda spends with Angela the more she is beginning to realize she didn't know her that well and that she might be falling for her, yet Lynda's home relationship also begins to take a strain as all the focus is on her stepsister and Lynda begins to feel like she has to single handedly fund her own college dreams. Can Lynda make her dreams come true without losing her new family? This was such an interesting story about growing up and the struggles we face while what we blind ourselves to in the pursuit of what we want. Lynda was a really realistic teen, she doesn't mean bad but she feels like everyone is against her and with her determination, she feels like she has to carry the burden all by herself and keep all her resentment inside of her rather than talk it out. I felt like a lot of Lynda's struggles were relatable and how she could blind herself to the struggles of others around her. I also really enjoyed the romance as Angela was a demisexual-asexual character and Lynda was an asexual character. The romance was sweet and the story felt very relatable. It's a cute read and one I'd definitely recommend for YA readers.

Release Date: March 4, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and Random House Children's | Delacorte Romance for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was actually really cute. It wasn't as heavy on the romance as I expected but it was good. Her parents should have invested in getting her therapy. I just wanted to give her a hug and let her talk out her feelings.

I received an arc through netgalley.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for an early release copy of Love Points To You by Alice Lin.

Love Points to You was a cute read! I enjoyed the romance between Lynda and Angela, these two are so cute and perfect for one another. I liked the banter and romance between them, it’s rare for me to find a romance that is giggle inducing but this is it for sure. We get so many cute and funny scenes between the two that I can’t help but laugh or be in awe with them. I liked the romance bits but I equally liked reading about the otome game parts, I found them to be interesting aspect and I almost wish we had gotten more of a inside look of them working on the game together. I also really love the stickers above each chapter they were adorable little additions to the book, my favorite out of all of them has to be the buncleaver ones! They are the cutest stickers!

Overall im giving Love Points to You a four star rating, there are still a few aspects that stick out to me that I didn’t enjoy. At the eighty percent mark I was starting to lose interest in Lynda, the third act break-up/conflict felt rushed but the ending was still somewhat enjoyable.

This was such a cute young adult romance! As soon as I started it I couldn’t put it down!! Lynda is such a relatable main character, and I was on her side most of the book. Lynda and Angela had so many adorable moments throughout the book. I loved everything about this book, definitely going to have to check out Alice Lin’s work in the future!!

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 (rounded up)

Love Points to You was such a sweet and heartfelt YA coming-of-age story about family, dreams and facing your own flaws. I absolutely adored that we got two ace and biromantic characters in this book and the dual representation was so great to see!

I thought the depiction of Lynda’s struggles with her dreams of art school and fears of failure alongside her rocky relationship with her father were definitely some of the more emotional parts of the book for me and while I am not a big gamer by any means, I loved all the otome game references and development. While I devoured this book in a span of a couple of days, I do feel like the third act of the story was perhaps slightly rushed and the conflicts resolved in a bit too perfect of a manner. I would have loved to have seen a couple more chapters with Lynda repairing her relationship with her stepfamily as well (especially with Josie as I loved seeing their step-sister relationship grow) since the ending left me wanting more.

All in all, this story definitely caught me off guard in the best way possible and I’m so glad I picked it up!

Thank you to Penguin Teen Canada and Netgalley for providing this e-arc in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts in this review are my own.

A lovely sapphic read! It was quick and easy, and I loved the troupe and artsy vibes.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children's for allowing me the opportunity to review this book!

Oh my gosh so much fun!! What a swoony and sweat YA romance!!

This was a perfect quick and easy read. I loved the Asian American rep!!!

I hope to read more from this author!!!

4/5 stars

Thanks to the publisher!!

This was super cute. It was great to find dual ace representation! While I don’t know the first thing about otome, I was able to follow the references to it just fine. I loved Lynda’s voice and really felt for her being thrust into a new stepfamily, especially given her complicated relationship with her father. But Angela was my favorite character, a delightful combination of determined, sassy, and flirty. I could see why Lynda fell for her.

My only criticism is that parts of the third act rock bottom of Lynda ticking off everyone close to her felt a little forced to me (especially the falling out with her best friend), though I appreciated how everything was resolved.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

LOVE POINTS TO YOU is a delightful and swoony sapphic YA romance and perfect for fans of rivals to lovers. Thanks to NetGalley and Delacorte Romance for the advanced copy!

This was a cute YA opposites attract Sapphic romance between two Asian American teen girls. I liked it well enough and would recommend to fans of authors like Adiba Jaigirdar. It was also well done on audio narrated by Katharine Chin. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

4.75 stars rounded up

Absolutely adorable Sapphic YA story with an asexual main character, and I devoured the first 85% of this book. It's cute, sweet, and involves some family and friend drama, and Lynda is flawed. I do think the conflict resolution was rushed, and I would have loved another chapter of epilogue to wrap up the story. I loved the writing and the focus on art and music and passion, talent, and effort. This was such a fun read!

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

This was a fun YA novel, and I loved seeing the artist expression, as well as the video game fun! It was very cute, and I loved the romance! I will definitely add this to recommendation lists!

Thank you so much for allowing me to read the ARC!

A coming of age story about the complicated reality of becoming an adult, falling in love, deciding what “to do” with your life, and realizing that the adults in your life are figuring it out just as much as you are.

This book was not a romance - I would classify it more as a YA novel with some romance. There was a balanced focus on the main characters family, friends, self, and her love interest.

This book was so successful in its portrayal of Junior year pressures and family stress. While I went into it thinking the romance would be a larger focus, I am not disappointed and found the drama and storyline between her family and friends just as - if not more - intriguing.

I will say that the things I found disappointing about the book were not because of the book itself but because I feel that the description/marketing of the book gave me the wrong expectations. I would not classify this as a rivals to lovers novel and hesitate to classify this as a romance when the book’s main plot could exist without the romance element (they could have easily been friends/business partners with the same fights/conflicts). I was expecting more romance going into the book - including the development of feelings/tension/build up to a romantic relationship but still really enjoyed it and couldn’t put it down!

First and foremost, I love how this YA novel is actually age appropriate. The representation in it is also something that isn't seen very often. However, for a novel that's marketed towards people who want a romance, I think this book lacks the relationship building seen in most romances. Much of the story is focused on Lynda and the issues she has with her family. Besides that, this story is very cute and an easy read.

Thank you for the opportunity to read an e-arc of Love Points to You by Alice Lin and apologies for my late review, life got busy and I've been catching up on arcs over winter break. Love Points to You was so cute!! Ah, how I love queer ya rom-coms.

I think the conflict wrapped up too quickly but arrived too slowly, and I felt like the book ended before we really got closure (but in a way that didn’t feel entirely deliberate) - though I guess it mirrors life that way.

I think the otome game itself was a little too hand-wavey, like we never got to really see what the game itself would look like. We didn’t get draft passes with stand-in character art or any discussion of coding or even met the other collaborators. And there were whole stretches of book where Angela was just absent and pieces of her story were all but dropped (Arun??)

But I really liked the closure with Brian and Amy. I liked seeing the adults own up to messing up and making a game plan to do better.

This was cute read with a character that is blunt and a bit selfish learning how to care for others. I know that’s a bit bare bones but overall we watch as a driven girl learns to put the needs of others before herself and also finds herself forming deeper connections with those around her. It was a sweet story that had some moments that felt very real and made the story very satisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.