This one just didn’t do it for me. I actually enjoyed all of the mythical parts to it more than anything. The mom is actually one of the worst characters I’ve read and was so annoying. She should have gotten her daughter taken away from her and she was putting her in these awful situations. Jasmine was trying so hard to give herself and her mom a good life, but no teenager should be the adult in any situation. The mom was selfish and the entire time and I felt bad for Jasmine. I’m glad she felt comfort in her mythical worlds and creatures and could find hope in her life. It didn’t really have a great ending as well; it feels like a sick cycle of fucked up family dynamics.

I enjoyed this very unique story, told through the eyes of a young teen who is slowly seeing that the magical whimsy she’s grown up knowing, isn’t so much magic as it is a mother struggling with emotional stability. This was an incredible experience to read as the author touched on some very deep themes and difficulties faced by teens in unstable homes. Questions about identity and belonging interwoven throughout. And the complicated emotions of love in all its forms.

This is a YA literary fiction, the writing has a bit more of a poetic prose style, and the narrator voice reflects well the characters age and circumstances.

While I as a reader would have enjoyed to see more closure at the end, but I think creatively it was a solid choice to leave the characters with an open ended question, reflecting the way things were ever changing for Jasmine throughout her life.

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it will come out in April. God, this book absolutely destroyed me. It's so sad but also such an important read on the damage of unstable family life. This is going to be stuck in my head for a while.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, there were parts I enjoyed and hit me hard emotionally, yet there were also parts where it fell absolutely flat for me. For one, I thought the dynamic between Jasmine and her mother was wonderfully constructed. I felt her pain and how torn she was, knowing that her mother is ill and not really able to care for her, but also not wanting to lose her, since she is the only family she has, and feeling protective over her. I also appreciated the more subtle way Jasmine's loneliness is portrayed throughout. She has trouble feeling at home, she does not have many friends and is constantly vigilant about 'the keeper', which only serves to isolate her more from the world around her, reinforcing her mother as her only friend.
The romantic aspect of Jasmine's relationship with Blaine in the second half of the book always felt very forced and clunky, whereas their friendship that preceded it felt much more organic and real. On that note, the fact that the relationship is between a 15 year-old and an 18 year-old also did not sit right with me, usually 3 years is a very insignificant age gap - but when one party is underage and the other is not, it starts becoming uncomfortable.
Another part of the narrative that felt rather half-baked was Jasmine's religiosity; the very beginning of the book made me think that religion/christianity was going to play much more of a role in Jasmine's struggles, which did surprise me at first because nothing along those lines is mentioned in the blurb, but then the christianity aspect hardly ever shows up after that. There was potential there to do something interesting with this, especially if the syncretistic nature of Jasmine's belief in a Christian god and a Chinese god (Pangu) had been explored. However, with the story in its current form, it would make much more sense to remove references to Jasmine being religious from the beginning of the book, as it proves completely irrelevant for the rest of her story.
The book is very readable, and on the faster end of medium-paced. There were many aspects of the book that I enjoyed, but many of them felt under-explored and thus somewhat shallow. It is, nevertheless, a fine book, though it couldcertainly use some polishing.

“Most people moved to pursue new jobs, or careers. But not us. We just followed the stars.”

Reading Sunlight Playing Over A Mountain felt like a road trip under the end of summer sky, snaking, like a river and its perpetually changing flow. It isn’t, by any means, a romance, but it’s a great coming of age story. I loved the writing style, how figurative and metaphorical it often was.
I loved how Jasmine’s mother struggles, and the fact that the author chose not to use labels, but to show us everything through a teenager's eyes instead. It allowed a glide towards the imaginary, just like Jasmine (and her mother) does, to escape the difficulty of the reality. The identity quest associated with the suffering linked to the family secret (and lies) was something especially difficult –but precious– to read for me, as it felt very relatable. I felt in tune with this girl, lost, angry, looking for answers. It didn’t make it easy to love the characters, but they felt true and raw, as much as the challenges they had to face. It is, I believe, a lesson, for us to love ourselves (and the others), despite (and thanks to) our flaws. Jasmine is incredibly human, no matter how much she tries to make a distance with the real world through her escapes via stories and myths. This book felt covered with the nostalgia typical of the teenage years, slow, messy, but full of hope, and left me with a lot of lingering feelings.

Thank you to the author and Literary Media Tours for the eARC of this book via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

I found this book to be quite interesting and to definitely be a journey of self discovery for our main character, Jasmine, as she navigates through growing up and the complexities of living with her Mother.

I definitely thought it was written well and it definitely was a book more about finding yourself, but I feel as though it was missing something. I did feel as though there were some points where it lulled for me, but it did pick up after a while.

Sunlight Playing over a Mountain is a young adult novel, the protagonist is 15 years old.

Her mother seems to have a problem with addiction ... and men. Her single mother has been avoiding telling her about her father and has filled in the blanks with Asian folklore.

My sister-in-law is Filippino, so I'm always on the lookout for books that might provide an additional glimpse into the Filippino culture.

Sometimes the book seemed a bit strange, they up and left the Midwest and drove to the Pacific Coast. The mother doesn't really reveal why until after they arrive.

A lot happens in this book ... especially for a 15 year old.

I really think that author Selina Li Bi did a good job with her debut novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Soho Press / Soho Teen for approving my request to read the advance read copy of Sunlight Playing over a Mountain in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is April 1, 2025. Approx 320 pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and soho teen for the ARC!

This was a very interesting look at family dynamics and coming of age when you feel like you are alone and struggling. I felt like it was hard to connect with the mother, especially because of what Jasmine has to go thru. But I think the writing was engaging and I really felt for Jasmine.

The ending was sweet!

3.5/5

Thank you to SoHo Press for an early review copy.

"Sunlight Playing Over a Mountain" is a coming of age story, focusing on Jasmine, who has been skipping school and dealing with her emotionally manipulative mother. As she does not know who her father is, she writes letters to the mythological god, Pengu. This book captures the turbulence of teenage emotion, through a series of unlikable characters and the general messiness of life. Selina Li Bi is clearly a talented author, and her poetic style really shines in her debut. Readers will note areas where the plot could have been tighter.

Loved it! Poetic, slice-of-life, and basically the YA contemporary book version of The Florida Project.

It’s a very unique story with flawed and interesting characters. It will stay with me!

Loved our protagonist and her journey stressed me out! What I appreciated the most was the lyrical prose and the literary fiction style of the novel, which is not common in YA literature! I loved that it focused more on character study than plot!

The only critique is that it felt a bit repetitive at times and it did feel a little too long, but overall it’s a beautiful and touching story!

*2.5 Stars*

This one really didn't work for me. I couldn't stand the characters, the main one read much younger than she actually was and I couldn't stand her. I also just didn't understand the point of any of it. The mother was awful, the child was awful. I also didn't like Blaine nor Cal. I was angry the entire time and just wanted to finish it and move on. It was quite a short read and I kept hoping for it to get better but it just didn't work for me.

Sunlight Playing over the Mountain follows Jasmine as she navigates the complexities of growing up and unraveling the tangled web of reality and fantasy through adolescence. I really adored the mix of Filipino and Chinese mythology that is weaved throughout the story and how it constructs Jasmine views the world around her and especially how it informs the way she navigates her complicated relationship with her mother.

I do think the latter half of the book was a lot stronger than the first half as I did find some of the dialogue and interactions between some of the characters to be a bit strange at times as tonally it seemed a bit disconnected from its context and made it hard to fully immerse myself in the scene. I think when the mix of fantasy myths and Jasmine’s understanding of her own background works, it works really well to highlight this straddling of two worlds that diaspora children often feel and are highlights of the books, but there are moments where the blended mythology seems to stilt the overall dialogue and interactions between the characters.

Overall, I really enjoyed this debut from Selina Li Bi and I think those looking for a YA coming-of-age story that blends myth and reality and touches upon some heavier themes will definitely gravitate to this one.

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

Very captivating novel with a beautiful prose. I loved how the main character is so fierce and brave and takes care of her mother, although her mother doesn't find her daughter's love and company enough and is always rushing from one bad relationship into the next.
The daughter suffers a lot, she has terrible migraines and is a late bloomer into womanhood.
As the novel progresses, we understand how the mother feels and usually deals with her frustrations and misery.
The novel gains tension when the possibility of social services taking Jasmine away becomes an issue, so the young girl feels even more pressure to "save" her mom.
Her mother filled her head with wonderful stories, legends, and Filipino mythology, and being an artist, Jasmine brings to the reality of her life (sometimes miserable and sad) imagination: she sees the people who she thinks want to harm her deform into mythological monsters. This dichotomy of magic and myth balances well with the harshness of her life.
Some elements of the plot are predictable, but it only makes us more invested in reading, so we reach that moment when Jasmine realizes the truth about her mother's past. I love that it's very focused on Jasmine and her perspective. Her journey is not only physical to discover a place to call home but also a coming-of-age one.

This was quite different from what I've been reading recently, but I did like it! It's a coming-of-age story that's a pretty quick read with short chapters.

I enjoyed following Jasmine as she navigated the complexities of puberty and her home life, and although I couldn’t relate to her situation, I was able to sympathize with her and understand her actions and feelings. The writing was great, and I liked reading how reality meshed with fantasies through Jasmine’s perception of the world around her. The references to Chinese and Filipino mythology were also a nice addition.
However, I do think some of the dialogue felt a little strange(?) Personally, I thought it sometimes felt a little unrealistic to how teens speak.

Last notes that don’t rlly fit anywhere: I think this could also make an interesting film, with some cool visuals that show how Jasmine sees reality (e.g: moments where people seem to shapeshift in her eyes)
Overall, this was a great debut and I’m sure there will be many readers who will really love this book!