RATING: 4/5 STARS

I just love how Ann Liang writes. Her style is so descriptive and her characters are incredibly real and relatable. Her novels are comfort books for me. Never Thought I'd End Up Here is a fun travel story with a swoony romance and a touching coming-of-age theme.

‘Never Thought I’d End Up Here’ is an enemies-to-lovers revenge plot in a contemporary story that I didn’t know I needed.

Leah Zhang accidentally curses a bride at a wedding (oops), gets shipped off to China as a cultural reset (honestly I swear this feels like something I would do lol). Upon her arrival she ends up stuck with Cyrus Sui- the human embodiment of her villain origin story…who also happens to be more taller and more attractive;)

Ann Liang comes and hands you a swoony and chaotic contemporary and romance is equally hilarious and heartfelt. Proof that maybe revenge does taste sweet😉😉(with a side of feelings to the last person you thought you’d catch them for).

I absolutely devoured this book and had the time of my life reading this and I need evreyone to add this in their TBR immediately!!

this book was so cutesy and fun! another slay by miss ann liang. this
book felt like the book-ified version of sundial's the american
dream.

full review to come on youtube once the book is published.

the characters:
I adored all the characters! I love that there wasn't really a
villain. maybe the villain was Leah the entire time, or moreso, her
doubting herself?

I thought Leah was the perfectly girly for the immigrant daughters
who've lost touch with their family history and/or can no longer
communicate with their family. this book reminded me of sundial's
song, the american dream. I adored her. she was so cute! and we
love a girly who doesn't have their life figured out (like who does at
17?).

Cyrus was very cute as well. I wasn't a fan of the whole bullying /
childhood enemy story, but it makes sense given him observing his
parents' relationship. I'm glad he was able to come to terms with that
and didn't excuse his behavior. I kind of wish there were less
spoilers around him yearning for Leah with the marketing (despite it
being pretty obvious). also he was SO flirty omg. I think he's the
flirtiest MMC ann liang has written yet ??

I LOVED Daisy and Oliver. I loved Daisy becoming a true bestie to Leah
and how they were able to help each other grow with their 2 weeks
together. I also really liked Oliver, our comedic king. I really
applauded how mature and self-aware he was ?? also pop off king for
dating a prince! but also, good for you for having standards and not
settling.

I don't have strong feelings about Cate or Lydia or the other side
characters. I don't know enough about them to really have a strong
opinion!

I feel like every one of miss ann's books you can do a deep
psychoanalysis of the parents. like leah's mom being truly exceptional
yet being overshadowed by her sister who literally is out here winning
awards for what she does? and then leah's dad always trying to keep
her mom happy. such an interesting dynamic always going on.

the plot:
I will note the reason this book got 4 stars from me was because the
plot wasn't as.. alluring? engrossing? captivating enough? idk. I felt
it was predictable, the only thing I didn't predict was leah quitting
modeling was r/t her experience as an asian in a white-dominated
field. I really appreciated that perspective ESPECIALLY the part where
she tried to make her features appear more white (unfortunately a bit
too relatable).

overall, the plot was cute! a little predictable and it just lacked
that oomph that had me wanting to fly through it. still really
enjoyable, though!

the book cover:
so pretty! big fan.

overall, this was such a fun read! I AM NOT JESSICA CHEN and I Hope
This Doesn't Find You are both my favorites, but I'm excited to
continue to read Liang's work.

leah might honestly be one of my favourite ann liang fmcs. i relate to her on such a deep level. and cyrus my baby HE'S ACTUALLY INSANE😭😭😭 the things he says😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 also loved the fact that this had an epilogue and that the confession wasn't done at the very last moment and that the book didn't END with the confession. loved seeing cute happy silly scenes of them just being in love because ann doesn't usually do that. LOVED THIS BOOK AND LEAHCYRUS DESERVE THE WORLD.

4.25/5
ANN LIANG NEVER FAILS!!! If you love all of her books there is no reason why you wouldn’t enjoy “Never Thought I’d End Up Here”. The dynamic between Leah and Cyrus is so charming and addicting to read. I’m an absolute SUCKER for “i’m hard to love” x “loving you is the easiest thing i’ve done”. I can also relate a lot to Leah and struggle of finding something I’m good at and want to be, and also the struggle of losing and relearning mother tongue. This isn’t my fav Ann Liang but it truly just comes down to tropes.

Ann Liang always knows how to create absolute masterpieces of books. I found this book very relatable, especially Leah, but all the characters in general. There was something I found relatable in each character and it made me feel connected to the book, as if my soul was on display and I was the one reading it. I love how Leah learned about herself and by the end of the book she was a different person, it was amazing to see her character growth. I also enjoyed seeing Leah find the group of people that would stay by her side. I loved this book so much, it is definitely one of my favorite Ann Liang books now. This is such a cute YA romance, wrapped with emotions I think everyone will find very moving.

Ann Liang genuinely never misses. It's incredible how each of her main characters are very different from each other, yet they're all equally relatable. This is an adorable YA romance, perfect to read in one day. But it also has so much depth, because there's so much character growth. Everything Leah learned about herself was so deeply touching.