Private Label by Kelly Yang
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Special thanks to Harper Collins for sending a copy for review.
Summary:
Serene dreams of making couture dresses even more stunning than her mom’s, but for now she’s an intern at her mom’s fashion label. When her mom receives a sudden diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, all that changes. Serene has to take over her mother’s business overnight, dealing with ruthless investors who do not think a seventeen-year-old can run a fashion empire, while trying to figure out what happened with her dad in Beijing. He left before she was born, and Serene wants to find him, even if it means going against her mom’s one request—never look back.
Lian Chen moved from China to Serene’s mostly white Southern California beach town a year ago. He doesn’t fit in at school, where kids mispronounce his name. His parents don’t care about what he wants to do—comedy—and push him toward going to MIT engineering early. Lian thinks there’s nothing to stick around for, until one day, he starts Chinese Club after school . . . and Serene walks in.
Worlds apart in the high school hierarchy, Serene and Lian soon find refuge in each other, falling in love as they navigate life-changing storms (Goodreads).
Thoughts:
The majority of teen love romances are predictable, so they aren’t always interesting. Despite being very predictable, Private Label managed to keep me hooked until the very end. This book gave me a couple of Outer Banks vibes because of the separation between people’s wealth and social status in the city. This YA novel has all the typical high school drama cliches such as being the new kid and falling for the girl who’s dating the guy who bullied you, but there are strong underlying themes such as ethnic bias and racism.
I especially loved the mother-daughter dynamic. Serene and her mother had such a tight bond, especially because her mother was a single mother. It was a lot of fun to read about her challenges as a single mother trying to break into the fashion industry, but when their world was turned upside down from her mom’s cancer diagnosis, it was not well expressed for me. Lily’s (Serene’s mom) illness was completely skimmed over. First, she got the news she got cancer, and she was panicking about what would happen to her company. Next, she accepts it as she starts to become even more unwell. Then at the end of the book, she becomes strong enough to be discharged. To me, her struggling with her disease was never focused to allow me to emphasize with the characters.
Serene’s attempt to blend in with the cool kids struck me as something that is emblematic of many first-generation immigrants as they attempt to integrate into America. Serene’s life, and even mine, revolved around becoming less ethnic and more “white” in order to fit in.
Serene and Lian’s relationship felt rushed. Serene had no idea who he was one second and then thought about getting in bed with him the next. It was also weird how quickly they thought of each other as their “best friend.” They just met and started opening up about themselves. If their love story was paced better then I think my rating of the book would increase. Despite that, I love multiple POVs, so it was a very enjoyable read for me and exciting to see how the two saw each other.
Overall, this book has an easy, steady flow and is entertaining with all of Lian’s jokes. The author did a good job of highlighting some of the messed up things non-white people go through which I think quite a lot of people have faced and so have I. The lesson learned is to not fit yourself in another person’s mold. I recommend this YA novel to those who are looking for a sweet serious read!
Reviewed by Janessa R.