The Bride Test
by Helen Hoang
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Berkley
Book Release Date: May 7, 2019
My Review: ★★★★★
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang was just as awesome as The Kiss Quotient. It was fantastic.
What I loved about this book were the highly relatable and quirky characters. Khai is autistic, very routine and almost mechanical but very highly intelligent. Esme is a Vietnamese single mother who happens to be in the right place at the right time to be offered the opportunity to come to America for an arranged marriage to Khai by his mother, and she proves over and over again how good-hearted and steadfast to her morals she is. She knows her priorities and she’s determined to stick to them, no matter what tries to come between them.
One line that stood out for me in the book was this one:
“Everyone deserved to be loved and be loved back. Everyone. Even her.”
She knew her worth, even if she was an immigrant who could barely speak the language and didn’t work a classy accounting job. She had a backbone, and I think it sent an important message to women reading this book.
Khai’s transition from the beginning of the story to the end was very endearing as well. He starts off the book learning that he doesn’t feel emotions like other people do, and he accepts this so matter-of-factly that he doesn’t question it and internalizes it as just one more thing that makes him different. Talk about a tough nut to crack!!
The chemistry between these two was simply fantastic. You can’t help but root for them from the get-go.
This book, the diversity, the smooth writing and expert storytelling, was a joy to read, and I cannot wait to see what Hoang comes out with next. She will definitely be a one-click author for me from here on out.
