Review: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang

 

The Bride Test

by Helen Hoang

May 7, 2019
320 pages

Goodreads      Indigo

Goodreads Summary:

From the author of the deeply charming The Kiss Quotient comes a romantic novel about a love that crosses international borders.

Khai Diep has no feelings. Well, he feels irritation when people move his things or contentment when ledgers balance down to the penny but not big, important emotions—not grief. And not love. Rather than believing he processes emotions differently as a result of being autistic, he concludes he’s defective and avoids romantic relationships to protect people from his emotional deficiency, driving his mother to take matters into her own hands and get him a mail order bride.

As a mixed-race girl born into the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, Esme Tran has always felt out of place. When the opportunity to be an American mail order brides arises, she leaps at it. Her groom is unwilling, but if she can change his mind, she’ll finally have a family that wants her. If she can’t, at least she will have known what it’s like to belong for one glorious summer.

Seducing Khai, however, is one horrible disaster after another. It’s not until Esme gives up that they start to make headway. Over the course of three weddings and a funeral, they fall for each other. But Khai insists it isn’t love, and Esme doesn’t believe in herself enough to see past his words to the truth. They both must learn to accept and value their differences because the fourth wedding of the summer could join them or break them apart forever.

Review

After loving Helen Hoang's debut, The Kiss Quotient, there was no way I was going to miss out on the sequel, The Bride Test. Especially when it follows characters already introduced and everyone undoubtedly loved ;)

I think in many ways The Bride Test was a more intense book than The Kiss Quotient. Mental health was featured more prominently given that the male lead was autistic. I got a really good sense of how the mind works. The representation and the discussions were great to see.

Both Esme and Khai were sweethearts but due to numerous barriers (language, social, economical) they weren't able to fully articulate and express themselves to each other. This led to a lot of misunderstandings which were very frustrating but I can understand where they came from. These two endearing and full of life people needed to realize their self-worth. I love how they slowly opened their hearts up and were able to communicate better.

While not as hot as The Kiss Quotient, The Bride Test does see its fair share of steamy scenes and sex talk. Again there were some misunderstandings which led to some educating but it all came from a very authentic and natural place. I laughed and cringed but all in good fun!

There were a few things that I was kind of hoping would be addressed but weren't. Like why Esme only spoke Vietnamese to Khai and the fact that she never really found out how rich Khai was. They don't take anything away from the story but I felt like they were loose ends and it would've been nice to have them tied up.

I'm so happy we'll be getting more books centered on these lovely characters. According to Goodreads the next story will be Quan's and it's called The Heart Principle which just sounds all around cute and romantic! So yes to more Helen Hoang love stories!

 

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. Any quotes included in my review were taken from the copy I received.