Review: I Hope This Doesn't Find You by Ann Liang

*I received an advance reading copy of this book from Scholastic Canada in exchange for an honest review.

I Hope This Doesn't Find You

by Ann Liang

February 6, 2024

Goodreads Summary:

Snarky and romantic, I Hope This Doesn't Find You is Never Have I Ever meets To All the Boys if Lara Jean wrote hate emails instead of love letters.

Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course -- she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings -- but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work.

All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. "You're attention starved and self-obsessed and unbearably vain . . . I really hope your comb breaks and you run out of whatever expensive hair products you've been using to make your hair appear deceptively soft..."

Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them... that is, until they're accidentally sent out.

Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It's her worst nightmare -- now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie -- Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate...

Review

I Hope This Doesn't Find You was a thoroughly entertaining read. It's definitely my favourite Ann Liang novel to date. It took me a few pages to get into the story but once I was in, I sped through.

I Hope This Doesn't Find You was thought-provoking and extremely relatable. Sadie's need for everyone to like her and the pressure on Julius as he's being compared to his brother greatly resonated with me. It's such a common occurrence in Asian culture. Ann Liang's writing kept me immersed in the drama. 

For someone so smart, Sadie was pretty careless with her emails. I would've deleted all the drafts after I was done venting so that there's zero chance they'd get sent. But everyone makes mistakes and what matters the most is how the situation is salvaged in the aftermath. The amount of hate Sadie received was disheartening but the changes that followed were actually good for her.

The gradual change in Sadie and Julius's relationship was engrossing. The tension between them was off the charts. I could feel the animosity crackling between them at the start. Then as they were forced to work together, I sensed their growing uncertainty. Sadie and Julius unpacked a lot of emotional baggage. In the end, I most enjoyed watching them clash with their lips words ;) Expert debaters they were!

If I had one gripe with I Hope This Doesn't Find You, it would be not seeing Julius stand up to his parents and brother. I desperately wanted to see him tell them off! It didn't happen so I comfort myself by imagining it happening off page.

The ending of I Hope This Doesn't Find You crept up on me. Before I knew it I was at the last page. The last page for me but only the beginning for Sadie and Julius!

*I received an advance reading 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 ARC I received.