BOOK REVIEW | Lunar Love by Lauren Kung Jessen

Trauma, grief, death of a loved one, racism, infidelity mentioned

Biracial/Mixed Chinese Rep

Oh my gosh, this was another favorite for the year! Forever Pub is definitely killing the game for me clearly because all of the books I’ve read from them so far have been hits. They can’t miss. Shout out to them for having an amazing lineup of authors on their roster.

For someone who is also mixed and has always been told by people – even in this community – that I am not enough of one or the other, I felt so seen in this novel. I totally appreciated the conflict that both Olivia and Bennett were going through, and how they shouldn’t have had to prove their identities to anyone, honestly. Both of them are mixed Chinese, and it just so happens that both of them are mixed with European ethnicities, so that was cool that they shared that. You have Olivia on one hand trying to make sure that Lunar Love stays traditional in order to honor what her Po Po built over the decades, to Bennett learning about his culture on his own because the parent that was Chinese was not able to teach him, and trying to justify that why he should be able to use his learnings of his culture as a foundation of his goals for ZodiaCupid. It’s like they have to prove to others why they should be allowed to take up this space when they really shouldn’t have to. In a perfect world, they wouldn’t have to.

I never thought about matchmaking businesses like Lunar Love being in existence here in the States, and honestly I don’t know why I wouldn’t think that could be a thing. Maybe because like a lot of other people, I would have thought that it faded out with the emergence of all these apps and how a lot of us lately are more into hooking up rather than spending money on finding love. It makes me wonder if there is something like Lunar Love out there that really uses the Chinese Zodiac in helping with their matchmaking. I haven’t looked it up, but it would be so cool to see.

I think this story was a really great love letter to those that are struggling with their own identity and trying to find their place in a world that likes to make people feel like they aren’t enough. I liked that Olivia and Bennett were able to learn about each other eventually and support each other in their feelings of identity. I feel like Olivia was truly traumatized by her past experiences with incompatible matches that it massively affected her soul and how she put her everything into her work. It only made sense that she would be so adamant in making sure no incompatible matches were made under her watch anymore. And I think it was important for her to see that while sign compatibility is part of it, it is not ALL of it, and her learning that from multiple people in her life was important to show.

I loved seeing the relationship that Olivia had with her Po Po and I will just say that it made me cry throughout the novel. Even just thinking about it and sharing it with my mom after I finished reading it, I was crying about it. It made me miss my grandma with her being in Guam and me not being able to visit her the way that Olivia could see her Po Po any time she wanted. Okay I’m gonna go back to crying now.