This Time Will Be Different

the duration in which i read this is long, but honestly, it was a fast read, i just kept taking unnecessary breaks.

sabina told me she heard this was a bad book, so i had some mixed feelings coming in. although, i truly enjoyed this book. i think it would be a little “annoying” if you weren’t a person coming from the same standpoint as the author (aka ur a racist and homophobe lol), but that’s never something that should make a book perceived as bad. the author was very thorough with calling out racism especially. many people are past that, but some people aren’t. so, i’m thinking that may be a reason some people were calling it out.

on that subject, this book is absolutely SAVAGE! obviously, it’s a story mainly about show more racism against asians, but it even calls out asians too for being racist. it wasn’t entirely about evil white people, though that was demographic rightly spoken out against the most. i find this refreshing. it takes self-awareness to realize that fitting into a niche made for you unjustly can be just as racist as other things. it’s just like being uncomfortable with homo pda when you are a gay person because you were taught acts like that are disgusting and therefore, you refuse to do it. not cuz of self hate, but because that’s how it”should be.” at least, that’s how i see it.

i also felt that the main characters, and all the characters for that matter, were very organic. i said before that i felt the author was putting in lgbt characters just to make things feel “full,” but was too afraid to make the main character lgbt. i take that back. perhaps, the author was a little guilty of that in some parts. but, the main issues i had regarding that was with emily and brynn. i see now that them being lesbians and their relationship does have sway on the story and leads to important character development. proof that you should probably wait to see the big picture before speaking out. the author wasn’t pulling a gay bff trope, she was trying a method to development i didn’t see coming, and i can appreciate that.

further, i just loved cj’s character. she has the teen angst, but none of it felt without basis. her mom /was/ hard on her. her friends /were/ cutting her out. and, her reactions to these things were quite literally the same as mine, leave before they leave you. which was painful to read, but only in the way that i hate that reaction within myself. cj just felt so real to me. it was honestly so nice. i just wish i could be more like her in solving the results of her ditching people out of fear hah.

but, yes, overall, i really loved this book. only reason i gave it 4 stars is because i would probably never re-read. in order to have 5, i need to wanna revisit it. i don’t feel that desire. still was a great book tho!! which is rare for me to find!!!! :) show less

Like most teenagers, CJ doesn't know what her goals or ambitions are. The most at home she's ever felt is in the family flower shop where she works with her aunt. When she's using her flower magic to create bouquets, boutonnieres, lockets, and charms she feels like she's spreading a little bit of happiness. When her mother announces that she's planning on selling the shop to the "enemy," the McAllisters, she feels as if the only thing she's ever cared about is going out the window. The McAllisters bought the business from her family for pennies on the dollar when the government forced Japanese Americans to go to internment camps during WWII. It took decades before the Katsuyamas were able to buy it back.... for MUCH more than the show more McAllisters had bought it for. CJ vows to help save the shop along with her friends, but that too proves to be challenging. Her best friend is falling for a horrible hypocritical lesbian, her co-worker Owen may be forming a crush on her, and her classmates don't all understand why the McAllisters are the "bad guys." CJ has to find out what she truly cares for and fight for it. A good young adult book that covers a lot of hot topics. show less

Book on CD performed by Joy Osmanski
3.5***

CJ Katsuyama never seems to meet her Type-A mother’s expectations. She’s not super smart, or talented at music, art or sports. She’s not a leader at school. She does like helping her aunt Hannah at the family flower shop, though she doesn’t buy into Hannah’s “magic of flowers” theories. Still, she shows a knack for creative and distinctive arrangements. But then her mother decides to sell the shop to the descendant of the racist man who swindled her grandfather out of his property by taking advantage of the USA’s policy to intern Japanese Americans during WW2. Now CJ is fighting mad and determined to make a difference.

This is a charming YA novel about family, social justice, show more friendship and loyalty. There’s also a little romance thrown in.

CJ is a pretty mature teen. Although she frequently doubts herself, she usually follows her inner compass and makes solid decisions. Of course, this is a young adult novel, so there is bound to be some of the drama typical in teen life – prom-posals, mean girls, cliques, attractions based strictly on looks, best friends who maybe aren’t anymore. There’s also an LGBTQ relationship in the mix; I liked the way CJ handled this.

On the other hand, I was not thrilled with how the author handled CJ’s pregnancy. Not at all sure that needed to be part of the story.

Joy Osmanski does a fine job of narrating the audio version. Her diction is clear, and she sets a good pace. The only difficulty is that there are several flashbacks, and at first, I didn’t catch on and that confused me for several chapters until she went back to it. That isn’t the fault of the narrator, however. But I think I would have been less confused if I had been reading the text rather than listening. show less

I've always read books about Japanese internment in the form of historical fiction that discuss the immediate consequences of it. It was interesting to read and think about the continued and present consequences of such acts. The historical conflict was bolstered by several other story lines including some interesting coming of age teen drama/romance. The flashbacks about the protagonist getting pregnant and getting an abortion seemed forced and unneeded in an otherwise compelling narrative.

CJ is Japanese American. She works in her aunt's flower shop and finds that she's good at making floral arrangements. However her mother things it is a waste of time and money, since the shop, Heart's Delight, is losing money and there's a hefty offer to buy the building. However, the offer is from the same family that purchased it for a fraction of its worth in the 1940s when Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps. It took forever for CJ's ancestors to accumulate enough money to buy it back.

CJ, her aunt Hannah and her friends formulate a campaign to save the store. However, more comes out about the McAllister family whose name is on hospitals, civic buildings and CJ's high school. He was racist and earned his wealth on the show more backs of the Japanese. Now, CJ and her friends want the school renamed to the Japanese owner of the land before the McAllister's bought it.

There is also CJ's uncertainty about romance and her friend Emily's romance with Brynne, who snubbed her once when they were 13.

This Time Will Be Different is a great book about standing up for what you believe in, giving people second chances and rethinking your feelings about love. Plus you get to know what flower names mean. Enjoy. show less

There was a lot going on in the book. I really felt for CJ - she was just this huge ball of teenage tension and angst. Reasonably so. I sort of wonder if there was too much going on? This sort of felt like Dear Haiti, Love Alaine for me, in that I feel like parts of the book weren’t touched on enough in favor of adding one or two more plot points. CJ’s emotional conflict was written in a way that made her very easy to empathize with, and that helped the book for me.

This did a spectacular job of looking at history and how it's so often white-washed and rewritten. Alas, it wasn't particularly gripping.