Lydia Zhang – Lia for short – is twenty-one years old, lives on California’s Pacific Coast, and has a steady boyfriend named Reed. But a series of chance meetings with Connor, a near neighbor, sets up a love triangle. It is not one that Lia wanted or expected, being devoted to her beau. “I know we are still young, but a future without Reed in it is unimaginable,” she insists. And yet Connor’s attentions, the spark of chemistry between them, point to other conclusions, other possibilities. Lia belatedly discovers that Connor’s family is loaded, a revelation that, Connor insists, will not complicate her budding friendship with him – except that it does. Lia is a likable, star-crossed protagonist; anyone who has ever wished upon a star, daydreamed while looking out of the window, or felt their heart flutter as a beautiful person flashes a smile in their direction will recognize her obsession with the perfectability of love.
A. A. Jaeon fills THE ART OF FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU with BFFs, AFs, OMGs, a liberal dash of stanning and a great deal of forensic attention paid to personal communications. Lia is, to put it mildly, terrified of giving out the wrong signals. She over-analyzes every interaction, and is a master of self-deprecation: “My short summary of myself is the polar opposite of dating material,” she admits at one point. This said, she also possesses the cast-iron certainties of those who are new to dating. For her, complete honesty, as well as a pronounced tendency to put their significant other on a pedestal, are the name of the game. Needless to say, neither turns out to be the best policy, especially when Reed starts pulling some dick moves that are emotionally manipulative at best and naked gaslighting at worst. Lurking behind it all is the nature of obligation, particularly to family, and it is this theme that is at once the novel’s strength and its weakness. Both Lia and her influencer friend Isa have pushy, status-conscious parents; both Reed and Lia harbor dreams of pursuing their creative endeavors but Reed chooses not to do so in favor of a safe desk job; Reed feels chagrined by his more successful brother.
This, no less than the age-old love triangle, is intriguing material – a good chunk of successful K-drama is built on material of this sort. The main issue is that the treatment is incomplete and by-the-numbers. Jaeon has a good feel for characterization and pacing, but dialog sometimes comes across as cliched, and the plot is somewhat slight. When Jaeon pushes hard at the theme of making one’s parents proud, the beginnings of a more profound commentary become clear. It is this sort of subtext that distinguishes competent romance novels from great ones. Jaeon has already completed much of the groundwork in this respect. Developing it further will surely bring greater successes.
A. A. Jaeon’s promising debut novel, THE ART OF FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU, is not short of dilemmas and will-she-won’t-she hijinks that unfold in a voice that is clear, vivid and forthright.
~Craig Jones for IndieReader