“Irony: The year I decide that central New York isn’t a total dump after all, my dad finally admits that it was a mistake to move here.”
This is My Brain in Love by I. W. Gregorio is a good book to read if you are looking for something hopeful and inspiring. This book tells the story of Jocelyn Wu and her family as they struggle to run their family restaurant, A-Plus Chinese Garden.
The Wu family moved to central New York for the restaurant, and in the beginning, there’s nothing there for Jocelyn. Then she meets Priya, who shares her love of film and becomes her best friend. Just when everything seems okay, Jocelyn’s father decides to move back out of central New York, and give up on the restaurant. This would mean leaving behind Jocelyn’s hopes and dreams of going to film school, and her ambition to keep A-Plus Chinese Garden running.
Jocelyn decides to hire another person to help out at the restaurant, and that’s when she meets Will. From the beginning, Jocelyn and Will have a connection, and as they work together it becomes more.
Jocelyn’s father tells them that they can only be together if they keep the A-Plus Chinese Garden running, so it falls on them to save the restaurant and their relationship.
I thought this book was really well written, and as someone who loves to make films, I appreciated that element of the story. I would recommend this book to anyone, especially people who enjoy YA romance novels.