Book review - This is My Brain in Love

Title: This is My Brain in Love
Author: I. W. Gregorio
Genre:teen romance
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Rating:

kinda nice

Summary (provided by publisher): Jocelyn Wu has just three wishes for her junior year: To make it through without dying of boredom, to direct a short film with her BFF Priya Venkatram, and to get at least two months into the year without being compared to or confused with Peggy Chang, the only other Chinese girl in her grade.
Will Domenici has two goals: to find a paying summer internship, and to prove he has what it takes to become an editor on his school paper.
Then Jocelyn's father tells her their family restaurant may be going under, and all wishes are off. Because her dad has the marketing skills of a dumpling, it's up to Jocelyn and her unlikely new employee, Will, to bring A-Plus Chinese Garden into the 21st century (or, at least, to Facebook).
What starts off as a rocky partnership soon grows into something more. But family prejudices and the uncertain future of A-Plus threaten to keep Will and Jocelyn apart. It will take everything they have and more, to save the family restaurant and their budding romance.

My opinion: Teen romance is not really my genre of choice, so when one gains my respect like this one did, it's noteworthy. At first, the plot of this book was entirely predictable. But after the first third, it takes some interesting variations. Starting with the contract with Jocelyn's father and the early acknowledgment of their mutual attraction. And then we have the frank conversation about mental illness and it's stigma within certain populations, especially among certain ethnic groups. We see the shame associated with their condition in both families,  the shame with medication tempered with real medical concern surround it's use. The mental illness element then becomes a true conversation, not just a lecture. And there are no magic cures, no sudden fix via therapy or medication either one. It's learning coping mechanisms but acknowledging that it's not always enough, that sometimes we need chemical assistance. That conversation alone makes this book worth reading.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley