Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Received an arc from NetGalley for an honest review.
This book was great, and a lot better than I originally was made out to believe. I thought this was one of those young adult contemporaries that could get lost among the rest but this book provided something that the others did not: Characters I care deeply about, a plot that connected all the characters and made everything interesting, the call out on racism, and the importance of family and friends. Another thing I enjoyed was the romance. It was pure and just cute!
This book also packed a punch! Of many multitudes. Like I previously mentioned, it called out the blatant racism from Isabella's Grandma, and how even from a young age Isabella knew it was wrong. Her dad ended up leaving the family because of it (not a major spoiler I promise). There was diversity, with multiple examples of integration of different languages (which was so cool and made it more real to life) and the culture brought by Isabella's mother, all so great!! I also loved the Habitat for Humanity storyline, it was unique and something I personally haven't seen done before in a young adult book. It's something I knew of already, but it's important to introduce it to younger people because it's an amazing thing.
Overall, this book was great and I would very much recommend it to anyone looking for a heart-wrenching yet heart warming young adult contemporary!