There is an ongoing mystery of the mc's family history and also the history of a pair of queer women one of whom is the mc's crush's old "girlpal". Relationships and crushes move fast, that quick pace is not really my cup of tea either, but I still really enjoyed the book overall and would 100% recommend it to readers looking for a contemporary summer read!

It felt like a love letter to all of us readers who grew up immersed in those spaces, it almost me nostalgic for a time where waiting for the newest update was my primary issue. This story isn’t without its flaws, but I still loved it and I was caught off guard by the complex issues that the story tackles. With this range of ages, Cynthia So does a brilliant job of showing the generational gap when it comes to reactions to queerness in a way that manages to be both heartbreaking but beautifully hopeful all at the same time. We can see how much Elsie cares for her favorite comic, how it shapes a lot of her conversations, her passion for it really shines through.

What makes this stand out the most is the main character's relationships with her family members, particularly her mother, grandmother and uncle, that are explored with so much care. I fell completely head over heels for her which is very rare for me in books—she was just that good. She’s insecure after a toxic relationship, she’s falling for someone she hasn’t met just yet, she’s scared of coming out as bisexual to her parents… I really loved how she grew as the story went on, what she learned about herself, her family and most of it all, how she managed to slowly, little by little, let go of the past, as well.

Both a time capsule of mid 2010’s fandom culture and a heartwarming childhood friends to lovers story starring QPOC, If You Still Recognize Me explores so much in a short amount of page time. This book deals with many different kinds of love: romantic, platonic, familial, and I loved seeing all of that. This little book managed to contain so much comfort, love and as warm as beloved friend's hugs words I can't even count properly. This book tackles eurocentric beauty standards, the fetishisation of Asian women, and wondering if you are ‘enough’ of something. Elsie is dedicated to the fandom of her favourite comic, Eden Recoiling, and I have to admit, I was invested in the comic storyline by the end too!good to know about some relationships developing too quickly, i always have issues with that too haha.

Somehow I was actually surprised by a key plot point, when looking back I have no idea how I expected anything else.The fandom aspect also wasn't really my thing, and the importance of it in this book surprised me considering it wasn't mentioned in the summary, but this is a very minor personal issue and I think there's plenty of people who won't mind it. I feel like we often see a focus on coming out as the end goal in a book for the character to live happily ever after, and I love how this took the pressure off. When you’re a teenager, there’s definitely ‘cool’ hobbies, but it was so refreshing to see people who were so engrossed in these fictional worlds – definitely people I would have been friends with had I known them at school!

It was a book about relationships – romance is what is highlighted on the synopsis but you soon discover it is about far more; about generational trauma, uncovering family history, coming to terms with abuse and so many other key themes. For each donated book I get through Ko-fi, I donate one of my current books to make room and continue paying it forward. The characters are all over the age of 18, but there were numerous times where it felt like they were younger. At one point of the book, Joan explains how there isn't really any queer rep in Hong Kong and the effect this has on her homophobic dad. Elsie has just finished her A-Level exams, and the long summer ahead of her promises to be one filled with excitement.As readers we get to experience her coming out story through our own eyes and how the people around her reacted, supported her and told her she wasn’t alone. Not only does Cynthia So show the importance of fandom spaces and give online friendships the importance they deserve, but they also use it to highlight the disparity of queer and POC rep in media, and the effect this not only has on teens themselves, but how it can negatively impact those around them.