I am in awe of how beautiful this book is. Ex Marks the Spot is an excellent story that explores deep topics while still maintaining a fun, whimsical feel.

First and foremost, Gemma feeling disconnected from her culture is so realistic and handled with such care. This is the part of the story that stuck with me the most, as well as feeling like you must hide your true self in order to be liked by others. These topics are so important to discuss and I think Gloria Chao did an amazing job with this book.

These characters were so well done. Every character offered something to the story. They were fleshed out and did not feel one-dimensional. Gemma is an absolute lovely character. She wasn’t always perfect, she made mistakes, and couldn’t see that things weren’t always black and white. I enjoyed reading her growth over the story! Xander is a very interesting character. He was easy to understand and feel for. Trisha and Val were close favorites for sure!

The plot is developed so well. I was fully invested and didn’t want to put this book down! The puzzles were so fun and while I did predict the ending, it was executed so beautifully that I couldn’t be happier!

Overall, this revived my love for young adult romances. Before this I had felt like I was outgrowing YA romances, but this was such a refreshing read. The banter was just perfect. The plot was intriguing and exciting. The characters were so lovable and funny. I was smiling, laughing, and even shed a few tears while reading this. I will definitely be looking into this author’s other work!

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.