This book was not what I expected it to be. 
 While it touches topics such as deportation, family drama and immigration, these themes were wrapped into a fluffy instalove romance... and I don't think I'd enjoy it half as much if I weren't reading it while laying idle on the beach. Instalove is my literary nemesis and it was hard to swallow that this book was as light and cutesy given the topic that it deals with. 
 The plot 
 Natasha is having the worst day of her life. Her family is being deported back to Jamaica where she was born and despite her desperate efforts, immediate departure seems inevitable. Daniel is a son of Korean immigrants who want him to pursue the American Dream and become a doctor... which is the last thing that Daniel wants. These two teens meet on the streets of New York and their lives might never be the same again. 
 What can I say. 
 It was my mistake to assume that this is primarily a drama highlighting the struggles of immigrants in the US. The book actually adresses that topic quite well, but it sadly gets lost in all the angst of instalove (while trying to make it extra clear that ''it's not insta love, you guys! It's caled ---- in Japanese and because I googled that word it totally counts''). 
 The main characters spend 12 hours together and in that time they fall madly head over heels in love. Forgive me for not taking 2 horny teens all that seriously. And also! Natasha is hours away from being deported and the main thing she worries about is this random boy that stalked her on the street (though it's totally not creepy because he's a good guy). I think the girl needs to get her priorities in order. And let's not forget all the extremely convenient coincidences that made these 2 keep bumping into each other. 
 Now that my mini rant is over (sorry, instalove always does that to me), let's focus on some of the upsides that made me quite enjoy this book. 
 -	the writing is fluid and it immediately hooked me. It was trying too hard at times to be deep, poetic or philosophical, but overall it made the book into a fast paced and engaging read 
 -	the characters - while Natasha and Daniel annoyed me enormously with their instalust, they were actually well written and had very distinct voices. Their though process, their very distinct personalities and their interactions with their families fleshed them out and made me cheer for them, though I wouldn't go as far as to say that I connected with them. Daniel is a poet and Natasha is reallyyy into physics and angsty grunge, so I had pretty much zero in common with either of them. Fortunately I'm the type of reader who doesn't need to fully connect with characters in order to enjoy a book, otherwise I'd be in trouble here 
 -	the family drama - I can't resist some well written family dynamics, and I loved reading about Natasha's dad and Daniel's parents. The insight into parents' lives is widely absent in YA and I found it refreshing that parents played a bigger role here. 
 -	the ending was not quite what I expected! While it was still ultimately happy, it wasn't sugarcoated and I thought it wrapped things up nicely. 
 Overall this is a fun, at times poignant read that is a romance at its core, though it tries a bit too hard to pose as something else. 
 I'm glad that it exists because we need more well written diverse YA, and we definitely need more books concerning immigration, I'm just a bit disappointed that so much of it was wasted on a contrived instalove story among two characters who seem to have nothing in common. 
 Recommended for hopeless romantics and anyone looking for a fast paced beach read.