Cara Tanamachi’s The Second You’re Single starts off as a Hallmark-y rom-com with a great premise: Sora is a Valentine’s Day hater (so relatable) and writer who pitches a series of articles on GOING SOLO for the month of February. Of course, almost immediately she bumps into Jack, a kid from elementary school who crushed on her, and who’s grown into one hot hunk of man. But she’s pledged to #GOSOLO.
I loved Sora’s snark, I loved Jack as a big ol’ golden retriever hero (though we don’t get to know him all that well) and I loved that I could see the movie in my head. The writing is snappy first person present, so it feels like VO for a movie.
What I didn’t love was the fat shaming/body shaming in this book. And the 65 references (literally 65) to bacon. Sora’s mom projects her own body image issues onto her daughter, especially as they’re in run-up to Sora’s sister’s wedding. And while Sora says she’s content with her size 14 self, I’m not so sure she is. Of course, there’s a bridesmaid’s dress fitting incident.
The Japanese American rep (Sora is hapa) is fairly minimal in this one, more just a fact of identity than anything that plays into the story.
3 stars
Fade to black/ Closed door
CW: death of a parent from a heart attack, miscarriage, child with leukemia
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