ANN LIANG APPRECIATION INCOMPREHENSIBLE ESSAY!!!!! because she's an amazing author
i know so many people who don't usually read romance books who LOVED her romance books and i think that's such a good indicator of how good she is?? and i think a lot of it has to do with the fact that her fmcs are relatable and not just in a way related to the romance but also THEMSELVES(e.g. alice felt invisible, eliza felt like she didn't belong anywhere, sadie felt like she had to make everyone like her, jenna felt like she had to be the best or it was all for nothing)(obviously im cutting it short but yk)
and it's not just her fmcs, it's also her mmcs. even her mmcs AND side characters have depth (that a lot of romance authors tend to forgo because they're so focused on the fmc and the romance) like henry, he's claustrophobic because of his father's questionable methods of parenting. caz, he's lonely even though he's popular because no one really cares about HIM and has acting as his passion but people around him(mainly his mother) constantly tell him that it's not stable and all that shit. julius, he's used to being chosen last because his older brother is the standard he has to reach. and aaron, whose grief practically shapes him as a person. THEY'RE ALL UNIQUE!!!
also her plotlines don't take TOO long to start and maybe it's just me but personally i hate it when it takes the plot 45498537834 chapters to start. but also, she does it in a way that it doesn't feel TOO short because she knows how to pace it as such yk?
AND she really does know how to set the vibes with her writing. the whole time while i was reading ianjc(it's the most recent that i remember shutup) i felt like this melancholic vibe throughout even if it was set in the day.
and ALSO her ships are all so unique yet all so interesting. like, yes alicehenry and sadiejulius are academic rivals BUT they are NOWHERE near similar. alice and henry are this cutesy comfort ship that isn't really the main focus of the book. sadie and julius are this borderline obsessive nail biting DIScomfort ship that IS the main focus of the book. AND AARONJENNA OMG AARONJENNA AAAAA i love them your honour. the way she's the only one who notices everything about him and vice versa. yes i AM biased. i didn't forget about elizacaz, they're SOSO CUTESY the way they both felt a little invisible in one way or another and yet they both saw each other for who they truly were!!!!!
one last thing... the way she talked about platonic breakups and everything related to friendship in this time it's real. it WASN'T caz who saved eliza. it was ZOE. HER BEST FRIEND. AND THIS WAS A ROMANCE BOOK.
anyways. i love ann liang. 🥳
