Rating: ⭐⭐⭐☆☆
“Wait for Me” by An Na tells the story of a lost teenager named Mina. Mina must lie to keep her mother proud, or as proud as can be and is expected to go to Harvard. Little does her mother know, Mina’s straight As are simply forged grades that can only get her into the nearest community college.
While dealing with the weight of her education, Mina must also decide whether to leave with her lover or stay behind and care for her deaf sister. Lastly, she must somehow make up for all the heartache and burden she supposedly put upon her mother, and most importantly, remove the veil of lies she’s built over the years and be true to herself.
If you’re someone who’s into slow burn romance, then this book may be for you. The book may seem sluggish in the beginning, but the gradual build up of the story makes the love interest of Mina all the better.
It was even more fascinating to almost feel the connection between the two characters amidst the confusion in Mina’s life as if I was a bystander witnessing every encounter between the two.
Long story short, I was fully immersed when it came time for the drama in the mostly subtle book.
One thing that I found a bit disappointing was that there were many occasions where I practically told the story before my eyes met the next page. It was rare to be left guessing. As someone who prefers to be surprised, this could be a deal-breaker for other readers. Due to this, the shock factor was immensely decreased from my overall experience with the book.
The perspectives constantly shifted between Mina and Suna between each chapter. It did get annoying towards the end of the book when the story neared closer to the climax. All that crossed my mind was the fate of Mina’s relationship, as opposed to the somewhat mysterious life of Suna.
I found it a bit hard to care about Suna wholeheartedly, though the book forced a sense of sympathy due to her hearing impairment. Even with this, I grew to admire Suna at the very same time.
To give a little background information — Mina is constantly running off with Ysrael, leaving Suna with an excuse along the lines of “we won’t be long, we just need some time to talk.”
Mina and Ysrael have a secret relationship that Mina has to hide from her strict mother, who would rather die than find out that her daughter is dating a Mexican boy. They would be gone for hours, and Suna would just have to accept the fact that she needed to be alone for a long period of time with no friends to lift her spirits. Keep in mind that Mina was more of a caretaker to Suna than their actual mother, meaning that Suna had a deep attachment to her sister. This was primarily as a result of their mother thinking Suna was helpless unlike her “perfect sister.”
On top of all this, Suna hinted at a need for attention from Ysrael, which I thought seemed like admiration sprouted from jealousy. Throughout all of that, she put her sister’s feelings and needs before hers. She did think for a second that maybe she should give her crush on Ysrael a go, but she also knew that at the end of the day Mina would never leave her or at least not yet.
Suna would cry but would end up wiping her tears knowing good was to come for her sister, which I thought was unbelievable considering she hardly feels loved by anyone but her sister.
The description on the other hand, was so intricate that I could picture in my head every line going along with my reading. It almost felt as if the book was written for open argument (which of course I did have with the book).
On many accounts, I found myself losing track of time and questioning the character’s every move and that’s one of the strengths of this book.
When the storyline truly takes its course it is very hard to pull away. Therefore, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sweet simple endings and an overall smooth sailing romance book.
