The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo

Clara Shin lives with her dad in LA. Her Dad runs a food truck and calls her things like ‘Shorty.’ They give each other a wide berth, but bond over food. When a prank backfires, Clara is given one opportunity to show her father she is mature enough to not be severely punished (aka sent away). She must work with her mortal enemy, Rose, on her Dad’s Korean-Brazilian food truck.In close quarters, Clara and Rose start to see past the archetypes they’ve settled into and start to see each other as people.

And then, there’s a whole hot guy named Hamlet who seems to be too good to be true. Can Clara appreciate the awesomeness that is taking place in her life, despite the fact it’s taking her away from her long time, long term friend group (that might be a little lazy, thanks to trips to 7/11, Taco Bell and the copious amounts of time they spend playing video games or just lounging around)? Can she persuade Pai (her Dad) to let her spend some time in Tulum with her social media influencer Mom?

*******************SPOILERS*****************
I loved this book. It was a love letter to everything that makes LA awesome, and even the things that make it not so awesome (traffic and heat, I’m talking to you!). Clara seemed a little less relatable at first, but once I started to get into the book, I noticed all of the awesome things about her and the people around her (except for Felix, to be honest). And while I was sort of resistant to adoring Rose, she completely won me over. Hamlet, I loved from the beginning.
But, let’s not mince words, the real love of this book is the food of LA. With so many regions and combinations, The Way You Make Me Feel really does LA a solid.
I got this from Uppercase in May. Now, it’s taken a really long time for me to read it (I read it as a challenge for a private group), but it was so worth it.