Review by Booklist Review
Dayana loves everything British, from One Direction and double-decker buses to the newly crowned Queen Diana, whom she was named after. When her mother dies suddenly in an accident, Dayana is shipped off to London from her native Brazil to live with her estranged father, who abandoned her and her mother 10 years earlier. While sightseeing at Buckingham Palace, she spots a girl fleeing the premises and helps her hide from the guards. The runaway--also named Diana--is equal parts cute and mysterious, refusing to explain why she was escaping the palace, and Dayana can't help but be pulled toward her. Rumors are flying about the royals, and Dayana has her own family issues to deal with. Is getting involved with Diana a bad idea? Translated into English from Brazilian Portuguese, this sapphic rom-com doesn't break much new ground but handles a variety of topics, including chronic illness, grief, and fatphobia, with sensitivity and care.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Sweeping romance and family drama permeate this whirlwind queer love story by Alves (The Mermaid's Prophecy). Brazilian 17-year-old Dayana Martins and her mother always dreamed of visiting England and seeing Buckingham Palace, home to Day's namesake ("Lady Di--now Queen Diana--after King Oliver's death") and Notting Hill, the inspiration behind their favorite movie. After her mother's death, Day's dream sours, prompting conflicting feelings when she moves to London with her estranged father, stepmother, and stepsister. Frustrated with her new family, Day wanders to Buckingham Palace, where she collides with a Portuguese-speaking girl fleeing the premises. Sparks fly between Day and the white-cued runaway, Diana, who keeps her connection to the palace a secret. Day, who is struggling to reconcile her anger toward her father and her growing closeness with her stepfamily, revels in her fledgling romance until a royal bombshell shatters the trust between the two teens, leaving her afraid that a Notting Hill ending isn't part of her story. While the narrative primarily focuses on Day's tabloid romance and her blossoming relationship with her stepfamily, flashbacks at chapters' ends measuredly expand the narrative's emotional resonance by exploring her bisexual identity and guilt over her mother's death. Ages 14--up. (June)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A Brazilian girl finds love--and herself--in London in this novel translated from Portuguese. Seventeen-year-old Dayana is going through major life changes as she leaves behind everything she knows in her home country of Brazil for London, a place that so far, she doesn't even like. Although she loves One Direction and used to be a committed Anglophile, ever since her father abandoned her and her mother 10 years ago to start a new life in London, the city has lost a lot of its charm. Now, after her mom's death, Dayana has no option but to go live with her dad and his new family: Lauren, the stepmother she can't stand, and Georgia, the stepsister she doesn't get. Then there's her father and their fragile relationship. To make matters worse, Dayana's also been ignoring her grandparents back in Brazil. The only breath of fresh air is Diana, a beautiful young redheaded woman she has an odd first encounter with but quickly becomes fond of; the relationship they develop is lovely. As well as alternating present-day chapters with flashbacks from Dayana's childhood, the book incorporates text threads and news reports. Dayana is fat, and her body positivity is refreshing, but the characters as a whole feel two-dimensional and their motivations aren't fully explored. The translation unfortunately erases some cultural context in ways that limit full appreciation of the original. A promising blend of self-discovery, familial love, and romance that's let down by the execution. (Romance. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
