If You Still Recognise Me

Product Information

If you're wondering if this book is good, I started it at 7pm and I'd finished by midnight. I simply could not put it down.

As I said earlier, this book did have some flaws though. The story felt a bit young. The characters are all over the age of 18, but there were numerous times where it felt like they were younger. This wasn’t too much of an issue for me personally, but I can see why some people wouldn’t like this element of the story. An epic fandom, a scavenger hunt for a lost love and an ode to cultural inheritance - this is a wonderfully heartfelt and joyously queer romance.' - Lauren James, author of The Loneliest Girl in the UniverseElsie is a Chinese-British girl who's family come from Hong Kong but lives in Oxford. She's bi but not out to her family, and crushing on Ada, a girl from America she met online because they both ship the same f/f couple in their fav comic. Her Po Po (Grandma) is coming to stay with them after the death of her Gung Gung (Grandad) in Hong Kong, even though the family have not been to visit for 8 years for reasons Elsie doesn't understand. Then she surprises runs into Joan, her childhood best friend who left for Hong Kong when they were kids, and fell completely out of touch. The strength of If You Still Recognise Me lies in the power of its representation, vibrancy, warmth and joy balanced with the complexity of navigating feelings and understanding the difference between a crush and true love. Cynthia also crosses generations, showcasing an immensity of love for young and old across the spectrum. I could not get over how accurately this book portrayed what it’s like to be in a fandom space—especially when you’re a queer poc. As someone who reads and writes fanfiction, who obsesses over different forms of media in the exact same way shown in this book, I’ve never felt so seen. I’ve made many close friends online and this perfectly captured the way an online space can be freeing and online friendships can be just as important and deep as irl frienships. Also the way being in a fandom is very inclusive in a way that many queer people cannot experience irl. Then Ada mentions her grandmother’s own long-lost pen pal (and maybe love?), a woman who once lived only a train ride away from Elsie’s Oxford home, and Elsie gets the idea for the perfect grand gesture. But as her plan to reunite the two older women ignites a summer of repairing broken bonds, Elsie starts to wonder if she, too, can recover the things she’s lost… However, this is just a personal thing though and I bet lots of other readers will find and see themselves in the characters' love for reading fanfics and creating fan art and edits!

Exploring the bonds of friendship, family, fandom, culture and queer community, this is a story about finding who you really are at the heart of all the things you love."- Sera Milano, author of This Can Never Not Be Real Also, I had lots of crushes on people I met online as a teenager, and I wanted to write about the way these crushes can inspire you and change your whole life, whether or not they’re reciprocated. Which character in the book is your favourite, and why? A lyrical, complex tale of friendship, family, and all the stories we tell ourselves - true and not - about what it means to love - Kelly Loy Gilbert, author of When We Were Infinite A celebration of fannish glee, queer joy and family in all senses of the word. If You Still Recognise Me asks what it means to find yourself, when we are all more than a single story. I adored it. -- Kat Dunn, author of Dangerous Remedy I cant not touch on what else really stood out to me - the portrayal of fandom culture. Often authors get this *so* wrong, having their teenage MCs speak in a way that sounds like they’ve logged onto urbandictionary, typed in youth slang and not bothered to look at the definitions - but Cynthia was spot on. It felt like a love letter to all of us readers who grew up immersed in those spaces, it almost me nostalgic for a time where waiting for the newest update was my primary issue.A celebration of fannish glee, queer joy and family in all senses of the word. If You Still Recognise Me asks what it means to find yourself, when we are all more than a single story. I adored it."- Kat Dunn, author of Dangerous Remedy