Day’s YA: THE QUINCE PROJECT

THE QUINCE PROJECT by Jessica Parra
9781250888518 (Trade Paperback)
9781250862778 (Hardcover)
5/28/2024
Wednesday Books
Ages 12-18

E-galley available on Edelweiss and NetGalley

Castillo Torres is a planner. She loves helping others achieve their HEAs (Happily Ever Afters) by being a fairy godmother-esque party planner extraordinaire. So far, her experience has consisted of planning school events as her high school’s Student Body Association event chair, but now she’s dipping her toe into the waters of quinceañera planning. Her ultimate goal is to become an intern at Mandy Whitmore’s party planning firm–a company that has pulled off some of the most gorgeous, Instagram-worthy, star-studded bashes. But for her résumé to stand out amongst the competitive pool of applicants, Cas needs to plan an event that will really blow Mandy away. When Cas’ sister Po helps her meet famous YouTuber Paulina, a misunderstanding leads Paulina to believe Cas is already an intern for Mandy. Before Cas can correct her, Paulina asks Cas to plan her quinceañera.

Cas knows that planning Paulina’s quince will give her the best shot at scoring an internship with Mandy and what Paulina doesn’t know won’t hurt her, right? But then things become more complicated when Po and Paulina start developing feelings for each other and Cas and Paulina’s chambelán, Javi, begin to fall for each other as well. The group’s shared love of Disneyland brings them even closer together as they plan the Star Wars-themed quince. As Cas gets deeper into the planning process and her relationship with Javi and friendship with Paulina, she begins to realize that maybe planning HEAs for others is her way of avoiding the grieving process after losing her mother. Along the way, Cas learns how to have difficult conversations with her sister and dad and how to make space for both grief and her own happiness.

My favorite part of this novel was the dynamic sister relationship between Cas and Po. Despite their genuine friendship and constant support for each other, they left a lot unsaid between them and often swept their issues under the rug. Seeing them finally lay everything out in the open and talk about their shared grief was so beautiful and heartwarming. I also enjoyed the way Cas found her way back to being an artist after letting it fall by the wayside during her mother’s illness. And the incorporation of Disneyland scenes was magical and offered an avenue for Po and Cas to honor the wonderful memories they shared with their mother there. I loved this just as much as Parra’s previous YA romance, RUBI RAMOS’S RECIPE FOR SUCCESS, and I would especially recommend it to fans of ARYA KHANNA’S BOLLYWOOD MOMENT by Arushi Avachat, ANDER & SANTI WERE HERE by Jonny Garza Villa, and the movie The Wedding Planner.

Happy Reading!
<3 Michelle

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