A Book Review: To You, Iyla by Kate Lauren - NO SPOILERS

Overall Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Would I recommend: Yes, this is the cutest and most wholesome book. Will definitely make you cry honestly.

Firstly, I want to thank the author for allowing me to ARC read To You, Iyla. I absolutely loved the book so so much you don't understand. This book is emotional and wholesome, and I just loved it. Found family at its best for sure.

To You, Iyla follows the story of Iyla Larson, who goes on a journey to find out more about her biological mother whilst studying Law at UCLA with her best friend. It's split into different POVs with mainly Iyla's mum (Celeste), 19 years in the past, and Iyla during the present.

The characters were so loveable and real, Ambert, Iyla, Zeke, Celeste, and Claire. They were all fleshed out and written wonderfully, especially Zeke, with his backstory. Each of them have unique personalities and were wholesome too! This book made me realise why I love the found family trope so much. My favourite character has to be Celeste, though. She deserves the world.

There were so many little plot twists in the book that had me shook and made me stop reading for a second just to process it. And so many little hints and pieces that just came together beautifully at the end.

I especially love how the author mirrored Iyla's life with Celeste's. Honestly, I felt so gutted knowing that Iyla would never be able to meet Celeste because she's just like her mother. There were so many similarities between them, and I just wished we could've seen them both together. Either way, the parallels between their lives were done beautifully and kudos to the author !!

The last 100 or so pages were a rollercoaster of emotions, I was in tears. I was so happy for Iyla but also so incredibly sad. You'd just have to read it to find out tbh. It was a wild journey.

There was a lot of dialogue in the book, though, but honestly, I didn't mind it too much. I still thought it was really enjoyable and a good read. This is definitely a summer read that I couldn't recommend more !!

Thank you all for reading,

Love,

Aziza <33