I'M NOT HERE TO MAKE FRIENDS

Six Asian American teens live together for a month as part of a reality show.

Chinese American Sabine Zhang is thrilled to get out of Moline, Illinois, and appear on Hotel California, a small reality series that centers on six Asian high schoolers living together for four weeks. When she arrives at the show’s Palm Springs house, Sabine realizes the other contestants—including artsy Mari, who’s implied Japanese; bookish Nigerian and Taiwanese Grant; aspiring actor Chris, whose ethnicity is not specified; and cool, sporty Danny, who’s cued South Asian—aren’t regular teens like in previous seasons. They all look like models and hail from bigger cities. The new season, it’s announced, is going to air on a huge streaming platform, so the casting focused on looks and the likelihood of romantic and interpersonal tensions. Sabine is most unsettled by gorgeous and outspoken Manhattanite Yoona Bae, the narrative’s second protagonist. An only child, Yoona is just happy to be away from her controlling mother and their gossipy Korean community. Yoona doesn’t want to come off as the beautiful mean girl, and Sabine doesn’t want to seem like an insecure Midwesterner, but in the producer’s hands, the two are established as antagonists. This winning story thoughtfully explores Asian representation, the differences between growing up a person of color on the coasts versus middle America, and how girls are expected to be rivals rather than friends.

A charming, crowd-pleasing debut.