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bianca_1404's review against another edition
4.0
I have always wanted to read this book because of the cover, it looks beautiful. I read it as an audiobook. At first, I thought that the storyline is quite slow. It picks up when Penny met Sam for the first time. That is when things have gotten more interesting. First, I want to talk about Penny and Celeste's dynamic. As someone who is close to my mother, I personally can not relate to them. By seeing from Penny's perspective, I can tell that Celeste is not your typical mother. She dressed like teenagers and do certain things that mothers don't do. I understand how Penny is feeling regarding she has to be the adult in the relationship. But, I can tell that Celeste is also trying to make their relationship works. I think the key to any relationship is communication; same as this one. In the last chapter of the book, Celeste talks about how she would like to be a better mom to her and I see that from the dialogue of both of them. And thankfully, Penny respects that and they got closer than ever.
I relate with Penny with some type of way. She is an introvert that feels like she doesn't have any friends and someone who thinks a lot. I understand where she is coming from. She just want to meet someone who is similar to her and she sees that Sam fits her criteria. I love the dynamic between the two. They have the same refrence and jokes. They can be themselves when they are with each other. One of the part that shocks me is when Penny told Sam that she has been raped and how she felt that it was her fault. I think this is a really deep topic that is hard to bring into a conversation and the writer has written it nicely. I love it that Sam used to think that men who raped women are these big and bad men. But, actually it is not like that. I also want to talk about Jude and Malory. I think their relationship is cute. How in the end of the book, they have gotten close. There is a part in the beach where they found out that Penny is being friends with Sam. I think that is the climax of the story; which is interesting. I would've thought that the climax would be something else. What I mean by this is the peak of the story is about their friendship and not specificaly about Penny's and Sam's relationship.
There are some Korean traditions that the writer has written in the book and I quite like that. The only thing that is unfortunate is that I read it as an audio book so I could not see Penny's and Sam's text message and emails. I think this is a really good book and I gave it a 3.5-4 stars.
I relate with Penny with some type of way. She is an introvert that feels like she doesn't have any friends and someone who thinks a lot. I understand where she is coming from. She just want to meet someone who is similar to her and she sees that Sam fits her criteria. I love the dynamic between the two. They have the same refrence and jokes. They can be themselves when they are with each other. One of the part that shocks me is when Penny told Sam that she has been raped and how she felt that it was her fault. I think this is a really deep topic that is hard to bring into a conversation and the writer has written it nicely. I love it that Sam used to think that men who raped women are these big and bad men. But, actually it is not like that. I also want to talk about Jude and Malory. I think their relationship is cute. How in the end of the book, they have gotten close. There is a part in the beach where they found out that Penny is being friends with Sam. I think that is the climax of the story; which is interesting. I would've thought that the climax would be something else. What I mean by this is the peak of the story is about their friendship and not specificaly about Penny's and Sam's relationship.
There are some Korean traditions that the writer has written in the book and I quite like that. The only thing that is unfortunate is that I read it as an audio book so I could not see Penny's and Sam's text message and emails. I think this is a really good book and I gave it a 3.5-4 stars.
kzhawol's review against another edition
4.0
This was absolutely adorable, heart wrenching and impossible to put down. Coffee, angst and trust issues all tied into a short, sweet, YA novel.
kaikai1618's review against another edition
I really enjoyed reading this book. I haven't felt sad while leaving a book in a while but this book has really connected with me.
This book has some of the most sharp and authentic characters I've read about, messy people with the best banter. The way everything is worded in this book is a level above your typical YA. I've read a lot of Young Adult realistic fiction, and at some point a lot of those books start to blend together, to sound the same. However, with this book there were extremely intelligent, witty characters and the writing was brilliant. I loved the wording of everything because it was phrased like poetry. It was beautiful.
As a young person who reads a lot I'm trying to find a books that will challenge me a little more with the writing while still connecting with the characters. Books with more extensive vocabulary are typically in adult books so I don't identify with them as much. But the writing in this book was more sophisticated while still having characters closer to high school. I felt like I got more out of this book because in a way, the writing took me as a reader more seriously and used more sophisticated language. This is the first book I've read that has done this for me.
I could say realistic too much but that is how I would describe why this book stood out to me. The authenticity in this book was different from other books I've read. In most other books, the realisticness comes from a heart wrenching and emotional event that is overwhealming for the characters. That isn't bad at all, but the thing about this book is that it's didn't do that to me. Instead I was slowly immersed into these characters lives, lives that are not very easy--especially Sam's. Instead of reading the book I could visualize everything so clearly without even realizing. During that time while different parts of Sam and Penny's pasts were revealed it felt more like just the exhaustion of reality than a heart stopping reveal. I felt their baggage in a slow way. Their everyday burdens were like layers, revealed gradually over the coarse of the book in small to sometimes larger tendencies, fears, or actions.
I can see why people may not like this book. I can see why Penny my seem extremely pessimistic, unlikeable, or cynical.
But to me, the way her character was written and the writing style kept me intrigued, and the way she described things was unique from what I typically see. There's something about other styles of writing in young adult romance that blend together for me, that make me not connect with the characters as much. Those are the books I read for entertainment or possibly books I just didn't get as much out of as I'd hoped. I know in those books Maybe I wouldn't have liked penny's perspective as much. I wouldn't have found it as interesting or connected with it.
This is how I know that the writing was great. If Penny was described any other way I don't think I would have gotten as much out of her character or Sam's character.
It also happened to make me feel better as a young Asian reader reading about a smart, well read, Asian woman.
When I said Mary. H.K. Choi's writing is like poetry, I mean it. I love poetry, love the way normal sentences are molded into intricate and beautiful new stanzas in how they're worded. In poetry "eyes" become "soul searching spills of Indigo". Sentences become art because poems are (at least typically and I'm also thinking of slam poems and modern poetry) shorter than books, trying to sculpt imagery into less words. Still, the writing in this book was not merely throwing around pretty wording and fancy over-description. The words were poetry in a way that they exuded personality and displayed everyday life observation. This is why it surprised me when I saw this kind of artful wording in a YA book. It's fairly atypical in YA romance books I have read.
God, when I finished this book I was so sad because I thought there would be more but it was the acknowledgements (which I also read haha). This is one of my new favorite books.
This book has some of the most sharp and authentic characters I've read about, messy people with the best banter. The way everything is worded in this book is a level above your typical YA. I've read a lot of Young Adult realistic fiction, and at some point a lot of those books start to blend together, to sound the same. However, with this book there were extremely intelligent, witty characters and the writing was brilliant. I loved the wording of everything because it was phrased like poetry. It was beautiful.
As a young person who reads a lot I'm trying to find a books that will challenge me a little more with the writing while still connecting with the characters. Books with more extensive vocabulary are typically in adult books so I don't identify with them as much. But the writing in this book was more sophisticated while still having characters closer to high school. I felt like I got more out of this book because in a way, the writing took me as a reader more seriously and used more sophisticated language. This is the first book I've read that has done this for me.
I could say realistic too much but that is how I would describe why this book stood out to me. The authenticity in this book was different from other books I've read. In most other books, the realisticness comes from a heart wrenching and emotional event that is overwhealming for the characters. That isn't bad at all, but the thing about this book is that it's didn't do that to me. Instead I was slowly immersed into these characters lives, lives that are not very easy--especially Sam's. Instead of reading the book I could visualize everything so clearly without even realizing. During that time while different parts of Sam and Penny's pasts were revealed it felt more like just the exhaustion of reality than a heart stopping reveal. I felt their baggage in a slow way. Their everyday burdens were like layers, revealed gradually over the coarse of the book in small to sometimes larger tendencies, fears, or actions.
I can see why people may not like this book. I can see why Penny my seem extremely pessimistic, unlikeable, or cynical.
But to me, the way her character was written and the writing style kept me intrigued, and the way she described things was unique from what I typically see. There's something about other styles of writing in young adult romance that blend together for me, that make me not connect with the characters as much. Those are the books I read for entertainment or possibly books I just didn't get as much out of as I'd hoped. I know in those books Maybe I wouldn't have liked penny's perspective as much. I wouldn't have found it as interesting or connected with it.
This is how I know that the writing was great. If Penny was described any other way I don't think I would have gotten as much out of her character or Sam's character.
It also happened to make me feel better as a young Asian reader reading about a smart, well read, Asian woman.
When I said Mary. H.K. Choi's writing is like poetry, I mean it. I love poetry, love the way normal sentences are molded into intricate and beautiful new stanzas in how they're worded. In poetry "eyes" become "soul searching spills of Indigo". Sentences become art because poems are (at least typically and I'm also thinking of slam poems and modern poetry) shorter than books, trying to sculpt imagery into less words. Still, the writing in this book was not merely throwing around pretty wording and fancy over-description. The words were poetry in a way that they exuded personality and displayed everyday life observation. This is why it surprised me when I saw this kind of artful wording in a YA book. It's fairly atypical in YA romance books I have read.
God, when I finished this book I was so sad because I thought there would be more but it was the acknowledgements (which I also read haha). This is one of my new favorite books.
vicky30312's review against another edition
5.0
I picked this book up on a whim. It sounded cute and I found it for 30% off. And I am so glad I did.
Every turn of the page I found myself nodding along and tabbing my favourite quotes. I don't like I've ever related to a character as much as I did Penny.
When I first started reading I didn't think I was going to like Penny, but I liked Sam's parts right off the bat. Clearly Penny grew on me. I loved the fact that this book dealt with some very serious topics and issues but made them very relatable. I don't typically like when there is a story within a story but the fact that the Anima's story related so much to the IRL problems made it flow so naturally. I couldn't put this book down.
I can't wait until Mary writes more YA Books. Officially hooked.
Some of my favourite quotes:
"Penny wasn't a covert crack addict or a compulsive masturbator, but she didn't have an appreciation for privacy until she shared a room with a girl who could go to the bathroom with the door open while naked and eating pretzels dipped in hummus."
"Some people's coping mechanisms were all about festering and secrecy and ruminating until you grew yourself into a nice little tumor in your heart with a side of panic."
"Penny wanted to be normal. She was eighteen, for christ's sake, a respectable age to start having healthy consensual sex. Sexy sex with someone sexy."
"When it came to perspiration, Penny had a problem. Not that she stank of BO or anything. It's just that from March to around October she was invariably damp."
Every turn of the page I found myself nodding along and tabbing my favourite quotes. I don't like I've ever related to a character as much as I did Penny.
When I first started reading I didn't think I was going to like Penny, but I liked Sam's parts right off the bat. Clearly Penny grew on me. I loved the fact that this book dealt with some very serious topics and issues but made them very relatable. I don't typically like when there is a story within a story but the fact that the Anima's story related so much to the IRL problems made it flow so naturally. I couldn't put this book down.
I can't wait until Mary writes more YA Books. Officially hooked.
Some of my favourite quotes:
"Penny wasn't a covert crack addict or a compulsive masturbator, but she didn't have an appreciation for privacy until she shared a room with a girl who could go to the bathroom with the door open while naked and eating pretzels dipped in hummus."
"Some people's coping mechanisms were all about festering and secrecy and ruminating until you grew yourself into a nice little tumor in your heart with a side of panic."
"Penny wanted to be normal. She was eighteen, for christ's sake, a respectable age to start having healthy consensual sex. Sexy sex with someone sexy."
"When it came to perspiration, Penny had a problem. Not that she stank of BO or anything. It's just that from March to around October she was invariably damp."
gharv03's review against another edition
2.0
While i did enjoy this book and the overall concept of a relationship mostly through texting, there were many parts that were left unfinished. I ended this book wishing the author elaborated on some key themes.
Things missing:
-Sam and Penny’s Texting Convos-
I loved the idea of a couple who mainly meets and falls in love over text. It’s a relevant and relatable plot line, yet it wasn’t taken far enough. We only see some brief convos between the two and they are few and far between. I wish there was much more texting that the readers got to see.
-Sam’s relationship with his mom-
Sam’s relationship with his mom really only came into play towards the end of the book and felt very fleeting. We didn’t learn much about their strained relationship, and when he finally went and visited her the moment came and went.
-Pennys experience with sexual assault-
This was a part of the book that i felt was the most skimmed over. We learn about Penny’s trauma from SA very late in the book and, like the other things I’ve mentioned, it came and went. This felt like a very serious part of penny’s life that made her who she was, yet it wasn’t given the time or depth to convey its seriousness.
-The ending-
The ending of this book was disappointing. It felt very sudden and awkward. I wish we learned more about penny and Sam. Throughout the whole book we follow their romance and at the end when they finally get together the book is over without knowing where they stand.
Things missing:
-Sam and Penny’s Texting Convos-
I loved the idea of a couple who mainly meets and falls in love over text. It’s a relevant and relatable plot line, yet it wasn’t taken far enough. We only see some brief convos between the two and they are few and far between. I wish there was much more texting that the readers got to see.
-Sam’s relationship with his mom-
Sam’s relationship with his mom really only came into play towards the end of the book and felt very fleeting. We didn’t learn much about their strained relationship, and when he finally went and visited her the moment came and went.
-Pennys experience with sexual assault-
This was a part of the book that i felt was the most skimmed over. We learn about Penny’s trauma from SA very late in the book and, like the other things I’ve mentioned, it came and went. This felt like a very serious part of penny’s life that made her who she was, yet it wasn’t given the time or depth to convey its seriousness.
-The ending-
The ending of this book was disappointing. It felt very sudden and awkward. I wish we learned more about penny and Sam. Throughout the whole book we follow their romance and at the end when they finally get together the book is over without knowing where they stand.
sea_su's review against another edition
3.0
Absent dad, mom issues, and trauma was something both Penny and Sam were trying to deal with, but by finding someone to talk and lean on, self healing started.
The books at the beginning was rough for me as a lot of "teenage" jargon was being thrown around and a lot of super random thoughts. The flow of personal thoughts was extremely weird. Like Penny randomly stating her new iPhone's pixel resolution at 458ppi??? Like what???
As the story moved on the cringeyness? got less and less so it was more bearable and it became more serious as you discover Sam's and Penny's trauma. It's messy and Penny is judgey and flawed and pushes everyone away based on them being too much or not enough. I liked Penny, but while she was pointing out how everyone didn't like her, she was also judging everyone else.
Sam's point of view was my favorite. I'm sure many can relate to his situation of trying to work to be able to live and trying to figure out what you want to do in life while really just wanting something to happened so you feel like there's a purpose/structure.
I have very mixed feelings about this book. I feel like somethings were talked about and never brought back up like Sam's film. Even though he didn't turn it in, what became of it?
The books at the beginning was rough for me as a lot of "teenage" jargon was being thrown around and a lot of super random thoughts. The flow of personal thoughts was extremely weird. Like Penny randomly stating her new iPhone's pixel resolution at 458ppi??? Like what???
As the story moved on the cringeyness? got less and less so it was more bearable and it became more serious as you discover Sam's and Penny's trauma. It's messy and Penny is judgey and flawed and pushes everyone away based on them being too much or not enough. I liked Penny, but while she was pointing out how everyone didn't like her, she was also judging everyone else.
Sam's point of view was my favorite. I'm sure many can relate to his situation of trying to work to be able to live and trying to figure out what you want to do in life while really just wanting something to happened so you feel like there's a purpose/structure.
I have very mixed feelings about this book. I feel like somethings were talked about and never brought back up like Sam's film. Even though he didn't turn it in, what became of it?
chantelspeaks's review against another edition
4.0
“Loving someone was traumatizing. You never knew what would happen to them out there in the world. Everything precious was also vulnerable.”
Penny is awkward, beginning college away from home, with a high school boyfriend who barely understands her. Sam is struggling to make ends meet, he has big dreams but right now he’s living in a storage room on a mattress at the café he works at. Penny and Sam swap numbers and so begins a friendship by text, each too awkward to meet in person and tell the other how they really feel.
Emergency Contact drew me in from the beginning. It read a little bit like a YA movie with the narrator pausing a scene and filling you in on the background. It made getting to know Penny’s world fun, but also as a stylistic choice, it fitted the character’s voice well.
Penny is the kind of character where you spend the entire book not quite getting why she acts a particular way toward everyone she meets. Why does she actively spurn her mother? Why does she avoid real relationships with others? She was a puzzle to me, and early on her behaviour frustrated me. The truth of it, of why Penny is like she is, is devastating and once I understood, I saw Penny in a whole new way. I found this to be really powerful and reminded me of how in life - and in books - we can’t always judge those as we see them.
“To be a hero, you had to decide it was you.”
Penny’s character arc is the thing about this book I liked most. The jokes were fun, her relationship with Sam was kind of adorable, but the real winner in this book is how real Penny became for me, and how I cheered her on as she became the hero of this story in entirely her own way.
This is a cutesy romance about young love. I loved reading as Sam and Penny tried to navigate their growing feelings for each other, as each of them were trying to reach toward their own futures, unsure of where the path will lead them. Choi balances the seriousness of Penny and Sam’s pasts with light-hearted humour well. At times, when I was reading I laughed, and at times, I nearly cried, especially as the climax of the novel was revealed.
Emergency Contact was a fun read, and one that I have recommended to friends. Since reading, I have also picked up Mary H.K. Choi’s latest, Permanent Record and look forward to reading it soon.
For more reviews, head to my blog
Penny is awkward, beginning college away from home, with a high school boyfriend who barely understands her. Sam is struggling to make ends meet, he has big dreams but right now he’s living in a storage room on a mattress at the café he works at. Penny and Sam swap numbers and so begins a friendship by text, each too awkward to meet in person and tell the other how they really feel.
Emergency Contact drew me in from the beginning. It read a little bit like a YA movie with the narrator pausing a scene and filling you in on the background. It made getting to know Penny’s world fun, but also as a stylistic choice, it fitted the character’s voice well.
Penny is the kind of character where you spend the entire book not quite getting why she acts a particular way toward everyone she meets. Why does she actively spurn her mother? Why does she avoid real relationships with others? She was a puzzle to me, and early on her behaviour frustrated me. The truth of it, of why Penny is like she is, is devastating and once I understood, I saw Penny in a whole new way. I found this to be really powerful and reminded me of how in life - and in books - we can’t always judge those as we see them.
“To be a hero, you had to decide it was you.”
Penny’s character arc is the thing about this book I liked most. The jokes were fun, her relationship with Sam was kind of adorable, but the real winner in this book is how real Penny became for me, and how I cheered her on as she became the hero of this story in entirely her own way.
This is a cutesy romance about young love. I loved reading as Sam and Penny tried to navigate their growing feelings for each other, as each of them were trying to reach toward their own futures, unsure of where the path will lead them. Choi balances the seriousness of Penny and Sam’s pasts with light-hearted humour well. At times, when I was reading I laughed, and at times, I nearly cried, especially as the climax of the novel was revealed.
Emergency Contact was a fun read, and one that I have recommended to friends. Since reading, I have also picked up Mary H.K. Choi’s latest, Permanent Record and look forward to reading it soon.
For more reviews, head to my blog
sofia_santana's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
withlovenour's review against another edition
3.0
That's it? That ending was seriously abrupt. There was way too much begging and too much middle but the conclusion was so rushed and incomplete. It was a nice concept and a light read but it just leaves you wanting more. More insight into the relationships, more plot, more of the Penny-Sam relationship as a couple, more of Penny and her mom, just all round more. We basically get one significant interaction between Penny and the people in her life. It was still enjoyable though and it was a 4 stars for most of the book but the abrupt cut-off to the story definitely brings it down to a 3.
oliviagagne's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5