Scan barcode
huntkj's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
libraryofqueeries's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
emmalea's review
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mnmille1's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
shaynalambert's review
5.0
Many thanks to the publisher, HarperCollins/ Quill Tree Books, for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
As a fat nerd, I really enjoyed Miller’s debut, OUT OF CHARACTER, so I was very excited for this book. WE GOT THE BEAT is the sort of YA contemporary romance that made me love the genre—a relatable story with emotional stakes and realistic characters that speaks to teenagers where they’re at. I feel like this story could be happening right now in about any high school in the country. Miller’s sophomore release is a wonderful work, and I highly recommend it.
The main character, Jordan, is what I’m affectionately calling a “lovable curmudgeon.” She’s not particularly bubbly, outgoing, or happy-go-lucky, and that’s something that really endeared me to her. Jordan is incredibly focused on her future goals—getting into Columbia and majoring in Journalism. As such, her main want in the book is an editor position on the school newspaper despite being a junior. Everything seems on track for her goals until she receives her assigned beat: covering the volleyball team. Jordan is frustrated by this, but things go from bad to worse when she realizes that she’ll have to write a feature piece about the captain of the volleyball team. And who is the team captain?
Mackenzie West. AKA the former friend who ditched her freshman year for the popular kids and started a rumor that Jordan is a weird stalker.
So in order to work her beat and earn her editor position for the next year, Jordan has to follow Mackenzie around, interview her and the volleyball team, and deal with all the feelings she’d buried for years digging their way back up. The weird part is, Mackenzie seems to want to be friends again. But is she truly sorry? Or does she just want Jordan to write a glowing feature article about her?
In my opinion, Miller handles the push and pull of Jordan and Mack’s relationship extremely deftly. They both have reasons not to trust each other, but also many reasons to want to try to mend fences. The build of their emotions is slow, steady, and incredibly believable. Never was there a moment where I was ripping my hair out because everything would be solved if the two of them would just have a two-minute conversation. Jordan and Mackenzie are actually shockingly open with each other, but there is a lot of real hurt there, and the pace of their working through those feelings was spot on. It was incredibly organic, and at the same time, the book did not drag at any point.
I highly recommend this book for lovers of YA lesbian romances (and the book is explicit lesbian rep! yay!). It rings very true and has many swoony moments that made me squee. I rooted for the two main characters the entire time, and it has vibes of will-they-won’t-they in the most satisfying way. The supporting cast is very well-rounded and realistic as well. It’s so easy to have the “popular girls” be these kinds of 2D villains that the nerdy MC has nothing in common with, but there are no such cliches here! Jordan’s two best friends have deeper lives than simply being vehicles for Jordan’s growth, as well as their own character arcs. The whole thing is incredibly refreshing. I loved this book! You should definitely pick it up!
As a fat nerd, I really enjoyed Miller’s debut, OUT OF CHARACTER, so I was very excited for this book. WE GOT THE BEAT is the sort of YA contemporary romance that made me love the genre—a relatable story with emotional stakes and realistic characters that speaks to teenagers where they’re at. I feel like this story could be happening right now in about any high school in the country. Miller’s sophomore release is a wonderful work, and I highly recommend it.
The main character, Jordan, is what I’m affectionately calling a “lovable curmudgeon.” She’s not particularly bubbly, outgoing, or happy-go-lucky, and that’s something that really endeared me to her. Jordan is incredibly focused on her future goals—getting into Columbia and majoring in Journalism. As such, her main want in the book is an editor position on the school newspaper despite being a junior. Everything seems on track for her goals until she receives her assigned beat: covering the volleyball team. Jordan is frustrated by this, but things go from bad to worse when she realizes that she’ll have to write a feature piece about the captain of the volleyball team. And who is the team captain?
Mackenzie West. AKA the former friend who ditched her freshman year for the popular kids and started a rumor that Jordan is a weird stalker.
So in order to work her beat and earn her editor position for the next year, Jordan has to follow Mackenzie around, interview her and the volleyball team, and deal with all the feelings she’d buried for years digging their way back up. The weird part is, Mackenzie seems to want to be friends again. But is she truly sorry? Or does she just want Jordan to write a glowing feature article about her?
In my opinion, Miller handles the push and pull of Jordan and Mack’s relationship extremely deftly. They both have reasons not to trust each other, but also many reasons to want to try to mend fences. The build of their emotions is slow, steady, and incredibly believable. Never was there a moment where I was ripping my hair out because everything would be solved if the two of them would just have a two-minute conversation. Jordan and Mackenzie are actually shockingly open with each other, but there is a lot of real hurt there, and the pace of their working through those feelings was spot on. It was incredibly organic, and at the same time, the book did not drag at any point.
I highly recommend this book for lovers of YA lesbian romances (and the book is explicit lesbian rep! yay!). It rings very true and has many swoony moments that made me squee. I rooted for the two main characters the entire time, and it has vibes of will-they-won’t-they in the most satisfying way. The supporting cast is very well-rounded and realistic as well. It’s so easy to have the “popular girls” be these kinds of 2D villains that the nerdy MC has nothing in common with, but there are no such cliches here! Jordan’s two best friends have deeper lives than simply being vehicles for Jordan’s growth, as well as their own character arcs. The whole thing is incredibly refreshing. I loved this book! You should definitely pick it up!
gothradiohour's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
max_the_lesbrarian's review
3.0
I wanted to like this book so badly and am left in a little heart-broken puddle - and for that I'm rounding down from 3.5 stars to 3.
Before I get into it, I want to start with the positive. It was such a fun idea! High-achieving journalism student, chomping at the bit for an editor's position as a junior is let down not only by not getting the position, but she's also put on the girl's volleyball beat. A beat which entails she spends loads of time with her supposed arch-nemesis (and crush *cough cough*). What's not to love about that?
I do want to give kudos to the author; the book was very inclusive in a way that didn't feel too forced - we've all read those YA books that absolutely tokenize marginalized identities in such a way it starts to feel offensive. Plus, for the most part, the adults in the book had actual personalities and motivations and faults, which is always a treat. Overall, I also really liked the way the author wrote the friendship between Jordan and her friends - it felt real and you could tell the three had history, and that's hard to do.
And then there is what really brought me down with this book, and I know I'm not the first reviewer to mention this, but it seems like the author didn't let the book get messy. I love a good messy book, but every time there was a time where there was conflict or miscommunication or any other messiness that's core to YA books, and quite frankly, the entire teenage experience, everyone (Jordan especially) seemed to suddenly act like they had 10 years of therapy and multiple effective communication seminars under their belt.
Conflicts that were either sudden or brewing for most of the book were suddenly wrapped up in a page or two and then we seemed to move on. The book was lacking that catharsis that comes with letting the messiness fester and evolve; the characters weren't given that time to grow and that just feels unrealistic - especially for teenagers. I cannot emphasize that enough - some of these problems were nonsense I had to deal with as a teen and I know I'm apparently an "adult" now but there's no way the teens of today would handle problems so neatly.
Overall, it was a good book and I'm happy I read it, but I am just a bit disappointed in the execution.
Thank you so much to HarperCollins Children's Books for the eARC in exchange for an unbiased review.
Before I get into it, I want to start with the positive. It was such a fun idea! High-achieving journalism student, chomping at the bit for an editor's position as a junior is let down not only by not getting the position, but she's also put on the girl's volleyball beat. A beat which entails she spends loads of time with her supposed arch-nemesis (and crush *cough cough*). What's not to love about that?
I do want to give kudos to the author; the book was very inclusive in a way that didn't feel too forced - we've all read those YA books that absolutely tokenize marginalized identities in such a way it starts to feel offensive. Plus, for the most part, the adults in the book had actual personalities and motivations and faults, which is always a treat. Overall, I also really liked the way the author wrote the friendship between Jordan and her friends - it felt real and you could tell the three had history, and that's hard to do.
And then there is what really brought me down with this book, and I know I'm not the first reviewer to mention this, but it seems like the author didn't let the book get messy. I love a good messy book, but every time there was a time where there was conflict or miscommunication or any other messiness that's core to YA books, and quite frankly, the entire teenage experience, everyone (Jordan especially) seemed to suddenly act like they had 10 years of therapy and multiple effective communication seminars under their belt.
Conflicts that were either sudden or brewing for most of the book were suddenly wrapped up in a page or two and then we seemed to move on. The book was lacking that catharsis that comes with letting the messiness fester and evolve; the characters weren't given that time to grow and that just feels unrealistic - especially for teenagers. I cannot emphasize that enough - some of these problems were nonsense I had to deal with as a teen and I know I'm apparently an "adult" now but there's no way the teens of today would handle problems so neatly.
Overall, it was a good book and I'm happy I read it, but I am just a bit disappointed in the execution.
Thank you so much to HarperCollins Children's Books for the eARC in exchange for an unbiased review.