Reviews

Technically, You Started It by Lana Wood Johnson

baoluong's review against another edition

4.0

Told in exchanging text messages, Haley and Martin spark up an online friendship. Their conversations feel natural and enforces the ability to form connections through words and conversations alone. The essence of someone consists of their thoughts, opinions, and taste. Sometimes the "real world" encompasses what you read.

This is a relatively quick, fun read with enjoyable banter, intros to sexualities, and on par with realistic high school drama. Haley learns to trust herself and invest in her own mental health. Things are pretty wholesome with characters living their own complex lives. I would even consider them relatable making a realistic character cast. This reminds me of the idea of tiny little quirky things authors write for their characters are simply normal things that regular people do. Martin and Haley have quirks, but in reality that's just called having a personality. Having likes and dislikes is part of being human and furthermore interesting. Areas of interest, dreams and fears, and how they interact with others is the basis of there relationship.

The ending is sweet no matter the somewhat annoying misunderstandings. I'm fine with that as we blow over the trope as quickly as possible. I recommend this for fans of Fangirl with an appropriate amount of high school drama.

I like the compartmentalization of each illustration in a text bubble. It reminds me of comic books and I appreciate the detail of how each text bubble faces different directions. The color scheme is perfect for a mild romance book. I also like trying to trace back scenes and how they correlate to what's shown on the cover.

dunder_mifflin's review against another edition

1.0

ugh. i'm so glad i've finally finished this. it was literally. painful.

haley, the main character, is literally the most dense, oblivious, idiotic character.

i liked a few things about the book: martin, haley's parents, the format,

i literally cannot stand haley though like how can you be so DUMB???? it was SO OBVIOUS and she just..... is an idiot

also i was expecting it to not be so obvious because the BLURB THAT IS MEANT TO ADVERTISE THE BOOK TO YOU is literally a lie. it says martin doesn't know she's got the wrong boy either, so i thought it would legit just be like 'not talking about irl so it's not obvious' but no. it was obvious. martin knew from literally the start.

thanks for lying on your blurb, lana. if you hadn't lied, maybe i would have known what i was getting into, and could have read something else

sofia_santana's review against another edition

emotional funny 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? No

4.5

c1aud55n's review against another edition

2.0

2.5?

This book was mediocre at best.

It wasn't quite what I expected, and that definitely hindered my enjoyment of it. I was expecting something light and fluffy and this book just didn't do that.

The book could have easily been a hundred pages shorter had Johnson cut out unnecessary scenes.

The romance made sense but it jumped so quickly from a friendship to a romance that it was almost unbelievable. That's definitely were the format of the book hindered this story. We couldn't see any of the characters inner monologue which left a barrier between them and the reader, almost like a disconnect. This led to certain climactic scenes being underwhelming as we couldn't see the action, only the fallout.

mayakenney1's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

sarahs_booklove's review against another edition

4.0

Dieses Buch ist genau zum richtigen Zeitpunkt gekommen. Es ist mal etwas ganz anderes, durch die Text Nachrichten, aber sehr süß gemacht. Perfekt für zwischendurch und zum Abschalten. Auf diese Idee muss man erstmal kommen, und die Umsetzung hat mir auch sehr gut gefallen. Es ist ein richtig gutes Young Adult Buch, was ich gerne weiterempfehlen werde.

wishfulfillment's review against another edition

5.0

2019: 5/5 stars, one of my favorite reads of the year
2020: still 5/5 stars, one of my favorite books of all-time

madiscone06's review against another edition

2.0

2-2.5
It was okay. I liked a good chunk of it but a lot of it was just forgettable. And god Haley is oblivious, she’s so dumb sometimes it makes me angry. She needs to just listen to M sometimes. M was the best character by FAR, he had more of a personality than most of the other characters. Haley was an ok character until she just got dumb, and at the end - very irritating. Also Chloe was a right dickhead, and who the other girl was (forgot her name I think it starts with an S) was just not a good friend.

It was an easy read though which boosted its points. I liked the text chat layout idea but I feel like at the end there should have been proper scenes scattered throughout the book when they were together. (ESPECIALLY AT THE END THAT WOULDVE BEEN SO CUTE)

marieintheraw's review against another edition

4.0

ON THE PAGE BISEXUAL AND DEMISEXUAL REPRESENTATION. *insert that gif of the lady raising her hands in praise* ehhm. the reader will clearly know more than the protagonist, but in some books, that isn't such a bad thing.

I got an ARC of this book at Bookcon via the publisher; all opinions are my own.

silver_anchor4's review against another edition

Short, nice and cute. Recommend the audiobook.