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sariereads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia and Grief
Moderate: Death of parent and Classism
dianaschmidty's review against another edition
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Okay, so this book started off really cute! I loved the vibes of them working in a bookstore at Christmastime and it also gave my 2000s teen drama vibes, which I loved. This book would have easily been at least four stars, maybe higher, but then we hit the 70% point…
(This is going to have slight spoilers because I can’t properly rant without them)
At the 70% point, this became a retelling of Mean Girls, but whereas Regina George is hilarious and iconic, Blair is just annoying and psychotic. And for some strange reason, Trey’s fine with that?!? Him not believing Ariel right away is one thing, but spending the night at Blair’s after learning (and ignoring) what she did is insane! Especially for a YA book! Also, once she confirms what she did, he’s not even positive that he wants to breakup with her and calls her “amazing.” Like, a psycho that bullies practically everyone, doesn’t have any interest in anything you like, and locked a girl in a classroom because she was a little jealous is considered “amazing”?!?!?!? I guess this can all be chalked up to stupid 18 year old behavior on both parties, but also, it gave me the ick.
I did really like the narrators’ accents. I often have trouble understanding non-American accents, especially when I speed up the narration, but I had absolutely no issues with understanding and I really liked both narrators’ voices.
I would be interested in reading books by this author in the future, but I really wish the last 40% of this book was a lot different…
Thank you to NetGalley, RB Media, and Abiola Bello for providing me access to this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Cancer, Classism, and Infidelity
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