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ereece13's review against another edition
2.0
This book is all about losing your virginity. At times it goes into great detail. It was a good book at certain moments but other times it fell flat. I usually don’t dislike books, but this one just was not for me. It wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t terrible.
capesandcovers's review against another edition
1.0
Warning: Possible minor spoilers, but nothing I considered to need to be put undercut.
To start off, despite almost DNFing, this book made me laugh. I enjoyed certain parts of it at the beginning, like the nicknames and the lobster door. Those were cute and entertaining while showing us what a great friendship the four girls (Stella, Tilly, Grace & Hannah) had with each other. Hannah's relationship with her Nan was great too, it was nice to see that she had an adult actively taking part in her life. The writing pulls you along quite nicely too. Unfortunately, after that it all just kind of falls apart.
The main reason I kept reading this was because the book was a gift, and because I was really hoping to see Hannah mature and tell Stella off. Now, if you haven't read the book you're probably wondering why this would need to happen. So, let me tell you: this book has quite possibly the most toxic friendship I have ever read in a book. And there's no resolution too it, Hannah just remains spineless and abused. Her friends see it and are fine with it, and she has literally no reason not to have stopped being friends with her so-called BFF but she never does.Honestly, all of the friends, both Sam's & Hannah's, are terrible people (with the exception of Tilly and one of Sam's friends who had no personality). There's a point where I think she was supposed to have matured, but literally a page later it's all retracted and she's back to begging Stella for forgiveness.
I really hadn't been expecting that in the book, since almost everything I had seen about it made it seem like a fluffy romantic-comedy. For the most part this book has been marketed in two ways; mainly as a cute coming of age love story and as a book about virginity. Trust me when I say the latter is the more accurate one. The entirety of the book from start to finish is about sex and not wanting to be the last virgin of the friend group. There was so much sex and so much drama I almost DNFed. It wasn't in a coming of age way either, like the DUFF was either (which it was compared to in the blurb).
There was no love story in this, it was more like "The Summer of Bad Hookups" than a "Totally Awkward Love Story." Because when it came down to it, there was no love, just drugs, sex and alcohol. It was so unrealistic at times it became laughable. I don't mind having any of the above in my books, but the way it was used was terrible and came across as almost mocking teenagers. Overall this book was just so unbelievable from the depiction of the teens lives, (no parents in their right mind let teens go to a known drinking festival) it came across like it the authors' main source of knowledge on teens was from Seth Rogen and Mean Girls.
All in all this book was just every negative social behavior rolled into one book, it had sexism, slut-shaming, lying, cheating and abuse to name a few. It was just...bad.
To start off, despite almost DNFing, this book made me laugh. I enjoyed certain parts of it at the beginning, like the nicknames and the lobster door. Those were cute and entertaining while showing us what a great friendship the four girls (Stella, Tilly, Grace & Hannah) had with each other. Hannah's relationship with her Nan was great too, it was nice to see that she had an adult actively taking part in her life. The writing pulls you along quite nicely too. Unfortunately, after that it all just kind of falls apart.
The main reason I kept reading this was because the book was a gift, and because I was really hoping to see Hannah mature and tell Stella off. Now, if you haven't read the book you're probably wondering why this would need to happen. So, let me tell you: this book has quite possibly the most toxic friendship I have ever read in a book. And there's no resolution too it, Hannah just remains spineless and abused. Her friends see it and are fine with it, and she has literally no reason not to have stopped being friends with her so-called BFF but she never does.Honestly, all of the friends, both Sam's & Hannah's, are terrible people (with the exception of Tilly and one of Sam's friends who had no personality). There's a point where I think she was supposed to have matured, but literally a page later it's all retracted and she's back to begging Stella for forgiveness.
I really hadn't been expecting that in the book, since almost everything I had seen about it made it seem like a fluffy romantic-comedy. For the most part this book has been marketed in two ways; mainly as a cute coming of age love story and as a book about virginity. Trust me when I say the latter is the more accurate one. The entirety of the book from start to finish is about sex and not wanting to be the last virgin of the friend group. There was so much sex and so much drama I almost DNFed. It wasn't in a coming of age way either, like the DUFF was either (which it was compared to in the blurb).
There was no love story in this, it was more like "The Summer of Bad Hookups" than a "Totally Awkward Love Story." Because when it came down to it, there was no love, just drugs, sex and alcohol. It was so unrealistic at times it became laughable. I don't mind having any of the above in my books, but the way it was used was terrible and came across as almost mocking teenagers. Overall this book was just so unbelievable from the depiction of the teens lives, (no parents in their right mind let teens go to a known drinking festival) it came across like it the authors' main source of knowledge on teens was from Seth Rogen and Mean Girls.
All in all this book was just every negative social behavior rolled into one book, it had sexism, slut-shaming, lying, cheating and abuse to name a few. It was just...bad.
jujubeereads's review
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
carolinethereader's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
video review (+some of my own awkward stories) here -> https://youtu.be/NzpJbnbrbG8
FIRST things first, this book is not for everyone! It's the story of two English high school students who are trying to lose their virginity before they go to college. It does not shy away from anything to do with sex so do not come into this book expecting it to be tame. It isn't tame at all and I loved it. This book is full of the same cringey scenarios as shows like The Inbetweeners (watch it if you haven't!) where I was genuinely embarrassed at times for these fictional characters. It was horrible but also excellent. The two main characters, Hannah and Sam, were really likeable despite how awkward they were. I really loved them both because they felt like real people and dealt with real things.
I just think this book was really well done and entertaining. My favourite thing was that it didn't do what SO many other books do where they glamourise losing your virginity. You know what I mean? How it's all kisses and gentle caresses and no pain or awkwardness or anything like that? I'm pretty sure that does not happen to anyone and I liked that this book was real about it. The first time sex in this book was super awkward and funny and it made me like the whole story a lot more.
video review (+some of my own awkward stories) here -> https://youtu.be/NzpJbnbrbG8
FIRST things first, this book is not for everyone! It's the story of two English high school students who are trying to lose their virginity before they go to college. It does not shy away from anything to do with sex so do not come into this book expecting it to be tame. It isn't tame at all and I loved it. This book is full of the same cringey scenarios as shows like The Inbetweeners (watch it if you haven't!) where I was genuinely embarrassed at times for these fictional characters. It was horrible but also excellent. The two main characters, Hannah and Sam, were really likeable despite how awkward they were. I really loved them both because they felt like real people and dealt with real things.
I just think this book was really well done and entertaining. My favourite thing was that it didn't do what SO many other books do where they glamourise losing your virginity. You know what I mean? How it's all kisses and gentle caresses and no pain or awkwardness or anything like that? I'm pretty sure that does not happen to anyone and I liked that this book was real about it. The first time sex in this book was super awkward and funny and it made me like the whole story a lot more.
bookish_gremlin's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
The miscommunication trope is strong with this one
jessjb0131's review
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
bookishkitkat's review
1.5
1.) Hannah is great and deserves so much better than Sam.
2.) I hate amatonormativity. The amount of messaging that conveyed that still being a virgin by a certain age is bad and freakish is quite frankly alarming. And it is never challenged AT ALL throughout the book. It’s only reinforced.
3.) Casper is the only legit character, why didn’t we get more of him?
4.) I appreciated the realistic sex scene. We need more of those.
5.) Also liked Hannah’s relationship with her grandma.
6.) If this is allo culture I hate it. I’ve literally never been more glad to have had a supportive queer friend group in high school with the ability to talk about things that weren’t boys or sex. I would have felt so out of place as an aro-spec ace person. Are straight allo friendships actually like this? No judgement, just genuinely curious. If so, I hope our culture has progressed enough to have those conversations be healthier. Because damn. Some of that stuff was really toxic.
7.) My hot take is that I kind of agree with Stella (even though she’s toxic overall)
2.) I hate amatonormativity. The amount of messaging that conveyed that still being a virgin by a certain age is bad and freakish is quite frankly alarming. And it is never challenged AT ALL throughout the book. It’s only reinforced.
3.) Casper is the only legit character, why didn’t we get more of him?
4.) I appreciated the realistic sex scene. We need more of those.
5.) Also liked Hannah’s relationship with her grandma.
6.) If this is allo culture I hate it. I’ve literally never been more glad to have had a supportive queer friend group in high school with the ability to talk about things that weren’t boys or sex. I would have felt so out of place as an aro-spec ace person. Are straight allo friendships actually like this? No judgement, just genuinely curious. If so, I hope our culture has progressed enough to have those conversations be healthier. Because damn. Some of that stuff was really toxic.
7.) My hot take is that I kind of agree with Stella (even though she’s toxic overall)
kmdegarmo's review against another edition
4.0
So the beginning was a bit boring and typical teenager-like which I rolled my eyes at. However, once Sam and Hannah met, it was a whole other book! I really loved the back and forth between Sam and Hannah and the awkward situations that kept them apart. Definitely for older teens with the content but worth the read.
suey's review
1.0
Yeah, I shouldn't have read this one, but I did anyway. I was hoping things would start turning around, but no.
theawkwardbookw's review against another edition
4.0
Want to see more bookish things from me? Check out my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCferU-BCL2dlFjWdD0rS75Q/videos?view_as=subscriber
One night at a party, Hannah and Sam meet accidentally in a bathroom. They strike up a conversation but are quickly interrupted before they even learn each others names. As time goes on, they can't stop thinking about one another but believe they will never see each other again. Until they do... repeatedly... and its more than awkward.
This was super cute and fluffy, just what I needed at the time. It was a very fast read that had me giggling at the awkward encounters these characters went through. I really loved the alternating perspective between Sam and Hannah. I loved catching a glimpse into each of their minds and how each situation was interpreted differently by each character. Hannah annoyed me at times for never standing up for herself when it came to Stella, her bitchy best friend who thought she could walk all over everyone. Sam also got on my nerves as well because he was so naive about EVERYTHING. I did really love them together once it finally happened though. I thought they were super cute and I loved their easy banter. I think a lot of the drama that they faced could have been easily avoided if they had just communicated with each other. In my opinion, they definitely felt more like 16 year olds rather than 18 like they were supposed to be. Robin was definitely my favourite character, I thought he was hilarious and every scene he was in had me laughing. I really like how honest this book was about sex and loosing your virginity. There was no romanticizing about it, it was very real and how it USUALLY happens. I also loved how the relationship between Stella and Hannah was so toxic, I think it did a great job in portraying how dangerous this type of relationship can be.
One night at a party, Hannah and Sam meet accidentally in a bathroom. They strike up a conversation but are quickly interrupted before they even learn each others names. As time goes on, they can't stop thinking about one another but believe they will never see each other again. Until they do... repeatedly... and its more than awkward.
This was super cute and fluffy, just what I needed at the time. It was a very fast read that had me giggling at the awkward encounters these characters went through. I really loved the alternating perspective between Sam and Hannah. I loved catching a glimpse into each of their minds and how each situation was interpreted differently by each character. Hannah annoyed me at times for never standing up for herself when it came to Stella, her bitchy best friend who thought she could walk all over everyone. Sam also got on my nerves as well because he was so naive about EVERYTHING. I did really love them together once it finally happened though. I thought they were super cute and I loved their easy banter. I think a lot of the drama that they faced could have been easily avoided if they had just communicated with each other. In my opinion, they definitely felt more like 16 year olds rather than 18 like they were supposed to be. Robin was definitely my favourite character, I thought he was hilarious and every scene he was in had me laughing. I really like how honest this book was about sex and loosing your virginity. There was no romanticizing about it, it was very real and how it USUALLY happens. I also loved how the relationship between Stella and Hannah was so toxic, I think it did a great job in portraying how dangerous this type of relationship can be.