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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
I received a finished copy of this book from the publisher (Penguin UK) in exchange for an honest review.
I wanted to love this book, i really really did, but i couldn't bring myself to.
Here are some of the reasons why:
1) It was a typical contemporary young adult story, just like millions of other contemporary YA books out there.
2) I couldnt enjoy the story. Because firstly, i believe that people can't just live and seek only one thing, especially if it's as shallow as getting a boyfriend. And secondly, such a story has been written many times before with the same exact pattern and the same exact ending as this one.
What disappointed me the most, however, was how my excitement kept getting thrown out a window every time i flipped a page. I more than loved Albertalli's first book, and i was beyond excited to read her second, but it didn't work out for me the way i was expecting it to.
a very sweet story but i wish the characters were more developed
This was such a fun read and Molly was such a fun character! While she didn't have a lot of confidence in some areas (kissing boys), she still seem to be confident in knowing who she was - a girl who was crafty, loved Pinterest and loved her family.
Her twin sister Cassie was also a great character and I would have liked to hear more from her.... watching her relationship develop with Mina was great but a bit more detail from the inside of that relationship would have been awesome!
The family relationships were a strong theme and Molly & Cassie's mums were super cool and the story ending with a wedding was exactly the perfect ending.
If you want a book that covers first love, first kisses, family, friends with a bit of craft and humour thrown in - this book is for you.
Thanks to Penguin Random House Children's for the ARC via NetGalley.
Her twin sister Cassie was also a great character and I would have liked to hear more from her.... watching her relationship develop with Mina was great but a bit more detail from the inside of that relationship would have been awesome!
The family relationships were a strong theme and Molly & Cassie's mums were super cool and the story ending with a wedding was exactly the perfect ending.
If you want a book that covers first love, first kisses, family, friends with a bit of craft and humour thrown in - this book is for you.
Thanks to Penguin Random House Children's for the ARC via NetGalley.
This is was a such I good sequel. Very interesting story
Super cute, diverse and inclusive in ways that felt genuine and lived, with a fat protagonist whose body shame (and sense of her own beauty only via male gaze) felt all too familiar. There are some things that really bothered me -- the love triangle rooted in Molly basically being ashamed of Reid, the fact that Will rejects her and that's how she gets over the weird triangle thing -- all the power is with the boys, over and over. Oh, and Reid getting new sneakers. There's a lot here to enjoy, but there's an undercurrent in the hetero relationships that points to some less than healthy understandings of relationships. And maybe not just the het relationships? Mina flirts with everyone, I kept thinking the text was setting us up for her to be a two-timing jerk, although I don't think it was meant to suggest that. Surface of this is sweet and breezy and fun, but there's some weird undercurrent stuff I'm a little unsure about. On the other hand, I like the way Albertalli's teens interact, they seem pretty real and the dialogue is fun.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
This was great! It reminds me why I love contemporary YA so much.
The protagonist has a larger body, which she talks about openly. Her internal thoughts are refreshingly honest and were also educational for me. More specifically, I could see "thin privilege" and "sizism" more clearly by reading about her experiences and listening to her opinions/thought.
For example, Molly commented how in every teen movie or romantic comedy ever, when the heterosexual girl takes her top or dress off, there is a very specific body underneath and that is not what is underneath her clothes. Molly then talked about how this affected her, how it made her feel, how alienating it could be.
I knew there was a lack of body diversity in TV/film/media, but it hadn't clicked together for me that that lack of diversity was a huge 'microaggression'. Molly's commentary brought to light how insidious the effects/consequences of lack of body diversity actually are.
OVERALL: I loved Molly. I loved her lesbian moms and how that political topic (the USSC decision happened during the book) was brought in lightly and beautifully. I loved that she had a twin sister who started her first relationship with a girl the same time Molly started having a boyfriend. I loved how the story addressed that difficult time of still wanting your BFF but also having a boyfriend... and how "dating" brought change that is exhilarating and painful... how you have to accept the way relationships evolve etc etc. It was very "coming-of-age" in a lot of ways.
Overall, it was a sweet, heart-warming story. I also loved the author's previous book, [b:Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda|19547856|Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood, #1)|Becky Albertalli|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1402915678s/19547856.jpg|27679579]
The protagonist has a larger body, which she talks about openly. Her internal thoughts are refreshingly honest and were also educational for me. More specifically, I could see "thin privilege" and "sizism" more clearly by reading about her experiences and listening to her opinions/thought.
For example, Molly commented how in every teen movie or romantic comedy ever, when the heterosexual girl takes her top or dress off, there is a very specific body underneath and that is not what is underneath her clothes. Molly then talked about how this affected her, how it made her feel, how alienating it could be.
I knew there was a lack of body diversity in TV/film/media, but it hadn't clicked together for me that that lack of diversity was a huge 'microaggression'. Molly's commentary brought to light how insidious the effects/consequences of lack of body diversity actually are.
OVERALL: I loved Molly. I loved her lesbian moms and how that political topic (the USSC decision happened during the book) was brought in lightly and beautifully. I loved that she had a twin sister who started her first relationship with a girl the same time Molly started having a boyfriend. I loved how the story addressed that difficult time of still wanting your BFF but also having a boyfriend... and how "dating" brought change that is exhilarating and painful... how you have to accept the way relationships evolve etc etc. It was very "coming-of-age" in a lot of ways.
Overall, it was a sweet, heart-warming story. I also loved the author's previous book, [b:Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda|19547856|Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Creekwood, #1)|Becky Albertalli|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1402915678s/19547856.jpg|27679579]
SO GOOD. I read this while ago, but I reread it the other weekend. SO GOOD.
i liked the main character but i don't think i loved this story and the cast of characters as much as simon vs the homo sapiens agenda, though i was v excited to see abby! i didn't immediately register when she was mentioned as a cousin and then getting molly's last name, it clicked
honestly cassie got on my nerves, she acted like how you would think a fictional older sister would and they're the same age. she could just be so condescending to molly and blamed her every time molly was upset, which hey sometimes molly got mad for unfair reasons but simply expressing her feelings on anything had cassie turning it around on her, it was so irritating. and i understand cassie was trying to be helpful with the will thing and obvs molly did want a boyfriend, but the pushing was not cute, especially when molly never even outright said she liked will - which she didn't really, she just thought he was cute - and everyone was just. making assumptions about molly's feelings, and wanting molly to like him because it would literally be convenient like okay. AND that she thought molly would just hook up with will and stay the night with him, like sure your first experience could be one where you jump right in, but you know your sister lmao be real for a second
had to laugh at molly thinking she's different from other teenage girls bc she thinks about weddings like........so many girls of my generation had pinterest boards planning their weddings come on you're not special for that
also hilarious that will basically disappeared entirely at the end
and hey now @ reid and molly those were all great 2000s pop songs, how can you talk shit about a thousand miles
ANYWAY i enjoyed molly and reid together a lot, though i think we could've gotten a LITTLE more of them together but ik a lot of the story was meant to focus on molly herself and her relationship with cassie so i get it. was glad though bc i wasn't sure which route we were going, i didn't think she and will would make sense unless they were gonna do a fake-out and she would end up really falling for him, though he definitely gave off vibes that he liked her lmao, but when reid and olivia met and molly got a vibe, i was like oh please not the guy falling for the best friend it's the worst plotline, and i was so relieved they didn't go with that
overall a p fun and entertaining read!
honestly cassie got on my nerves, she acted like how you would think a fictional older sister would and they're the same age. she could just be so condescending to molly and blamed her every time molly was upset, which hey sometimes molly got mad for unfair reasons but simply expressing her feelings on anything had cassie turning it around on her, it was so irritating. and i understand cassie was trying to be helpful with the will thing and obvs molly did want a boyfriend, but the pushing was not cute, especially when molly never even outright said she liked will - which she didn't really, she just thought he was cute - and everyone was just. making assumptions about molly's feelings, and wanting molly to like him because it would literally be convenient like okay. AND that she thought molly would just hook up with will and stay the night with him, like sure your first experience could be one where you jump right in, but you know your sister lmao be real for a second
had to laugh at molly thinking she's different from other teenage girls bc she thinks about weddings like........so many girls of my generation had pinterest boards planning their weddings come on you're not special for that
also hilarious that will basically disappeared entirely at the end
and hey now @ reid and molly those were all great 2000s pop songs, how can you talk shit about a thousand miles
ANYWAY i enjoyed molly and reid together a lot, though i think we could've gotten a LITTLE more of them together but ik a lot of the story was meant to focus on molly herself and her relationship with cassie so i get it. was glad though bc i wasn't sure which route we were going, i didn't think she and will would make sense unless they were gonna do a fake-out and she would end up really falling for him, though he definitely gave off vibes that he liked her lmao, but when reid and olivia met and molly got a vibe, i was like oh please not the guy falling for the best friend it's the worst plotline, and i was so relieved they didn't go with that
overall a p fun and entertaining read!