Reviews with content warning for Racism - Yes No Maybe So

I wanted to read this book as I've enjoyed Becky Albertalli’s joint projects and l love her solo work, so I was really intrigued and excited to see how this book was about. However, this book just didn’t work for me. I found it very long winded and very slow-paced.

This book has two points of views. The first one is Jamie Goldberg. He is cool with volunteering for his local state candidate as long as he is behind the scenes. There’s no way he’d ever knock-on doors to ask people for their votes . . . until he meets Maya. Maya Rehmen’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang with her, her summer trip is cancelled, her parents are separating, and her mother thinks the solution to all her problems is political canvassing with some awkward guy she hardly knows. Going door to door isn’t exactly glamorous, but maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer and so are Maya and Jamie. Mastering local activism is one thing. Navigating the cross-cultural crush is another thing.

Okay, I'm going to try and start with what I liked about this book . . . Sophie, I wished we got more of her and the LBGT side of it and I just thought she was hilarious and so much better than the two main characters. I liked the awkward, flirting between Maya and Jamie but that was about it. I felt like the book could have explored more of the cross religion rather than the politics side of it. I find the UK government boring and stressful never mind the US government. I know the reasoning behind this book, but it just felt more of a political book with a bit of romance than a young adult romance book with a bit of politics. I felt like Gabe was a complete tool and I felt like they could have villainised him more or let him have a redemption arc which never happened.

Overall, this book had a lot of potential and it just never happened, it was very long winded with no sort of happy ending, but I just wanted more from this book that I never got.

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bees_circus's review against another edition

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hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A contemporary, coming-of-age story about friendship, families and politics. Loveable characters that made me feel interested in the latter, the dual perspective was really insightful into the character development & the side characters were brilliant.

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coligmueller's review against another edition

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3.0

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im_s_morgan's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I would absolutely recommend this read. I rated it a 4 star but it’s really a 4.9 star read. I love the attention to detail and getting the aspects of each religion true or as close to the real thing instead of using stereotypes. I didn’t rate this a 5 star because for it was a little slow on grabbing my attention but that only took three chapters (which were short) so overall I quite enjoyed this book.

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