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ashurq's review against another edition
2.0
Jules is in control. She knows exactly how her senior year is going to go. She’s going to become senior editor of the school newspaper, she’s going to get straight A’s in all of her classes, she’s going to spend time with her best friend Sadie, and then she’s going to get her acceptance letter to Brown. All while volunteering at the dog shelter twice a week and spending quality time with her moms. What she doesn’t account for is Alex–member of the one hit wonder boyband Chaos 4 All.
I wanted to like this book so much…but it just wasn’t good. First of all, I am so tired of the smart girl being portrayed as this hyper-obsessed, socially stunted, and utterly spastic person. It’s insulting and degrading. I was one of those smart girls in high school and I knew a lot of other smart girls and let me tell you something. NONE OF US WERE LIKE THAT. Being smart and focused doesn’t mean that you’re socially clueless as well. It just doesn’t. I HATE that I keep seeing that trope everywhere (I’m looking at you Red Girl, Blue Boy). It didn’t help that at the same time I was reading another book that had a smart girl being portrayed as pretty normal (Kissing in America by Margo Rabb if you were wondering–review to come). So yeah, that pretty much bugged me the entire time.
Spalding kept having Jules do these cringe-worthy things that made me hate her as a main character. She was unapologetically self-obsessed and I had a hard time believing that she had any friends. We’re not given any compelling reasons as to why Alex even likes her and this contributed to the feeling of their relationship being rushed and shallow. I don’t believe that any of the characters experience any character development throughout the book. There’s just no growth with anyone! I feel like they’re basically all the same characters as they started out being.
The last thing that seriously bugged was how “texting obsessed” these characters are. I mean come on. It’s not a big deal if your friend doesn’t text you back right away. It doesn’t mean that they’re mad at you or are ignoring you–it doesn’t mean ANYTHING. SO, CALM DOWN SADIE. That was such a big point of contention/conflict in the book and I’m just sitting over here shaking my head. My phone is always on silent so I often don’t even respond to my husband for at least half an hour or whenever I check my phone next. Are teenagers these days really like this?
Overall, this book had a flat and predictable story with, frankly, very unlikable characters. I think the only character I liked was Em and she didn’t even get that much screen time. Pick up this book if you want, but I would advise against it.
Overall Rating: 2
Language: Moderate. Brief, stronger language.
Violence: None
Smoking/Drinking: Mild. Adults drink wine.
Sexual Content: Moderate
Note: I received this book free from The NOVL in exchange for an honest review.
I wanted to like this book so much…but it just wasn’t good. First of all, I am so tired of the smart girl being portrayed as this hyper-obsessed, socially stunted, and utterly spastic person. It’s insulting and degrading. I was one of those smart girls in high school and I knew a lot of other smart girls and let me tell you something. NONE OF US WERE LIKE THAT. Being smart and focused doesn’t mean that you’re socially clueless as well. It just doesn’t. I HATE that I keep seeing that trope everywhere (I’m looking at you Red Girl, Blue Boy). It didn’t help that at the same time I was reading another book that had a smart girl being portrayed as pretty normal (Kissing in America by Margo Rabb if you were wondering–review to come). So yeah, that pretty much bugged me the entire time.
Spalding kept having Jules do these cringe-worthy things that made me hate her as a main character. She was unapologetically self-obsessed and I had a hard time believing that she had any friends. We’re not given any compelling reasons as to why Alex even likes her and this contributed to the feeling of their relationship being rushed and shallow. I don’t believe that any of the characters experience any character development throughout the book. There’s just no growth with anyone! I feel like they’re basically all the same characters as they started out being.
The last thing that seriously bugged was how “texting obsessed” these characters are. I mean come on. It’s not a big deal if your friend doesn’t text you back right away. It doesn’t mean that they’re mad at you or are ignoring you–it doesn’t mean ANYTHING. SO, CALM DOWN SADIE. That was such a big point of contention/conflict in the book and I’m just sitting over here shaking my head. My phone is always on silent so I often don’t even respond to my husband for at least half an hour or whenever I check my phone next. Are teenagers these days really like this?
Overall, this book had a flat and predictable story with, frankly, very unlikable characters. I think the only character I liked was Em and she didn’t even get that much screen time. Pick up this book if you want, but I would advise against it.
Overall Rating: 2
Language: Moderate. Brief, stronger language.
Violence: None
Smoking/Drinking: Mild. Adults drink wine.
Sexual Content: Moderate
Note: I received this book free from The NOVL in exchange for an honest review.
fafabookcorner's review against another edition
3.0
Review posted on Fafa's Book Corner !
Beware spoilers ahead!
I had heard about this book through Netgalley. It sounded interesting and I requested it. After some time had passed I completely forgot that I requested it. When I went into my Netgalley account I saw that I was denied for this book. That's when I remembered this book even existed. I decided to give it a go because I liked Jules. I am happy to say that I enjoyed it!
The book begins with Jules as she is given information on the new student. Must to her shock and surprise the new student is famous pop star Alex Powell. Jules assumes she's imagining things until she shows the picture to her best friend Sadie. Sadie is just as surprised as Jules. After having a brief conversation with Sadie, Jules goes to meet Alex and give him a tour.
When Jules meets the student she realizes that it really is Alex Powell. Deciding to pretend not to know about his former music career, she introduces herself and begins the tour. While giving Alex a tour Jules finds out that Alex is quite nice. He didn't make fun of her when her skirt got caught in the door. In fact he seems to like her. Jules manages to get through the tour without too many hitches and the two of them go their separate ways.
By the time lunch arrives everyone's heard about Alex. Much to Jules surprise and her friends Alex ends up sitting with them at lunch. Sadie and Em (Jules friend's) are convinced that Alex likes Jules. Over the course of a few weeks Alex and Jules become close and Jules starts developing feelings towards Alex.
Of course this completely goes against all of Jules plans. She wanted to start dating boys when she was in college not in her senior year. Luckily some of her goals are achieved. Mr. Wheeler chooses her to be editor of the school newspaper. Something that Jules has always wanted. And while Alex wasn't apart of the plan she doesn't mind.
For weeks now there's been a flyer in all of the students lockers talking about TALON. Jules assumes that it must be a club but is still surprised that she hasn't heard about it. Then on a faithful Friday TALON is revealed. It's a news channel for the school. And the one who founded TALON is none other than Natalie, who Jules was competing for the editor of the newspaper. Much to Jules shock TALON is reporting what the newspaper team is supposed to put on the newspaper. And on top of that Alex has joined. Jules cuts off all ties with Alex and vows to restore the newspaper to it's former glory.
I was actually surprised that I liked The New Guy (and Other Senior Year Distractions)! When I read the synopsis on Netgalley I thought it sounded odd. The synopsis didn't make sense to me. I didn't get why Jules disliked Alex and whatnot. Of course all that came together once I started reading. The book is written in first person in Jules point of view. The chapters are very short so it's pretty easy to fly through this book. I liked the writing style! It had the right about of emotion in the right places. There's a large focus on school and journalism which was nice! You don't really read about journalism in most YA books.
I really liked Jules character! It was nice to read about a girl who knew what she wants and has goals set. In a way she reminded me of Harper from Rebel Belle. Also she has two moms! And the relationship with them was awesome! Very rarely I have read in YA a female character close to her mothers. The truly were an awesome support system. The friendships were nice! I liked the newspaper friends and Sadie and Em! As was the determination that Jules had to save the newspaper. All in all Jules was a nice character who did most things with good intentions. I also liked Natalie's character. She was complex and smart.
I had three problems with this book. When Alex is first introduced I did like him. He was sweet and his interactions with Jules was funny. Once he joined TALON I started to lose interest in him. Then when he started coming in again I started to like him again. But then he and Jules had a secret relationship, which I did not get. I understood why Jules wanted to keep them a secret but I was surprised that Alex went along with it. Their interactions lacked substance. I never felt anything when I read about them.
This is a revenge story. There are some sabotages pulled on both ends. While I usually don't enjoy revenge stories I was looking forward to seeing what each group came up with. Honestly I found most of it to be lame. Towards the end of the book it started to get interesting.
The book did end on a good note and Jules apologized to Natalie. Then the two of decide to collaborate on a project. While I liked the ending I didn't like the miscommunication. Had the characters started communicating with each other the conclusion would've come much faster.
Note most of the book is spent on taking down TALON. So Jules ends up forgetting to get back to her friends and starts to talk to them less. Then when she secretly started dating Alex she also forgets to spend time with her friends. And was unsympathetic towards their problems. She was so caught up in a boyfriend and balancing school that she forgot to balance her friends. Now this didn't bother me because Jules wasn't trying to do it on purpose and she was new to dating as well as coming up with revenge strategies. I'm mentioning this because I know it bothered other readers. So maybe now that you know it might not bother you.
Overall this was a good book! I will definitely keep a lookout for this author. I recommend it to fans of contemporary books, and fans of the author.
Beware spoilers ahead!
I had heard about this book through Netgalley. It sounded interesting and I requested it. After some time had passed I completely forgot that I requested it. When I went into my Netgalley account I saw that I was denied for this book. That's when I remembered this book even existed. I decided to give it a go because I liked Jules. I am happy to say that I enjoyed it!
The book begins with Jules as she is given information on the new student. Must to her shock and surprise the new student is famous pop star Alex Powell. Jules assumes she's imagining things until she shows the picture to her best friend Sadie. Sadie is just as surprised as Jules. After having a brief conversation with Sadie, Jules goes to meet Alex and give him a tour.
When Jules meets the student she realizes that it really is Alex Powell. Deciding to pretend not to know about his former music career, she introduces herself and begins the tour. While giving Alex a tour Jules finds out that Alex is quite nice. He didn't make fun of her when her skirt got caught in the door. In fact he seems to like her. Jules manages to get through the tour without too many hitches and the two of them go their separate ways.
By the time lunch arrives everyone's heard about Alex. Much to Jules surprise and her friends Alex ends up sitting with them at lunch. Sadie and Em (Jules friend's) are convinced that Alex likes Jules. Over the course of a few weeks Alex and Jules become close and Jules starts developing feelings towards Alex.
Of course this completely goes against all of Jules plans. She wanted to start dating boys when she was in college not in her senior year. Luckily some of her goals are achieved. Mr. Wheeler chooses her to be editor of the school newspaper. Something that Jules has always wanted. And while Alex wasn't apart of the plan she doesn't mind.
For weeks now there's been a flyer in all of the students lockers talking about TALON. Jules assumes that it must be a club but is still surprised that she hasn't heard about it. Then on a faithful Friday TALON is revealed. It's a news channel for the school. And the one who founded TALON is none other than Natalie, who Jules was competing for the editor of the newspaper. Much to Jules shock TALON is reporting what the newspaper team is supposed to put on the newspaper. And on top of that Alex has joined. Jules cuts off all ties with Alex and vows to restore the newspaper to it's former glory.
I was actually surprised that I liked The New Guy (and Other Senior Year Distractions)! When I read the synopsis on Netgalley I thought it sounded odd. The synopsis didn't make sense to me. I didn't get why Jules disliked Alex and whatnot. Of course all that came together once I started reading. The book is written in first person in Jules point of view. The chapters are very short so it's pretty easy to fly through this book. I liked the writing style! It had the right about of emotion in the right places. There's a large focus on school and journalism which was nice! You don't really read about journalism in most YA books.
I really liked Jules character! It was nice to read about a girl who knew what she wants and has goals set. In a way she reminded me of Harper from Rebel Belle. Also she has two moms! And the relationship with them was awesome! Very rarely I have read in YA a female character close to her mothers. The truly were an awesome support system. The friendships were nice! I liked the newspaper friends and Sadie and Em! As was the determination that Jules had to save the newspaper. All in all Jules was a nice character who did most things with good intentions. I also liked Natalie's character. She was complex and smart.
I had three problems with this book. When Alex is first introduced I did like him. He was sweet and his interactions with Jules was funny. Once he joined TALON I started to lose interest in him. Then when he started coming in again I started to like him again. But then he and Jules had a secret relationship, which I did not get. I understood why Jules wanted to keep them a secret but I was surprised that Alex went along with it. Their interactions lacked substance. I never felt anything when I read about them.
This is a revenge story. There are some sabotages pulled on both ends. While I usually don't enjoy revenge stories I was looking forward to seeing what each group came up with. Honestly I found most of it to be lame. Towards the end of the book it started to get interesting.
The book did end on a good note and Jules apologized to Natalie. Then the two of decide to collaborate on a project. While I liked the ending I didn't like the miscommunication. Had the characters started communicating with each other the conclusion would've come much faster.
Note most of the book is spent on taking down TALON. So Jules ends up forgetting to get back to her friends and starts to talk to them less. Then when she secretly started dating Alex she also forgets to spend time with her friends. And was unsympathetic towards their problems. She was so caught up in a boyfriend and balancing school that she forgot to balance her friends. Now this didn't bother me because Jules wasn't trying to do it on purpose and she was new to dating as well as coming up with revenge strategies. I'm mentioning this because I know it bothered other readers. So maybe now that you know it might not bother you.
Overall this was a good book! I will definitely keep a lookout for this author. I recommend it to fans of contemporary books, and fans of the author.
theheartofabookblogger's review against another edition
4.0
This review and more can be found at The Heart of a Book Blogger.
Do you ever just get in those moods where you just need a cute, silly, and fun story to read? That’s the kind of mood I was in when I read The New Guy (and Other Senior Year Distractions) and it was the perfect answer for me. The New Guy is a light, fun, and charming read, and it fits perfectly into the romcom genre.
Jules is the overachieving high school student. She’s focused on starting her senior year off right by becoming editor of the school’s newspaper and applying to her dream Ivy League school. However, her plan goes off course when she’s just given the editor position since half the newspaper staff quit to work for TALON, the school’s new tv announcement program. To go along with that, the new guy at school is interested in her and she has no idea about what to do with that.
I really enjoyed the rivalry between the newspaper staff and tv crew. I thought it was a fun addition to the story. Even though the rest of the school doesn’t really care, the newspaper is important to Jules and she isn’t going to let go of it without a fight. I loved how determined she was when it came to her passions, something which I can relate to. Did she make some mistakes? Yes. Did she learn from them? Yes, and that’s the great thing. So she made a mistake (okay, multiple mistakes), but everyone makes mistakes. What matters is if she grows from the mistakes and decides to try to do better the next time, which she does.
Even though this story seems focused on romance from the synopsis, it’s not. The New Guy is a coming of age story. While the parts with Alex were cute, they were not the focus. To be honest, I do kind of wish there had been more interaction between Alex and Jules. Their quick relationship was instant-love-y, but it wasn’t unbearable. They definitely had the cute, adorkable romance going on for them.
Overall, I was surprised by how fun The New Guy was and how much I enjoyed the humor and cute silliness. I recommend this to some who loves romcoms, and I look forward to reading Amy Spalding’s other novel, Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys).
*This ARC was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.*
Do you ever just get in those moods where you just need a cute, silly, and fun story to read? That’s the kind of mood I was in when I read The New Guy (and Other Senior Year Distractions) and it was the perfect answer for me. The New Guy is a light, fun, and charming read, and it fits perfectly into the romcom genre.
Jules is the overachieving high school student. She’s focused on starting her senior year off right by becoming editor of the school’s newspaper and applying to her dream Ivy League school. However, her plan goes off course when she’s just given the editor position since half the newspaper staff quit to work for TALON, the school’s new tv announcement program. To go along with that, the new guy at school is interested in her and she has no idea about what to do with that.
I really enjoyed the rivalry between the newspaper staff and tv crew. I thought it was a fun addition to the story. Even though the rest of the school doesn’t really care, the newspaper is important to Jules and she isn’t going to let go of it without a fight. I loved how determined she was when it came to her passions, something which I can relate to. Did she make some mistakes? Yes. Did she learn from them? Yes, and that’s the great thing. So she made a mistake (okay, multiple mistakes), but everyone makes mistakes. What matters is if she grows from the mistakes and decides to try to do better the next time, which she does.
Even though this story seems focused on romance from the synopsis, it’s not. The New Guy is a coming of age story. While the parts with Alex were cute, they were not the focus. To be honest, I do kind of wish there had been more interaction between Alex and Jules. Their quick relationship was instant-love-y, but it wasn’t unbearable. They definitely had the cute, adorkable romance going on for them.
Overall, I was surprised by how fun The New Guy was and how much I enjoyed the humor and cute silliness. I recommend this to some who loves romcoms, and I look forward to reading Amy Spalding’s other novel, Kissing Ted Callahan (and Other Guys).
*This ARC was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.*
samwlabb's review
4.0
Rating: 3.5 Stars
I thought this was a fun look at what happens, when a very driven young woman becomes a little sidetracked by. Jules had plans. She was going to be editor of the school paper and earn her way into Brown. She had no time for drama, but it found her, in the form direct competition for the newspaper and a wonderful new student named Alex.
Things I loved:
• Jules' family, her moms were awesome, and it was always nice being at home with them.
• The dog walking
• Alex, he was so sweet and endearing and genuine, and it really annoyed me what Jules KEPT doing to him.
• The romance, when we were in the Jules and Alex bubble
• All the newspaper and broadcast stuff was interesting, and I loved the characters' passion for it.
• The revenge plots were pretty funny, most of the time.
What I wished? I wish Alex and Jules' romance hadn't suffered due to all the drama, because I really adored those two together, but it was still a fun read, and I was happy with where everyone ended up.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS
I thought this was a fun look at what happens, when a very driven young woman becomes a little sidetracked by. Jules had plans. She was going to be editor of the school paper and earn her way into Brown. She had no time for drama, but it found her, in the form direct competition for the newspaper and a wonderful new student named Alex.
Things I loved:
• Jules' family, her moms were awesome, and it was always nice being at home with them.
• The dog walking
• Alex, he was so sweet and endearing and genuine, and it really annoyed me what Jules KEPT doing to him.
• The romance, when we were in the Jules and Alex bubble
• All the newspaper and broadcast stuff was interesting, and I loved the characters' passion for it.
• The revenge plots were pretty funny, most of the time.
What I wished? I wish Alex and Jules' romance hadn't suffered due to all the drama, because I really adored those two together, but it was still a fun read, and I was happy with where everyone ended up.
BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS
lisak's review
2.0
This book was okay. The main character was at the beginning cute, the first few chapters were fine and was like your generic YA contemporary, but then it quickly got very annoying! Jules was annoying. Her best friend was annoying too. The whole issue of the rivalry was annoying. I mean it was just over the top. And the best friend complaining so much about her mom!! And honestly printing a story about your boyfriend's potentially shady past is gonna help him somehow? They are supposed to be seniors but they acted like middle schoolers.
bubbbleebee's review
2.0
I really wanted to like this one (I really liked Ted Callihan), but I couldn't connect with Jules. High hopes for the next one!
bbgood's review
2.0
I could see the train wreck that was going to happen and it was a little painful to watch there at the end. I liked Jules in the beginning! I wanted her to have social smarts, as well as book smarts! She was rather a jerk. But a neat, easy, happy ending, because this is a story, not real life.
dilema's review
3.0
This was a really cute book, but I felt like there were some aspects that felt a little juvenile or unreal.
The relationship between Alex and Jules progressed way too fast since Jules supposedly was completely against boys and not at all interested in Alex. It would have been a lot more fun to see them have a longer period of flirting and of Jules trying not to fall for him. She ended up seeming just a total pushover in his regard; one kiss from him, and she's forgotten all of the reasons she had decided not to kiss him.
I felt like there were a lot of conflicts that just were solved too easily, that in real life would have been blown up a lot bigger and required a lot more discussion and solving than actually happened. If one has a huge conflict with their best friend, simply having dinner doesn't make it all better. I was frustrated by the lack of realism.
The main plot was a conflict over a dying newspaper, but the ending was honestly what I had thought of at the beginning and thus the entire conflict felt much more middle school than high school. I was also surprised by how many characters got involved within the conflict.
This was cute and I think the author has potential, but I felt that there were aspects that could have made it into a stronger YA rom com.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The relationship between Alex and Jules progressed way too fast since Jules supposedly was completely against boys and not at all interested in Alex. It would have been a lot more fun to see them have a longer period of flirting and of Jules trying not to fall for him. She ended up seeming just a total pushover in his regard; one kiss from him, and she's forgotten all of the reasons she had decided not to kiss him.
I felt like there were a lot of conflicts that just were solved too easily, that in real life would have been blown up a lot bigger and required a lot more discussion and solving than actually happened. If one has a huge conflict with their best friend, simply having dinner doesn't make it all better. I was frustrated by the lack of realism.
The main plot was a conflict over a dying newspaper, but the ending was honestly what I had thought of at the beginning and thus the entire conflict felt much more middle school than high school. I was also surprised by how many characters got involved within the conflict.
This was cute and I think the author has potential, but I felt that there were aspects that could have made it into a stronger YA rom com.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.