Reviews

Love Somebody by Rachel Roasek

rachel_purple's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

izzys_internet_bookshelf's review against another edition

2.0

2/5

Alright, this cover is amazing but the plot was ok. I felt like it could have been more and it seemed to be somewhat slow.

thereadingmarshmallow's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It didn’t end how I had hoped but overall it was a good listen. I enjoyed the characters and feel it tackled some harder subjects in an open manner. The complex emotions the characters go through was displayed well and the author didn’t try to brush them all under the rug to make things clean and easy.

flowerranger's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

biblioberry's review against another edition

4.0

this book was kind of like a literary version of the movie the half of it with a more rom-comy spin towards the end! there's a lot to love here: although the characters start of kind of opinionated and insufferable, they (mostly) grow a lot by the end of the book. ros did annoy me with her chronic need to pass her pseudo-intellectual judgement on everyone and everything, and while she did undergo character development I kinda wish we could've seen more of that. sam and christian were ADORABLE; they really grow on you (and ros!) over the course of the story. the romance was pretty sweet, though it only kind of starts building towards the end of the book and is most definitely not the focus until more than halfway through. I especially adored the progression of chris' arc with his family and getting to see him reuniting with his brother:') their relationship kinda hit a little too close to home ngl

overall this was a sweet, breezy read with a shit ton of dramatic angst and some really really cute friendships at it's heart! <3

lunarmelodie's review against another edition

3.75

after reading the first 20 % of the book, i finally opened the goodreads page to log in the book and i got scared seeing so many negative reviews right away but i really enjoyed this

smalltownbookmom's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this queer YA romance. So great on audio narrated by a full cast including Natalie Naudus! Sam is a type-A, ambitious senior who just wants to get out of her small town. She's written, produced and starred in the school play with her ex, Christian but then fellow student Ros writes a scathing review forcing Sam to reevaluate her work. Ironically Christian falls hard for Ros on the night of the play and enlists Sam to help impress Ros enough so that she'll date him. Cue, Sam playing as some kind of modern day female Cyrano but along the way her feelings of hate start to turn into something more.

I'm not usually a fan of YA love triangles. They can be heavy on the angst but this one was really well done. The characters didn't feel one-dimensional at all and the story flowed well. Perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli's Kate in waiting or Emma Lord's When you get the chance. Definitely try this on audio if you get the chance!

kthornette's review against another edition

3.0

A review said this was a modern Cyrano de Bergerac retelling and this cover is gorgeous, so I ignored my TBR to check it out. Besides, I made it my goal to read romances this month and I read way less than I had intended (so far).

Sam and Christian had such funny banter while she was helping him, but I couldn’t click with her (and I honestly didn’t want to because she felt sketchy to me). Their ploy was honestly weird and I know that if I was Ros, it wouldn’t sit well with me but I’m letting it slide given Cyrano (one of my favourite French plays). I appreciate the book referencing it near the end. I’m honestly shocked the plan worked for as long as it did.

I will say that I love how the story stressed how much more important friendship is than romance.

The story was honestly predictable. Once it was revealed that Sam was into girls and her and Ros started texting, you can guess what happens. I found Christian to be a more dynamic and interesting character while Ros and Sam were flat (Sam more than Ros since I felt that her backstory was lacklustre compared to the other two). If they were developed more, maybe the romance plot would’ve been executed better.

bethorne's review against another edition

DNF at 25% in. I just don't think I am the target audience for this one. Some YA I can do, and some YA is most obviously written for teens.

enchantedtoreadyou's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.5

My first YA book of 2024. This was a pretty good read. I liked the development of relationships between the three protagonists. It was an easy, fluffy read. This was also the first contemporary/romance of 2024, so it was a nice break from the horror and thrillers I have been reading. The cover is absolutely gorgeous. I liked the bisexual representation. 
Beware though, if catfishing is a trigger for you! 
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.