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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Super adorable story with body positivity and a f/f relationship. What’s not to love?
Wonderful cotton candy romantic comedy featuring two girls.
Highlights:
Cute, straightforward, positive. Everything you'd want in a romantic comedy. Though the main character struggles with issues like body positivity, it never gets too angsty or dark. It's funny--I actually laughed out loud a few times. The narrator for the audiobook has a unique voice but I found it fitting.
Lowerlights:
The story is pretty predictable. I saw most of the story beats coming pretty early on, but it was still a satisfying read. I found the age coding a bit inconsistent in this. The characters are supposed to be 17, but talk and act much younger. If it was just Abby I'd give it a pass, and Jordi is written with a bit more maturity, but Abby's friends are also experiencing their first relationships and act very immature about them. At 17? Most of my friends had gone through several, and I wasn't part of a popular crowd like these characters. Also despite this seeming immaturity, they all casually drink beer (not a plot point, just something they do all the time in broad daylight?) Not a huge gripe, but definitely felt inconsistent.
If you need a feel good gay romance this is a great YA book for you!
[3.5 rounded up]
Highlights:
Cute, straightforward, positive. Everything you'd want in a romantic comedy. Though the main character struggles with issues like body positivity, it never gets too angsty or dark. It's funny--I actually laughed out loud a few times. The narrator for the audiobook has a unique voice but I found it fitting.
Lowerlights:
The story is pretty predictable. I saw most of the story beats coming pretty early on, but it was still a satisfying read. I found the age coding a bit inconsistent in this. The characters are supposed to be 17, but talk and act much younger. If it was just Abby I'd give it a pass, and Jordi is written with a bit more maturity, but Abby's friends are also experiencing their first relationships and act very immature about them. At 17? Most of my friends had gone through several, and I wasn't part of a popular crowd like these characters. Also despite this seeming immaturity, they all casually drink beer (not a plot point, just something they do all the time in broad daylight?) Not a huge gripe, but definitely felt inconsistent.
If you need a feel good gay romance this is a great YA book for you!
[3.5 rounded up]
“This must be what it feels like to fall in love with someone, which means that somehow I, Abby Ives, am falling in love at seventeen and without any of my apparent flaws fixed. I’m just me, and this is still happening.”
Oh man, this was cute. I had just been bemoaning the lack of teen f/f books, so this was great to see. On the one hand, there aren't a lot of...stakes, I guess? But on the other, it's refreshing to read about a girl who's fat and gay who gets to have a summer romance.
Finally a book to knock me out of my reading slump! The Summer of Jordi Perez has everything--queer romance, body positivity, sister relationships, mother-daughter relationships, fashion, beautiful descriptions of Los Angeles, and, of course, burgers. The characters felt really real to me and I was rooting for them the whole time. Seriously, this book is adorable and sweet, and I highly recommend it. I just wish I'd been able to finish it while it was still Pride month!
I'm out of the YA fiction phase I was in several years ago, but every now and then, a YA title catches my eye. Usually, it just goes on my to-read pile, but I dug into this one - great for a long few days of traveling. Fun, diverse characters, no over the top plot to propel the story. It may not have been 100% believable, and the literal one-line resolution to a major question of the plot was a bit underwhelming, but all-in-all, a worthy read. At least for this not-even-close-to-Y-Adult.
I really hope to one day exist in a world where such an honest take on representation doesn't feel so fresh and groundbreaking and new and necessary. But currently it does, and so we're damned lucky to have YA books of this flavor. All of the characters are adorable as they navigate a summer of new relationships and growing up and becoming adults, and it's done in such a raw manner. There are a few YA books I remember discovering when I needed them, and I imagine this will be a book of that nature for many.
Very wholesome, sweet f/f romance with fun, lovable side characters.
Only 4 stars because I didn't find the "internship" plot the most believable (work experience in YA is one of my special interests as someone who spent 15-20+ hrs / week working food service or retail starting at 16) — this boutique with like 3 employees is going to hire one intern who spends a lot of time taking photos and one intern with blog experience who has goals of improving their social media?? There's a small bit about them helping with filing and things, but I just didn't understand how this was an internship?
Other than that though, absolutely delightful!
Only 4 stars because I didn't find the "internship" plot the most believable (work experience in YA is one of my special interests as someone who spent 15-20+ hrs / week working food service or retail starting at 16) — this boutique with like 3 employees is going to hire one intern who spends a lot of time taking photos and one intern with blog experience who has goals of improving their social media?? There's a small bit about them helping with filing and things, but I just didn't understand how this was an internship?
Other than that though, absolutely delightful!
A colorful splash of fun with just enough teenage angst and misunderstanding to keep things interesting, but stopping short of annoying. I really enjoyed this tale of summer high school love. All the better for the nuanced portrayal of the relationships whose focus was more than just on the queerness.