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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
challenging
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am not one for romcoms, however, I thought to expand my reading horizons a bit and read this to review for a friend of mine. Therefore, this review and my critiques may be more critical than one who may enjoy a YA romcom fic.
What I liked:
What I liked:
The voice of Jess and her motives are very believable for an 18 year old, where it’s the ‘end of the world’ if you’re a virgin her age. Her rival, Benjamin Oliver, has a lovely character arc, but I feel like he grew more as a person than our protagonist in certain aspects. Comebacks and snarky remarks between these two come off most often as genuine and not forced and the love that sparks between the two of them later on is believable and not too forced . Pacing is pretty quick and skims over a lot of the sexual scenes but spends a lot of time building up to them and foreplay between the two main characters. The author does not explicitly show us these scenes, rather, implying they happened through aftercare scenes, flashbacks, sexual education talks, and thinly veiled allegories (*cough* 🍦 *cough*). I also enjoyed that Sharp brings a lot of emphasis to consent in not only a sexual way, but in multiple relationships both romantic and platonic. The amount of sexual intimacy in this is tasteful for the age group written in the story too. While yes, they are above the age of consent, as an adult, I would have a hard time recommending this anyone if it had straight up porn of fresh out of high school students. Sharp is very aware of this in her writing. (I also appreciate her desire for sexual education in topics such as… how not just wearing condoms stops pregnancies, the dangers of teenage pregnancy (173), how awkward sex can be(106) (136), the importance of aftercare (105) etc) If you like this genre, Lydia Sharp will have you kicking your feet in enjoyment. She is comfortable in this type of writing which leads to a genuine feeling in its flow between characters especially in the more heartfelt scenes. Lighthearted and a good quick read.
What I disliked:
Theres only three big points that took this away from being a perfect 5/5 romcom in my opinion. Again, these are simply my own tastes and I do not think these mean you shouldn’t read this book, especially if you do like this genre. By no means do I think this is a bad book, I simply think there are parts in the novel I didn’t care for
What I disliked:
Theres only three big points that took this away from being a perfect 5/5 romcom in my opinion. Again, these are simply my own tastes and I do not think these mean you shouldn’t read this book, especially if you do like this genre. By no means do I think this is a bad book, I simply think there are parts in the novel I didn’t care for
- Jessica suffers a lot from Katniss syndrome, she’s self-absorbed
and even when this is brought up, nothing really comes of it. There’s zero real repercussions for her behavior. There’s a couple instances where her self-absorption creates a false narrative which would be cool.. if there were any actual consequences that lasted more than three chapters . Additionally, especially later on we see Jessie draw emphasis on how she’s ‘not like the other girls’ by explaining how Trinity is full of Barbies and she’s one flannel shirt away from being full tomboy… but we never really see this. Which brings me to point two. - While I appreciated some of the tell don’t show of some of the more intimate scenes, the writing suffers a bit of that all throughout the story. Jessie and characters tells us she’s usually a plain looking tomboy but then she wears sundresses and “fuck-me-red” nail polish. The cover shows her with a cropped, hot pink t-shirt, skinny blue jeans, full face make-up on a model face with flowing Loreal hair. It just takes me out of it every time when they talk about her being a tomboy when she doesn’t really do anything. Overall issues with tell-dont-show but I wasn’t expecting Ernest Hemingway anyways.
- This last one’s just a few nitpicks that I balled up into this last point but some of the rhythm in the story stumbled a few times, particularly at the very end. The wrap-up was way to quick, and I was able to accurately predict one of the plot twists since page 10, which just felt frustrating but equally satisfying reading the story throughout with that confident prediction. A couple.. interesting phrases and choices in scenes I just wasn’t a big fan of but it may be because I am not for this genre.
Content Warnings
Minor: Bullying, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Abortion, Pregnancy
None of this is super heavy handed but if you can’t stand a book with any of the topics mentioned at all then I feel inclined to list them. This is a very lighthearted book.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really cute and hard to put down. A solid 3.5 stars for me. The ending was a little too tropey and cliched for me, but the build up otherwise was fun.
A really fun read, but I will say the second hand embarrassment that was going strong through-out the entire book. The message was very well written and I appreciate how Lydia Sharp explores the awkwardness and nervousness of having a first time and a first time boyfriend. The wit and banter was highly enjoyable and the overall book was well rounded and entertaining, but the plot was slightly predictable in the best way possible. Not in a disappointing was, but a “heck yea I’m right” kinda way.
“If this doesn’t work and we get caught, was it worth it? Was…I worth it?”
This was the cutest read! I really enjoyed Jessica and Ben’s frenemie-ship. This book was very sex positive and it was a refreshing read. Even though we generally say times have changed, there is still a set way, a taboo way that involves sex, teaching it, talking about it, etc. There’s also the matter of consent, which the author did an excellent job at portraying how important consent is in a sexual relationship.
I do have to mention that the way Jessica and Ben’s relationship progresses and unfolds makes this more of an upper YA read, much closer to an NA read. Just putting that out there depending on what level of maturity you enjoy in your YA contemps.
This had two of my very favorite tropes; enemies-to-lovers and fake dating! It has some great banter between the main characters and some great steamy scenes as well. I truly loved Ben and Jessica - they were the cutest!
The friendships in this story are also great. Jessica has two best friends and they are just a wonderful group of supportive girls. They are honest and true to their selves. This book was full of healthy relationships.
All in all I highly recommend Frenemies with Benefits. It has be chuckling and swooning and it was just a truly feel-good read.
“You’re the only thing I think about before I fall asleep, and the only thing I think about as soon as I wake up. And when I dream, it’s all about you. And when I have nightmares, it’s because you aren’t there.”
*A huge thanks to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for review. All thoughts are my own.*
This was the cutest read! I really enjoyed Jessica and Ben’s frenemie-ship. This book was very sex positive and it was a refreshing read. Even though we generally say times have changed, there is still a set way, a taboo way that involves sex, teaching it, talking about it, etc. There’s also the matter of consent, which the author did an excellent job at portraying how important consent is in a sexual relationship.
I do have to mention that the way Jessica and Ben’s relationship progresses and unfolds makes this more of an upper YA read, much closer to an NA read. Just putting that out there depending on what level of maturity you enjoy in your YA contemps.
This had two of my very favorite tropes; enemies-to-lovers and fake dating! It has some great banter between the main characters and some great steamy scenes as well. I truly loved Ben and Jessica - they were the cutest!
The friendships in this story are also great. Jessica has two best friends and they are just a wonderful group of supportive girls. They are honest and true to their selves. This book was full of healthy relationships.
All in all I highly recommend Frenemies with Benefits. It has be chuckling and swooning and it was just a truly feel-good read.
“You’re the only thing I think about before I fall asleep, and the only thing I think about as soon as I wake up. And when I dream, it’s all about you. And when I have nightmares, it’s because you aren’t there.”
*A huge thanks to Entangled Teen and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC for review. All thoughts are my own.*
2.5 ⭐️
This started nicely, the banter between the two was great but then it just felt like the author was throwing in things in an attempt to give more depth to the characters. But I guess that didn't really work.
This started nicely, the banter between the two was great but then it just felt like the author was throwing in things in an attempt to give more depth to the characters. But I guess that didn't really work.
This book had so much potential: the clear boundaries and consent on the page, the sweet evolution of their relationship, the banter and sass, and, of course, the friend group. My only complaint was their ages; this novel made me a little uncomfortable as I have a child the same age on the MMC, and let me be honest, I want to pretend he is not there yet, so if you had made them college-age and contemplating grad school, this would have been a 5star for me.