Reviews

36 Questions That Changed My Mind About You by Vicki Grant

ladytiara's review against another edition

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3.0

I should admit upfront that contemporary YA is not my favorite genre, but I was intrigued by the premise of this book. It's based on a psychology study that claims that two subjects answering a series of 36 questions can develop a level of intimacy that can lead to love. I had heard of the study and found the idea of it interesting (the New York Times had a piece in their Modern Love column about the questions). So, the idea of a YA book based on this study grabbed my attention.

Hildy is a high school senior with major family problems that she blames herself for. She signs up for a university psychology study in an effort to learn something about herself. She's paired with Paul, who's just there to earn $40. The experiment doesn't go all that well at first, since Hildy is an oversharer, and Paul doesn't take things very seriously. They only answer a few of the questions before Hildy throws a fish at Paul (it's a long story, but the fish is an integral part of the plot) and storms out. But Paul really wants his $40, so he tracks Hildy down online and they start answering the rest of the questions, which brings them closer.

I enjoyed this one, and it was a solid 3.5 stars for me. The two main characters felt a bit like stereotypes at first (Hildy seems like an adorable, klutzy manic pixie dream girl, and Paul is a snarky loner), but as the book went on, they felt more fleshed out. Hildy's family is imploding, and she feels powerless to help them. Paul hasn't had an easy life, which makes him guarded and more than a little sarcastic. More than half of the book is in the form of ongoing text message conversations, in which the pair attempt to answer the questions, get easily side-tracked, and learn a lot about each other.

I enjoy epistolary novels, and I guess novels in text are the 2017 equivalent. There are a few standard narrative chapters, but most of the book is in text format. Paul is an artist, and there are going to be illustrations in the final version of the book., (Unfortunately, the illustrations weren't in the advance copy I read, but I think they'll add a lot to the story. I'm all in favor of the trend of including illustrations in YA books. Or non-YA books. I like pictures.)

This book is a clever twist on the typical YA contemporary romance, and I think it may appeal to readers who don't usually read this genre.

I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.

rin42_'s review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The ending was perfect. I loved the unique plot and characters. A cute story, one I would definitely recommend.

thebookhaze's review against another edition

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3.0

The 36 Questions experiment was obviously just a premise for the story, because at the end of it I don't think the results of Hildy's and Paul's pairing would even be accepted into the original study. However, I did enjoy the story very much, and I do agree with the whole "answering interesting questions" thing as a way of facilitating deeper and more meaningful relationships. My husband would know, I've been asking him questions like these since the beginning of our friendship more than a decade ago, and our friendship turned into more pretty quickly. Lol.

In any case, I should mention that I have been in a reading funk and haven't been able to focus very much on reading. I've only managed audiobooks lately because it's easier to listen, but I actually read and finished this book in one sitting. It has been a long while since I was able to do that. The last physical book I read before this one was a middle grade book and even then I had trouble focusing.

Of course it helps that a lot of this book was pretty much just dialogue and there were many fun illustrations as well, but it was just what I needed - someone else's story I could get immersed in and forget about real life for a while.

Although, I am alarmed by how horribly the fishes in the book were treated. I mean, seriously. If it were cats or dogs or even hamsters they were talking about, we'd throw the perps in jail already, but nobody seemed to care about those fishes, dammit.

gaby_96's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

3.0

eamelyk's review against another edition

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2.0

Would've turned out good, cool concept but poor execution. I was entertained but for a completely different reason so I added 1 star for it.

flowersofquiethappiness's review against another edition

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3.0

2022 reread: Still a funny (if a bit cliched) read for a Friday night. A perfect distraction to real life for a bit!

***

I read this when I was in need of some mindless and cute romance to distract me from all the stress of my homework and studies. And I totally got what I wanted! This isn't a perfect story by any means, but it does have a pretty adorable romance once you get past the first not-meet-cute. It made me laugh, roll my eyes a few times, as well as swoon over the sweetness by the time I got to the end. A quick and easy read that's entertaining and perfect for the summertime! :)

milzo's review against another edition

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

1.75

objectively terrible plot and character-wise however it was redeemed from the one star by the fact that the dialogue was written in that play style so i didn't have to sit through more of her actual senorita-awesome-esque writing 

bushraboblai's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was all heart. The ending will give you warm feelings.

missmary98's review against another edition

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4.0

This was super cute and the drawings were super cute and now I want pet fish and wow this was great.

remlezar's review against another edition

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3.0

I try to read books that are out of my prefered genres regularly so I can make better recommendations to my high school students, which is why I picked this one up. These reads regularly surprise me, which is nice. With "36 Questions," I have mixed feelings.

THE GOOD:
-The concept is cool.
-The style of the book (much of it is an interview between two characters) is almost compulsively readable, which is great if I'm trying to get reluctant students to read.
-The issues going on in the background of this book are relatable and mostly well handled.
-I like the main character (Hildy)

THE NOT SO GOOD:
-It really bothers me, especially in a book that stars a young woman who considers herself a strong independent lady, to see the "good boy underneath the bad boy" trope pop up. I think the "if I can just get through his bad boy outer shell, I can discover this boy's true nature and we'll fall in love" is a very dangerous example to put in front of young girls. I think it encourages the notion that women should accept cruelty from men in hopes that maybe, just maybe, this man is different once you get past the cruelty. It's one thing for a character to be reserved, or hesitant, or withdrawn, but Paul goes past this. He's just a jerk. Yes, he becomes more likeable as the story goes on, but only after Hildy takes waves of harsh judgement and verbal abuse. Which, again, is not that great of a message.
-I wanted a little more from some of the supporting characters

Overall, 36 Questions had a rough start for me, but thanks to it being so easy to read and thanks to how well the characters eventually developed, I can say that I ended up enjoying it and will recommend it to some of my students.