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A review by polkadotgirl
We Used To Be Friends by Amy Spalding
2.0
2/5 stars:
I think 2020 should be the year I realize YA contemporary is just not for me. There are VERY few contemporaries I end up loving and this definitely wasn't one of them. In fact, it is one of contemporaries I've enjoyed the least in recent times.
Both in writing and plot I don't think this book does anything special or remarkable.
The story moves between the two main characters' POVs -Kat and James- and although their personalities and likes/dislikes are pretty different their tones and perspectives weren't that different. I do commend the fact that the characters were at least distinguishable in their aspirations and personalities. However, throughout the book both characters feel very inconsistent and their actions sometimes don't make a lot of sense and they just come out of nowhere. I understand that they're teenagers but it didn't feel like that was what the author had been trying to do. It was more like the characters weren't explored properly and we didn't really get to see a lot of inner exploration from them.
I think the book doesn't benefit from the back and forth of the timeline. We move inconsistently between the beginning of the girls' senior year, the middle part of it and also the summer after. It makes the pace feel weird and I felt like it was more difficult to connect with the events this way.
The ending of this book was... really not good, y'all. I am never opposed to incomplete endings but this was so abrupt and unsatisfying. It wasn't even emotional or poignant in any way. I felt by the end of this book like reading it had been for absolutely nothing *shrug*
I guess the reason I'm giving this book a 2-star rating and not a 1 -star comes down to the fact that we have some decent bisexual representation (with an main f/f couple) and also the fact that this book focuses on the friendship between two girls (even if it's more about its fallout) and I love me some female/female friendships always.
I think 2020 should be the year I realize YA contemporary is just not for me. There are VERY few contemporaries I end up loving and this definitely wasn't one of them. In fact, it is one of contemporaries I've enjoyed the least in recent times.
Both in writing and plot I don't think this book does anything special or remarkable.
The story moves between the two main characters' POVs -Kat and James- and although their personalities and likes/dislikes are pretty different their tones and perspectives weren't that different. I do commend the fact that the characters were at least distinguishable in their aspirations and personalities. However, throughout the book both characters feel very inconsistent and their actions sometimes don't make a lot of sense and they just come out of nowhere. I understand that they're teenagers but it didn't feel like that was what the author had been trying to do. It was more like the characters weren't explored properly and we didn't really get to see a lot of inner exploration from them.
I think the book doesn't benefit from the back and forth of the timeline. We move inconsistently between the beginning of the girls' senior year, the middle part of it and also the summer after. It makes the pace feel weird and I felt like it was more difficult to connect with the events this way.
The ending of this book was... really not good, y'all. I am never opposed to incomplete endings but this was so abrupt and unsatisfying. It wasn't even emotional or poignant in any way. I felt by the end of this book like reading it had been for absolutely nothing *shrug*
I guess the reason I'm giving this book a 2-star rating and not a 1 -star comes down to the fact that we have some decent bisexual representation (with an main f/f couple) and also the fact that this book focuses on the friendship between two girls (even if it's more about its fallout) and I love me some female/female friendships always.