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matteahayn 's review for:
Yes No Maybe So
by Becky Albertalli, Aisha Saeed
This book was probably more of a 4.5 because I have kind of mixed feelings about it. I want to give it a 5, but there were a things that kept it from my 5-star standard.
This book surprised me a lot. I wasn’t planning on picking it, and it wasn’t super high on my radar so I didn’t have super high expectations going in, which I think helped my reading experience. I expected a cute, fluffy read but I didn’t expect to fall in love with Jamie and Maya as much as I did or be as invested in the campaign like I was. The politics of it reminded me a lot of Red, White, and Royal Blue. I physically and audibly reacted several times while listening to this book because there was so much tension (The watching Office on the couch scene, anyone?)
However, there were a few major pitfalls. I thought the writing style, especially Maya’s chapters, was kind of childish, probably because I either don’t mesh with Aisha’s writing style (I assume she wrote Maya’s chapter) or because of the narration. I adore Becky’s writing style, but although I did really appreciate having two perspectives in this novel, I just tend to not like her books with other authors as much. I thought that the ending was a little anticlimactic! I was very invested in the election and it kind of fell to the wayside by the end. I really liked the discussions the characters had about hard topics, those ended up being my favorite parts of the book. I feel like there might have been a few many different topics that this book covered that I don’t think they all got as fleshed out as they deserved. I think I would’ve enjoyed this book a little more a few years, as some of the quirks and jokes were a little cringey to me or unamusing (goldfish, Target, tangelos).
I’m very glad I read this book, and for the most part I really enjoyed my experience listening to it. I’m glad it exists because I know a lot of people will be able to see themselves in it- I know I definitely did. I think this is something unique in YA and it was a little bit of a breath of fresh air for me. Even if I had some gripes with this book, I grew really attached to these characters and I think I’ll carry them with me for a long time.
This book surprised me a lot. I wasn’t planning on picking it, and it wasn’t super high on my radar so I didn’t have super high expectations going in, which I think helped my reading experience. I expected a cute, fluffy read but I didn’t expect to fall in love with Jamie and Maya as much as I did or be as invested in the campaign like I was. The politics of it reminded me a lot of Red, White, and Royal Blue. I physically and audibly reacted several times while listening to this book because there was so much tension (The watching Office on the couch scene, anyone?)
However, there were a few major pitfalls. I thought the writing style, especially Maya’s chapters, was kind of childish, probably because I either don’t mesh with Aisha’s writing style (I assume she wrote Maya’s chapter) or because of the narration. I adore Becky’s writing style, but although I did really appreciate having two perspectives in this novel, I just tend to not like her books with other authors as much. I thought that the ending was a little anticlimactic! I was very invested in the election and it kind of fell to the wayside by the end. I really liked the discussions the characters had about hard topics, those ended up being my favorite parts of the book. I feel like there might have been a few many different topics that this book covered that I don’t think they all got as fleshed out as they deserved. I think I would’ve enjoyed this book a little more a few years, as some of the quirks and jokes were a little cringey to me or unamusing (goldfish, Target, tangelos).
I’m very glad I read this book, and for the most part I really enjoyed my experience listening to it. I’m glad it exists because I know a lot of people will be able to see themselves in it- I know I definitely did. I think this is something unique in YA and it was a little bit of a breath of fresh air for me. Even if I had some gripes with this book, I grew really attached to these characters and I think I’ll carry them with me for a long time.