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A review by emilykate08
Better Together by Christine Riccio
2.0
Christine was the first booktuber I ever really got into, and she was my favorite for a long time. I may have grown out of her style in some ways, but I will always be appreciative of her for helping me to get properly into reading, for finding a niche community, and for feeling like I wasn't alone in my interests. That said, I did not love this book.
I appreciate Christine trying to expand the age range of the YA genre by writing older characters. However, the problem is these specific characters don't feel older. The book feels juvenile. It feels forced. Maybe I would have liked it when I was 14. But I'm 21. I'm the same age as these protagonists, and they feel like kids. This family isn't just dysfunctional. Every single member is batshit insane. This ended with the picture perfect happy ending of a family sitcom. Everyone just brushed over the fact that literal magic happened and felt completely comfortable baring their souls for practical strangers. Jamie especially turned around very fast, even though I thought her reverse meet-cute was delightful and full circle and her developed form was far more likable than anything before.
The writing is so clunky, and the synonymous swear word replacements definitely don't help. Once or twice might have been funny, but "intercourse you!" on every fucking page gets old fast. There's a reason shoot and darn and freaking and anything they said on The Good Place exists. Also, while Jamie and Siri have different enough voices, the chapters are so short that the POVs run together anyway and make it impossible to keep them apart, especially when they're interacting in them.
I appreciate Christine trying to expand the age range of the YA genre by writing older characters. However, the problem is these specific characters don't feel older. The book feels juvenile. It feels forced. Maybe I would have liked it when I was 14. But I'm 21. I'm the same age as these protagonists, and they feel like kids. This family isn't just dysfunctional. Every single member is batshit insane. This ended with the picture perfect happy ending of a family sitcom. Everyone just brushed over the fact that literal magic happened and felt completely comfortable baring their souls for practical strangers. Jamie especially turned around very fast, even though I thought her reverse meet-cute was delightful and full circle and her developed form was far more likable than anything before.
The writing is so clunky, and the synonymous swear word replacements definitely don't help. Once or twice might have been funny, but "intercourse you!" on every fucking page gets old fast. There's a reason shoot and darn and freaking and anything they said on The Good Place exists. Also, while Jamie and Siri have different enough voices, the chapters are so short that the POVs run together anyway and make it impossible to keep them apart, especially when they're interacting in them.