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A review by drakoulis
The Temperature of Me and You by Brian Zepka
4.0
The Temperature of Me and You is a sweet, heartwarming story about first love.
It is mostly a contemporary romance, despite big part of the book being revolved around Jordan's supernatural abilities which eventually pass on to Dylan. There are also subplots about Dylan's relationship with his two best friends and his school rival.
The highlights of the book for me were the moments between Dylan and Jordan, who had great chemistry (ha, see what I did here!), their puppy-love with heart-eyes was adorable, and their attraction always overcame their reservations.
I loved Brian Zepka's message (conveyed in Dylan's thoughts) about the society's unfair message to "move on" when you're missing your partner, it's the most normal thing to be a bit obsessed and stuck on the person who makes you feel so much if you suddenly don't have that (even temporarily).
Now, there were some parts that could have been better (aka what was missing for a 5-star):
- the sci-fi plot felt more Middle Grade than YA, it could have popped out of a Phineas and Ferb episode, there was zero depth to the villains, and minimal (and barely plausible) explanation for the reasons why and means through which Jordan and Dylan got their powers.
- the urban worldbuilding was dull. It didn't give me the big city feel (like What If It's Us or The Extraordinaries ) ot the small town feel (like The Sky Blues or Noah Can't Even ). It was a generic American suburb which felt like endless houses and a few franchise chains. Not the most interesting setting.
- I never got invested in Savanah's plot.
Summarizing, it's a book worth reading if you like sweet love stories with a supernatural aspect, which won't feel heavy at any point. It's a uplifting, heartwarming debut !
It is mostly a contemporary romance, despite big part of the book being revolved around Jordan's supernatural abilities which eventually pass on to Dylan. There are also subplots about Dylan's relationship with his two best friends and his school rival.
The highlights of the book for me were the moments between Dylan and Jordan, who had great chemistry (ha, see what I did here!), their puppy-love with heart-eyes was adorable, and their attraction always overcame their reservations.
I loved Brian Zepka's message (conveyed in Dylan's thoughts) about the society's unfair message to "move on" when you're missing your partner, it's the most normal thing to be a bit obsessed and stuck on the person who makes you feel so much if you suddenly don't have that (even temporarily).
Now, there were some parts that could have been better (aka what was missing for a 5-star):
- the sci-fi plot felt more Middle Grade than YA, it could have popped out of a Phineas and Ferb episode, there was zero depth to the villains, and minimal (and barely plausible) explanation for the reasons why and means through which Jordan and Dylan got their powers.
- the urban worldbuilding was dull. It didn't give me the big city feel (like What If It's Us or The Extraordinaries ) ot the small town feel (like The Sky Blues or Noah Can't Even ). It was a generic American suburb which felt like endless houses and a few franchise chains. Not the most interesting setting.
- I never got invested in Savanah's plot.
Summarizing, it's a book worth reading if you like sweet love stories with a supernatural aspect, which won't feel heavy at any point. It's a uplifting, heartwarming debut !