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A review by haynoelle96
Most Likely by Sarah Watson
4.0
To be perfectly honest, I thought I would hate this book. I read the first 50 pages and I was already predicting that this book would either be pretentious or simply plotless and about something I literally cared nothing about. I was pleasantly surprised that when I kept reading I found that I was legitimately interested in at least 2 of the girls' plotlines most of the time and then 1 of the other ones some of the time. So I was technically interested in 2.5 stories out of 4! That's not too bad. If you're starting to read this and feel the same way that I did, bored and wanting to put this down, I urge you to at least get to halfway and then make your decision.
I don't say this about a lot of books, but I think this would be a perfect book for people in high school to read. This is a story about four best friends that all live very different walks of life. They don't make one friend absolutely perfect, or one live a hellish life, and the four girls all appreciate one another for different reasons. They are just starting their senior year and are worried about the typical thing a high school senior would worry about. SAT scores, where to go for college, how to pay for college, oh and of course how to save the neighborhood park. This book wasn't perfect by any means, but I think if someone going through high school read this right now, it would be very inspirational and help them possibly figure out their future.
In the beginning, it was super hard to tell the girls apart. They all were written with the same voice and it wasn't like they had separate chapters, the chapters were split up into different parts with a different friend narrating (never labeled by the way). If I had a gripe with this book, then this would be my main one. It's super hard to tell who's talking because there aren't labels and they only get a few pages in their POV at a time. Once I started reading further into the book then it became easier and easier to tell who was talking, but the first 50-100 pages were a cluster. My favorite perspectives were probably CJ and Ava, Martha's was alright, and I didn't really care at all about Jordan's. This is just my personal opinion and I'm sure everyone will have different faves, but Ava's and CJ's seemed to be more realistic problems and it was like they had more voice than the other girls.
This contains a bit of spoilers so if you don't want to see spoilers then skip this paragraph, but the main reason I didn't like Jordan's story was it bordered on being extremely inappropriate. She is seen interacting with someone who is most likely 5 years her senior (Jordan being 17 and Scott being 22-23) and at first it's professional but then it develops into slight flirting and they eventually go on a date. Jordan doesn't tell Scott her age but once he finds out, he freaks the fuck out, obviously, and tells her that what she did was wrong and it could've gotten him arrested. WHICH IT COULD HAVE! I don't know if Jordan truly understood what she was doing or if that was the point of that storyline, but that was why I didn't particularly like hers.
The writing was probably one of my favorite aspects of the book. I would definitely read another book by Sarah Watson, and you could tell that this was a debut, but the writing still shone through as being excellent. She was able to describe different walks of life without being offensive or obnoxious, which I find to be a feat in itself. I kept reading because of the writing. If it was too boring or too flowery, I most likely wouldn't have finished the book, but it was just the right amount of both to keep me reading. And it also kept me on the edge of me seat some of the time too and by the end I was itching to find out how the girl would end up and what would happen to them. I didn't really care who was president, but I'll admit that I guessed wrong. lol
Again, if you're in high school or know someone who is going to be in high school, I would give this book a read and see if they would like this. It really gives you different options for you after you finish your time in high school. I also like the representation that we saw. The fact that I started this book out with such low expectations and it ended as being super good (and admittedly making me tear up) I would very much recommend this to anyone looking for a good contemporary about female friendship. In the beginning, it's a little dicey whether or not there's going to be girl-hate, but I didn't see any. Give this book a shot! Happy Reading!!
I don't say this about a lot of books, but I think this would be a perfect book for people in high school to read. This is a story about four best friends that all live very different walks of life. They don't make one friend absolutely perfect, or one live a hellish life, and the four girls all appreciate one another for different reasons. They are just starting their senior year and are worried about the typical thing a high school senior would worry about. SAT scores, where to go for college, how to pay for college, oh and of course how to save the neighborhood park. This book wasn't perfect by any means, but I think if someone going through high school read this right now, it would be very inspirational and help them possibly figure out their future.
In the beginning, it was super hard to tell the girls apart. They all were written with the same voice and it wasn't like they had separate chapters, the chapters were split up into different parts with a different friend narrating (never labeled by the way). If I had a gripe with this book, then this would be my main one. It's super hard to tell who's talking because there aren't labels and they only get a few pages in their POV at a time. Once I started reading further into the book then it became easier and easier to tell who was talking, but the first 50-100 pages were a cluster. My favorite perspectives were probably CJ and Ava, Martha's was alright, and I didn't really care at all about Jordan's. This is just my personal opinion and I'm sure everyone will have different faves, but Ava's and CJ's seemed to be more realistic problems and it was like they had more voice than the other girls.
This contains a bit of spoilers so if you don't want to see spoilers then skip this paragraph, but the main reason I didn't like Jordan's story was it bordered on being extremely inappropriate. She is seen interacting with someone who is most likely 5 years her senior (Jordan being 17 and Scott being 22-23) and at first it's professional but then it develops into slight flirting and they eventually go on a date. Jordan doesn't tell Scott her age but once he finds out, he freaks the fuck out, obviously, and tells her that what she did was wrong and it could've gotten him arrested. WHICH IT COULD HAVE! I don't know if Jordan truly understood what she was doing or if that was the point of that storyline, but that was why I didn't particularly like hers.
The writing was probably one of my favorite aspects of the book. I would definitely read another book by Sarah Watson, and you could tell that this was a debut, but the writing still shone through as being excellent. She was able to describe different walks of life without being offensive or obnoxious, which I find to be a feat in itself. I kept reading because of the writing. If it was too boring or too flowery, I most likely wouldn't have finished the book, but it was just the right amount of both to keep me reading. And it also kept me on the edge of me seat some of the time too and by the end I was itching to find out how the girl would end up and what would happen to them. I didn't really care who was president, but I'll admit that I guessed wrong. lol
Again, if you're in high school or know someone who is going to be in high school, I would give this book a read and see if they would like this. It really gives you different options for you after you finish your time in high school. I also like the representation that we saw. The fact that I started this book out with such low expectations and it ended as being super good (and admittedly making me tear up) I would very much recommend this to anyone looking for a good contemporary about female friendship. In the beginning, it's a little dicey whether or not there's going to be girl-hate, but I didn't see any. Give this book a shot! Happy Reading!!