A review by serendipitysbooks
Most Likely by Sarah Watson

emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 
Most Likely opens with a woman and her husband in the moments before her inauguration as President of the United States. It then travels back to the senior year of high school for four best friends, one of whom will go on to be that President. As a reader part of the fun is trying to guess whether it is Martha or Ava or CJ or Jordan. This is a story of strong female friendship, of four young women who have each other’s backs. It is not a heavy book although it does include some heavy topics including adoption, disability, mental health, money issues, race, gentrification and more. The final year of high school, at least in America, is filled with a lot of stress and high stake events like SAT tests and college applications. By looking at four different young women, one of whom becomes President, this book raises the issue of whether future success and achievement, or even direction more generally, can be predicted by a person’s achievements or interests during their high school years. I’m not sure how I feel about the way the story ended. In some ways the book may have been stronger had the President’s identity not been revealed. The ending also contained an unexpected plot twist, which felt a little unnecessary since it didn’t add anything substantial to the story. I was disappointed by how interchangeable the girls came across on the page. None of them had distinctive voices and I often struggled to keep them straight. Overall though this was a quick, enjoyable read. 
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