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onceandfuturebooknerd's reviews
933 reviews
Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R. Alban
4.5
Give me ALL the epic sapphic historical romances, I am begging you!!!!!
Iris Kelly Doesn't Date by Ashley Herring Blake
4.5
Possibly my favourite of the Bright Falls books?! And I don't say this lightly cause Delilah is low-key loml ðŸ˜ðŸ’—
Wren Martin Ruins It All by Amanda DeWitt
4.5
Wren Martin Ruins It All was another total Amanda DeWitt win!
In this story we follow Wren, an asexual teenager who after stepping into a role of student council president decides to abolish the beloved Valentine's Day dance at their school and make better budgeting choices. But his nemesis and vice-president, the perfect Leo, has a solution to his budget problems - find a sponsor for the dance! And who else would be a better sponsor than Buddy, the anonymous not-dating app taking over the nation, fixing their money problem and turning Valentine's Day dance into something for everyone, not just coupled teens.
Wren decides to secretly give this hellish app a go and things slowly spiral out of control as he starts developing feelings for his anonymous match while also juggling the biggest dance their school has ever seen and a budding friendship (or something more?) with Leo. What will happen when Wren finally realizes that Leo and his life are not that perfect at all but that he might just be perfect for Wren? And what about his anonymous match that makes Wren drop down his guard and makes him feel understood?
This was such a spectacular YA novel!! Full of all the things I love best - questioning characters that are nowhere near perfect, but wonderful to read about exactly because of that, epic friendship groups, nemesis to friends to maybe lovers trope, anonymous pen pals, and a lot of high school drama! It was a painfully relatable book at some parts and I really wish I had this when I was still in high school.
I loved Wren and his sarcasm and his abject rejection of societal norms in high school that make it all about dating and romance. Mind you, this was a YA contemporary book that had a romantic plotline in its center, but it also refused the allocishet definitions of it and I really wish I could follow Wren and Leo's story onward, into college and then adult life (ya know, after school is over and you have to find a job yada yada hehe).
There was also a subplot about loss that hit hard and while it was a difficult story to read, it was also written with a lot of care and I know it'll mean a lot to so, so many. Because losing our loved ones is always soul-shattering and Wren's feelings, thoughts, and decisions were coloured a lot by that as well.
All in all, Wren Martin Ruins It All is a beautiful YA story about love and sexuality (and asexuality), friendship and looking towards your future while being stuck in the past by loss and hurt. It is a laugh-out-loud-novel while also packing quite a few emotional punches, and I truly can't recommend it enough!
In this story we follow Wren, an asexual teenager who after stepping into a role of student council president decides to abolish the beloved Valentine's Day dance at their school and make better budgeting choices. But his nemesis and vice-president, the perfect Leo, has a solution to his budget problems - find a sponsor for the dance! And who else would be a better sponsor than Buddy, the anonymous not-dating app taking over the nation, fixing their money problem and turning Valentine's Day dance into something for everyone, not just coupled teens.
Wren decides to secretly give this hellish app a go and things slowly spiral out of control as he starts developing feelings for his anonymous match while also juggling the biggest dance their school has ever seen and a budding friendship (or something more?) with Leo. What will happen when Wren finally realizes that Leo and his life are not that perfect at all but that he might just be perfect for Wren? And what about his anonymous match that makes Wren drop down his guard and makes him feel understood?
This was such a spectacular YA novel!! Full of all the things I love best - questioning characters that are nowhere near perfect, but wonderful to read about exactly because of that, epic friendship groups, nemesis to friends to maybe lovers trope, anonymous pen pals, and a lot of high school drama! It was a painfully relatable book at some parts and I really wish I had this when I was still in high school.
I loved Wren and his sarcasm and his abject rejection of societal norms in high school that make it all about dating and romance. Mind you, this was a YA contemporary book that had a romantic plotline in its center, but it also refused the allocishet definitions of it and I really wish I could follow Wren and Leo's story onward, into college and then adult life (ya know, after school is over and you have to find a job yada yada hehe).
There was also a subplot about loss that hit hard and while it was a difficult story to read, it was also written with a lot of care and I know it'll mean a lot to so, so many. Because losing our loved ones is always soul-shattering and Wren's feelings, thoughts, and decisions were coloured a lot by that as well.
All in all, Wren Martin Ruins It All is a beautiful YA story about love and sexuality (and asexuality), friendship and looking towards your future while being stuck in the past by loss and hurt. It is a laugh-out-loud-novel while also packing quite a few emotional punches, and I truly can't recommend it enough!