Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is a Valentine’s Day freebie and my post is inspired by Paperbacks and Planners’ post from last year! Their theme was too tempting to pass up and I’ve been waiting to get a change to use it!
Title: The Upside of Falling
Author: Alex Light
Rating: ★★½
What is this book about? The Upside of Falling is about two teenagers who decide to fake being in a relationship for their mutual benefit. I mean, is there anything better than a fake-dating that turns into real feelings kind of book?
What did I like? Obviously, given my track record with other YA contemporary books, I am trash for any story featuring a fake-dating trope. So the concept of The Upside of Falling was fantastic. I also really loved that there was no unnecessary drama that moved the plot backwards or in redundant circles. Everything that happened had a purpose plot-wise.
What didn’t I like? The first major issue I had with this book is that it moves way to quickly. The plot was very, very rushed and not as flesh out as I would have like it to have been. Because of this, the story felt very superficial to me and the characters lacked depth. The book is only 280 pages which is where I think the problem lies. It really could have benefited from another 100 pages to help flesh out the story and slow down the plot.
The other problem I had with the book was that I couldn’t quite figure out the point behind the fake-dating scheme between Brett and Becca. There wasn’t ever really a good reason given on either side: the choice to pretend to date each other occurs so suddenly and randomly which made the story feel very unbelievable and pointless.
Overall thoughts: The Upside of Falling centers around two teens who decide to pretend to date each other to fool their peers. I love a fake-dating trope, and while the concept was good, the execution was poor.
Title: Always Never Yours
Author: Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Rating: ★★★★
What is this book about? In each of Megan’s relationships thus far, her boyfriends end up falling in love…just not with her. Megan is looking to gain entrance to college and start her career as a film director, but the college she’s interested in requires acting experience. When she is unexpectantly cast as Juliet in their high school’s production of Romeo and Juliet, Megan begins to realize she has the chance of becoming the leading love interest of her own story instead of always the Rosalind.
What did I like? Megan is without a doubt my favorite part of this book. She’s definitely a breath of fresh air compared to a lot of other contemporary romances. She’s outgoing, unapologetically flirtatious, and “boy-crazy.” Instead of letting her past love failures turn her bitter or resentful, she’s carefree and just has fun with her dating life. Megan is also clearly a much better person than I am, because if I had found out one of my friends did what her best friend did, I would never talk to them again.
I loved watching her relationship develop with Owen! The phrase “opposites attract” has never fit a couple better. Owen was reserved and shy, whereas Megan was loud and bit brash, saying whatever comes to her mind. Their initial friendship was lovely and the transition to deeper feelings was written so perfectly that it felt very natural and never forced.
What didn’t I like? I can’t help but wish more of Megan’s situation with her family was explored. She obviously has a lot of feelings about what’s happening between her dad and his new family and then later with her mom and her mom’s boyfriend. The ending felt like it wrapped up too cleanly, and yes, I understand that some blended families do all get along and work nicely together, but I felt like Megan was too quick to accept everything and not enough communication was made between her and dad to resolve those feelings.
Overall thoughts: If I’m Being Honest was one of my favorite books last year, so I think I put off reading this because I was scared it wasn’t going to hold up. Thankfully, I was definitely proven wrong! Always Never Yours is a super fun and heartwarming contemporary romanced and I’m definitely this writing duo to my auto-read list!
Happy Valentine’s Day! ❤️ I think I’ve mentioned before that I hate Valentine’s Day, but you know what I don’t hate? Romance. And Books. Specifically romance IN books. Recently I’ve really gotten into reading more and more YA and adult contemporary romances, and I think it’s because they’re such feel-good stories and provide a sense of hope for the reader. So for this year’s Valentine’s Day post, I decided to share all of my favorite YA contemporary romance novels! Enjoy! 💋
I mean, I couldn’t start this post without beginning with this book, which is basically the gold standard to which I hold all YA romances. First of all, fake dating is one of the best romance tropes out there. Please reference this post if you don’t believe me. Also, Peter Kavinsky is the best book boyfriend ever and I dare you to convince me otherwise.
Oh BOY are you guys in for real treat once this book is released. Prepare to be swept off your feet by Andrew Reed who is completely swoon-worthy and gave me a series case of the butterflies. I stayed up all night to read this after literally only getting 3 hours of sleep the day before because I worked a 16 hour double overnight. Basically, this book > sleep and it needs to be on your TBR!
When I first read this book I was not expecting how vastly different it would be from the movie, and it such a good way! I read the entire thing in one sitting with zero regrets. A secret enemies-with-benefits relationship in which one or more parties develops feelings for the other? Sign me the f**k up. And besides the romance, the book has a really important message about the power of words and the meanings we give them.
This story revolves around the main character, Cameron, enlisting the help of someone she once ridiculed to help “tame” herself for the boy she’s been crushing on. On top of the amazing character growth she experiences, I absolutely loved watching opposites attract as Cameron and Brendan reluctantly form a friendship, and then watching that friendship blossom into love.
This is apparently a twist on the movie You Got Mail, which I can neither confirm nor deny since I’ve never seen that. However, I can confirm that this book is a magical, heartwarming story about two characters that meet in real life, after unknowingly talking to each other online for months, and slowly falling in love. This book makes an absolute perfect summer read so if you’re looking for something fun for the warmer months, this is for you!
Wherefore art thou, Romeo? Ignoring the fact that Romeo and Juliet is arguably the worst of Shakespeare’s plays, this book was amazing. I loved that Megan was unapologetically flirtatious and “boy-crazy”. Every relationship she’s been in ends with her boyfriend finding the love of his life while they’re dating, and instead of being bitter and feeling sorry for herself, Megan is carefree and just has fun with her dating life. Which makes it even more special to see the bond that develops between her and Owen.
Reading this made me immensely glad that my big meddlesome Italian family is not as meddlesome as Sophie’s. This book gives readers warm and fuzzy feelings and is reminiscent of those wholesome, heartwarming Hallmark movies. It’s impossible not to cheer for Sophie and hope she finds the perfect New Year’s Eve date. Definitely recommend this for anyone who wants to read a cheerful story about family and friendships with happy endings.
I needed a trip to the dentist after finishing this book because it was so sweet and fluffy. Is there anything more fun to read about than two people engaging in Twitter warfare over the internet but falling in love in real life after learning how much they have in common with each other? The answer is no. And of course the fact that Pepper and Jack started out as unfriendly classmates and had a bit of animosity between them at the start of the story made it that much sweeter.
Title: The Best Laid Plans
Author: Cameron Lund
Rating: ★★★★★
ARC provided by the publisher through BookishFirst.
Ladies and gentleman, I don’t believe it’s too early to say that I have found one of my favorite reads of the year. The Best Laid Plans was everything I had hoped it would be and so much more.
After Keely meets a cool college guy at her new job, she becomes determined to lose her virginity before he finds out how inexperience she is and drops her. She decides to enlist the help of her best friend, Andrew, a charming womanizer who has clearly been with enough girls to be able to help her out. Basically, all you need to know: CHILDHOOD FRIENDS-TO-LOVERS and UNREQUITED LOVE and delicious DRAMA and ANGST.
I mean, my tastes are pretty simple. Throw me a friends-to-lovers plot with plenty of angst and miscommunications and drama-filled pages and you have yourself a winner.
Keely was amazing. Her character felt so relatable and her experiences really resonated with me. It was impossible not to read her awkward encounters and not remember the first few times I was alone with a boy in college. I suffered some serious second hand embarrassment while reading this which only meant that I was totally engaged and connected with her character.
I don’t even know where to begin with Andrew freaking Reed. Readers may find themselves thinking they know all about him–how many playboys with soft hearts do we have in YA?–but he’s SO MUCH BETTER THAN ALL THE OTHERS. I promise. Also, Keely, girl, read the damn signs!!! Ya boy is giving you all kinds of signals. I don’t say this often (never, really) but I Andrew Reed is giving Peter Kavinsky a serious run for his money as my favorite book boyfriend.
Okay, I’m just gonna come right out and say that I wish we had been given more of that last ~scene~ with Andrew and Keely. With all of the build up and tension from earlier in the book, I honestly felt so disappointed. I can’t say too much because of spoilers but I think it would have been so much more meaningful and to have been able to witness their thoughts/conversations/feelings in the moment.
If I could only choose one book from this year to have made into a movie it would be The Best Laid Plans (@Netflix I’m looking at you). And I say that barely two months into the year. I had been looking forward to this book since the first time I came across its synopsis and it was everything I had hoped for and more. Highly, highly recommend for lovers of YA contemporary and the beloved friends-to-lovers trope!
Paws & Paperbacks 