Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.
I have incredibly mixed opinions about this book, which I think is a great thing to have for a book like this, because while it wasn’t one of my favorites I can see a large group of people who would enjoy this novel. I had been drawn in by the cover and title and it does a great job of switching POV’s between the characters, but it was not a book that I can really say I just sat and enjoyed.
The book follows Ros, Sam, and Christian – three high school juniors who become intertwined through love. Sam and Christian had dated but broke up amicably & are still friends, and Sam offers to help Christian woo Ros but in the course of doing so, Sam starts to fall for Ros as well. This is filled with LGBTQIA+ rep, all of which is handled with care so that it doesn’t come off in a stereotypical or hurtful manner. You can easily tell from the beginning who the end goal couple is, but there is definitely work to be done to get there.
My biggest issue is that I didn’t find Sam or Ros likeable at all, and it took me over halfway through the book to start to be invested in their storylines. Christian had flaws too but he was the one “redeemable” character in my mind and I was much more willing to read through his mishaps than the other two. But here is the amazing thing about this – their flaws were realistic and the things they overcame were handled in a manner that made sense. Just because in real life I wouldn’t want to be friends with Ros or Sam doesn’t mean they weren’t written well, because they absolutely were; any time I have strong feelings about a character/book I always give props to the author for writing something that makes me have strong emotions. I just wasn’t looking for a book where I was going to dislike people for so long, since I like to read books to get away from reality and this contemporary book was a little too realistic for me. But this makes it absolutely perfect for a lot of other people. After the halfway point though I was so invested that I was able to pretty quickly finish this book. Rachel’s writing is very clear and easy to read, and so I will definitely look forward to other books that she writes, since I did enjoy her writing style a lot.
I think if you are in HS and dealing with stress from relationships or finding yourself, this is a great book for that. I think as an entire package this book definitely sets out for what it intended, and just because it wasn’t what I was looking for doesn’t mean it isn’t perfect for someone else. 3/5