Book Review: Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

March 20, 2023May 10, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Sarah Dessen
Publisher: Viking Books
Release Date: June 16th, 2009
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

It’s been so long since Auden slept at night. Ever since her parents’ divorce—or since the fighting started. Now she has the chance to spend a carefree summer with her dad and his new family in the charming beach town where they live.

A job in a clothes boutique introduces Auden to the world of girls: their talk, their friendship, their crushes. She missed out on all that, too busy being the perfect daughter to her demanding mother. Then she meets Eli, an intriguing loner and a fellow insomniac who becomes her guide to the nocturnal world of the town. Together they embark on parallel quests: for Auden, to experience the carefree teenage life she’s been denied; for Eli, to come to terms with the guilt he feels for the death of a friend.

In her signature pitch-perfect style, Sarah Dessen explores the hearts of two lonely people learning to connect.

TEAM STEPMOM.

These were some tough parents to read about. A Dad who brought me to rage induced rants because of his lack of care for his wife and new baby. A Mom who was incredibly stubborn and seemed incapable of seeing other’s view points and was constantly passive aggressive. And they honestly brought the story down for me. I was expecting to see some growth from them (and for Auden to talk it out) but I don’t feel like that happened enough at the end to be satisfied.

I enjoyed the story overall. It’s very much classic/older YA and that’s part of it’s charm. I purely picked this up to watch the movie and am not upset that I did. I liked the friendships that Auden was able to develop. I especially loved her step-mom. Instead of being the usual trope of awfulness, she was a woman stuck in a rough post-partum situation and I liked that they leaned on one another (even if Auden wouldn’t recognize it).

The romance was very lackluster. Honestly it almost felt as if there wasn’t one? It’s a slow burn with little page time. I would have loved a lot more of Eli and how he could have better factored into the story.

A formulaic YA contemporary that is, ya know, perfectly fine.

Overall audience notes:

YA Contemporary Romance
Language: a little
Romance: make-outs
Violence: low
Trigger/Content Warnings: teacher/student relationship mentioned (side character), cheating, alcohol consumption, post-partum depression, loss of a friend (side character, but plays central role)

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ARC Book Review: You Wouldn’t Dare by Samantha Markum

March 19, 2023January 21, 2023 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ★★
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 368 pages
Author: Samantha Markum
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: March 28th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A rom com about trying to have the summer of your life before everything changes – only to realize change might be exactly what you need…

When Juniper Nash Abreheart kissed Graham Isham for the first time, she had no idea it would nearly be the end of their friendship.

More specifically, she had no idea that the terrible, unforgivable thing she did to keep their summer fling a secret wouldn’t just ruin their friendship, but also Graham’s entire life. Now, months since the fallout, Junie and Graham spend most of their time sidestepping conversational landmines on the journey back to normalcy.

Junie is sure the strangeness between her and Graham is her biggest problem – until her mom hires Tallulah, her boyfriend’s surly teenage daughter, to work at their family café, and then announces they’ll all be moving in together at the end of the summer. The only bright spot ahead is Junie’s dad’s upcoming visit, just in time for her community theater production. And then poor turnout soon threatens that.

But when Junie starts to realize the feelings she swore to take care of last summer have lingered, saving her production and managing her hostile relationship with Tallulah might be the least of her problems. Graham isn’t just off limits – their friendship has been mended to barely withstand a breeze, and the gale force of Junie’s feelings could be just what breaks them.

Samantha Markum’s You Wouldn’t Dare is about the risks and triumphs that come with being brave enough to take a chance at what you really want, including love.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an eARC.

*sigh*

I will still recommend Markum’s first book, This May End Badly. But unfortunately, I can’t recommend this one. It was the complete opposite of everything I loved about TMEB.

Junie spends over 3/4 of this book selfishly entitled, saying every wrong thing, being mean to her almost half sister AND the cute boy and I couldn’t take one more bit of it. I’m all for a character arc with growth, this ain’t it. She did one nice thing at the end and that was great and all, I guess.

The only true saving grace here was Graham. He was sweet and the steadfast kind of hero I loooove. Frankly I don’t know why he kept putting up with Junie.

And the play?? It did NOTHING for the plot other than help me move faster through the book because I skimmed right over these scenes. I did not care that Junie was in a play. Or that she dragged all of her friends into it. Or they had to recast someone. Or etc. etc. etc.

Alright I’ll stop. I hope to try Markum’s third book and that it is a redemption.

Overall audience notes:

YA Contemporary Romance
Language: a little
Romance: heated make-outs
Violence: low
Trigger/Content Warnings: small scale injury, emotionally unavailable father, underage drinking and smoking, loss of a mother (off-page), near drowning

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Book Review: You’ll Be the Death of Me by Karen M. McManus

November 16, 2022December 29, 2021 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Thriller
Length: 336 pages
Author: Karen M. McManus
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: November 30th, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Ivy, Mateo, and Cal used to be close. Now all they have in common is Carlton High and the beginning of a very bad day.

Type A Ivy lost a student council election to the class clown, and now she has to face the school, humiliated. Heartthrob Mateo is burned out–he’s been working two jobs since his family’s business failed. And outsider Cal just got stood up…. again.

So when Cal pulls into campus late for class and runs into Ivy and Mateo, it seems like the perfect opportunity to turn a bad day around. They’ll ditch and go into the city. Just the three of them, like old times. Except they’ve barely left the parking lot before they run out of things to say…

Until they spot another Carlton High student skipping school–and follow him to the scene of his own murder. In one chance move, their day turns from dull to deadly. And it’s about to get worse.

It turns out Ivy, Mateo, and Cal still have some things in common. They all have a connection to the dead kid. And they’re all hiding something.

Now they’re all wondering–could it be that their chance reconnection wasn’t by chance after all?

From the author of One of Us Is Lying comes a brand-new pulse-pounding thriller. It’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with murder when three old friends relive an epic ditch day, and it goes horribly–and fatally–wrong.

GOOD, NOT GREAT.

I feel like I don’t have a lot to say about this one, which is why it’s more in my “meh” rating section. This was a good mystery. I really appreciated the fast paced nature and how quickly I flew through it at least.

What I struggled with were the characters. I don’t think I enjoyed any of them? Everyone was…fine. And that’s how I felt throughout. I do love a good multi-POV book and the changing nature and narrative of the story. Things got twisted and while I saw a lot of it coming I was surprised by a few aspects.

It kind of ruined it for me at the end with how many people said, why didn’t you just tell us/the police? Because yeah, that would have ended this entire book (which takes place over one day) before it really began. A mixed bag of thoughts, I still enjoy the author’s writing style and look forward to her next book.

Overall audience notes:

YA Thriller
Language: some strong
Romance: make-outs
Trigger/Content Warnings: drug overdose, selling of drugs, murder and attempted murder, an inappropriate teacher/student relationship

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Book Review: Made in Korea by Sarah Suk

August 17, 2022August 17, 2022 GoodeyReadsLeave a comment

Rating: ☆☆☆
Audience: YA Contemporary Romance
Length: 352 pages
Author: Sarah Suk
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Release Date: May 18t, 2021
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Frankly in Love meets Shark Tank in this feel-good romantic comedy about two entrepreneurial Korean American teens who butt heads—and maybe fall in love—while running competing Korean beauty businesses at their high school.

There’s nothing Valerie Kwon loves more than making a good sale. Together with her cousin Charlie, they run V&C K-BEAUTY, their school’s most successful student-run enterprise. With each sale, Valerie gets closer to taking her beloved and adventurous halmeoni to her dream city, Paris.

Enter the new kid in class, Wes Jung, who is determined to pursue music after graduation despite his parents’ major disapproval. When his classmates clamor to buy the K-pop branded beauty products his mom gave him to “make new friends,” he sees an opportunity—one that may be the key to help him pay for the music school tuition he knows his parents won’t cover…

What he doesn’t realize, though, is that he is now V&C K-BEAUTY’s biggest competitor.

Stakes are high as Valerie and Wes try to outsell each other, make the most money, and take the throne for the best business in school—all while trying to resist the undeniable spark that’s crackling between them. From hiring spies to all-or-nothing bets, the competition is much more than either of them bargained for.

But one thing is clear: only one Korean business can come out on top.

IT WAS FINE.

I really liked this on audio and recommend that avenue if you love audio books like I do! Easy listen and quick to move through.

The unique setting with high school businesses is what initially drove me to pick this one up. It was one of my favorite parts of the book. I think it would’ve been cool if my school had offered opportunities like that. This was a unique high school contemporary plot.

Wes was my true hero. He was adorable and such a cinnamon roll. I love his shy self, and also the side of him that learned to stand up for his passions and choices. He exhibited the most growth over the story and his relationship with Valerie was precious. Valerie I struggled with because she was intensely stubborn until almost the very end. By then I was over the whole scenario and it created some unnecessary drama. It felt like enemies to lovers with only one person thinking they were enemies.

Lots of great learning topics too. From sibling rivalries and demanding parents, and having to prove yourself over and over again. I liked a lot of these conversations too because it felt true to the YA nature of the book and reminded me of many things I went through in high school too.

Overall audience notes: