YA Romcom Trio
So I don't know if you've heard but there's this pandemic thing happening. Which means more time for reading, I guess? This weekend I got on a young adult kick and ended up reading three books, which were:
Amelia Westlake Was Never Here (by Erin Gough)
The best of the three. The best writing and the best romance! It's Australian, told in alternating first person, between a super uptight overachiever named Harriet and a rebellious troublemaker named Will (short for Wilhemina). They go to a fancy schmancy school with a secret Big Little Lies-esque underbelly and together they create a fictonal schoolmate named Amelia Westlake. Highly recommend!
Going Off Script (by Jen Wilde)
I didn't realize until the end that this is by the author of Queens of Geek, but that makes sense. It's cute, queer, and quirky, and I loved the setting (the production of a supernatural TV show) but I feel like I know too much about the industry (I have family members who have worked on supernatural TV shows) to fully buy it. No teenager would get this internship, no teenager would be kept on after overstepping bounds, no teenager would get a writing credit, and no studio head would be a black woman. Unfortunate, but true! Otherwise, it was cute and pop-culturey.
Again, But Better (by Christine Riccio)
Shane goes to study abroad in London, things go horribly wrong, she gets a second chance to put them right. The lead character is 20 (and then in a flash-forward, 26) but reads like a much younger teenager, obsessed with pop culture and unable to take ownership of her life. I did enjoy the dialogue, and Shane as a character, and the idea of exploring a late bloomer. As someone who also didn't get the full college experience (and tried to make up for it in grad school) this really resonated. But Shane seems immature throughout, the names are absolutely ridiculous (her love interest is named Pilot Penn and her best friend's name is Babe) and I would rather not have had the jump in time / magical conceit since it kind of ruins what is otherwise a cute romance.
So ultimately I rate these books A, B, and C, in the above order.
Amelia Westlake Was Never Here (by Erin Gough)
The best of the three. The best writing and the best romance! It's Australian, told in alternating first person, between a super uptight overachiever named Harriet and a rebellious troublemaker named Will (short for Wilhemina). They go to a fancy schmancy school with a secret Big Little Lies-esque underbelly and together they create a fictonal schoolmate named Amelia Westlake. Highly recommend!
Going Off Script (by Jen Wilde)
I didn't realize until the end that this is by the author of Queens of Geek, but that makes sense. It's cute, queer, and quirky, and I loved the setting (the production of a supernatural TV show) but I feel like I know too much about the industry (I have family members who have worked on supernatural TV shows) to fully buy it. No teenager would get this internship, no teenager would be kept on after overstepping bounds, no teenager would get a writing credit, and no studio head would be a black woman. Unfortunate, but true! Otherwise, it was cute and pop-culturey.
Again, But Better (by Christine Riccio)
Shane goes to study abroad in London, things go horribly wrong, she gets a second chance to put them right. The lead character is 20 (and then in a flash-forward, 26) but reads like a much younger teenager, obsessed with pop culture and unable to take ownership of her life. I did enjoy the dialogue, and Shane as a character, and the idea of exploring a late bloomer. As someone who also didn't get the full college experience (and tried to make up for it in grad school) this really resonated. But Shane seems immature throughout, the names are absolutely ridiculous (her love interest is named Pilot Penn and her best friend's name is Babe) and I would rather not have had the jump in time / magical conceit since it kind of ruins what is otherwise a cute romance.
So ultimately I rate these books A, B, and C, in the above order.
Labels: kindle, LGBTQ+, library, romcom, young adult
posted by mo pie at 1:41 PM
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