Tag: dating

REVIEW: 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

REVIEW: 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Disney-Hyperion in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Sophie is happy to let her parents leave town for Christmas to go help her pregnant older sister. She’ll spend the holiday with her grandparents and large extended family. In fact, she’ll be heading there after her parents leave. Although maybe not as quickly as they assume.

Sophie is hoping to spend a few hours with her boyfriend, Griffin, before going to her grandparents. This is a perfect time for them to have quality alone time. If only she can find him! He doesn’t answer his phone when she first calls. Sophie finally finds him at a party. And overhears him say he was glad when he thought she would be gone for Christmas break because he thinks he wants to break up with her.

Sophie is devastated. She cries most of the way to her grandparents’ house. And she tells her Nonna all about it. By the next day, her whole extended family knows. and before the humiliation even sets in, her grandmother has gotten the bright idea to have the family set her up on some blind dates over the holiday to help her shake off this bad break up. The humiliation knows no end!

Review

A delight from start to finish! This is now the book I am telling everyone about. I absolutely adored this. The premise is fantastic and funny. Sophie’s extended family is a hoot with all these blind dates. I loved the four main characters as well as the larger, quirky crew. The family pieces of this – Sophie’s sister’s complicated pregnancy, checking in with her parents who were several hours away during the story, etc. – were a great B-story to complement the blind date/break up part of the book.

I laughed SO MUCH with this! The blind dates, the family betting, the social media sharing and so many other things. I didn’t want the reading experience to end because it was so fun! I will definitely be buying my own copy of this and reading it again. I would personally pair this with Prince in Disguise for two fantastic, funny holiday romcoms.

I can’t recommend this highly enough. Don’t miss this one! (One of the dates may be on the risque side for younger readers.)

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Turn It Up! by Jen Calonita

REVIEW: Turn It Up! by Jen Calonita

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Bradley Academy boasts two a capella groups on campus – the all-boys group, the Kingfishers and the all-girls group, The Nightingales. While the Kingfishers are at the top of their game, the Nightingales have had a string of bad luck. New co-captains (and best friends) Lidia and Sydney are hoping to end the five-year slump.

But before the school year even starts, the best friends are barely speaking. Sydney was supposed to be getting to know Lidia’s crush, Griffin, so she could point him in Lidia’s direction. But Griffin falls for Sydney instead, and Lidia sees him kiss Sydney. When Sydney tries to play it off as no big deal, hoping Lidia will get over it so they can get back to a capella, Lidia quits the Nightingales.

The girls’ huge fight is a distraction the Nightingales don’t need. It keeps people from auditioning and leaves Sydney with a rival as her “co-captain.” Can the Nightingales pull it together or are they doomed for good?

Review

It took me awhile to get into the rhythm of this one. I was frustrated with Sydney and didn’t have a lot of sympathy for her in the fight with Lidia. But I loved that the fight gave Lidia a chance to find her own path away from the Nightingales. That path had seemed chosen for her in some ways. I was thrilled that they author let Lidia follow a new course all the way through the story. Lidia’s storyline kept me reading.

This is a fairly simple plot. The tension and suspense is minor. The conflicts are, too. The biggest stakes were Julianna’s stage fright and the future of the Nightingales. But every story doesn’t need a life or death conflict.

This is a fun, clean and simple friendship story with a side of light romance (kissing, holding hands). I could hand this to any kid in 5th grade and up without hesitation. There are some open ended threads that could be woven into a sequel, and I would readily read it.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen

REVIEW: Taxonomy of Love by Rachael Allen

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Spencer meets Hope when they are both 13. He’s never met anyone like her. She loves to climb trees, she stands up to bullies, and she doesn’t freak out about the tics Spencer experiences because of Tourette’s.

They are neighbors. And best friends. And Spencer hopes it might one day be even more than that. But time takes a toll on the two teens. Personal loss. Misunderstandings. Other romantic relationships. Through it all, there is an ebb and flow in their relationship of closeness and distance. But Spencer holds onto hope that something more might develop. Someday. Or that maybe he could at least get his best friend back.

Review

Spencer and Hope are a delight. At times, I wondered where the story was going, but Spencer and Hope kept me engaged and turning pages.

Spencer is especially endearing. I loved that the Tourette’s was a fact of life and not just an issue to be used as a plot point. It was fully integrated into the story at many levels, most of them relational. The author did a terrific job with this.

The story takes place over 5 years – taking the kids from 7th grade through their senior year. The evolution in ALL the characters over time was really well done. As I read an electronic ARC, I was not able to see some of the taxonomy pieces the way they will look in the finished book. I am curious to see those in person. (Some language and other mature content.)

Thanks to Netgalley and Amulet books for the opportunity to read an electronic review copy of this book!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: Best. Night. Ever by Jen Malone (editor)

REVIEW: Best. Night. Ever by Jen Malone (editor)

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

The middle school dance is a HUGE event for the seventh graders in this story:

  • Carmen is missing it – and the TV debut of her band, Heart Grenade – for a family wedding.
  • Genevieve is going to be the lead singer for Heart Grenade in Carmen’s place. And she’s terrified.
  • Ellie is going with a date.
  • Ellie’s soon-to-be step-sister, Ashlyn, is grounded, so she’s going to do Ellie’s babysitting gig so Ellie can go the the dance.
  • Ryan is there with his best friend, Mariah, but he wishes there was more between them. But she asked Leif to the dance instead.
  • Tess, the drummer for Heart Grenade and Mariah’s nemesis, also asked Leif to the dance. He said “whatever” to both girls which they took as “yes.”
  • Jade doesn’t even go to this school. But she thinks Heart Grenade stole her band’s chance at the Battle of the Bands. She’s at the dance for revenge.

Seven authors. Seven perspectives on one eventful night. All kinds of fun.

Review

So many of the authors for this book are MIX authors, and I have many of their books on my TBR. That made this a must-read for me, and I was not disappointed.

It’s not unusual any more to read books that tell one story from different perspectives. But this is different because 7 authors got to dig into one character each and tell that character’s version of this story.

There’s a lot going on in this story. There’s the band piece and the dating piece. Then there are the kids not at the dance and the things going on outside the school. And everything comes together so well!

I loved the characters. I think Ellie is my favorite. I would love more story from her perspective.

In general, I felt like the kids seemed like 15-year-olds more than 7th graders. At least. they didn’t “sound” or act like the seventh graders I know. But I think this story is a great bridge story that would work for upper elementary and middle school readers. The themes of friendship, family, and dating work for teens while also keeping things “clean” for younger readers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Aladdin for an electronic review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

REVIEW: It's Not Me, It's You by Stephanie Kate Strohm

REVIEW: It’s Not Me, It’s You by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

When Avery Dennis is dumped just a couple weeks before her senior prom, she is stunned. Avery is chair of prom committee! She’s ultra popular. She’s smart and pretty. She has had a boyfriend almost non-stop since the first day of middle school.

Avery Dennis does not get dumped!

But Fortune smiled on Avery because she was dumped at the same time she was assigned an oral history report for History. Maybe, if Avery can look back at her own history, specifically her dating history, she can figure out how she is now date-less right before the prom. It’s probably not the assignment her teacher had in mind, but this is important!

Review

Wow. I loved this book! I was intrigued by the premise. Honestly, I expected Avery to be something of a mean-girl diva type who goes through this process to see herself as others see her. But that’s not really Avery at all. She’s smart and earnest and genuine. Yes, she has shallow moments. But those make her even more endearing as you see her trying to gain insight and mature.

I had no idea this would be so FUNNY! Avery has such a fantastic “voice,” enhanced by the format of the book. All of the characters – the best friend, the exes, the lab partner, the nemesis – are all so well written. There are great sarcastic moments, pop culture references, and just funny moments between the characters as they relate to one another and respond to what they learn in the project.

I was so delighted by this story! I will absolutely read this again and tell everyone I see about how fun this was. And I will be checking out the author’s other works.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥