Review: Not If I See You First

NOT IF I SEE YOU FIRST
Eric Lindstrom
Contemporary Young Adult
320 pages
Poppy
Available December 1st
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
The Rules:

Don't deceive me. Ever. Especially using my blindness. Especially in public.

Don't help me unless I ask. Otherwise you're just getting in my way or bothering me.

Don't be weird. Seriously, other than having my eyes closed all the time, I'm just like you only smarter.

Parker Grant doesn't need 20/20 vision to see right through you. That's why she created the Rules: Don't treat her any differently just because she's blind, and never take advantage. There will be no second chances. Just ask Scott Kilpatrick, the boy who broke her heart.

When Scott suddenly reappears in her life after being gone for years, Parker knows there's only one way to react-shun him so hard it hurts. She has enough on her mind already, like trying out for the track team (that's right, her eyes don't work but her legs still do), doling out tough-love advice to her painfully naive classmates, and giving herself gold stars for every day she hasn't cried since her dad's death three months ago. But avoiding her past quickly proves impossible, and the more Parker learns about what really happened--both with Scott, and her dad--the more she starts to question if things are always as they seem. Maybe, just maybe, some Rules are meant to be broken.

MY THOUGHTS
Not If I See You First is engaging from beginning to end, giving us little choice but to fall in love with a protagonist who has a delightfully blunt mouth and refuses to be held back by what others would consider a handicap. Mr. Lindstrom writes in a fluid, conversational style, one that keeps us from checking page numbers every now and again to note our progress and instead leaves us shocked when we find ourselves halfway through in what felt like the blink of an eye. As a result, we can't help but feel as though we know Parker from the moment we meet her, a part of her group of friends despite the barrier of paper and fiction between us.

Parker is a joy with whom to spend a couple hours, in possession of a set of rules regarding her blindness those around her must follow for both her safety and theirs (a fist smashing into their face if they startle her with an unexpected touch is something to be avoided) and determined to run unaccompanied every single day. She's unapologetically honest–in a brutally humorous way–with those around her, calling things as she sees them (no pun intended) with both friends and strangers and bringing a smile to our faces as she does so.

A quiet romance does come into play as we follow Parker in her day to day life, a former best friend re-entering the picture thanks to a school consolidation, and Mr. Lindstrom manages to keep things between them light yet full of emotion at the same time, the drama kept to a minimum but the feels cranked up as new light is shed on past mistakes. When Parker has the opportunity to see the event that caused their rift from a different perspective she doesn't let it pass her by, instead reaching out to make amends in a beautifully genuine way once she realizes Scott was not the only one responsible for the deterioration of their relationship.

Not If I See You First is a story full of humor and witty banter between friends, with gorgeously flawed teenage characters free of deep dark secrets and angst-ridden moments to exaggerate the fiction of their lives shining brightly from the pages. We're treated instead to young women and men who laugh, cry, face things we can relate to and some things we can't, all the while feeling as though we could find them walking the halls of the high school closest to us.

Rating: 4.5/5
 

Find Eric:
 
Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon 

 

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: Love, Lucy

LOVE, LUCY
April Lindner
Contemporary Young Adult
304 pages
Poppy
Available January 27th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
While backpacking through Florence, Italy, during the summer before she heads off to college, Lucy Sommersworth finds herself falling in love with the culture, the architecture, the food...and Jesse Palladino, a handsome street musician. After a whirlwind romance, Lucy returns home, determined to move on from her "vacation flirtation." But just because summer is over doesn't mean Lucy and Jesse are over, too.

In this coming-of-age romance, April Lindner perfectly captures the highs and lows of a summer love that might just be meant to last beyond the season.

MY THOUGHTS
The first third of Love, Lucy is a cute escape read, allowing us to lose ourselves on the streets of Florence with Lucy as she tries to make every minute of her European vacation count before she has to return to the States. The remaining two thirds of the book see Lucy returned home, attempting to find happiness within the life parameters her overbearing father has set for her, all the while remembering her Tuscan romance with palpable longing. While Lucy’s story has its sweet moments, it remains more on the surface despite the presence of some weightier issues like family drama, sex and cheating (!), moving us along before we have a chance to really sink our claws (and our hearts) into the meat of Lucy’s life.

In additional to being more superficial overall, Love, Lucy also reads younger than we expect going in given Lucy is a freshman in college. There’s nothing hugely specific that gives the impression of a younger age, it’s more the feel of Lucy’s voice that, when combined with the fact that we don’t delve very deeply into her feelings for the people in her life, makes this story come across as better suited to younger YA readers (sex between Lucy and Jesse is mentioned on a couple occasions, but those scenes fade to black, implying they sleep together without getting into any detail.).

Lucy herself is an enjoyable heroine for the most part, standing up for herself in situations where we desperately want her to voice an objection, and showing a bit of backbone we can’t help but appreciate. Her spine of steel comes into play predominantly toward the end when things with her father reach their breaking point, but as is the case with the rest of the story as a whole, their issues are wrapped up neatly despite his cruel disregard of what she actually wants out of her life. Overall, Love, Lucy is a quick read, skimming us along the surface of Lucy’s life as she tries to sort through the cacophony of voices telling her her place in the world in search of the one that’s most important: Her own.

Rating: 3/5
 

Find April:

Website • Facebook • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: This Is What Happy Looks Like

THIS IS WHAT HAPPY LOOKS LIKE
Jennifer E. Smith
Contemporary Young Adult
416 pages
Poppy
Available Now
Received from publisher via NetGalley

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds.

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs? 

MY THOUGHTS
This Is What Happy Looks Like is a beautiful blend of fantasy (of the daydream variety) and realism, playing out one of our recurring girlish musings wherein a beautiful boy from a world of fame and fortune falls for the small town sweetheart. This story could have been complete fluff, full of adorable unrealities and sigh-inducing-but-unlikely-moments, but Ms. Smith manages to imbue both Ellie and Graham with an intriguing authenticity and not-insignificant problems to ensure we get swept up in their lives even if they share so few similarities to our own.

Ellie is cute and endearing with a sharp wit that keeps her from being perhaps too perfect, delighting us from the first page with her online banter as she becomes a pen pal to current Hollywood It Boy Graham. Once she realizes who Graham is and that he is in fact the young man she’s been talking to for months, she doesn’t treat him any differently, quickly picking up their easy communication after her initial shock wears off. She has valid reasons for her hesitancy to pursue a relationship with Graham despite every young girl worldwide wishing they were in her shoes, but she never creates unnecessary drama and always approaches things with him with an understandable combination of wistfulness and wariness.

Graham, for his part, is as equally enjoyable a character as Ellie, charming us as he does her with short bursts of vibrant personality that shine through in each of his emails, and he follows up that effortless charisma with an unexpected and well-executed vulnerability. Graham could have easily been simply a character in a romantic comedy, all star quality and smiles with a hidden sadness underneath, and while that’s exactly what he is, he’s written in such a way that he emerges from the confines of ink, paper and labels to become flesh and blood. He never resorts to whining over the challenges of being famous even as they are made glaringly apparent to us, and he never looks for either sympathy or awe from Ellie, instead always putting himself out there to her and hoping she likes what she sees.

Overall, This Is What Happy Looks Like is a fun, light romance with two protagonists who add a little extra depth to familiar roles and make us fall in love with them all the more as a result. Those readers (like myself) who love their romances to be all neatly packaged at the end may find themselves a touch let down when they reach the last page, but eventually logic forces us to recognize the unlikeliness of a sixteen and seventeen year old finding their forever at such ages. Instead we’re left with the equivalent of a sweet kiss on the cheek – perhaps not the exact romantic fulfillment we might have been wishing for, but yet something that holds a great deal of promise and hope for the future.

Rating: 4/5
 

More information on Jennifer and her books can be found here:

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Review: The Boy Recession

THE BOY RECESSION
Flynn Meaney
Contemporary Young Adult
256 Pages
Poppy
Available Now
Received from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
It's all about supply and demand when a high school deals with the sudden exodus of male students.

The boy recession has hit Julius P. Heil High, and the remaining boys find that their stock is on the rise: With little competition, even the most unlikely guys have a good chance at making the team and getting the girl. Guitar-strumming, class-skipping Hunter Fahrenbach never wanted to be a hot commodity, but the popular girls can't help but notice his unconventional good looks. With a little work, he might even by boyfriend material.

But for down-to-earth Kelly Robbins, the boy recession is causing all sorts of problems. She has secretly liked her good friend Hunter for a while now, but how can she stand out in a crowd of overzealous Spandexers?

As if dating wasn't hard enough without a four-to-one ratio!

MY THOUGHTS
Light and cute, The Boy Recession is the type of story we crave when we want a quick escape into someone else’s life that won’t add weight to our shoulders or emotional scars to our psyche, instead offering a brief and humorous respite from the real world that ends as we know it will all along yet still manages to bring a smile to our faces nonetheless. Ms. Meaney has an easy fluidity to her style of writing, giving us witty dialogue and likable characters who, while not necessarily exhibiting profound depth and complexity, keep us rooting for them throughout. Easily devoured in one sitting, The Boy Recession is full of humor and teenage antics; a refreshing, palate-cleansing taste of fun before we pick up a heavier, meatier read.

This tale is presented to us through the dual perspectives of Kelly and Hunter, and it’s nothing short of entertaining to spend a few moments with each of them as they deal with the drastic change in the social structure of their tiny high school. We don’t ever come to know either Kelly or Hunter all that well – this not being a story meant to inspire an unbreakable emotional connection with its hero and heroine – but what we do know if them we can’t help but like, laughing at their interactions with their separate groups of friends and feeling the beginning rustle of butterfly wings in our bellies as their friendship starts to grow into something more.

With many a laugh out loud moment, particularly toward the end as Hunter’s friend Eugene attempts to provide “good date” instructions to a group of young men headed out to prom, The Boy Recession is the perfect pick-me-up book when our minds don't want to work too hard while reading. Conflict and drama are notably absent from this story, allowing us to just cruise along with Hunter and Kelly, content to sit back and simply wait for them to finally find their way to one another after taking a wrong turn or two. Ms. Meaney has a wonderful sense of humor, and will certainly be an author I seek out when I need a quick reminder of why reading is so much fun.

Rating: 3.5/5