What a super cute book! And finally, FINALLY, a YA book where the best friends fall in love ... eventually.
This book is told in dual 1st person POV, going from Macallan to Levi and back again. I really did appreciate the change in font that was used to point out exactly who was telling the story, but even without that visual reminder the voices between the two main characters was distinctive enough to show that two different people were telling the story.
Macallan and Levi are best friends ... super, duper best friends who know every little detail about each other, finish each others sentences, know each others jokes, can read each others facial expressions. They are great friends. I loved reading about the evolution of this friendship. It is an odd one in a world where girls and guys generally are not best friends unless they are also boyfriend/girlfriend as well. But Macallan and Levi seem to push against that trend, maintaining their friendship even as the two of them date other people off and on.
But things get complicated when they start to realize that maybe they do have a bit deeper feelings for one another. Unfortunately they never seem to realize this at the same time. Their timing was totally atrocious. As soon as it seemed like one would be ready to reveal everything, the other would be happily (sort of) announcing their newest relationship. They dealt with fear of rejection, fear of losing the good friendship they had, fear of the unknown. And it could be a bit frustrating to read at times. You really did just want to reach in the book, grab both of them, and demand that they TALK about their feelings with each other, no matter what. Good grief! These two people could talk about ANYTHING, but they couldn't just come out and say how they felt about each other.
What made this book a five star book for me:
100% was this amazing and real friendship. I loved it. It wasn't perfect. They both made some serious mistakes that caused a fair amount of heartache at times, but the friendship endured. But I loved seeing these two work through their emotions and their trials. True friendship will survive boneheaded moves by the people in them. It isn't always easy, but it is worth the struggle to stay together in the end. This story showed that beautifully.
Macallan and Levi were great narrators for the story. They each were realistically obtuse at times, and I appreciated how they were written to have struggles along with brilliant moments. There were times in this story where Levi's actions were absolutely infuriating. He could be so hurtful to Macallan, refusing to see exactly how his actions were affecting her. But even in the midst of these bum actions I appreciated how his character was written. You know, he is only a teenager in this story, and he is still trying to figure out who he is and what he wants and how he should act. He is entitled to make some stupid decisions ... but by the same token, Macallan has every right to be angry about it. What I appreciated was that these things were not glossed over or ignored, but I felt as if it was a realistic portrayal of what a situation like this might actually look like in real life. It came across as authentic.
I am happy to read a good, clean YA novel where the good guys aren't totally and amazingly perfect in every way but where the bad guys are not totally and absolutely evil in every way. The characters in this story seem real to me. Through it all is this enduring and beautiful friendship that was wonderful to read when they were better off friends, and it was fun to read when they thought they could be more. I loved it. It is a quick read ... one that I will definitely pick up and read again on a day when I need a book to make me smile.
This book is told in dual 1st person POV, going from Macallan to Levi and back again. I really did appreciate the change in font that was used to point out exactly who was telling the story, but even without that visual reminder the voices between the two main characters was distinctive enough to show that two different people were telling the story.
Macallan and Levi are best friends ... super, duper best friends who know every little detail about each other, finish each others sentences, know each others jokes, can read each others facial expressions. They are great friends. I loved reading about the evolution of this friendship. It is an odd one in a world where girls and guys generally are not best friends unless they are also boyfriend/girlfriend as well. But Macallan and Levi seem to push against that trend, maintaining their friendship even as the two of them date other people off and on.
But things get complicated when they start to realize that maybe they do have a bit deeper feelings for one another. Unfortunately they never seem to realize this at the same time. Their timing was totally atrocious. As soon as it seemed like one would be ready to reveal everything, the other would be happily (sort of) announcing their newest relationship. They dealt with fear of rejection, fear of losing the good friendship they had, fear of the unknown. And it could be a bit frustrating to read at times. You really did just want to reach in the book, grab both of them, and demand that they TALK about their feelings with each other, no matter what. Good grief! These two people could talk about ANYTHING, but they couldn't just come out and say how they felt about each other.
What made this book a five star book for me:
100% was this amazing and real friendship. I loved it. It wasn't perfect. They both made some serious mistakes that caused a fair amount of heartache at times, but the friendship endured. But I loved seeing these two work through their emotions and their trials. True friendship will survive boneheaded moves by the people in them. It isn't always easy, but it is worth the struggle to stay together in the end. This story showed that beautifully.
Macallan and Levi were great narrators for the story. They each were realistically obtuse at times, and I appreciated how they were written to have struggles along with brilliant moments. There were times in this story where Levi's actions were absolutely infuriating. He could be so hurtful to Macallan, refusing to see exactly how his actions were affecting her. But even in the midst of these bum actions I appreciated how his character was written. You know, he is only a teenager in this story, and he is still trying to figure out who he is and what he wants and how he should act. He is entitled to make some stupid decisions ... but by the same token, Macallan has every right to be angry about it. What I appreciated was that these things were not glossed over or ignored, but I felt as if it was a realistic portrayal of what a situation like this might actually look like in real life. It came across as authentic.
I am happy to read a good, clean YA novel where the good guys aren't totally and amazingly perfect in every way but where the bad guys are not totally and absolutely evil in every way. The characters in this story seem real to me. Through it all is this enduring and beautiful friendship that was wonderful to read when they were better off friends, and it was fun to read when they thought they could be more. I loved it. It is a quick read ... one that I will definitely pick up and read again on a day when I need a book to make me smile.
