Book Review: What If It's Us

"...and I let Jonathon Groff drown them out, because that's what cute boys are for." 

What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera was one of my favorite reads this year which was honestly so unexpected. I haven't been very happy with Becky since her last two novels were a bit of a flop in my eyes and I've never read an Adam Silvera book before so I really had no idea what I was in for.  This book was hilarious and adorable and everything you could ever hope for in a gay YA romance novel.

Arthur is spending his summer as an intern at his mothers law firm in the bright and exciting city of New York. Instead of exploring this new world, he sits in his room listening to the "Dear Evan Hansen" soundtrack on repeat (me too tbh) counting the days until he is back home in Georgia. Until one coffee run where he meets Ben, the cute boy at the post office in a Dream & Bean t-shirt. Ben is mailing out a breakup box, or at least trying to until a boy in a hot dog tie starts flirting with him. Ben is newly single and struggling to move on as he is spending his summer in school with his ex, which is definitely a sore subject. The boys depart without exchanging numbers let alone names but did the universe want them to meet? What was the universe doing when they met again and again? Was this really meant to be? Ben and Arthur are willing to give it a shot in hopes that this is their big city summer romance.

The characters in this book were so great and lovable. Dylan was by far the funniest character I've read of in a long time. He was sweet, caring, trust worthy, reliable, and genuinely had me laughing hysterically as I read in public. His relationship with Ben and how Ben would describe Dylan was exceedingly sweet. I have definitely mentioned before that I adore any book whose characters are just as coffee obsessed as I am. Dylan was the definition of coffee obsessed. From Dream & Bean to Kool Koffee, many hot cups were shared. Not to mention Dylan's entire wardrobe is basically just cafe t-shirts which I can only aspire to have. Dylan was not a main character but I would love to read a book from his point of view, he would make such an amazing narrator. Arthur and Ben were also super easy to like. For me personally, Arthur was extremely relatable. He loves all things Broadway (though I'm not a Hamilton fan whatsoever so those references made me cringe), he loves NYC, and hes really just looking for a show stopping romance (aren't we all?). Most of the characters in this book were sort of geeky and obsessed with something whether it be musicals or Harry Potter. I hate when YA books try too hard to be "down with the youth" by referring to pop culture a little too much. However, this book specifically wasn't too bad and was for the most part believable and realistic enough. Ben went through some inner struggle having to do with his race, which was great for readers who are going through similar issues; although, sometimes I feel like YA books try to cover as many social issues as possible, which I could probably accuse this book of as well (any Becky Albertalli book really). The only characters I did not care for were Juliet and Namrata; they seemed a little pointless in the plot. They were a bit mean at first too which I wasn't down for as a member of the Arthur protection squad.

I thought the plot was very unique. It was absolutely a Cinderella story but felt fresh and entertaining (similar to Sometime After Midnight by L. Philips). Two boys meet and part with no way of contacting the other, followed by a search and a blooming romance. I don't want to spoil the story so I'll just say that I was never overall disappointed with any events in the story. The epilogue however almost seemed unnecessary and slightly ruined the ending for me nor do I think it added anything to the story. The relationship was also kind of "instalovey" which I know many people don't enjoy, however I think the timeline fit the story pretty well.

The book also tackles some important topics really well in my opinion. There is a scene where Arthur and Ben are dealing with homophobia. This was a really great scene showing the reality of homophobia and how it affects others. There is discussion of anxiety and panic attacks as well as heartbreak, cheating, and examples of healthy relationships of different variety.

I really can't even explain how cute this book was. I want the entire world to read it and dream of a love story so adorable.

Are you going to read What If It's Us when it comes out in October??

Indiana Grace

Book Review: Leah on the Offbeat (spoilers!)

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli was supposed to be a good read. I was so excited to continue reading about the Simon Vs. gang yet this book left me so incredibly disappointed. For starters, I didn't really care for a Leah story line, though I know many fans asked for this exact book to be made. Leah is bisexual and in love with Abby. Ok, but where was this ever hinted at in Simon Vs? This seems like such a random concept. I've seen many others describe this book as fan fiction, and honestly that accusation is not that far off. Becky published fan fiction of her own book. Abby was so head over heels for Nick in Simon Vs. and even more so in Upside of Unrequited, so it makes absolutely no sense that she would just decide to break up with him. 

Don't get me wrong, I didn't entirely hate this book. I enjoyed the bits of the story when Simon and Bram were being adorable, yet it wasn't as often as I'd like. Honestly, I would've preferred an actual sequel where Simon and Bram take on college or something, anything other than the sequel we were given. Some other obvious flaws include the horribly paced story line, the complete change of personality in characters from the first book, and Leah's shitty character in general. 

Leah was a serious bitch in this book. She was rude to literally everyone but maybe Simon. She was super shitty to Abby, I'm surprised Abby even liked her. Her mom was such a saint to put up with Leah's bad attitude, and don't even get me started on what a jerk she was to Garrett. Leah led Garrett on throughout the entire book. She knew Garrett liked her but she liked the idea of someone crushing on her so she never admitted to him that she wasn't interested. She was mad at Morgan through the entire book because Morgan sad one stupid thing when she was angry and upset. Ok Leah.. she genuinely apologized and realized her wrongdoings, lets move on now. The whole gang was not supportive of Nick at all, which was also upsetting to read. Its genuinely like Becky scrapped all the character development from her first book but wanted to write a sequel anyways. If she was gonna switch up the characters so much she should have just written a standalone.

 The fact that she wrote this book at all really just makes it seem like shes trying to feed off of the fame from Simon Vs and Love Simon, obviously I don't want to believe that, it just really feels half-assed compared to her first book (even compared to Upside of Unrequited which I didn't even like that much either). However, I've also read some reviews where people really loved this book. Their reasons for enjoying the book is usually because they can relate to Leah and her situation or because they love that there is bi representation, and the fact that it is one of very few girl loves girl books out there. There are many books with bi representation that are a lot more genuine than this book.

 Honestly, I wouldn't even bother reading this book, especially if you loved Simon Vs. It not only has horrible characters that don't reflect those in Simon Vs, but its just really boring. Nothing really happens and then all of a sudden Abby and Leah are together. Sorry this is so unorganized, I just have lots of mismatched thoughts that have collected over the month it took me to actually finish reading this book.

Have you read Leah on the Offbeat? What did you think??

Indiana Grace