Some messy average reads.
Title: Five Ways to Fall Out of Love
Author: Emily Martin
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publication Date: March 16th, 2021
Ratings: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Buy it Here
Goodreads Summary:
This whip-smart rom-com explores the risks and rewards of letting love in, for fans of Jennifer E. Smith, Julie Buxbaum, and Sandhya Menon.
How do I hate thee? Let me count the ways…
Aubrey Cash learned the hard way not to rely on love. After all, Webster Casey, the new boy next door she’d been falling for all summer, stood her up at homecoming in front of everyone with no explanation. Proving her theory that love never lasts seems easy when she’s faced with parents whose marriage is falling apart and a best friend who thinks every boy she dates is “the one.” But when sparks fly with a boy who turns out to be Webster’s cousin, and then Webster himself becomes her lab partner for the rest of senior year, Aubrey finds her theory—and her commitment to stay single—put to the test.
As she navigates the breakdown of her family, the consequences her cynicism has on her relationship with her best friend, and her own confusing but undeniable feelings for Webster, Aubrey has to ask herself: What really happened the night Webster stood her up? And if there are five ways to fall out of love…could there perhaps be even more ways to fall back in?
There is no one Aubrey hates more than Webster, her neighbor and former crush. All of a sudden she finds herself dating his cousin and stuck with him as a partner in a life skills class during her final semester of senior year. As they start to spend more time together, those angry feelings start to change, especially when they learn that incident that lead to their falling out was all just a misunderstanding.
This was all very mediocre. There wasn’t much to the characters that made them stand out in a bad or good way. I enjoyed the chemistry between Aubrey and Webster; their banter was fun to read, even though both characters were not the most likable characters. I’m honestly surprised Aubrey wasn’t even more closed off or bitter towards relationships because her parents were so toxic. Just straight up harmful for her development. I think it was cool to see a hotshot jock be out as bisexual in high school, and seem to be accepted for it.
The drama just got messier as the story went on, and not really in a good way. In all, this was just an average story with some ok characters, but I don’t regret reading it.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Title: A Better Bad Idea
Author: Laurie DeVore
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publication Date: March 16th, 2021
Ratings: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Buy it Here
Goodreads Summary:
Laurie Devore’s new YA novel is a searing look at a forgotten girl who has no good choices left, but one better bad idea . . .
Evelyn Peters is desperate. Desperate for a way out of McNair Falls, the dying southern town that’s held her captive since the day she was born. Desperate to protect her little sister from her mother’s terrifying and abusive boyfriend. And desperate to connect with anyone, even fallen golden boy Ashton Harper, longtime boyfriend of the girl Evelyn can never stop thinking about ― beautiful, volatile, tragically dead Reid Brewer.
Until a single night sends Evelyn and Ashton on a collision course that starts something neither of them can stop. With one struck match, their whole world goes up in flames. The only thing left to do is run―but leaving McNair Falls isn’t as easy as just putting distance between here and there and some secrets refuse to stay left behind.
A reckoning is coming . . . and not everyone is getting out alive.
***TRIGGER WARNING***
This story revolves around three troubled kids in a very small town in South Carolina where you either leave and never come back, or you’ll never get out. Evelyn is a product of her rough childhood and destructive home life and wants to do anything to protect her baby sister. Ashton is a product of his relationship with Reid, who has turned him into a passionate, but volatile guy. And Reid is trying to shake things up and secure her way out of town—until she dies.
Bleak and depressing. This just made me sad. Laurie DeVore is really good at writing unlikeable characters that you still are kind of rooting for, or that you find captivating to read. These characters are messy and their toxicity gets taken way too far. The story was so messy—like a car crash, you can’t tear your eyes away.
Reid is uncaring, manipulative, and just mean, but like the characters in the book, she has a magnetic energy that you’re drawn to. Evelyn is fascinated with her and her relationship with Ashton. When her and Ashton go on the run, there were times that felt very unrealistic in regards to money or their whereabouts, but it was still entertaining to read. I was gripped the entire time. I wouldn’t really call this much of a mystery or thriller, but definitely a dark and dreary contemporary. Someone compared it to the British show The End of the F***ing World and I think that is a great comparison.
ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Lindsay Glenne 
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