Leah Konen
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Publisher: Amulet Books
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads
As everyone at her Brooklyn high school announces their summer adventures, Olivia harbors a dirty secret: Her plan is to binge-watch horror movies and chat with her online friend, Elm. Olivia and Elm have never shared personal details, apart from their ages and the fact that Elm’s aunt is a low-budget horror filmmaker. Then Elm pushes Olivia to share her identity and sends her a selfie of his own. Olivia is shocked by how cute he is! In a moment of panic, assuming she and Elm will never meet in real life, she sends a photo of her gorgeous friend Katie. But things are about to get even more complicated when Olivia’s parents send her to the Catskills, and she runs into the one person she never thought she would see. This sweet and funny summertime romance is perfect for fans of Love and Gelato and The Unexpected Everything.REVIEW
After self-sabotaging her application for a student film writing program at NYU, Olivia accepted that her summer would be spent in her family's mountain abode watching Netflix. But, in an effort to push her out of her comfort zone, her mother secured Olivia a position at a zip-line park, and who to her wondrous eyes should appear? Elm, her online crush, who she never expected to meet in a million years. From there, things got really complicated.
I am not going to pretend that the plot was original. We have seen this before. Girl meets boy online, when it comes time to exchange photos, girl sends a fake one. This lie spawns more and more lies, to cover up the prior lies, until the messy referenced in the book's title, becomes a reality.
Watching Olivia dig herself deeper and deeper into this mess was pretty much like watching one a those horror films she and Jake enjoyed so much. I audibly admonished her and energetically shook my head in an effort to discourage her from making more and more bad decisions, but Olivia had to make the mistakes in order to have her moment of reckoning. She had to hit rock bottom in order to come to terms with her fear of failure and rejection, and her negative thoughts about herself. I found that part very relatable, and feel that a lot people have felt some sort of self doubt at one time or another.
Other things I enjoyed:
- Jake! - He was a precious, sweet cinnamon roll of a boy. He was adorable and also a little nerdy, but he owned it.
- The setting - I grew up in Brooklyn and was familiar with all the places referenced int he book. So, it was fun to be back in the neighborhood. I have also spent time in the Catskills, and Konen did a great job re-selling the beauty of the mountain town to me.
- Horror movies - Both Jake and Olivia were HUGE fans of horror, and I liked all the discussions and movie mentions. I also found it amusing that Olivia was writing a screenplay for a film called "The Bad Decisions Handbook", while she was making so many bad decisions.
- The Zip-lining family - The whole incorporation of the zip-line park added an extra element of fun, but then Konen also stuffed the place with some quirky side characters, who I enjoyed meeting.
- The romance - Jake and Olivia were adorable together. There was a lot of awkward, but in the cutest way possible. There was also this major, sort of, grand gesture towards the end, which put a huge smile on my face.
* ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
Both Olivia and Jake were horror fans, and there are many discussions about the genre and films, contemporary and classic. I don't really watch many movies these days, but back in the day, I watched a ton of slasher films. Think 80s and early 90s. Below, I included some of my favorites.
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I enjoy when a character is relatable, and I agree that self-doubt is a common thing we all experience at times. I love horror movies too, so all the references would be a lot of fun to read about. Jake sounds like a sweetheart, and the romance seems like it would be fun to read about. I'm glad you enjoyed this story. Awesome Review Sam!
ReplyDeleteLindy@ A Bookish Escape
The romance was fun and cute, and it's always a plus when you can connect to the characters in some way. Olivia not being perfect is what made her appeal to me, because no one is perfect.
DeleteThe zipline park sounds really fun though! I don't know that this would be for me. I dislike catfishing as a trope and it's hard for me to want to ship the couple when that happens. I'm glad you were able to connect to the story though! Jake sounds like a lovely character. :)
ReplyDeleteJake was lovely, and the story was cute. Konen set it up for us to understand why Olivia did what she did, and I was ok with the justification.
Delete“ A sweet cinnamon roll of a boy” loved that quote. This sounds adorable. I love the thought of all the slasher flick references. I will have to add this to my list.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, but I always like my YA "heroes" to be sweet and adorable. I like this type of man seen in popular culture.
DeleteI usually get annoyed when relationships are built on lies and then it snowballs and lies stack up. Ugh. But... that being said, it’s also a chance for a character to do a lot of growing and coming clean. And oh my gosh, Jake sounds so precious! I just love the sweet, nerdy boys. :)
ReplyDeleteIt was quite an awakening for Olivia, and you know, the relationship was born via DMs online. She never thought she would meet him in real life.
DeleteHaha, I love how you were trying to stop the character from making bad decisions!
ReplyDeleteYou know, I am older and wiser, but I know I made a ton of bad decisions as a teen too. She did learn from them, and there was repercussions too, which I expect in order for me to accept the choices the characters make.
DeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it. I don't always need something groundbreaking to enjoy. I often find myself going back to old familiar plots as long as the book is well written. Brilly review.
ReplyDeleteSame. For the most part, my enjoyment lies in the characters. Who they are, how they behave, the decisions they make, the way they grow. I have never been a huge plot-driven reader.
DeleteSounds like a fun read. I could see myself yelling at the book to stop Olivia from making bad choices too, lol.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely some frustrating times in there, but it was all part of her journey, and it was fun and cute with a really sweet ending.
DeleteThis sounds like a cute read. Not all books can be ground breakers but if they have a good plot and you can invest in the characters that's great. Great review Sam!
ReplyDeleteMary
It was fun and adorable and that is mostly what I need
DeleteI have read a book like this before, with the identity not being what one person expected, especially as they met online first. I absolutely love that trope even though no one ever really uses it! So happy to see it done here. And man, I am not a horror movie watcher at all because I am a huge scaredy-cat.
ReplyDeleteThis trope seems to be one that infuriates people for the most part, but I have yet to see any of the authors I read have the MC do it maliciously, without explanation, or without repercussions.
DeleteOof, this sounds both good (lor of love for an MC who loves horror films) but damn I hate catfish/online lies. I do think it sounds like this is written well but I will be tense the whole time reading. I do really want to read, though.
ReplyDeleteThat trope doesn't bother me UNLESS it is being used for nefarious reasons, which I have yet to see in the books I read. I am always ok with questionable behavior as long as there are consequences, and there were for Olivia.
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