The perfect beach read -- even if you live on the North Coast. ( )

You know what? This whole thing was just... ugh.

So, I often talk about communication and how in YA books, the characters seem to have a notable lack of it. Guess what? In this book, there wasn't!

Yes, one teenager (Mikayla) communicated with another (Lucy) about a problem (Jackson) that might affect the other teenagers life before it was irreversible!

And Lucy was all like, "Oh it's fine if you date Jackson, I'm cool with him as a person now. I am completely okay with this."

But guess what? She wasn't.

I feel like this was book was about how Mikayla was a terrible, self-centered friend when Mikayla was actually cool and it was LUCY who was the terrible, self-centered friend who refused to communicate.

But this whole book was Lucy being pissed off at Mikayla about Jackson and I was SO ANNOYED with Lucy because, damn girl, Mikayla asked if you if it was okay and you said it was! Moreover, as soon as Mikayla knew that she and JAckson were likely to be in a relationship, she talked to you about it! It wasn't as if they'd been dating for two weeks when she told you. No. She had had a crush on him for two weeks, but she hadn't been dating him.

I just couldn't empathize with Lucy's upset and she completely pissed me off because she HAD NO DAMN THING to be upset about. ( )

After I finished this book I was unsure how to feel about it. So many things happen yet everyone seemed to be okay with it.

Plot: So this plot is basically told in the synopsis. Two girls off on their own and meeting boys. Of course the best friend falls for others crush and enter drama. The plot moves at a fairly good place. Some parts move slow but the reader is caught up by the middle of the story. Lots of history is said so that the reader can better understand the situtaion.

Best Friends/Relationships: Now this the part that REALLY GRINDS MY GEARS. Literally.

*SPOILER ALERT* (It’s in the synopsis anyway but just a warning) Highlight to see.

So Mikalaya falls for Lucy (her best friend) crush. They start to date behind her back and even kiss. Yet, its all dismiss cause she didn’t really like him anyway. WHAT?? get my drift. When Lucy got mad, everyone around her was telling her to let them be together, blah,blah, blah. I didn’t like that at all. What kind of “best friend” would do that? IDK, but this whole drama part did not sit well with me.

Ending: Even the ending felt rush. Suddenly Lucy was okay with everything. She found a new guy and we can all have a happy summer. Umm…no. Just no.

As you can tell, parts of the book I did not like. It is overall, still a good story. Despite my issues, the story carries some good lessons about love and friendship. The girls grow and mature, making hard decisions. Life is after all is not perfect so I get it. If your up for some best friend drama then give this story a go. ( )

Decided to DNF this one. The characters are reading much younger than their age & the split POV isn't working for me.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: As contemporary reads go, this one disappointed me overall, for many reasons. The writing and characters did not live up to the fantastic cover.

Opening Sentence: “Is this it?”

The Review:

Lucy and Mikayla are moving back to Bridgeport for the Summer, and they are determined to break their shy shell while they’re there. But nothing is turning out as planned. Lucy’s working with her old friend Jackson, who dissed and spread rumors about her in 7th grade, plus Mikayla can’t seem to talk to boys without rambling or being extremely clumsy. When Mikayla falls for someone Lucy has called off-limits for, a fight begins. What will it take to fix the summer and their friendship?

To tell you the truth, I wasn’t impressed with this book — in the slightest. When I looked at the cover, I thought “aww! I bet this one is great!” (I tend to judge a book by its cover, oops) I was bitterly disappointed. Everything was basic about How to Meet Boys, and no matter how hard I tried to give it a chance, I wasn’t feeling it. I’ll explain why: the plot was extremely unoriginal, as were the characters, the plot, and the writing style. The writing style irritated me most. Is it amateur hour? It was so incredibly novist, and we got little insight on what the character was thinking. When we did, it was in simple sentences like “the guilt was crushing” or “I was worried.” Novels have to be very unique and fun to get me to enjoy them a lot, especially contemporary ones, since we can’t usually throw in a dragon or a couple of murders. To top it all off, the humor did not make me laugh. This book made me yawn and although the cover made it seem promising, I won’t ever open this one again.

This was told from two points of views, Mikayla and Lucy. I didn’t identify with either. They’re both bad with boys. Lucy never takes chances since Jackson blew her off, and Mikayla can only stutter when faced with a cute guy. I was on Lucy’s side most of the book because I honestly thought Mikayla was being an annoying brat. Once she accepted that she was not the one being wronged, and started to see Lucy’s side of the story as well as her own, I softened and started to like her better. Then we have the boys. Jackson, Mikayla’s love interest, I never started to like. From the start I hated him with a passion, for his unrealistic perfection when he was supposed to be the one who ditched Lucy. I had heard so much from Lucy’s POV about how he had bashed any chances for her to take risks, and trust boys, and then we are introduced to this amazing, hot guy? Lucy tried to kiss him, he said “um, no”, and rumors sprung up around school. When he apologizes (finally) I was still not satisfied. Lucy was, and even forgave him, which personally I thought was ridiculous — but what can you do? Gus, on the other hand, was sweet and a little dorky, making for an adorable romance. I also liked how he was different from the traditional love interest. Generally, we have the dark, mysterious one, or the funny, light one, always with blonde or brown or black hair. Gus has red hair, he’s a ginger! Yay! I loved this one piece of originality that strayed from the typical novel boy. It felt like a victory to me.

Altogether, I had expectations that were unfulfilled, and they weren’t all based on the cover. I wanted an exciting plot line, a unique romance, some humor. I laughed once in this whole novel and I’m a laugher, so I feel rather let down. The writing style was basic to the point that warranted an eye roll, and the characters were so-so. So much could have been resolved if everyone hadn’t been so stubborn, why can’t they open their mouths until the end? I have no doubt that this will please certain others, but I have high standards (being a book reviewer and all) and was not satisfied. If the plot interests you, go for it- maybe you’ll like it more than me.

Notable Scene:

It was just like Claire had said: he’d dated a hundred girls since that dumb incident with me. Summertime had barely begun, and here he was, hooking up with someone.

Then I looked closer. The girl was tall with long, wavy brown hair, and was wearing plaid shorts that showed off her long, toned legs.

Jackson? Kissing Mikayla?

Or should I say: Mikayla, kissing Jackson?

Seriously?!?!

FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of How to Meet Boys. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )