Definitely not as cool as it could’ve been. It started out great, but by the time the Christmas party finished up, I was pretty much tuned out on these characters. Tucker was way too sensitive for a guy... for my liking anyway. He was just always blurting out TMI about his feelings and it was just— STOP. Erika was too far the other way. She never wanted to have feelings except being defensive and salty. These 2 never gonna make it.

From the jump I want to say the concept of this book is very cool. I love that we as readers get to go along with a High School Senior & a College Sophomore to parties throughout one school year.

I think a Pros and Cons list is applicable for this book:

Pros:

▪️There were some really cool party ideas in here. I loved the over-the-top Christmas house party. It had it all.... and then some. There was a Harry Potter Great Hall room!! Then in the Spring, they went to a party in townhomes where each home was a different decade! I loved that!! I went to a club once where each level played music from a different decade, and it's by far one of the best times I've ever had at a club!
▪️Tucker started out so interesting. I liked that he was sensitive and unsure. As the book begins, he's having a "friends with benefits" relationship with a girl and it was interesting seeing how that sputtered out and how he dealt with it.
▪️I think the family problems are going to be super-relatable for a lot of teens. I thought Tucker's relationship with his father explained SO much of why he was the way he was. Erika's family dynamic was also a bit complicated and it showed another side of what she was all about.
▪️Bobby. Tucker's best friend, Bobby, is just cool. I loved that we got to see his growth and journey throughout the year. And I loved how Tucker cared about Bobby and maintaining their friendship.

Cons:

▪️Well..... I didn't love Tucker or Erika all that much. I was totally TEAM TUCKER in the beginning, but he developed in a way that made me feel very blah about him in the end.
▪️I think the author wanted to write a guy that had feelings and shared them even if he was scared to do so. I totally admire that-- but I think this author went too far. Tucker ended up feeling so weak to me. He was all about the word vomit-- blurting out things that were SUPER embarrassing about himself-- and it made me feel the type of secondhand embarrassment that I dread.
▪️Erika.... I didn't feel like I got to know her very well. I get that she was hard-edges on the outside, but I didn't feel like I got to know who she really was beyond slightly damaged and untrusting.
▪️I think I would've like this book a whole lot better if the meetings between Tucker and Erika kept happening by chance. By midway through the book, they start texting and the rest of the book is all stuff they plan to do together-- which kind of brought the level of "will they/won't they-- fate" tensions down.

I think the bottom line is that if I loved these characters, I would've loved this book because it was fun and unique-- and full of stuff that I usually 100% go for (teenage drama, parties, prom-ish, college, issues galore).

OVERALL: Good effort, but I didn't love the 2 main characters. I would totally recommend it though because it really does have so many elements I love in a book (parties, teen drama, issues, friendships)-- but I would definitely not put it with my all-time faves because of the characters.

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I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I did not expect this books to feel so…real. I was thinking this book was going to be a cute little rom-com about two people meeting each other at a party. This is a book that felt more real than that. It contained casual sex, underage drinking, abuse, growth, humility, trauma, and acceptance. This book can be defined not as a “coming of age” story, but a “coming in range” story about two teenagers, one a senior in high school and the other a sophomore in college, as they enter in a relationship that eventually has no resolution for its readers. I feel that this books has some…interesting interpretations and misconceptions about what should and should not be considered “good choices.” I am not personally an advocate for casual sex or underage drinking, though can appreciate the books overall message that life is messy. ( )

"Fine," she said, with the biggest eye roll she could manage. "Bring on the star-crossed bullshit."

I wasn't expecting to be so enamored by Our Year in Love and Parties, but here we are. This is a beautiful story filled with nostalgia, hope, and pain and I couldn't put it down. I honestly don't think I can write a coherent review because it would just be me stating and restating everything I liked over and over, but I'll try.

I loved the format of the story. We see snapshots of Erika and Tucker's lives through these 4 parties. We see how much their lives change and how much they grow throughout the year. The parties are really the perfect setting to both get them out of their comfort zones and foster a closer relationship.

There is such a strong foundation for Erika and Tucker's relationship. I completely buy their history and why they are initially attracted to one another. Their cute inside jokes, genuine care, and intense love of Harry Potter made it so easy for me to cheer for them.

There's just this perfect bittersweet quality to this story that makes the story all the more personal. It's not a happy ever after, but it's not a tragedy either. The ending - and the story overall - just feel so real and personal that I couldn't put this down.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review ( )