Marisa KanterRezensionen

Started out so good and clean but then used more and more language as the book progressed.

* I got this book for review from the publisher for my honest thoughts*

Overall I loved the concept of this novel so much. As book lover and someone involved in the world of books, reviews and supporting books that part of the book I adored. I thought that part was so true to my own life and really loved that part of the book. I also really loved the used of emailing and social media as a source of friendship and communication. I also really liked how Marisa explored how her main character tackled anxiety. I thought this book was super fast pace read. It is def a book I would re-read again in the future. I loved how this book also talked about the book industry in a honest way. I thought some elements of the books were not wrapped up nicely as I would like and also thought this book had some predicable moments but overall I loved this read. If you are booklover, this might be the perfect read for you and the romance was so cute overall but online and off!!

* I got this book for review from the publisher for my honest thoughts*

Overall I loved the concept of this novel so much. As book lover and someone involved in the world of books, reviews and supporting books that part of the book I adored. I thought that part was so true to my own life and really loved that part of the book. I also really loved the used of emailing and social media as a source of friendship and communication. I also really liked how Marisa explored how her main character tackled anxiety. I thought this book was super fast pace read. It is def a book I would re-read again in the future. I loved how this book also talked about the book industry in a honest way. I thought some elements of the books were not wrapped up nicely as I would like and also thought this book had some predicable moments but overall I loved this read. If you are booklover, this might be the perfect read for you and the romance was so cute overall but online and off!!

Very between three and four here. I really enjoyed this, but I don't expect that I'll remember it in a week.

I think this book reminded me sometimes I actually am an adult. I remember the days of finding dancing weird and scary, but now I join in. I guess I used to have an internet alter ego, now I'm just me more dramatically. I'm really glad I didn't have email on my phone during my college applications. Or maybe I did but they all still came by paper back then? The job plotline is totally obviously a plot helper and that made me roll my eyes.

Also how the EF can they immediately know where they're going upon receiving acceptance letters??? Um, financial aid, people. NYU is expensive. It really annoys me that there was no mention of financial aid. It is entirely unrealistic to think that everyone reading this would think "oh yeah financial aid won't matter NYU is just $260k of my life" or whatever absurd amount it is now. Yes, I am still salty about my first choice college not giving me any financial aid.

CW: Dealing with the death of a loved one, mental health - anxiety, confusion over sexuality.

Reading advice: You will want to eat cupcakes so be prepared by making/buying them in advance.

A good edit would have made this a better read for me as it felt really drawn out. The secret identity story went on for an unrealistically and frustratingly long time and my annoyance levels were off the charts. This meant that I didn't really feel invested in any of the characters or who ended up together. It's a shame because I liked the premise. I mean cupcakes and book blogging are an amazing combination.

Lastly, I know a lot of people have been commenting on this in previous reviews so I'll just say YA fiction is for whoever wants to read it.

Pros:
I liked the main character, but I was hoping she would be neutral with the author's take on YA at least.
I honestly have a different viewpoint about YA drama in the book. I'll start off by saying that there are a lot of adult readers who don't put themselves in the shoes of teens. That dumb mistake in a YA book that there's is no way we'd (Us adult readers) make? But what about our teen selves? Which is why I'm forgiving to Halle. Basically, adults readers can be overbearing towards fictional teenagers and like to put their adult opinion on a teen matter, without letting teenagers speak.

Cons:
So... slang. My sis-in-law kinda talks weirdly, but no one talks text speak in real life.

Way too long for something that could have been wrapped up in 250 pages or less.

The drama felt forced. It wasn't convincing.

The quotes of "Literature by white men", "Only by women or people of color authors" or "Don't say that's sexist against men" is just so childish to me. Not saying POC or women authors are bad, but you're going to miss out on a lot of good books if you're so closed-minded. I wonder if the author took inspiration from Twitter drama and wrote those into her book.

Hier wordt ik echt een beetje te oud voor. Kinderachtig prank gedoe en jezelf zo slecht kennen. High school is misschien een beetje geweest voor mij½

If you're in band or theater this is the book for you! Natalie and Reid have always competed against each other, but when they are forced to work together their competitiveness is on a whole new level. Throw in some new unexpected feelings appearing between them and you have more drama than you planned for.

I enjoyed this book, but the pranks I felt took over the storyline and at times were just cruel.

I won As If on Cue from Goodreads for my honest opinion. I am going to put this in my Little Free Library and I look forward to others reading it.

More of a 3.5 stars. This book lovingly reminded me of all of the theater kids in high school. If Natalie wasn’t so ridiculous, this would have a solid 4 stars from me.

YA romance which pays tribute to high school arts programs, especially theatre. Two teens, Natalie and Reid, have known each other their entire lives, since their dads were best childhood friends. For most of their lives, they have competed with each other, in Natalie’s mind, for her dad’s attention. They both play clarinet, and Natalie’s dad is the HS band director. Natalie has abandoned the clarinet in favor of directing school plays. However, when the school cuts all arts programs except for band, Natalie has to concoct a plan to save the arts. She and Reid butt heads constantly, but there is a tension between them.
I enjoyed this story because I love HS theatre productions, and I believe in the arts. I think teens would enjoy this YA book. Thanks to Riveted Lit and SimonTeen for the copy.

Readers who can lean in to the premise of a long-term deception and who don't mind a super-meta book about books will enjoy What I Like About You. Readers who often yell "JUST TALK TO HIM" at their books will not enjoy this story.


Halle is Kels on the internet, where she's a super-popular teen book blogger (hahaha) and she's been friends with Nash for years. Now she's moved in with her grandfather and uh oh, it happens to be the same town Nash lives in. When they first meet, she pretends she doesn't know who he is and then she continues the deception for most of the book. Her brother points out to her "you've read this book, you know it never works out well," and she still doesn't wise up. It's incredibly frustrating and I didn't buy her reasoning. Still, I knew what I was getting into and was able to ignore it for the most part. All the book talk got boring after a while and I was far more interested in Halle's relationship with Judaism, her family and her new friends. I wonder if people who aren't as into the book blogging community might have found it more interesting?


One note - this is a book about teens written for teens. This is made very clear over and over. Adults reading this book will probably feel offended. Teens may feel validated.


Content Warnings: grief, recent past: death of grandparent, lying


Suzanne received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

This was such a fun book to read. I am a booktuber/bookstagramer which made this very relatable. I highly recommend this and if you would like more of my thoughts on this, you can watch my June vlogs or watch my upcoming June Wrap Up Vlog on my YouTube channel called Completely Melanie.

This young adult book will especially appeal to book bloggers.

Halle Levitt, using the pseudonym Kels Roth, has been blogging about books and cupcakes since she was 14. (The cupcakes she makes and features on her blog are coordinated to match the cover of every book she features.) She chose a pseudonym because her grandmother (“Grams”) is prominent in the editing world, and she wanted to see if she could be successful on her own as a publicist.

Her blog, called “One True Cupcake,” and its accompanying twitter feed, become quite popular, and Halle-as-Kels makes a number of close virtual friends. Her best online friend is Nash Stevens, who creates weekly web comics on his own blog, “Outside the Lines.”

After Halle’s grandmother dies, Halle, 17, and her younger brother Oliver (“Ollie”), 15, move in with their grandpa (“Gramps”) in Middleton, Connecticut. It will not only help Gramps not to be alone, but Halle and Ollie's parents, prize-winning documentary makers, need to go off to Israel to research their latest project. Halle and Ollie start high school in Middleton and Halle is shocked to discover she is actually at the same school as Nash.

Online, writing as Kels, Halle feels so much more confident than she does in real life (or "IRL" as Halle is wont to say). Kels “always knows exactly what to say,” whereas Halle is more apt to blurt out the wrong thing at the wrong time. Thus when Halle meets Nash she is loathe to reveal her identity to him, lest he decides he doesn't like her. She thinks: “I can’t jeopardize Kels’s friendship with Nash. I won’t. I don’t know how to friendship IRL.” [Indeed, Halle isn’t wrong about that.]

Even while getting to know Nash better at school, she continues to text back and forth with him as Kels.

It’s easy to see where this plot line is going, but it’s an entertaining journey nevertheless.

Evaluation: Halle is quite self-absorbed, but she grows - a bit - over the course of the story. Also, while in Connecticut, Halle and Ollie learn about their Jewish roots, which their parents, always on the road, never really were able to help them explore. It is one of the few books I can think of with contemporary Jewish characters and an explanation for readers about what that means.½

*contains spoilers*

Kels is a Twitter celebrity in the YA book community. She always has the right things to say and has a snarky personality. But in real life, she’s just Halle: awkward, flustered, boring Halle. When Halle moves to Connecticut, one of the first classmates she meets is her online BFF Nash, and he has no idea she’s Kels! As she becomes real friends (and more) with Nash, Halle grows disheartened that she’s so different from her online personality, with whom Nash is undoubtedly in love. Can she tell him who she really is, or will she keep him in the dark and make him fall for her as Halle?

What I Like About You? Not much, to be blunt. I had a feeling I wouldn’t from the first few chapters, but I kept reading, hoping I was wrong. I gotta say, the whole plot is basically Halle stalling and debating whether she should tell Nash the truth or not. I mean, Nash and Kels have already decided to meet in person before Nash meets Halle, so why shouldn’t she come clean? Girl, he’s GONNA find out who you really are! It was frustrating hearing excuse after excuse.

The writing style bothered me too. There are so many abbreviations used in normal conversation/narration such as: IRL, re: and lol. There were also quite a few common phrases that were given a “label,” as in, capitalizing the phrase. “We’re Not Awkward anymore, we’re Less Awkward,” “Nash has A Thing he has to go to.” (paraphrased, I’m not going back to find it) Also, the timeline was difficult to follow and I was surprised at how many grammatical errors I found. It needs a re-edit.

As far as characters go, I was genuinely glad to see some character development in Halle. Her life revolves around her social media so much, she nearly has a panic attack from being disconnected from wifi. But eventually, she takes a hiatus to make time for the friends she’s made in Connecticut. Other than that, she’s only concerned with her own interests and certainly likes to toot her own horn whenever she has a victory. “A Good Thing happened and it’s because of ME.” I mean, I get you’re excited you did something good, Halle, but humility is a virtue. As for Nash, he was a fine, typical teenage boy with his own sad backstory. But for goodness sake Nash, when you have a girlfriend, YOU DON’T LIE TO HER AND GO OFF TO MEET ANOTHER GIRL, you little b****. But the best character was Halle's brother Ollie. He’s the only person with his head on straight. And I’ve seen plenty of straight characters realize they might be bisexual, but not many gay characters realize they’re bi. It was different, and I liked reading about Ollie’s new experience, even if it was a short one.

So, What I Like About You gets two stars from me. There were some good parts to the story like dealing with grief and learning to plant some roots, but it just wasn’t enough to make it a great story. I can’t say for certain if teens would like it because I haven’t been one in eleven years, but it’s clearly written for them. If you’re a teen and want to read this book, have at it. You might like it, but please don’t be like Halle. Be like Ollie.

Anyone who's ever had a bookstagram should read this super cute story of a girl who's in love with her online best friend, but when she meets him IRL, she's too scared to tell him who she is. Marisa Kanter has perfectly nailed the awkwardness of teen romance and figuring out who you are, both IRL and online.

As the creator of One True Pastry, Kels bakes cupcakes to go with book covers. She makes online friends, including a talented comic book artist, Nash.

But Kels is really Halle, and when she happens to move to Nash's town and meet him in the library, it seems like fate. Except Halle is worried that she wouldn't be cool enough to match up to the picture in Nash's head. As their friendship grows and sparks begin to fly, Halle almost tells him the truth several times, but can't quite bring herself to do it. It's a perfectly awkward situation where Halle finds herself in a love triangle where she's competing with herself.

4.5 stars

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This book was cheesy and stupid and ridiculous and overdramatic but I loved it with my entire heart. This was a book about a YA book blogger, and (even tho I don't really blog anymore) I genuinely don't think I've ever felt so seen.

This community, this messy wonderful community, means the world to me, and seeing it in a book was just... mind blowing. The magic and the petty drama, the difficulties and the triumphs... you can tell this was a book written for us.

What I Like About You is far from a perfect book. It has a lot of uhhhh lack of communication, which is never a fun trope to me, and omg some of the plot points were STUPID and CHEESY and I was FED UP and wanted to smack Halle a lot, but also like . . . I loved it anyway?? somehow??

Maybe it was the characters. Halle had her issues, but the side characters were all fantastic. Maybe it was the writing, which was so engaging and fun. Maybe it was the fact that it made me long for cupcakes.

Or maybe it was that so much about this book was incredibly relatable. I know I already mentioned how much I loved how it portrayed the book community (and let's be real here, I'm ALWAYS a sucker for any book about the internet in general), but it was more than that too. Sure, I wanted to smack Halle now and then, and sure sometimes things were a little flukey or lucky, but this book was just also such an accurate portrayal of teenagers. They were a little messy, but aren't we all?

This book is far from perfect, but I loved it with my entire heart anyways.