Loved! ( )

Good, not mind blowing. As the author says, more than just a dead mom book. Read this from 3:38am to 7:42am because I couldn't sleep. Just call me Ethan. See the full review and more at MyBookJoy.com!

Recommended: sure
For a quick cute read, for those who can suspend disbelief and pretend the world is a nice place, for a fairly predictable and straightforward story, for those who can tolerate a plot that sometimes makes you roll your eyes at the MCs ability to misinterpret obvious things

Thoughts:
The primary strength of this book was in the connections created between characters and the portrayal of grief from Jessie. She's thrown into a crazy situation when around a year after her mother's death, her father abruptly announces he's remarried a rich LA lady, and they're going to move out to California to live with her. Cue Jessie's entrance into a creme de la creme private school for the rich and glamorous, as well as a bizzaro world of her new "family" in a house that's more like a museum.

Jessie's grief stays with her through the story, as a constant point of reflection and pain and growth for her. The author in a note at the end states that this is very personal for her, as she lost her own mother at 14. Because of that painful personal experience, the portrayal in the story of grief -- Jessie's, her father's, and even her new stepmother & stepbrother's -- are consistent and painfully believable.

In tandem with the grief comes the connection with others despite it, and sometimes because of it. Jessie's relationships with SN, her father, and her friend back home are well developed (even though SN is technically some anonymous blocks of text). Her competing anger and love toward her father give poignant insight into the painful realities of their dynamics after losing Jessie's mother. The moment where Jessie discusses wishing it were her father and not her mother, then considers that her father might have had the same thought about her, is grim and heartbreaking for its honesty. I also deeply appreciated the conflict with her friend back home, and the way it was resolved for again feeling realistic and courageous on both character's parts.

Now, the weak point here was unfortunately in the crux of the novel: the question of Who Is SN? This was pretty obvious from about 30-35% of the way through the story. The primary theory of his identity that Jessie pursues about midway through is so clearly wrong and such a glaring plot hole that it really affected my opinion of her. Who knew she was so dense? /sigh. I feel like it's not even a spoiler if I pointed out the plot hole, because it should be clear to anyone who reads this, but I'll forgo it just in case. It just ruffles my feathers quite a lot. Ugh.

Additionally, Liam was a weak addition. Everything with him felt like a poorly developed crutch to the story, and in the end it barely even mattered anyway. I was glad when the book was ended because at that point I was just kind of tired of the way the main plot of SN was going. When the answer is too obvious to the reader when it's not supposed to be, it puts a damper on the ending. Overall, the answer is anticlimactic. ( )

Good teenage romance. Picked it up for $1.99 mostly because I liked the cover.

Story is about a girl in a new school, in a new city, struggling with the death of her Mom, her father's new wife, and normal teen angst. A mysterious email pen pal comes into her life and we follow along as he helps her cope with her new life.

It was a cute book and went by quickly. YA often doesn't work for me but I liked this one. ( )

I found this book to be a fun read but it did now wow me and the characters were not my favorite. I did like how this book focused alot on tackling grief and self exploration. I liked how the text messages conversations throughout so many different characters were a main element of this novel. I also liked how this book had so many side characters in this book that really populated the world. I liked how the book also handled harder topics in high school. I really adored her other book and this book was fun to read and I wish the book had a less open ending but It was a enjoyable read. ( )

I found this book to be a fun read but it did now wow me and the characters were not my favorite. I did like how this book focused alot on tackling grief and self exploration. I liked how the text messages conversations throughout so many different characters were a main element of this novel. I also liked how this book had so many side characters in this book that really populated the world. I liked how the book also handled harder topics in high school. I really adored her other book and this book was fun to read and I wish the book had a less open ending but It was a enjoyable read. ( )