There were a million ways this story could have felt less real and messy and fascinating. But it was just wonderful.
Oh, I loved this book. It could have been melodramatic, or it might have relied on gay or other stereotypes; the characters could have been close-minded to faith when others' interpretation of religion was without love; the parents could have been one dimensional...there were a million ways this could have felt less real and messy and fascinating. But it was just wonderful.
The characters were thoughtful and young and funny and defiant but good, and they made mistakes and paid for them and lived within their awful messed-up moments and their painful consequences, and they tried to figure out things. They felt first love and angst so deeply and talked about it so so SO much, and somehow it wasn’t insufferable to read about at all, it was just perfect and made me laugh (and at one point cry, ahem).
The dialogue was so fantastic and witty but felt effortless and like it came from actual teenagers, which is such a difficult tone to pin down. This is just fantastic YA.
What did you think?
Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings write as a team under the pen name Christina Lauren.
I read their book Love and Other Words after Autoboyography ratcheted my expectations into outer space, and I wasn't as enamored with that one. The authors have written many other books, including The Unhoneymooners, Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating, and the racier-looking Beautiful Bastard series.