Movie Review: La La Land

Please note: This review was written weeks ago and originally published in my university's newspaper. 

When Damien Chazelle's "La La Land" was first released in 2016, it seemed as if there was positive buzz surrounding it on all sides. I was mad at myself for waiting this long to watch it, because it sounded like exactly the kind of movie I would give my heart to. Unfortunately, I probably could have waited another year or ten to watch it and not be missing much.

This musical romance follows a struggling actress and a bitter pianist as they fall in love and try to figure out what they are doing with their lives. "La La Land" is a nod to Old Hollywood and smooth jazz in the twenty-first century, which others may have found charming but did not sit well with me. The tone and the time period did not seem cohesive to me. Maybe it's because I feel no particular connection to jazz or classic Hollywood, but the nostalgia the movie seemed to be reaching for never quite hit its mark where I'm concerned. Instead, I felt almost jerked around as the movie flip-flopped from the modern day to a thirties vibe.

I also felt the musical numbers, overall, to be jarring. I adore musicals and I am completely on board with the singing-out-of-nowhere trope, but in "La La Land," half of the numbers didn't seem to have a good transition and weren't entirely interesting. They were well done in terms of the vocals and the music itself, but they were simple and I found myself very disengaged anytime the characters began to sing.

Now, the characters themselves were fairly well-developed and interesting. I was certainly hoping for their success as I watched. However, I wouldn't describe them as especially memorable or unique. In fact, my biggest critique of this entire film is that it seems to be lacking the thing that makes it different and memorable. Maybe the musical numbers are supposed to serve that purpose, but I didn't feel it. The story, the characters, and even the romance—it was all stale and done many a times before. Admittedly, though, I am fond of the ending.

While I am sure many people disagree with me (proven by the number of awards this film won), "La La Land" had some ups and downs but was mostly bland for me. I do not necessarily regret watching it, but I'm not exactly glad I watched it either.

My rating: 

3/5

Lefty's Lowdown: Infinity by Jus Accardo

Infinity by Jus Accardo
(The Infinity Division #1)
Published: November 1, 2016 by Entangled Teen
Source: I received a free e-galley via Netgalley, but all opinions in this review are 100% my own.

Summary from Goodreads: 
Nobody said being the daughter of an army general was easy. But when her dad sends a teenage subordinate to babysit her while he’s away… That’s taking it a step too far.

Cade, as beautiful as he is deadly, watches Kori with more than just interest. He looks at her like he knows her very soul. And when he saves her from a seemingly random attack, well, that’s when things get weird.

Turns out, Kori’s dad isn’t just an army general—he’s the head of a secret government project that has invented a way to travel between parallel dimensions. Dimensions where there are infinite Koris, infinite Cades…and apparently, on every other Earth, they’re madly in love.

Falling for a soldier is the last thing on Kori’s mind. Especially when she finds herself in a deadly crossfire, and someone from another Earth is hell-bent on revenge…

 I'll be honest, reading this kind of made me feel like I was back in 2010, in the heart of the paranormal romance craze. And, well, I wasn't mad about it. While perhaps not the greatest novel of all-time, Infinity is interesting and addicting.

I'll be honest, I found the beginning of this book to be kind of frustrating. Kori, the protagonist, is almost killed and everyone knows why except her, it seems. So she's out there basically begging the people who saved her what's going on and they have the audacity, over and over again, to be like, "lol can't tell you, sorry." Like, just tell the damn girl why she is being ATTACKED. However, once we got past all that nonsense, the sailing was much smoother.

Going into the novel, it seems like there's going to be a bit of insta-love, but there's really not. Instead, we have a complicated, slow-burn romance. It feels doomed and impossible so of course I was alllll about it. Nothing like good ol' star-crossed lovers.

The characters themselves could be a bit annoying at times (might I direct you a couple paragraphs up), but all-in-all, they were well-developed and I was eager to learn more about them as the story progressed. Kori, an artist and military child grieving her mother's death, is quite kick ass. In the beginning, she gets rescued by Cade and his friend Noah, but she definitely makes up for it in the end. Cade is kind of forgettable, quite frankly, but he's sweet and broken-hearted, and I loved him a lot while I was reading. Noah, though, is my favorite character, I think. He's such a cold asshole in the beginning but his character grows so much. I really adored seeing the way the dynamics between these 3 characters shifted and evolved throughout the novel.

Despite what I said in the beginning of this review, this book is more than a cliche paranormal romance. The story is incredibly interesting and there is so much emotion and growth throughout. Infinity definitely kept me hooked and made me eager to read the sequel. This is the kind of book I'd recommend if you're looking for something to just take your mind off life.

My rating: 

3/5

Lefty's Lowdown: I'm Not in the Band by Amber Garza

I'm Not in the Band by Amber Garza
(standalone)
Published: June 12, 2017 by Entangled Teen (Crush)
Source: Received an electronic copy for review from the publisher via Netgalley, but that did not influence my review in any way.

Summary from Goodreads:
I like Kassidy Milton. There, I said it. She’s funny, beautiful—even though she doesn’t know it—and my favorite kind of weird. But I can’t tell if she’s into me or just trying to get close to me for a chance with my famous twin brother instead. I mean, it has to be me. I am the better-looking one.


But Kassidy has some demons, and she’s not good at letting people in. That happens when you’ve been hurt by someone close to you. I can relate. Trust is a funny thing; it’s hard to gain but easy to lose. I might just learn that the hard way.


Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush book includes a snarky heroine, a swoon-worthy hero, crazy best friends, your favorite music, and lots of feels.

So it seems, recently, that I have A Thing for books that feature some sort of celebrity aspect. Thus, despite knowing how cheesy this looks and sounds, I requested a review copy. In the end, this book as just an okay read for me. There were a lot of little aspects I was not particularly fond of, but I was invested enough to see the story through and figure out where the characters end up. 

This book is, more or less, told from two points of view. I actually really enjoyed how Garza divded the narratives here. First there's Kassidy, who has a mysterious trauma in the near-past and isn't like Other Girls because she wears t-shirts and converse (ughhhh). Her story is told in a traditional formatting, but Archer's point of view was told entirely in facebook statuses, tweets, and text messages. I'm a sucker for mixed media, and this really worked for me. Was robably my favorite part of the novel, actually. 

While I liked Kassidy well enough, I didn't love her. In fact, she's utterly forgettable. Archer, on the other hand, was a controlling nozzle. Like, I get that he has Reasons to be so insecure, but that doesn't make it okay. I thought he was really sweet at first and then Kassidy literally interacts with his brother in the most innocent way and he frickin goes berserk. I'll admit, though, I did enjoy the way he interacted with his brothers and his friends. Some of their banter made me smile. But I lost all my respect for him the second his melodrama started waving its freak flag. 

Honestly, the melodrama was quite prevalent in this book, and I was not a fan. A lot of stuff just seemed over the top--even the romance. It had its cringe-worthy moments and kinda reeked of insta-love. No thank you. But at the same time, I was interested in seeing how everything was resolved and I enjoyed the characters' growth. 

The bottom line is that this was a quick read, and it kept my attention sufficiently, but it was nothing extraordinary. It's something I won't remember in a few months from now. The premise is appealing (at least in my opinion), but it's trope-y and just a bit much at times. 

My rating: 

3/5

Lefty's Lowdown: Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard
(Red Queen #2)
Published: February 9, 2016 by HarperTeen
Source: Purchased

Summary from Goodreads: 

If there’s one thing Mare Barrow knows, it’s that she’s different.

Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control.

The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind.

Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors.

But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat.

Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever?

The electrifying next installment in the Red Queen series escalates the struggle between the growing rebel army and the blood-segregated world they’ve always known—and pits Mare against the darkness that has grown in her soul.

 It took me way too long to read this novel. I really enjoyed Red Queen, its predecessor, but let this sit on my shelf for a long while. I'd heard it wasn't very good and that made me extremely nervous. I'll admit, this wasn't my favorite book to ever exist, but I am happy I read it, and it made me excited to continue the series!

So, this book starts out sloooooow. That's my main squabble with the novel. It started out with action, but for some reason it still just felt slow-paced. It was very description-heavy, but I feel like it was mostly just describing different buildings, and I literally zoned out every time we started getting heavy description. Personally, I like characterization, and we really didn't get much of that until the final 1/3 of the book. Maybe I'm wrong, but it just felt like the characters hardly had any meaningful interaction throughout most of the book. They'd discuss battle strategy, but they remained fairly static until closer to the end.

Needless to say, the final third of the book is what saved it for me. Once more started happening with the characters and the stakes began to feel crucial, I became completely absorbed in the novel! And by the end, I was ready as heck to keep reading.

Now let's talk about our protagonist. Mare Barrow. I tried so hard not to get frustrated with her as I was reading, but ALAS! Frustration occurred. I get that she was majorly betrayed in the first novel, so it makes sense that she starts questioning who she should trust. But like. I didn't enjoy the way she just iced over her heart. She didn't treat anyone with respect. And she was just so wobbly. She got onto her high freakin horse and barked orders at people and acted like she was the most important person to ever exist because she could make lightning, but then when people regarded her as a leader she'd say, "I'm not a leader. Woe is me! Anyone can betray anyone! I'm so powerful!" I lost a lot of respect for her character in this novel.

As for the other characters--we had a nice motley crew. I enjoyed meeting the newbloods and I loved seeing more of Kilorn and Shade and Farley. Tbh, I wish we got to see more Maven because, try as I might to hate him, he's probably my favorite character. It was a lot of fun to see all the twisted shit he does in this book and how deeply fucked his psyche is.

This book was just fairly lackluster for me. I feel like the series lost a lot of the intrigue that it had in the first book. I wasn't swept away by the politics or, for most of the novel, the character relationships. The plot was expected and repetitive. The romance was kind of bland. But that final third of the novel, man. It convinced me to keep reading. It convinced me to hang on to these characters and to care about them. I have hope for Mare's character arc and I have hope for MORE MAVEN.

My rating: 

3/5

Lefty's Lowdown: Game On by Michelle Smith

Game On by Michelle Smith
(Lewis Creek #2)
Published: August 16, 2016 by Bloomsbury Spark
Source: I received this book for free from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This has not impacted my opinion of the novel in any way.

Summary from Goodreads: 
As king of baseball in the small town of Lewis Creek, Eric Perry can have any girl he wants and win every game he plays. But when a fight lands him in jail, he’s only got one more strike before his baseball career is over for good. His only chance for redemption? The girl next door, Bri Johnson.

Bri hasn’t talked to Eric in months—for starters, she’s been too busy dealing with her jerk of an ex-boyfriend, not to mention the fact that Eric’s been preoccupied trying to drink every keg in the country dry. But when he needs a way to stay on the team, she proposes a plan: if he helps her out with community service, he can stay on the team. At first it’s a nightmare—Eric and Bri stopped being friends years ago, surely that was for a good reason, right? But as volunteering turns to bonding over old memories of first kisses under the stars, they start to have trouble remembering what pushed them apart.

In a town as small as Lewis Creek, nothing stays secret for long and their friendship and romance might mean bad news. But in this final, tumultuous spring before graduation, Eric and Bri are about to realize that nobody’s perfect alone, but they might just be perfect together.

 Well, this book marks my final cute-sy contemporary read of summer break 2016, and while it wasn't the most spectacular book I've read this summer, it was still enjoyable!

I was sucked in from the very beginning. Told in dual points of view, Eric and Bri both have interesting & engaging voices, and they were both well-developed characters. They are both struggling with the pressures from the people around them. They both undergo significant change by the end of the novel, and, for the most part, I really loved reading their transformations, but there were definitely some points where I got frustrated. I thought both of the characters could be a bit over-angsty and dramatic at times. Also, I thought Eric made some really stupid decisions. Let me revise that statement—he makes the same stupid decision multiple times. He has a hot head and he constantly relies on his fists to ease his anger, even though he'd literally been put in jail for fighting and had been warned by multiple people if he didn't stop he'd basically be screwed. Like honestly how hard is it to just walk away when someone pisses you off when everything you care about is on the line?

I thought the romance was really cute. It built pretty slowly, but I was rooting for it the whole time because who doesn't love the classic neighbors/long-time friends falling for one another. Also. They do volunteer work together which is so cute and, as someone who loves volunteer work, definitely the dream.

I do wish that Bri's point of view had been a little more fleshed out. We get to see a lot more of Eric's life than we do of Bri's, and I almost wonder if her perspective was absolutely necessary. I feel a lot of what was revealed through her narration could have easily been disclosed through Eric's eyes.

Like I said, this wasn't a particularly earth-shattering novel, but it was a cute & light contemporary that is perfect for people who like sports and small town settings (which, if you didn't know, I just adore small town settings). This is the second book in a companion series, so you can read it on its own without reading the first one! I'm definitely interested in checking out more books by Michelle Smith, though, so I will keep an eye on this series!

3/5

Lefty's Lowdown: The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder

The Probability of Miracles by Wendy Wunder
(standalone)
Published: January 1, 2011 by Razorbill
Source: Purchased

Summary from Goodreads: 
Dry, sarcastic, sixteen-year-old Cam Cooper has spent the last seven years in and out hospitals. The last thing she wants to do in the short life she has left is move 1,500 miles away to Promise, Maine - a place known for the miraculous events that occur there. But it's undeniable that strange things happen in Promise: everlasting sunsets; purple dandelions; flamingoes in the frigid Atlantic; an elusive boy named Asher; and finally, a mysterious envelope containing a list of things for Cam to do before she dies. As Cam checks each item off the list, she finally learns to believe - in love, in herself, and even in miracles.

A debut novel from an immensely talented new writer, The Probability of Miracles crackles with wit, romance and humor and will leave readers laughing and crying with each turn of the page.

 I thought the premise of this book sounded different & interesting, I'd heard good things about this book, and the cover is SO PURRDY. Sounds like a recipe for success, right? Well, unfortunately I was disappointed by this book. I had a hard time connecting to the characters and becoming absorbed in the story.

My biggest issue with this novel was the protagonist. I don't usually mind dry and sarcastic, but Cam was also negative and a total downer. I get it, she has cancer so she has an excuse. I'd probably be the same way. That doesn't mean it was fun to read about. She didn't believe in anything, and not only did she make sure everyone knew it, but she also condescended on people when they did believe in something (like miracles, for instance). I feel like Cam was a fan of the old adage "misery loves company" because she clearly wanted everyone to be bitter and miserable like herself. And the other characters? They were all fine, but we don't get to know them all that well, and honestly I just didn't care about them that much.

I'll admit, there is a shift toward the second half of the book when Cam starts being more positive and lighter, funnier events begin to occur. However, the shift isn't a gradual transition. To me, it felt like a switch was flipped. All of a sudden Cam and Asher, the love interest, were in love and Cam was more open to miracles and everything was looking up. All I could think was, "What? Where did all this come from?????" Don't get me wrong--the second half is what saved this novel for me, but I just feel like it was all so sudden.

In the end, this story left me unsatisfied. I thought there was a general lack of depth and I still had some questions in the end. For instance, IS THIS BOOK MAGICAL REALISM?? I DON'T GET IT. This question still plagues me. Like, there were hints that the town really was producing miracles but was that magic or just coincidence or what? Also, a big part of Asher's storyline was that he was afraid to leave Promise, Maine and do something with his life and I don't feel like that was sufficiently resolved. Surprisingly, though, I did cry in the end. I really didn't expect to because I spent most of the book not caring much about the protagonist, but the ending was written beautifully and it just really got to me.

Clearly, this book didn't exactly do it for me. It was okay. I know I didn't really highlight a lot of the positive stuff , but there were some parts I enjoyed (mostly in the 2nd half of the book). Still, I'd say the parts that would make this book unique and make it stand out (the quirkiness, the weird stuff happening in town) were not as prominent as I would have liked them to be, so it fell flat.

3/5

Lefty's Lowdown: Psi Another Day by D.R. Rosensteel

Psi Another Day by D.R. Rosensteel
(Psi Fighter Academy #1)
Published: December 3, 2013 by Entangled Teen
Source: Purchased

Summary from Goodreads:
THERE’S A NEW SUPERHERO IN TOWN.

By day, I'm just another high school girl who likes lip gloss. But by night I'm a Psi Fighter—a secret guardian with a decade of training in the Mental Arts. And I'm about to test those skills in my first battle against evil.

BAD GUYS BEWARE.

When I was six, the Walpurgis Knights, our deadliest enemy, murdered my parents. The Psi Fighters put me into hiding, and all traces of my existence evaporated. Then I went through the most accelerated Psi Fighter training possible. And now I go to your school.

’CAUSE I WILL TAKE YOU OUT.

Unfortunately, so do the bad guys. My parents’ killer has sent his apprentice to infiltrate the school to find me. And everyone is a potential suspect, even irresistible new kid, Egon, and my old nemesis-turned-nice-guy, Mason. Fingers crossed I find the Knight before he finds me…

I would most likely usually never give this book the time of day based on the cover & title, if I'm being honest. However, I interned for Entangled Teen very briefly a few years ago, so I read the manuscript of this novel, and I really enjoyed it back then, so I decided to buy the finished product. Unfortunately, this time around I did not enjoy it as much as I had back then, but I still thought parts of this were a delight!

Parts of this book really confused me. Basically, the protagonist Rinnie is a Psi Fighter, which are top secret super heros who uses their brains and their fists as weapons (which, I gotta say, is an A+ premise). Recently in Rinnie's town, there has been a creep kidnapping little kids, and the Psi Fighters conclude that there is a major link to the kidnapper in Rinnie's high school, so Rinnie is assigned to investigate her school and try to discover who the kidnapper is. It sounds simple, but it's a bit convoluted because there is a drug ring, and a secret villain society, and I had a really hard time keeping track of how it all connected. I didn't always understand the line of reasoning that led the characters to the conclusions they drew. That is really my main complaint, but I more-or-less understood it all by the end of the novel. I did wish there was a bit more worldbuilding, because I got slightly confused about how their mental weapons work.

Other than that, I found this to be a really fun story. Okay, so the writing could be a bit cheesy, but there were so many funny and clever lines throughout the novel that I just adored! I'd say this has a bit of a younger YA vibe, but it was still a cute, interesting read, and the ending definitely left me wondering what is going to happen in the next book!

3/5 stars

Lefty's Lowdown: Defending Taylor by Miranda Kenneally

Defending Taylor by Miranda Kenneally
(Hundred Oaks companion series)
Published: July 5, 2016 by Sourcebooks Fire
Source: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions in this review are my own.

Summary from Goodreads: 
There are no mistakes in love.

Captain of the soccer team, president of the Debate Club, contender for valedictorian: Taylor's always pushed herself to be perfect. After all, that's what is expected of a senator's daughter. But one impulsive decision-one lie to cover for her boyfriend-and Taylor's kicked out of private school. Everything she's worked so hard for is gone, and now she's starting over at Hundred Oaks High.

Soccer has always been Taylor's escape from the pressures of school and family, but it's hard to fit in and play on a team that used to be her rival. The only person who seems to understand all that she's going through is her older brother's best friend, Ezra. Taylor's had a crush on him for as long as she can remember. But it's hard to trust after having been betrayed. Will Taylor repeat her past mistakes or can she score a fresh start?

 I've only read one other book by Miranda Kenneally, but I knew to expect a fairly light contemporary read from this book. That's exactly what I got, so I should be pleased, right? Well...I don't know. I wanted more from this novel, if I'm being honest. There were some parts that made me smile, and then there were parts that made me roll me eyes. All in all, I'd say this was a meh read for me.

Taylor's dad is a senator, and her siblings are "perfect" and successful so she strives to be too. She goes to this fancy private school and has a 4.2 GPA, is the captain of the soccer team, and basically has a flawless resume. Then, she takes the blame for something stupid that her boyfriend Ben (who is on scholarship at the private school) did, thinking her dad would be able to keep her from getting kicked out. He doesn't. So, she gets kicked out and has to go to *gasp* public school, meanwhile destroying her father's political career and bottling up the truth about what Ben did so she doesn't get labeled a snitch.

So, one of my least favorite plot lines in YA is the whole "Oh, I regret lying about something but it's too late to tell anyone the truth because that will just make things worse." NO NO NO. Maybe it's because I'm an honest-to-a-fault type of person, but I just think this trope is stupid and unnecessary. Which brings me back to the primary plot point in this novel. I just got so irritated that Taylor refused to tell anyone the truth about Ben. I don't see how being honest with her boyfriend or her family would have made the situation worse. There was no justification that made sense to me.

Ignoring the shaky foundation of the story, I liked Taylor well enough, but she wasn't the most interesting narrator. She loves soccer and dogs and she was pretty much perfect except for getting kicked out of school and lying about the whole situation. Ezra, the love interest, was okay too. He was really sweet. The problem is that this novel was very glossed-over. I feel like there wasn't a whole lot of depth to anything, so I had trouble connecting to the characters or really caring about them a whole lot. So, like I said, Ezra was okay. His and Taylor's relationship was cute and had some moments that made me smile, but it all felt very rushed. I liked them together, though.

My favorite part of this novel was the family dynamics. Their family was not perfect. They got mad at each other, but at the end of the day, you could see the love they had for one another, and that's what's important. I was really happy with the way everything ended in this regard.

If this book had been longer and more fleshed out, I probably would have enjoyed it much more. As it is, Defending Taylor felt rushed and a little superficial. It makes a good quick, fluffy read, though. It was easy to just get lost in it for an hour or so, and I came away from it feeling good.

3/5

Lefty's Lowdown: The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle

The Sound of Us by Julie Hammerle
(standalone)
Published: June 7, 2016 by Entangled Teen
Source: I received an eARC for review from the publisher via Netgalley. This has not in any way, shape, or form affected my review of the book.

Summary from Goodreads: 
Kiki Nichols might not survive music camp.

She’s put her TV-loving, nerdy self aside for one summer to prove she’s got what it takes: she can be cool enough to make friends, she can earn that music scholarship, and she can get into Krause University’s music program.

Except camp has rigid conduct rules—which means her thrilling late-night jam session with the hot drummer can’t happen again, even though they love all the same TV shows, and fifteen minutes making music with him meant more than every aria she’s ever sung.


But when someone starts snitching on rule breakers and getting them kicked out, music camp turns into survival of the fittest. If Kiki’s going to get that scholarship, her chance to make true friends—and her chance with the drummer guy—might cost her the future she wants more than anything.

 When I got accepted for this book, I was unbelievably excited because SINGING BOOK. In my opinion, there needs to be way more singing YA books in this world. And also TV shows. So basically, this book contained two of my favorite things in the entire world. I had high hopes for this novel, and there were some parts that  really enjoyed, but, ultimately, there were quite a few major things that annoyed me, making this just an okay read.

I will say, the first half of the novel is solid af. We're introduced to Kiki, the narrator, who has a really fun voice. She's nerdy, insecure, a TV-lover, and she has more friends on Twitter than in real life. I think she is a character a lot of people of my generation can relate to. She has been accepted into an elite opera music camp--the same one her sister went to and is basically a celebrity at. She wonders if she even deserved to get in, or if her sister pulled some strings for her because she's used to being in the background, not receiving attention for her abilities. When she gets to camp, she meets a whole slew of really talented musicians, and she lets her social anxiety come out to play. Instead of going to hang out with them, she hides in a basement, which, for whatever reason, has a piano in it. That's when she meets Nutty Bar Guy and they have the most soul-awakening jam session.

And let my rant begin: 
At that point, all is well. It's a fun story, and I like all the little musical details thrown in. But then one of the teachers issues a ruling, which essentially states that if a camper is caught singing anything other than opera, they will get kicked out of camp. And that's where things start going downhill, because this rule becomes a major obstacle for Kiki, meaning it plays a relatively significant role in the story, and let me tell you--IT IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS RULE I'VE EVER HEARD. I've been to music camps, conventions, workshops, and all that jazz, and no one would ever tell singers they can't sing anything other than one specific genre. The justification in this novel was that it could ruin their voices. Uh, no? Good singers can sing almost anything (maybe not death metal, but you get the point) without hurting their voices. Trained singers know how to apply the same techniques to different genres. All that being said, this rule made no sense to me. It just seemed like a plot device to add angst to Kiki's life. "Oh, I can't sing pop songs in the basement with hot Nutty Bar guy because I don't want to get kicked out, but how my heart just longs to make music with him." (Not a real quote, but that basically sums up a large chunk of Kiki's mental discourse.) It was just a little...stupid, I guess.

Aside from that, the second half of the novel just got overly dramatic. Kiki has become obsessed with Jack (aka Nutty Bar guy) and then something happens [SPOILER] Kiki finds out he has a girlfriend [END SPOILER], which was really predictable to me. And it all just becomes so meh. I don't want to say anything else because I don't want to spoil the whole second half of the novel, but it's cheesy and cliche and all overly dramatic and I found myself rolling my eyes SO many times. And, in some aspects, I began to lose a lot of respect for Kiki because she was whiny and so woe-is-me, as if she was the first person anything bad has ever happened to. She literally compares her situation to someone dying.

Rant over.

With all my anger towards certain parts of this book, like I said, there were some elements I did really enjoy, and I don't want those to be overlooked. I liked that it dealt with body image and social anxiety. I liked the little tweets before each chapter. I loooved the element of friendship and girl empowerment (though even some of those moments felt so Hallmark to me). I liked the nerd-pride and self-discovery. These are all very important. By the end, I was satisfied where the story ended up. Despite the problems I had with this book, I'd recommend it if you are looking for a lighter, fluffier read.

3/5