Authors: Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Publisher : HarperTeen
Genre: YA contemporary, LGBTQ+
Pages: 437
Rating: 2/5 stars
Synopsis:
“Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.
Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.
But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?
Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.
Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.
But what if they can’t quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third?
What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn’t try hard enough?
What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play?
But what if it is?”
I’ve never read anything from Becky Albertalli or Adam Silvera before… so I went into this book without many expectations but I was still somehow disappointed. I wanted to like this book so I could immediately fall in love with these authors just like everyone else, but now I have absolutely no desire to reach for anything by either of them. Ugh! I’m so frustrated with this book.
The only thing I liked about this book were the characters, BUT I didn’t like them together. Individually I really liked these boys. Arthur was sweet, quirky, and tons of fun to read from. Ben was pessimistic, edgy, and nerdy. Separately I loved how their family lives and different brains were developed but when they came together everything felt like it was crashing and burning. For me, the chemistry between these characters was off and through each other’s point of views the characters didn’t translate well. The dates felt cringe-worthy instead of all awkwardly cute and I didn’t see how the characters could like each other, let alone fall in love.
The plot in this story was flimsy and most of the major plot points stemmed from the characters doing things that didn’t make sense for them! Its bothering me SO MUCH. Suddenly, whenever a big moment was needed Ben or Arthur would become another person for a moment so some drama would happen. It felt weird and forced while reading and took away even more from the romance. This happens constantly throughout the book, including the climax which made me want a scream a fair amount. I felt like I understood these characters until they started acting weird. I couldn’t figure out the point of their actions and it was so. dang. frustrating. I wish there had been more subplots going on to build the story to a point where the major events weren’t so oddly scripted and purposeless.
The few subplots that were sewn into this story, along with the various side characters, were flimsy and didn’t add anything to the book. At this point a lot of the little things that were thrown in feel forgettable. This whole story feels pretty forgettable. BUT one thing that will be burned into my brain forever is the amount of times there are pop culture references in there. It kept pulling me out of the story and made it hard to be focused. Any time Broadway or Harry Potter was mentioned I just felt sucked out of the story without any desire to begin reading again.
But, none of that even touches how annoying and upsetting the ending was. I still want to scream over how it was written. The ending was made into an escape so the authors wouldn’t have to deal with the possibility of the future. It felt like a cop out that ended up destroying the story. Sigh.
I wish I could say I like this book, but I hardly enjoyed it at all. It was too long for the little depth it held and fell flat where I expected it to flourish. It hurts me a little to say that I have no interest in reading anything else by either author.
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