The world needs more books where the two protagonists don’t hook up.
Hello fellow book readers! I am back for my mini-hiatus and I’m ready to read more books than ever! Up first, You Know Me Well by Nina Lacour and David Levithan. Now, to put it plainly, I didn’t really like this book. It wasn’t bad, but it was disappointing. When I pick up a novel by Nina or David, it’s because I’m looking for a heart-swooning romance. Instead, what I found here was…. meh.
In fact, everything about it was meh.
I found the characters, Mark and Kate, to be very one dimensional, and the plot was kind of bland. So much happens and so quickly. I mean, I love character development more than anything, but when a character does a 180 in a week, I feel like I’ve been thrown in and out of a tornado. Who even is Mark if he can change so completely so fast? And Kate? There are explanations for their changes, of course, but when someone can develop so quickly and seemingly easily, they come across kind of flat. Plus, do people really make friends that quickly? Is that possible? Maybe I’m just an introvert living in an extrovert world but wow, I wish people adopted me as quickly as Mark and Kate adopt each other.
Now for the biggest disappointed… the aforementioned romance. Normally, I’m not one for romance novels. I tend to avoid them, unless I hear stellar reviews or the romance is second (or third) to something else. But I was in the mood for something sweet and warming, so of course I’m going to pick up a queer novel by the romantic Lacour and Levithan. And what do I get? Subpar romance. Mark’s story would have been wonderful if it was a full novel by itself: instead, he feels brushed over, like he gets the short end of the stick. Unfair, because I feel like Mark could have had a very memorable, and important, story. Kate and Violet’s story also fell short for me. Maybe it’s because I never really connected with Kate, but I felt like Violet was not all that great, and I didn’t get why this chick kept giving Kate all these chances. Maybe it’s just be, but I found the entire novel to be unromantic and bland. Like I said… meh.
This book definitely does not “know me well.” It was okay, and it was a nice, fast read. There were some parts I found cute, and some parts that excited me, but overall, I feel like this book could have been much, much better, and maybe is best left on the shelf.
2.5 paintings out of 5.
N O V E L D E E D S 