This RITA® Reader Challenge 2016 review was written by Crystal Anne with an E. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the YA Romance category.

Here is Crystal Anne with an E's review:

There is always a boy that turns those summer plans upside down, isn’t there?

I was already familiar with Bennett’s work from having read her Roaring Twenties series, which has a very skillful blend of historical and paranormal. Since I already had a well of affection for those books, I was interested in this, her first foray into YA. I was also apprehensive, since YA contemporaries tend to be either very hit (Anna and the French Kiss, Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here) or miss (sorry, Sarah Dessen) with me. A lot of it is the tone; if they get too melodramatic, I tend to get annoyed.

I am happy to say that, while not perfect, I greatly the enjoyed this particular book. Bex had a very articulate, particular voice. She could go a bit overboard with the “Snarky Teenager” voice, but my experience with teens is that many of them go overboard with that voice. She also had a section toward the end where she went FULL MELODRAMA and the only reason it didn’t turn me completely off was the fact that she was aware of it and made a conscious attempt to rein it in and instead figure out how to work out the problem at hand. The sections where she is explaining her interest and process in an anatomical drawing were deeply interesting to me. I enjoy reading about people that are good at art, since my art skills are confined to the fact that I do a pretty mean Ferb.

It also had a strong sense of place. Like Bennett’s Roaring Twenties series, this book is set in San Francisco, and it is as clear as Swarovski that Bennett loves her setting. I’ve never been to San Fran (sob), but this made me want to (well, more than I already did). I also Googled a couple of the places mentioned in the book, and now would quite like to visit the Amoeba record store.

As for Jack, well, he had that “this boy is perfect” thing that can either make or break your YA hero. Either he’s the boy you wish you knew in high school, or he’s a unicorn and you know he doesn’t exist. Jack fell somewhere in the middle. He was funny and sweet, and talented in his own right, and supportive when Bex’s world goes to hell. I enjoyed the fact that while there were some elements of “insta-love” and “insta-wannabone” happening there, there was also the fact that the attraction was also partially fueled by the fact that these two were genuinely interested in what the other was into.

It was also refreshing to see how sex-positive things were. Bex’s mother, a nurse, harbors no delusions about the fact she has a sexually active daughter, and brings home all the condoms. Literally all of them. I did find it a tad unbelievable that their first sexual experience was not completely weird and awkward (although it did have a few of those moments) and instead is THE MOST MIND-BLOWING DEFLOWERING THAT EVER HAPPENED, but I’m willing to suspend my disbelief since I’m not overly eager to read about fumbling sex anyway.

Then there were the secondary characters. You guys, Bex’s brother is a gay metalhead. I would hang out with that guy. Her mother is messy, competent, loving, judgmental, funny, vengeful, hurtful, and sorrowful. In other words, she’s both great and she sucks, and as such is very complex. Watching her realize the collateral damage that she has caused unconsciously and with full intention hurting someone else was painful; that comes from the fact that I have kids, and I would probably implode if I hurt them the way she did, but I also understood why she did it, since she was hurt and wanted to burn that ish all the way down, and I get that.

Now, there were a few things that didn’t work. Bex’s descriptions of Jack felt a bit repetitive to me. Please, please, please stop saying “rockabilly.” Really, I get it. I have the image.

On the other hand, I did have this image of Aaron Tveit stuck in my head the whole book, and there are worse fates.

BRB, I have to go listen to him sing “Defying Gravity” real quick. Yes, I know he’s a greaser here, but it’s where the hair descriptions took me.

I also found Jack’s motivations to be muddy. I didn’t feel like his reasons behind his actions made a lot of sense or had a great deal of relevance to the problems that his family were experiencing. The pacing also got a little herky-jerky, and bogged down in the middle, then pretty much barreled down a runway at the end. Herky-jerky pacing is not a deal-breaker for me, but I do notice it, and I usually find it slightly displeasing.

To make a long story short (too late), I enjoyed the book. It had areas that could have been tighter, but there is no denying that Jenn Bennett has got the mad skills that probably do pay those bill.

Also, it sent me on a search for this necklace and now I know what to tell my husband to get me for our anniversary.