Book Description Review Praise for Shani Petroff: “Fans of holiday movies, rom-coms, and ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ will enjoy My New Crush Gave to Me . . . Petroff’s festive story will have readers baking gingerbread cookies and buñuelos at any time of year.” ―VOYA, on My New Crush Gave to Me”A genuinely adorable book . . . Highly recommend, full stop.” ―The Reading Nook Reviews, on My New Crush Gave To Me”A worthwhile read. Flirty and fun.” ―Booklist, on Romeo & What’s Her Name”This sweet, lighthearted look at high school romantic foibles will be of particular interest to fans of books by Ann Brashares and Jennifer Echols.” ―School Library Journal, on Romeo & What’s Her Name Read more About the Author Shani Petroff is a writer living in New York City. She is the author of Romeo and What’s Her Name, My New Crush Gave to Me, and the “Bedeviled” series, which includes Daddy’s Little Angel; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Dress; Careful What You Wish For; and Love Struck. She is the co-author of the “Destined” series, which includes Ash and Ultraviolet. She also writes for television news programs and several other venues. When she’s not locked in her apartment typing away, she spends a whole lot of time on books, boys, TV, daydreaming, and shopping online. Read more Customers Review: This book was cute. It was more about friendships and learning that being in a romantic relationship isn’t everything. That you can be happy and have fun without having a boyfriend or girlfriend. I was a little disappointing with the ending but it was realistic and true to life. I would have given more stars but the book was not as engaging or as interesting as I would have liked.
I was excited to try this one out. It seemed like it would be pretty cute. And really, it was cute. It kept me turning pages and smiling, and shaking my head at the crazy things that happened to Camryn. I loved when her friends decided to do a Bachelor style thing to find her a new guy. I loved that we don’t get the stereotypical characters, like mean girl cheerleaders. And that even the “other woman” wasn’t really necessarily an evil seductress that we have to hate. Other than the story being really cute, I guess I didn’t realize just how much of a “love story about friends” it was going to be. Because about halfway through, I saw it going that way, and I was disappointed, because I get it, friends are more important than boys. But when I read what I think is going to be a romance, I want a good romance. So it was not exactly the type of ending I was looking forward to. But it’s probably great for a YA book, and for young girls to read so they don’t think they have to have a boy to be happy.
Finding Mr. Better-Than-You both was and wasn’t what I was expecting. I was expecting a fun, fast, cute read about a girl who gets her heartbroken, goes on a search for a rebound-to-more guy to heal her heart and finds him. A bit too literal of me? Definitely. What I got was a fun, fast, cute read about a girl who gets her heartbroken, forces some seriously awkward situations in hopes of finding a rebound-to-more guy to heal her heart, but finds herself instead. Is there anything wrong with that? No. Was I a little disappointed? Yes, but not overly so. Was it still enjoyable? Certainly.Cam loves books and movies. All things rom-com. I liked her, but boy was she naive. Everyone knows that life isn’t like the books. And even if it was, the heroines featured in her favorite books don’t force the stories to happen. And usually when that character tried some big scheme or plan it backfires at worst and simply doesn’t go according to plan at best. Cam has a lot to learn about herself, her tendencies when it comes to being in a relationship, her friends, and life in general. In a lot of situations, I felt like she too easily got her way when it came to the adults in her life.More than anything else, Finding Mr. Better-Than-You was a story about friendship and female empowerment in a way that I can get behind. Friends before boyfriends. How the ex’s new girlfriend isn’t the enemy. How to be a true friend and be supportive of the other’s problems while still having your own life. Not being afraid to go up to a guy and start a conversation even if you fail miserably. And then when you do fail miserably still being able to see it as a win. And standing up for your own opinions and how relationships shouldn’t be only one person giving all of the time. I can’t find fault with any of that.Yet still…I love love stories. If you’re looking for that here, you’re not going to find it. But if you’ve read enough of those and just need a feel-good book about a great group of friends then this is a real winner.Finding Mr. Better-Than-You wasn’t what I was expecting. It didn’t have a real romance or love story which is something I’m typically looking for in my books, but honestly, I enjoyed it nonetheless. I still read it quickly and didn’t want to put it down. Finding Mr. Better-Than-You gets 4 Stars. Have you read Finding Mr. Better-Than-You? What did you think? Let me know!
**Disclaimer: I was given a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.**Title Finding Mr. Better-Than-YouAuthor Shani PetroffRelease Date January 14, 2020Publisher Swoon ReadsDescription from AmazonCamryn has been dating Marc FOREVER—since freshman year! She dropped out of volleyball to go to all his games, switched her schedule around to be in his favorite class, and has been busting her butt to get into Columbia so they can go to the same college. So when Marc suddenly, and very publically, breaks up with her a week into their senior year so that he can date the new transfer student, she’s absolutely devastated.But why be sad, when you can get even? Inspired by her favorite movies, Camryn decides that the best revenge is a Senior Year well lived, starring a boy who is ever so much better than her ex. With a little help from her friends, Cam is going to have the Best. Senior. Year. Ever.Initial ThoughtsI was really excited to sign up for this tour. I love a good revenge story and this sounded like so much fun. It gave me all kinds of Mean Girls vibes and I love that movie.Some Things I LikedMean Girls vibes. As stated above, I had a feeling this book would have some parallels to the hit comedy and I was right. From the main character who loses herself along the way to finding herself, to the art show this book gave me so many similar feelings to a movie that I’ve seen like a hundred times.References on references on references. I loved that Cam’s favorite activities are watching rom-coms and reading. This made so much excellent room for this book to reference so many things that I love too. I love when the characters I’m reading about like the same things I do.Finding yourself. This is a book that I wish I had read when I was Cam’s age. I had no idea what I wanted to do, what my interests were, or who I was at seventeen. Let’s be fair, I still don’t totally know and I’m twenty-seven now (but, I have a much better idea ). I loved reading Cam’s story of self-discovery and I think it’s important for anyone who’s ever felt lost.One Thing I Didn’t LikeRomance on the back burner. At its core, this is a story of the main character finding herself. Romance was a theme, but it wasn’t the central plot. While I understand why that was the case, I missed the romance element a bit.Series ValueI’d like to see more of what Cam and her friends are up to in the future. However, the resolution of Cam’s story in Finding Mr. Better-Than-You, tells me that this is probably the end of Cam’s official story. That being said, I think there is a ton of spin off potential for other side characters in this book.Final ThoughtsI enjoyed this book. I missed the swoon-y romance factor a bit here but overall, I thought the story was well done and evoked a ton of feelings from my own high school days. The themes represented in this book are some that everyone has felt at some point in their lives and being able to connect with the characters made it that much more enjoyable.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Recommendations for Further ReadingFlawed by Becky Bird – if you like cute, contemporary romance stories, definitely give this new release by Becky Bird a try.Tweet Cute by Emma Lord – if you like adorable, contemporary stories about finding yourself, give this new release by Emma Lord a try.What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter – this book isn’t out yet (look out for it in April 2020), but if you like the social media-centered romance and the secrets the main characters kept from each other, try this upcoming release. |
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