‘10 Blind Dates’: One Girl in a Fun and Festive Dating “Game”

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About the Book:
Author: Ashley Elston
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication Date: 2019
Genre: Fiction; Contemporary Fiction, YA Romance
Source: Publisher e-ARC provided
Find the Book Elsewhere: Amazon | Goodreads
Find the Review Elsewhere: Amazon | Goodreads
Rating: ★★★★

10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston | Book Review

STORY | It may be the holiday season, but when Sophie’s parents leave to be with her expectant sister, she anticipates having the house to herself to spend more time with her boyfriend. Her plans fragment when she learns Griffin is anything but glad his “boring” girlfriend is staying in town instead of heading to her grandparent’s, which is where her parents think she’ll be.

Devastated, Sophie decides to make the three hour trip to her grandparent’s unprepared for the unusual plans her large and nosy family has in mind. Somehow Sophie finds herself the subject of a series of ten blind dates, all set up by various family members. From awkward to simple and fun, Sophie’s dating adventures become fun, and sometimes a little bit torturous, but through it all, she realizes that maybe she hasn’t given her heart to the right person…!

REVIEW | From the moment I saw the title and cover art for this one, I knew it’d be my cup of tea. It looks darling and of course, the plot sounds equally so. This is what prompted me to request it on NetGalley (which I never do because I don’t like e-reading), and feel quite surprised (pleasantly so) when I was able to read this one.

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The story inside this adorable cover art is as cute as you imagine it to be. If you’re not into sweet romantic-comedies, this one won’t be for you, but for those of us who enjoy them, plus a fun seasonal read, this one is all kinds of fun. I like the set-up of the book which covers all ten dates, some with greater detail or time than others. What is a bit distracting is the fact that the e-ARC isn’t separated by page or chapter breaks, and the margins are a bit messy. That said, in no way does this reflect on how very much I enjoyed this fun novel. What does affect my thoughts is the way this one ends, or rather its stance on “labels.”

I feel a little bit contradictory because I do think many YA novels tend to come across as unrealistic in their portrayal of a teenage love story, so given that, it might be refreshing to discover how this novel ends. But with all that said, the way the story concludes kind of (but not really…?) takes away a bit of the stories charm. Being vague might not be the best way to attempt to explain something, but for fear of spoiling anything, I’ll leave that there.

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That said, 10 Blind Dates is still adorable. Sophie’s a fun character, there’s cute guys, and while this does take place over Christmas, it doesn’t read as overly Christmas-y or “too much.” If you enjoy authors like Kasie West, I think you’d love this one. Plus, I’ve read that it’s already been optioned for film, and ideally, would be an exclusive to something like Netflix. We all know the streaming giant is working YA romcom magic these days; and 10 Blind Dates is a worthy potential new club member.

Content: There’s some minor innuendo, and one date involves a porn movie (non-graphic). The book is secular fiction, and would be considered a light (think teen rom-com) PG13.

Sincere thanks to Disney-Hyperion for kindly providing an e-galley copy of this novel for the purpose of a review; all opinions are my own.