‘What I Like About You’ Book: A Perfect Kind of YA RomCom


STORY | Kels is one of the best in her field of book blogging.  As the curator of One True Pastry or OTP (a unique platform where she makes cupcakes fit with books), she’s recognized as a leading voice in the industry and is up for a spot on a panel at a BookCon event. She even has a group of best friends, including Nash, who support her pursuits. Only thing is, Kels is really Halle Levitt, a girl who’s nothing like the online persona she’s created in Kels.

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Halle is living with her grandfather and brother for her senior year (while her filmmaker parents film their latest project) and to her surprise, she discovers she’ll be in the same class as her online crush, Nash. Now the question is, how will she handle her IRL world colliding with her online persona?


What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter | Book Review


REVIEW | This book is the kind of story a book blogger dreams are made of. It’s witty and full of things bloggers will relate to, and the characters are fun to hang out with. There are some minor flaws for a few of the “bigger picture” story like the aspect of Halle being dishonest with those she’s friends with, and furthermore she keeps this up even with a voice reason trying to convince her of the importance of this.

That voice of reason is Halle’s brother Oliver, a character who’s far more important to her journey than I anticipated him being in the beginning. A relationship I underestimated since I really like that this novel also explores a sibling relationship. Their scenes are organic and integrate into the prose seamlessly which makes the story all the better. Of course, beyond this, there are multiple feelings or connections that are explored.

Friendship which is a relationship with more than one ups and downs; the emotion of loss and what the aftermath and grief looks like; then, of course, there’s the blush of first love and its faucets. What I find most interesting about this aspect of the story is how it’s again an ambiguous (in one way) kind of conclusion. It’s not unhappy, but at the same time, we have niggling suspicion that asks, is this going to end as we hope?

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When all is said and done, I just cannot say enough about this book…! It’s too cute for its own good and the fact that it’s like a kind of bookish love letter for those of us who blog and love reading is an A+ kind of novel. Kanter is a debut author I’ll be curious to see what she writes next. For me, she’s a 2020 author who is “one to watch.”

Content: There is some profanity and a scene talking about “sex” or going “too far.” The story would be tagged with a light PG-13 rating.

‘What I Like About You’ – A Perfect Kind of YA RomCom. A #BookReview of the new #YA novel by Marisa Kanter. #Romance #BookLove Share on X

ABOUT THE BOOK

Author: Marisa Kanter
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2020
Source: Publisher provided ARC – Thank you, Simon & Schuster
Genre: Fiction; Contemporary YA Romance
Find the Book Elsewhere: Goodreads
Find the Review Elsewhere: Goodreads
Rating: ★★★★★

‘What I Like About You’ – A Perfect Kind of YA RomCom. A review of the debut What I Like About You book from Marisa Kanter. Text © Rissi JC

About Rissi JC

amateur graphic designer. confirmed bookaholic. bubbl’r enthusiast. critical thinker. miswesterner. social media coordinator. writer.

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10 Comments

    1. Love a good sibling relationship in a book – and hope if you read this one, you enjoy. Appreciate you taking the time to read the review, Dini. :)

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