This book avoids many of the young adult novel clichés that frequently upset me. The parents are involved. The two main characters have genuine interests - Pepper runs a dessert blog with her sister and Jack develops apps - that are not just the other character. It's not love at first sight, but rather a slow burn as the two realize they like each other very slowly over the pages.
So why didn't I love this book? Why did it take me a week of forcing myself to read twenty pages at a time to finish it? As I wrote in a recent review of a Sarah Dessen book, it's possible that I'm just not a good YA audience member anymore. I'm in my 40s and the overwrought drama of high school is just not a thing I'm interested in anymore. It's also possible that in avoiding all the tropes that drive me insane in the world of fiction, Lord actually failed to create in-depth characters that I cared about. I felt like I knew Pepper and Jack pretty well. I know what they think about, I know who they are close to, I know their insecurities... but I still don't care about them. I'm not sure where Lord went wrong, but it just felt superficial to me, despite the fact that she did all the right things.
It was a pretty fun story. There are fun contemporary allusions, clever chat/text exchanges, and young love. If it falls into your lap, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy reading it, but I'm also pretty sure it won't stick with you for very long once you close the book.
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