A mammoth disappointment - Rated 
This book aims to show how easy it is to get lost in first love, but instead shows how easy it is for a potentially interesting story to be ruined by flaky characters and a rushed plot. Young teenaged readers might be able to overlook the unrealistic and frankly ridiculous rate at which the characters change (and always in a bad way,) but older teens or adult YA novel readers will be turned off.
At the book's start 15-year-old Josie is strong minded, intelligent and likeable, more interested in Philosophy and her eclectic (if not beautifully odd) friends than being part of a couple, a half of something, rather than just her whole self. But then Golden Boy senior, Carson, turns his attention to her, and Josie is soon wooed by his charm, so much so that she drops her friends, breaks her best male friend's heart, and even finds a way to disappoint a whole party of young children.
Josie morphs from an interesting and inspiring young woman into a whiney, clingy and self-doubting fool, one who's too quick to say sorry, too eager to fall in love with someone who doesn't deserve her affection, and yet no longer smart enough to discern the revolting transformation occuring so swiftly within herself. She becomes, in short, one of Those Girls, one of Those Girls whom, in the beginning of her story, she looked down upon for being so weak and desperate for love. Carson, meanwhile, turns from charming to cruel, a textbook jerk who offers no explanation as to why he became so cold, let alone show any regret about his actions.
This story could have been saved by a sharp shake of self-recognition from Josie and a few chapters showing more of her wonderful friends, Zandra, Tru and Michael, but instead it flounders, particularly at it's unsatisfactory ending, which offers little more than a confirmation of how low Josie has sunk and how fickle Carson was all along.
Readers looking for Young Adult books showing a character's true and realistic journey should turn to Sarah Dessen, John Green, e. lockhart, Carolyn Mackler and Laurie Halse-Anderson to get a satisfactory fix.
Courtesy of Teens Read Too - Rated 
YOU, MAYBE is a great book about high school romance. This book really captures how romance in high school can be confusing and heartbreaking, but can also be fun. This book is a page-turner; it keeps you wondering what could possibly happen next.
Josie is a fifteen-year-old girl who is very independent and has never wanted to be anybody's girlfriend. She believes that when you become a couple, you yourself are only half of something and not whole. She's just a regular kid who never understood why they say that these are the best years of your life.
Josie is living her regular life; going to school, trying to make some extra money, hanging out with her friends, and everything else a regular teenager would do. Josie loved hanging out with her best guy friend, Michael. Everything was fine between Josie and her friends. But what happens when she starts to think that she might be falling in love with Carson, a BP (beautiful person), the kind of person she had always hated? What happens when Carson starts to notice her? Carson had previously had a hard time when his first love, Emelina, got accepted to college early and fell in love with an older college boy. Will Carson learn to love Josie and give up on Emelina? And what will happen when a tragic event happens? Will Carson love Josie or break her heart?
To answer all these questions, read this great book.
Reviewed by: Cayla Carhart
You, Maybe - Rated 
This is a novel about love and heartbreak.
Careful what you love: Josie is independent, fierce, and does not care what anyone thinks about her, especially where guys are concerned. She may flirt with them, and even kiss them, but it doesn't mean anything, not even with Michael. He's more like a friend-with-benefits.
So who can explain what happens when Carson Gold decides he's interested in her? Carson Gold, the hottest senior, the one everyone secretly watches. Can you blame her for what happens? Could you resist? Neither can Josie -- not for lack of trying, and despite her better sense. It's too much, that first time love finds you and sucks you under. It's too much, even for Josie.
|
