Title: Never Always Sometimes
Author: Adi Alsaid
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Date Published: August 4th, 2015
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 320 (Hardcover)
Age Range: 13+
Summary:
Never date your best friend
Always be original
Sometimes rules are meant to be broken
Best friends Dave and Julia were determined to never be cliché high school kids—the ones who sit at the same lunch table every day, dissecting the drama from homeroom and plotting their campaigns for prom king and queen. They even wrote their own Never List of everything they vowed they'd never, ever do in high school.
Some of the rules have been easy to follow, like #5, never die your hair a color of the rainbow, or #7, never hook up with a teacher. But Dave has a secret: he's broken rule #8, never pine silently after someone for the entirety of high school. It's either that or break rule #10, never date your best friend. Dave has loved Julia for as long as he can remember.
Julia is beautiful, wild and impetuous. So when she suggests they do every Never on the list, Dave is happy to play along. He even dyes his hair an unfortunate shade of green. It starts as a joke, but then a funny thing happens: Dave and Julia discover that by skipping the clichés, they've actually been missing out on high school. And maybe even on love.
Review:
It is no secret that I loved Let's Get Lost by Adi Alsaid. I found that book funny, and perfect. Of course, I was expecting nothing but perfection in this book (is that too much to ask for?). Unfortunately, I was really let down. This book was nowhere near where I was hoping it would be.
First off, the writing wasn't the light, goofy, rawness that I really liked in Let's Get Lost. I think part of the reason that I didn't like this book as much as I hoped was because I couldn't fall in love with Julia and Dave. Julia felt pretty forced, and like her whole character was forced. Yes, I understand that part of the whole point of the book was Julia being way too busy being un-cliched to live- yes, I realize that forced-ness was part of Julia's character. However, Julia was far too unreal and forced for my liking. Dave was much more natural for me. He seemed to flow as a character, and I actually liked him. I really liked Gretchen too, surprisingly. And Brett, oh my gosh.
Besides having a forced lead, the whole love between them felt...fake. David's love for Julia, I understood- he loved her for his whole life. But it felt like Julia started to "love" David as soon as another girl came on the scene. I think that Julia was jealous, and she didn't want to lose her friend. Because of this, half of the story seemed tedious to get through.
Some of the things that they did were adorable. Like when Julia helped David ask someone to prom. And when they went camping together. However, most of the cute moments came with Gretchen and David. Honestly, we had an oddly-shaped love pentagon because SPOILERS: Gretchen and Julia loved David, David loved them, and Brett loved Julia. I actually totally ship Brett and Julia, and thoroughly choose to believe that they get it on later. This is one of the few books I've read where the two best friends don't get together, and it was an interesting take. END SPOILERS
Basically, this book wasn't as good as Adi Alsaid's other book. But it is worth a read anyway.
First off, the writing wasn't the light, goofy, rawness that I really liked in Let's Get Lost. I think part of the reason that I didn't like this book as much as I hoped was because I couldn't fall in love with Julia and Dave. Julia felt pretty forced, and like her whole character was forced. Yes, I understand that part of the whole point of the book was Julia being way too busy being un-cliched to live- yes, I realize that forced-ness was part of Julia's character. However, Julia was far too unreal and forced for my liking. Dave was much more natural for me. He seemed to flow as a character, and I actually liked him. I really liked Gretchen too, surprisingly. And Brett, oh my gosh.
Besides having a forced lead, the whole love between them felt...fake. David's love for Julia, I understood- he loved her for his whole life. But it felt like Julia started to "love" David as soon as another girl came on the scene. I think that Julia was jealous, and she didn't want to lose her friend. Because of this, half of the story seemed tedious to get through.
Some of the things that they did were adorable. Like when Julia helped David ask someone to prom. And when they went camping together. However, most of the cute moments came with Gretchen and David. Honestly, we had an oddly-shaped love pentagon because SPOILERS: Gretchen and Julia loved David, David loved them, and Brett loved Julia. I actually totally ship Brett and Julia, and thoroughly choose to believe that they get it on later. This is one of the few books I've read where the two best friends don't get together, and it was an interesting take. END SPOILERS
Basically, this book wasn't as good as Adi Alsaid's other book. But it is worth a read anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment