More like 3.5 But i really liked this book. It was a strong book that made me love both the main characters. i REALLY enjoyed the boy POV MORE but i liked how the book started out being framed by the list but became about so much more. It did some things i did not expect and like who the couple was in the end. Nice story and a very quick red. ( )

More like 3.5 But i really liked this book. It was a strong book that made me love both the main characters. i REALLY enjoyed the boy POV MORE but i liked how the book started out being framed by the list but became about so much more. It did some things i did not expect and like who the couple was in the end. Nice story and a very quick red. ( )

"Never date your best friend Always be original Sometimes rules are meant to be broken."

Dave and Julia are best friends entering high school and they decide to make a "Never" list so they don't become cliches, but as graduation gets closer, Julia decides that they should now do everything on the list instead. What she doesn't know is that Dave has already broken rule #8, never pine silently for someone for the entirety of high school. As they begin to cross the Nevers off the list, will Dave be able to keep his love for Julia a secret so it doesn't ruin their friendship, or will he let the cat out of the bag?

I really, really, really wanted to love this book, because the premise is a great one, but I felt like it lost something in the execution. Dave and Julia were almost caricatures and way over the top most of the time. I started out looking forward to seeing where the story would go, but by the end I was kind of tired of Julia (she was exhausting!). Dave was okay but he was too much of a pushover, at least until the end, but it was too late by then to get behind him.

I enjoyed this book okay, but it wasn't one that will stick with me.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

*** I would like to thank Harlequin TEEN and Adi Alsaid for the opportunity to read and review this book. ( )

diverse teen fiction - Latinx-American boy and his best (girl) friend (whose parents are incidentally gay) decide to leave their comfort zones in the final 3 months of 12th grade in San Louis Obispo, CA.
I read to page 83--It was okay, lots of clever dialogue and likeable teen misfit characters--but nothing I cared to continue reading. ( )

I had such high hopes for this novel. I liked that it explored male/female friendships but it got a little awkward sometimes and the characters went through the plot so clumsily. I kept getting annoyed with Julia. She was so judgmental it got so annoying especially when she thought she wasn't being a cliche. The problem is this whole book didn't want to be a cliche but it turned out to be. ( )