Erin Gough

Will has problems at school. She wants to expose the way students are treated. Harriet does not understand what Will's problem is but as Will explains what she sees as inadequacies in the system, Harriet begins to have her eyes open. Between the two of them, they come up with a solution--Amelia Westlake who will point out the school's problems. Now can they do it without getting caught?

This is a coming-of-age story. It is a bit of a romance. It is rollicking good fun as Amelia is credited with a lot of goings-on at the school. She seems to be everywhere and knows everything. Now the faculty and some blackmailed students are looking for Amelia but she pops up where and when least expected.

I enjoyed this story. It was fun to watch as Amelia lets the truth out. Unfortunately the faculty are dense. They are more interested in protecting the appearances of a good elite education than in righting the wrongs that have been allowed unchecked growth. I am glad the students bonded over Amelia. I am glad Will and Harriet let others know what was going on eventually so it could not be swept under the rug.

I would read this author again. I had a lot of fun!… (plus d'informations)

Get It Together, Delilah! by Erin Gough is a charming lesbian young adult romance with a strong lead character who is self-assured but, more often than not, is her own worst enemy.

After her mother leaves them, Delilah Green encourages her father to take an extended vacation while she takes care of running the family owned diner, The Flywheel. When the situation at The Flywheel become more serious due to her lack of reliable employees and dwindling sales, Delilah decides to take time off from school in an effort to save the diner. Her choice to ditch school is an act of self-preservation since she has been the target of unrelenting bullies due to her sexuality. Delilah is, in many ways, a resilient and likable young woman but she stubbornly refuses to ask for help as the situation at the cafe worsens. Nor is she willing to give a concerned teacher/counselor the opportunity to help deal with the harassment from her classmates.

With her best friends busy with school, Delilah's friendship with her best guy pal Charlie McFarlane turns out to be the most reliable support during her trials and tribulations. While he is rather fickle when it comes to matters of the heart, he is unfailingly loyal and his irreverent charm and good nature is the perfect foil for Delilah's troubles. Charlie is also exceptionally skilled in the kitchen but he finds himself in a bit of trouble when he impulsively decides to pursue his latest love interest.

As if Delilah does enough problems in her life, she is the midst of a huge crush on flamenco dancer and uni student Rosa Barea. While she adores Rosa from afar for a good part of the novel, there are a few cringe worthy scenes where Delilah finds herself tongue-tied and clumsy when she has the opportunity to talk to the girl of her dreams. Although they do eventually make progress with their relationship, Delilah's impatience once again causes problems with her fledgling romance.

Get It Together, Delilah! is a light-hearted and entertaining young adult romance with a great cast of adorable characters. Although some parts of the plot are a tad bit unbelievable, Erin Gough does a wonderful job balancing the true to life issues such as bullying and homophobia with plenty of humor. Although the romance between Delilah and Rosa is just in the beginning stages by the novel's conclusion, it is easy to root for them as a couple. This part of the storyline could have been fleshed out just a little more and while Rosa's hesitance to go public with their romance is realistic, Delilah's reaction is completely understandable.

An imperfect but completely darling debut that fans of contemporary young adult novels will enjoy.… (plus d'informations)

*I WAS PROVIDED A PHYSICAL ARC IN RETURN FOR AN HONEST REVIEW. THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MY OPINION*

Amelia Westlake Was Never Here was pitched to me as a funny rom-com between two girls, and I thought it would be just that. But boy, was I wrong. I ended up DNFing this book around pages sixty through seventy.

When I began to read this book, I immediately realized how quick paced it was and how summarized things felt. It seemed like bits and pieces of the book were cut out/missing.

In terms of our MC Harriet, the majority of her chapters were her trying to be Ms. Goody Two-Shoes. On top of that, she was always torn on whether or not to believe her teachers were as bad as people were saying (they were), even when she herself had had incidents with them.

Will's chapters were the only ones I felt there were rarely problems with. However, Harriet just drove me up the roof enough to not want to continue the rest. Along with this, the ideas for the cartoons they were creating just seemed to randomly be brought up without much thought actually being put into them.

Ultimately, I was again, really let down by another book. For that, I rate this book 1 star.… (plus d'informations)

Amelia Westlake Was Never Here is an atypical version of the plot: two girls are enemies, then become frenemies, then become friends, etc. after working on a project together.Wilhemena Everhart was transferred to an elite school after her parents' divorce. Her mother hoped it would provide a better education. Will has always had interpersonal issues, primarily because she cares so much about issues. Harriet Price is a privileged kid at the same school. Good in tennis, a prefect, head of the year end formal committee, etc., she's got it all, including a top notch girlfriend.

However, after Coach Hayden says some inappropriate things to a girl in gym, Harriet and Will team up to bring the issue up to an unconcerned administration. Using the pseudonym Amelia Westlake, they crafted a cartoon for the school newspaper. What started out as a one-off thing, mushroomed into much more, both on a school wide level as well as a personal level.

The story is fun.The characters are fun. The situation is fun. Even though it's a cold May, Amelia Westlake Was Never Here is a good beach read when the weather gets warmer. Or just read it now if you find it on your shelves.… (plus d'informations)