I've had Ms. Goo's books on my radar since the first one came out and was thrilled with the opportunity to try this one. And I am pleased to report that it was a fun, summertime sort of story! It has a breezy quality about it that makes for an easy read. Perfect for the beach or a relaxing afternoon, right? :)

I do confess to that it took a bit for me to get into the story, Clara is quite the unique sort of character at first and not entirely likable. But once I got involved in her food truck adventures she began to grow on me. And can I just say that those adventures made me hungry?! Oh my stars, do not read this book if you're starving, it'll just make it worse! ;)

Yet I definitely loved the family dynamics that began to grow between the characters. Clara and her father started the book in a good relationship and I really liked how that never really changed. It just grew and adjusted to Clara's developing maturity. Her friendship with Rose, on the other hand, was such a push and pull, back and forth type of thing. They both had a great deal of learning to do, but I liked the slow development because it felt true to life.

Of course, the romance bits were pretty cute. Hamlet is just adorable! A true and genuine nice guy, which is just what Clara needs. His dorkiness made me grin several times. Overall, this is simply a quick, easy story filled with a few laughs, a few head-shakes, a few sigh-worthy moments, and just all around sweetness. It has enough charm to make it worth your while, reader friends!

**I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

I Believe In A Thing Called Love was my first read from Maurene Goo and it instantly charmed me. I knew after reading that book that I would read pretty much everything from her. This book made me very happy and I'm so pleased to have read it.

I love reading books about heroines who are sassy and smartasses and Clara, the main character in The Way You Make Me Feel, certainly had a flair for the dramatics. Her personality was so entertaining and it was a blast to read about all the shenanigans she got herself into - and let me tell you, this girl here was a troublemaker for sure! When this lovable prankster gets into trouble at school, her dad forces her to repay for her actions by working the whole summer at his food truck. Of course, this seems to be a complete nightmare for a girl who is looking forward to spending her time with her Instagram famous mom. Clara was a breath of fresh air. She was a flawed girl and she made so many mistakes throughout the book, but eventually, she learned from them and realized the wrong she did. I don't know about you guys, but I love reading about teen girls that learn and grow and Clara's story was just lovely.



There were many great relationships explored in The Way You Make Me Feel. Perhaps my favorite though was Clara's relationship with her dad. He was just an adorable human being and his bond with his daughter had me weeping in joy. Their love and support of each other were so pure and prevalent throughout the book. A+ to Maurene Goo for depicting a wonderful father-daughter relationship. Her dad, Adrian, himself was such an interesting character. I loved learning about his life and his passions for cooking. We also get a great nemesis to friends relationship in this book through Clara's relationship with Rose, whom she is forced to work with over the summer at the food truck. These two initially did not like each other AT ALL, but they actually get to know each other quite well through having to manage the food truck and become good friends. It was such a sweet and genuine relationship. There's also a romance with a sweet kid, Hamlet, that I didn't swoon over, but I still thought it was cute. I also have to mention just how vividly Maurene Goo brought LA's food truck culture to life. The food descriptions were honestly mouth-watering!

The Way You Make Me Feel is one of those books that delighted from start to finish. I had such a great time reading it and I highly recommend it, especially if you're looking for a good YA contemporary book with a strong focus on family and friendship.

THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL by Maurene Goo was definitely an enjoyable read. I really enjoyed the relationship between Clara and her father (a single parent) and how Clara matures by the end of the book..

THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL is friendship, first love, father-daughter relationships and FOOD all wrapped up in a fast-paced and smart (and sometimes sassy) multicultural story in LA. I loved everything about this one and highly recommend it to fans of romantic comedies! And don't miss Goo's last book ~ I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE ~ I adored that one as well!

There’s very few contemporary reads that I enjoy. A friend recently told me these types of books are more of a palate cleanser and I actually agree. However, The Way You Make Me Feel went above and beyond expectations for a simple “reset.”

I enjoyed this so, so, so, so much. The storyline wasn’t over complicated, and while some of it was predictable, both in plot and tropes — it was so cute and adorable. I loved Hamlet; sweet, sweet Hamlet.

Clara’s relationship with her Pai warmed my heart in so many ways . . . it reminded me of my relationship with my own father. I was raised in a single parent household, just like Clara, and my dad did the best he could. As far as a parent in YA books goes — Clara’s Pai is #1.

This is a great summer beach read that will make you laugh and cry, and to never judge a person without really knowing their story.

Clara is the class clown, an identity she relishes and gets into Big Trouble with. Her latest hijinks has landed her working her dad's food truck KoBra (because it serves Korean-Brazillian fusion food) all summer, along with Rose, her Mortal Enemy. However, Rose turns out to be more Best Friend than Mortal Enemy, and the cute guy who sells coffee at one of the KoBra's stops in totally Boyfriend Material. But will this class clown be able to really set the shallowness and hijinks aside to become stellar Best Friend, Girlfriend, and Daughter material?

The Way You Make Me Feel is a totally feel-good read. It's cute and quirky and unique. Like Maurene Goo's I Believe in a Thing Called Love, The Way You Make Me Feel doesn't stick to the typical rom-com tropes. Instead, her protagonists have a mind of their own and actually grow in ways relative to their personalities beyond finding a cute guy.

Okay, I have a confession to make: The main reason why I couldn't enjoy this book was because the humor was totally lost on me. I know so many other people found this book to be really funny, and it kind of makes me sad that I didn't. At all.Maybe this means I'm mature? MUAHAHA who am I kidding!?

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
♥ The heroine annoyed the heck out of me. I honestly can't believe Clara's just around my age. She made me feel really old and all grown up which I'm not at all. She was spoiled, bratty, and cocky as heck. I know she's branded as a prankster and is meant to be a little immature, but I rolled my eyes so hard at her jokes--they were all just flat-out weird.

In said heroine's defense, Clara did realize her bitchiness at some point in the novel. She did grow, but I still found her to be immature by the end of the book. Baby steps, I know.

♥ The writing style and plot were really juvenile. To make this clear: I love making sarcastic comments just as much as the next person; laughing is great. But this book took jokes and pranks way too far, to the point where they crossed the boundary from funny to WTF just happened. It just wasn't for me.

♥ I wasn't a fan of the main hero, Hamlet. Or his romance with the heroine. See, Hamlet was sweet and adorable, but he just wasn't fleshed out enough for me. He felt a bit one-dimensional, like all he could do was tricks with a sign board and get coffee. His attraction to Clara also happened really fast, which, we all know, I am not a fan of.

WHAT I LIKED
♥ The family dynamics were fabulous! I loved Clara's dad. I definitely got the Asian feel from him, and he was just really charming as a whole. I loved how much he and Clara clearly loved each other (although it took Clara a while), and how they did things with each other in mind. I'll admit, I did cry at the end from all the family lovin'

♥ The friendship aspect was realistic. Do you ever get the feeling that you're just not as close to your other friends anymore when you find new ones? Clara does. And it's fine with her. Things like this totally happen in real life, and I'm so glad this book shows that it's okay.

♥ FOOD TRUCK CULTURE--HELLO! I did mention how I think books with POC rep need to talk about food, and The Way You Make Me Feel succeeded in that with flying colors. I loved learning about how food truck businesses work, plus it was fun to read about Clara's dad's foodish creations! *mouth waters*

Excellent read! Very fun characters and setting. I also loved how the food trucks were integrated into the story.

**I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

This book is one of those quick summer reads that remind you that reading can be fun! Books don't have to be philosophical in order for you to get something out of them. That being said I will warn you, don't read this book while hungry, I don't have a single cooking bone in my body, but by the end of reading, I was convinced that I needed to work on a food truck! It is a great read for more reluctant teen readers because it doesbn't get overly heavy and dramatic. It's a fast read that makes you want to keep reading till the very end.

Where do I begin? I will say that going into this book, I did not have high expectations. Maurene Goo’s first book, I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE did not hit a chord with me as I hoped it would do and when the first book doesn’t hit my chord, I don’t usually venture back in again, but being an Asian American author and featuring a contemporary Asian model on the cover, I had to dive in – especially because the colors made me so happy.



I love contemporaries with this sort of premise. It reminds me of the old-school mass paperbacks from Kate Cann, Elizabeth Chandler, and Rachel Hawthorne – those were my bread and butter when I was a super young teenager. I read through those on my trips to the city since I hadn’t been used to long trips just yet. So this was great. A girl has lived her youth doing one thing and a summer turns out to be something she didn’t expect and she changes, whilst also questioning her relationships with friends and family! How much more contemporary can you get!? Plus there are cute boys.



And this had the whole diversity thing going for it which makes me so happy. Let’s get the quick premise out of the way. Clara Shin lives a prankster’s life in high school and when a prank goes too far, she and her arch nemesis, Rose are forced to work on her father’s Korean/Brazilian food truck that summer as punishment. With her summer plans to visit her amazing, jetsetting mother in Tulum squashed, Clara has to overcome working with her enemy, spending less time with her friends, and working in a hot, hot, hot food truck for the summer. But she starts to get to know Rose, appreciate the KoBra, and meet cute Chinese boys who will spin signs for her. And she has to question whether or not her old life is the one she still wants to be part of!



When I first started the book, I found Clara to be a protagonist that I just couldn’t get behind. She seemed so immature and just unlike the archetypes that I usually like, but I think that being able to like her more and more as she grows made me feel better about not initially liking her. She still remained hotheaded and stubborn, but her understanding of the people around her and how their lives intertwined with hers made her so much more of an appealing character by the end. I also loved reading her interactions and thoughts involving Hamlet. Those were so so so so great. She was basically me as if I were fangirling over my ultimate crush (which, if you don’t know – is Bob Morley).



Speaking of Hamlet – I have a new book boyfriend. It is so rare that I see Asians as protagonists, let alone love interests. And I freaking love that he is portrayed in a way that makes him irresistible and attractive and all the things an author would describe a non-POC character in ANY OTHER YA book. He’s pretty much sexy and cute in all the ways. But at the same time, he is this great foil for Clara and I like that he helps demonstrate her changing as a character. I like that he’s a low-key CRAZY RICH ASIANS kind of male character because no one really has Asian characters from this type of background in YA.



To be honest, I think I like most of the characters more than Clara. Rose is the typical character that I think I would have liked the most if it were any other book. She just seemed so sweet and great and lovely and my kind of character. I appreciated that in the grand scheme of things that Goo did not put Rose and Clara against one another when it came to boys and all that jazz. They came from different POVs and circles and somehow managed to get to know one another. I was so freaking touched when Clara admitted how much she had missed her best friend, Rose. Like, that is what girl power should be about. I liked that she and Clara were polar opposites and despite all the stuff they were against about another, they became such good friends. Eugh, this is seriously my aesthetic.



One of my favorite parts of this book that I wish Goo expounded on was Clara’s relationship with her parents. I found that all the parts involving her mother left me wanting for more and for some closure. But instead, I felt a longing that I felt Clara had when seeing her mother. And to be honest, I was expecting some grand epiphany about how her mother really acts and how it affected both Clara and her father, but I didn’t get that. There were moments and little nuggets of realization, but nothing that really got to me the way I wish it would. I also felt that way about Clara’s relationship with her father. They have such a good relationship, but their fallout towards the end seemed...lackluster and didn’t have the impact that I wish it had, even when they reached a resolution. As a character, he seemed so cool and I wanted to see more of their relationship, not just about Clara appreciating her father and growing a little closer to him while working on KoBra, but it just fell short.



Which leads me to wanting closure between Clara and her old friends. There is a big moment at a waterpark that it comes round, but I didn’t think that it was enough to make me feel as much as I should have about Clara’s own realization that her two worlds were not going to work together. But maybe that was the way it was supposed to be! That feeling of just knowing that the people we are…aren’t going to stay the same forever and that’s okay! What else can you expect? And I think I like that angle too – that nothing big has to happen to make a person change. Sometimes it just happens and they don’t know it. That doesn’t mean there should be guilt! That’s how we grow, right?



Nevertheless, I really liked this book. Goo has come such a long way since IBIATCL and that’s not to say it wasn’t a good read, it’s just that this one…was just so good. And it made me happy when I finished reading it. It’s a feel good book that I was unable to put down and I think that speaks for itself.



I’m really excited to expand my Maurene Goo collection, so I sit patiently waiting for the next one!

Much like Maurene Goo's previous book I BELIEVE IN A THING CALLED LOVE, THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL features a Korean American teen living with her single dad in Southern California, but TWYMMF's young protagonist, Clara Shinn, is pretty much the polar opposite of Desi Lee from IBIATCL. In fact, Clara's sworn enemy has a lot more in common with Desi Lee than Clara does. Clara is smart and sarcastic and very invested in not caring about anything. When a school prank goes too far, she's forced to spend the summer working on her father's food truck with her sworn enemy, Rose Carter - a fate worse than death, as far as Clara is concerned. I suppose this book could be classified as a romantic comedy because there's a boy - a kind, handsome, funny boy - but there's a lot more going on here. Clara starts out tough and prickly and not very likable. As summer progresses she starts to realize that she's hiding behind her tough exterior, and slowly her protective layers fall away. Her thoughts on friendship and romance evolve as well, and watching her transform is so satisfying!

How should I put this into words? Honestly, this is one of the best YA contemporaries I have read in 2018 and kinda having a book hangover after reading 'em.

Anyway, Clara Shin, her character at first was a bit annoying with how playful she is. I guess it safe to say - she is a brat with how she enjoy makes many pranks. Above all, she is very confident in anything she did and I love her for that even myself, I'm not as confident as her. However, her ultimate prank has caused her a punishment by her dad by working on her dad's food truck, the KoBra through the summer. But through the punishment, she has learns a lot of things - friendship, love and the most important thing is she gets to learn about her life, her own self which for me, as a reader felt how relatable it is in our life.

The way the author has written this book is so amazing which I would say, all the characters either main or supporting, they are all likable that you could not dismiss them, not even once especially the friendships between Clara and the boys were so cool, there are no such things as being friendzone here even though one of the boys is her ex-boyfriend but they remain, good friends, also, her friendship development between Rose is so beautiful. Relatively, The Way You Make Me Feel is so good that I enjoy every bit of the book.

All in all, this book has few things I didn't like but that few things do not overrun my enjoyment of reading it. Anyway, if you love a book that talks about friendships, love and finding yourself, I shall recommend you reading The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo.

This was an easy book to read and review because I absolutely adore Maurene Goo’s work. I Believe In A Thing Called Love was one of the best books I read two years ago and when I saw Goo had another book coming out I was all in. I can’t pass up a YA contemporary romance to save my life. Clara Shin lives in an apartment in LA with her dad, who happens to own a very popular food truck that she wants nothing to do with. Clara seemed too cool for school when the book began–pulling pranks, spending time in the principal’s office, goofing off, not taking anything seriously. But when a fire breaks out at prom thanks to her prank, Clara’s jokester persona backfires on her. Now she must spend the entire summer working her dad’s food truck (KoBra is the coolest name ever BTW) with her archenemy Rose. As the story goes on, however, Clara learns she loves the food truck and might even be warming up to Rose and the cute barista, Hamlet. This story of friendship, family and love was a pleasure to read and I look forward to more books from Goo in the future. #weneeddiversebooks

I wasn’t too sure about this book from the first few chapters. Clara was a hard protagonist to understand at first because she just acted so childish, but slowly throughout the book we begin to see who she really is and why she acts the way she does. I ended up totally falling for her and all of the other characters in this super sweet book. I loved all the food references, Clara’s awesome dad, and the friendships Clara forms throughout the book. If you’re like me and aren’t feeling the first chapters please keep reading because it’s totally worth it!

This is my first read by this author, and I mostly picked the book from the cover. That being said... wow! The main character is basically a younger me, doing the same kind of stupid things I did when I was young. I related to Clara immediately. She was the perfectly sarcastic and cynical character that I enjoy in a YA romance. I also was loving the California vibes.

While I’m totally of the opinion it didn’t go far enough with the mom, hellllloooooo confrontation anyone? This book was great. I laughed, I cried, and I totally think this book covered #ownvoices to a T. The characters were so fun and completely relatable.

This is a fun summer read! I found myself drawn into Clara's world very easily and the ending was perfect.

Clara is a class clown skater, who lives for pranks. When her latest prank at the school dance ends in a fire and a fist fight with her arch nemesis, Rose, she is required to work in her dad’s food truck to pay off the damages. While this does not sound like the best summer ever, it gets even worse when Rose is also required to work in the food truck. Who knows if the food truck is big enough for the both of them?

I had a great time throughout this novel. Clara's personality can be slightly annoying. I wish Rose's character was given more plot time, but overall it worked well.

This was a fantastic book! Will definitely recommend during Reader's Advisory. Great for anyone looking for a contemporary YA that is absolutely HILARIOUS! Five stars!

The Way You Make Me Feel is a contemporary teen romance and a coming of age story. Taking place in present day Los Angeles, California and 17 year old Clara Shin tells the story in first person. Clara likes keep things fun, pull pranks, and not care about anything. When her friends, Patrick and Felix, nominate her for junior prom queen as a joke, she sees the opportunity to pull off a huge prank during prom. When that prank leads to property destruction and to Clara getting in a huge fight with the girl she hates, the over-achiever and perfectionist, Rose. To avoid the girls being suspended and to pay the school back for the damages, Clara’s dad, Adrian, and Rose’s parents come up with a solution that Clara and Rose will work at Adrian’s Korean Brazilian fusion food truck, the Kobra. Clara is very angry about that as she was going visit her mom in Tulum, Mexico during the summer. Clara’s mom is a social media influencer traveling around the world and Clara rarely gets to see her. The first few days on the Kobra, Clara and Rose argue and cannot work together, but eventually they get along. Clara realizes that Rose is much different than Clara always thought and that she actually likes hanging out with Rose. At one of the Kobra’s stops, Clara meets Hamlet, a cute boy about her age who works at the nearby coffee shop. Even though Hamlet is energetic, motivated, and nothing like Clara, Hamlet asks Clara out and Clara says yes. Hamlet quickly becomes her boyfriend and a big part of her life. Clara has been having more fun this summer with Hamlet and Rose than Patrick and Felix. Patrick and Felix tell Clara she is becoming a different person, one who actually cares about things. Clara is not sure she wants to change as she has always kept things at arms length to avoid being disappointed. Can Clara figure out who she wants to be?
The story has a fair pace, good characters, and well-written settings. The story is hard to get into because Clara is really self absorbed and dislike any other girl, but Clara becomes more likable as the story goes on. The story also gets slow in some parts when Clara is being indecisive about who she wants to hang out with. The story does have diverse main characters as Clara is of Korean and Brazilian descent, Hamlet is Chinese, and Rose is black. Clara was sassy and funny, but could be very self-centered and annoying. Rose was goal driven and confident. Hamlet was a nice guy and fun. Adrian was a good father, but he could be a jerk, embarrassing Clara in public, and being passive-aggressive when talking about Clara’s mother. Patrick and Felix came off stereotypical, the gay guy and the trouble maker. The setting of Los Angeles is well described, you get a tour of Los Angeles. The story has no racy scenes, all Clara and Hamlet do is kiss. No love triangles, but the romance between Hamlet and Clara does move rather quickly. The story does not end on a cliffhanger and wraps up most the plot. I liked the book and would check out others by the author. An enjoyable summer read for fans of The Education of Margot Sanchez, Wesley James Ruined My Life, and 52 Reasons to Hate My Father. I received an advance digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.