Unfortunately not a bug fan of this story of a teen with Muscular Dystrophy who is trying to find herself and also discover her first love. Maeve wants to live like a normal person but she cant because of her illness. Sadly, her personality makes it even worse. She is completely self-absorbed and thinks that everyone is looking at her ALL the time. Also her decisions are just really off base, even for a teenager. I just could not make sense of her choices, Another issues I had is that were so many story lines going on in this book that I had a hard time keeping everything straight. I guess I wasn't a big fan of the other characters in the book either, including Maeve's love interest Cole who was not the brightest bulb. In general it did hold my interest until the end at least. Not a favorite of mine though. Thanks for the ARC!

Thank you, NetGalley and the publishers for making E-ARCs of this book available . I appreciated the honesty and gritines of this story. Maeve is a cool character.

A believable story with the main character in a wheelchair but so positive on life it is worth the read. Maeve has a wonderful and supportive group of friends in her media class. Filming is her life but in steps a hunk, Cole Stone, who she loves but not sure about their relationship. She also has a long time friend that seems to want more of a relationship with her. Her parents are very supportive and try to give her all the independence they can. The story is evenly written to tell her school life and her relationships. I would have like to see more of Elliot as he seems a strong character. I didn't care for the flippant sex but apparently it was very important to Mauve Only about a 3 out of 5 but liked have the diversity of characters.

I have to be honest and give this read 3 stars. It kills me to do that because I expected so much more from this read. There were a few super sad part and my heart ached for sure.

I just needed more....

Readers expecting a romance novel should take heed of the book's title; this is DEFINITELY not a sweet YA romance. Our narrator is eighteen-year-old Maeve, a senior in high school, whose life revolves around her desire for a boyfriend/sex and for a future as a film director. Neither of which desires are guaranteed to be fulfilled, given that Maeve suffers from an unspecified form of Muscular Dystrophy, a disease for which there is no treatment, never mind no cure. As Maeve explains, "the severity of the condition varies for no explicable reason—there are those with my disability who use standers and others who are already dead" (Ch. 1). Maeve is funny, outspoken, flirty, and often rude, at least in her head, which had led many Goodreads reviewers to dislike the book, finding her character unsympathetic. I read her as trying to live her life to the fullest, rather than spend all her time worrying about possibly dying. With Maeve, Megale seems to be saying a big "fuck you" to those who insist that the disabled be the perfect embodiment of saintly forbearance. Maeve is flawed (more than a little misogynistic), and messy, and bold, a unique individual who shows the less uplifting sides of living with a disease like MS.

The plot revolves around Maeve's crush on an actor whom she and her fellow film class group have cast in a short movie they are working on together. Since the story is told from Maeve's first person viewpoint, we don't get any insights into Cole's motivations or feelings towards Maeve. On the one hand, he seems engaged by Maeve as a personality, and willing to experiment sexually with her; on the other, he's strangely uninterested in her inner life. Which, in part, is what Maeve likes about him; he's a hot looking guy upon whom she can project all her sexy longings. Because Maeve is definitely not asexual, an assumption that many able-bodied people make about those with physical disabilities. She wants to have sex just as much as any other girl in her school. As she explains, "I flirt like I get laid every night, and I give dirty comments to way too many older or married men, let alone young, single men, who get it from me like four times as bad. Are people really that stupid, though? Do they really think I could survive playing hard-to-get? If I don't come on hard, if I don't exterminate absolutely any and all doubt that I'm not asexual, doubt will exterminate me" (Ch. 3). I especially loved the scene when Maeve is meeting with her doctor for her annual checkup, and asked to talk with him in private, without her parents. The doctor is hoping she won't be asking "how long do I have to live?" and is delighted when Maeve instead asks about whether her body is up to having sex.

Macking on Cole is less emotionally messy than trying to date KC, a boy whom she's known since they were babies and who reveals his romantic feelings for her mid-book. Besides, KC has untreated mental health issues, and Maeve can't help but feel that he's using her ("<i>I like helping you,</i> he said. <i>You make things a little better</i>") to give himself the purpose that his depression is depriving him of. He's drowning at home, and she's his pool noodle.

Just like Cole is her pool noodle. (Ch 24).

Especially loved the gutsiness of the final lines... So Maeve!

I received an ARC of this book and loved it. Set just down the road from me in Fredericksburg, VA, it is a story about a young girl with Muscular Atrophy and the struggles she goes through when wanting love, yet living with a rare disorder. Written by a woman who also suffers from the disorder, it provides a unique perspective to the challenges someone with this disorder may face and how to go about navigating them. Loved this and would recommend it!

I think some of my students may like this story but for me it was a DNF. I didn't find myself really loving the main character and I never really got sucked into the story. Thank you.

Let me start off by saying that my favorite thing about this book was the main character. I thought Maeve was a genuine representative of a female teenager who doesn't let her disability own her.
I found the story to be a better reflection of real-life than most YA novels.
I read the story quickly and found it to be an overall enjoyable experience.

However I do have some grievances with the book. I was unhappy with the ending of the story (just a personal opinion of course) and I saw more potential in the story going in a different direction. I felt that all of the characters, aside from Maeve, were pretty flat and I could not attach myself to any of them. I so badly wanted to connect with them and love them, but it just wasn't happening. I wanted to know them all more: Maeve's parents, her friends, even the potential love interests.

All in all, I love seeing a book with a disabled main character, and I think the way the disability was handled was really great, and I want more stories like this!
I would recommend it for a cute - and probably not what you would expect - love story.

Though Maeve has Muscular Dystrophy, this is not a "disability" novel. In S.C. Meagle's debut, main character Maeve has a circle of friends, parents who love and support her, a great service dog named François, and a fledgling career in film.

Maeve doesn't seem to resent her condition, with the exception of how it may or may not affect her love life. When she and her friend Elliot co-direct a film project for class, slightly-older man Cole Stone is cast as one of the actors for the film. And Maeve is surprised by the flirty text banter between herself and the sexy star.
Complications arrive in the form of Maeve's friend-since-kindergarten KC, who has been harboring romantic feelings for her. Maeve doesn't know how to deal with those, especially in conjunction with her lust for Cole.

This book has a lot to recommend it - I especially love the fact that though the main character has MD, it's NOT the central focus of the story - however, it feels like Meagle could have delved deeper into some of the teases she placed on the page. I wanted to know more about her relationship with Mags and why Mags seemed okay dating a guy who was rude and condescending to Maeve. I wanted to know more about KC's situation. I really didn't like the way Cole jerked around Maeve and she kept letting him back in for more.

Meagle's book is, overall, a nice read, even with questions left over at the end. I enjoyed Maeve as a character and as a person.

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<p>So let's dive into this, shall we? I was hoping for some cheesy romance cuteness with a little drama thrown in... and while this book attempted to have all of those elements, I was just thrown off by my dislike for the main character, Maeve. </p>
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<p>Maeve has a rare form of muscular dystrophy that makes it hard for her to do a lot of things. I was really intrigued by that part of the synopsis because I haven't read any books with a lead character with that (and as a nerdy medical student, I tend to be very interested in stories that brings awareness to any and all diseases). I didn't mind listening to Maeve's inner monologue of how she just wanted a guy to see her not for her disability.. and that's all fine.. but one thing about Maeve just really bugged me. It felt a little problematic:</p>
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<p>So Maeve is disabled and a woman offered to help her with the task... and she was like "no thanks." and then in the book it goes: "if she was a guy" (and then there's some flirty line)... and then: "because she's not." (a 'standoffish comment'). This scene just really rubbed me the wrong way. I understand that it's to establish that she's a flirty person, but that had already been established in way better ways... but making her go against other women just seemed... ugly.</p>
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<p>ANYWAY, other than that, I guess it was okay. But when you don't like the main character, things turn a bit sour. </p>
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<p>The plot itself was just fine. I liked the friendships, but wasn't a fan of the romance. The characters didn't seem to be fully developed and I kept waiting for some more growth and it didn't really seem to happen??? </p>
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<p>The plot line I did like was with Maeve dealing with someone trying to use her to advertise for some camp. This plot is honestly what kept me reading. I didn't really care for Maeve thirsting over Cole. The friendships, even though they were nice, seemed just a bit flat (though there was one scene near the end that pulled it together just barely). I wish there could have been more interactions between the friends that didn't focus on Maeve pining over Cole.</p>
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<p>I don't think I would really recommend this personally, but this might be for you if you want to read a book featuring a character with muscular dystrophy that isn't fully defined by that label. </p>
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I'm sad I couldn't get into this story. I was hoping it would be similar to A Fault in Our Stars or My Sisters Keeper but with out the dying part, but no it was a huge disappointment! Maeve the MC is super annoying and kinda slutty imo. I feel like she really doesn't know what she wants in life and uses her disability as an excuse to be an asshole. Her love interest are crap and her not wanting to be friends with others with disabilities is total BS! She's basically prejudice and a hypocrite. I felt like this book was supposed to make us feel bad and sad for Maeve and root for her to find a love of her own but that's not the case. She is to self absorbed and annoying and it has nothing to do with her disability. Sorry but this was just not good.

This book was cute. It wasn't a favorite, but it's definitely something I'll recommend to people who I know will enjoy the plot. There are a lot of titles that are coming out or have come out in the past year that have to do with the entertainment industry, so there's a niche. I know I love a book about it!

I feel bad saying this, but this book was kind of a miss for me. I wanted to like it–disability representation, a cool-named main character, people interested in film, but it just….felt flat.

Firstly, let me say that Maeve is a good character. The characters are good. But there were just too many missteps and plot holes for me. Firstly, Mags (one of Maeve’s friends) had a not-so-great boyfriend, and some of his actions seem to set up a malicious plot line that is….never fulfilled. He kinda sucks, but what sucks more is that he is totally unimportant to the story. Secondly, it seems kind of silly that Maeve and her friends didn’t notice some of the suicidal warning signs with KC–the author made them super obvious, and yet…it seemed like no one cared until the end. It was rough. It’s unrealistic for Maeve and all her friends to get into UCLA’s film program. The writing of high school also seemed like it was done by someone who hadn’t seen a high school, ever.

My biggest gripe, though, was with the romance-the whole point of the book. Cole was not some fairy-tale guy. In fact, he was kind of terrible. He was significantly older than Maeve (especially since she’s still in high school, the age difference isn’t great), and it was very clear that he was fetishizing her disability. He only really seemed to care about Maeve when sex was involved–even at the end of the book, he keeps coming back to her for sexual reasons, but won’t confirm a relationship with her. I would have vastly preferred it if Maeve hadn’t ended up with anyone and had learned to value her own strength more.

The book would have been better, perhaps, if one of the side-plots was the main plot. For example, KC’s story, and he and Maeve’s friendship, is very important in the book, and a book about that would have been a great read. Or maybe following Maeve more as she interacts with the people at the nursing home she visits. She has a good personality (although she can be a bit of a pushover and kind of flippant), and she would have worked better in a less contrived, romance-centric plot.

Overall, once again, This Is Not a Love Scene was a huge miss for me. The cover was nice, though!

REVIEW
This book was a mixed bag for me. Representation is important in literature, and having a fully-realized character with muscular dystrophy in the YA genre feels important. Maeve is not entirely likable, and she doesn't have to be, but there are elements of her character that make it hard to root for her as the lead. First loves are tough, but some of the ways in which she navigates early relationship(s) feel out of character and make it hard to root for her.

PRAISE
"Shea Megale is a terrific new voice in the world of YA. This Is Not A Love Scene rings brilliantly true from the first page to the last. Megale’s prose is refreshingly original, her pacing already at a master level, and her storytelling abilities will pull hard on every emotion you have...Look out for this writer." —David Baldacci, New York Times bestselling author

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Wednesday Books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

"This Is Not a Love Scene" follows Maeve, who lives her life in a wheelchair due to a form of muscular dystrophy. Maeve is eighteen, and what she really wants is a boyfriend. She feels like she cannot beat around the bush, so she is very, directly and intensely flirty with pretty much all guys. She is in a filming class with her best friends, and they are working on a film together. When she communicates with one of the actors, he seems to be super into her- sometimes.

Maeve navigates life and love in this novel about what it feels like to have a visual disability. She is not perfect, nor does she want to be- she doesn't want to represent people who have disabilities; she just wants to live her life in peace, preferably with a boyfriend. A big thing for Maeve is knowing people who don't just see her for her disability but for who she really is. The strongest part of this book is how Maeve could be the same character with or without her disability- she is not defined by this and wants others not to define her by it also.

On the other side, Cole was a hard to like character. I was never sure of his motives, and they really seemed so far out there that I did not really understand why Maeve liked him. This could have been helped by having some chapters from his perspectives, so that he did not seem so flat as a character. While the book is largely about Maeve, I felt like the ending left a need for us to see some kind of character growth from Cole also.

There are also some tucked-into-the-ending issues that I would have liked more time to process and resolve, such as suicide, hoarding disorder, and child abuse. They felt a little rushed into the book, and I felt like they deserved bigger/more treatment.

Overall, I loved the portrayal of Maeve as so real and flawed but whole. I would have liked more attention to the love interest (since this is a big theme of the book) and to the ending issues. I am giving it 3.5 stars but rounding up to 4.

Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

** I did receive an ARC through NetGalley and the publishing company for an honest review.**

Ah, a YA book that is great for those young, young at heart, and those just wanting to read about it. Maeve is an eighteen year old with muscular dystrophy. She has a great group of friends, a wicked sense of humor, passion for making movies but what she wants is the older guy who is in her film class. Enter Cole Stone...the tall, handsome, guy of her dreams. Once he takes notice of her she is forced to challenge her own self-perception and thought process. Watching her overcome her own worst critic, herself, is enlightening and endearing. There are a few points in the story where you are left scratching your head about teenage behavior. Both that of Cole and Maeve, but isn't that real life anyways? No one really understand themselves, the opposite sex, or their thought process during this stage of life. I recommend this one!

A young girl in HS looking for a boyfriend, seems as if it is an everyday story.
The only difference is Maeve is in a wheelchair and growing weaker each day. She only wants to live her life to the very fullest and experience what her friends are partaking in.
This is a story of friendship, maturity, love and hurt.
An interesting read that the teenage years will savor!

There's a lot to love about this book. The main character's voice is original enough to keep me reading to the end, and I think disability is dealt with in quite a refreshing new way by the author. The best part of the book is Maeve's inner monologues where she thinks about the struggles she faces, but still remains a strong character. And how the author addresses sex is spot on, and needed in the genre.

There's a wide range of characters, and most are drawn well. A couple felt two dimensional and I wasn't sure what their purpose was in terms of story or character development, like Nate.

The main narrative surrounding Maeve and her relationships works well, but I felt like some of the side-stories didn't feel quite fully formed. E.g. KC, the camp and Mabs and Nate.

I read through this novel in just a few days and over all I thought it was a great debut. I could definitely tell that the book was written by someone with the same point of view and the protagonist and I thought it was a great way for those of us who don't have muscular dystrophy to learn about the normal yearnings of someone who does, especially as a teenager. The only thing I take issue with is the overabundance of innuendo. I am not opposed to it here and there, but it got to be an eye rolling amount for me. Maybe it's because I am far from my teen years at 37 or because my oldest child is 11 and she is starting to want to read things in the Young Adult genre (she obviously will not be allowed to read this one or similar mature-themed novels for several years, but it was just too much for me. Besides that one nit pick, I enjoyed the book.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it had a interesting twist. I really liked having a character who had a disability. I don’t think enough books talk about their lives and how they are like everyone else and who deserve love.