loved this contemporary! if i could tell bridget anything it is to never stop writing!
it was a very intense and heart wrenching book but would highly recommend it!
the only negative i have to mention is that i found that the ending was somewhat rushed and needed more explantation
4.5/5stars

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in this genre. In the past year my reading taste has changed a lot and I no longer enjoy YA contemporary unless it's from a few select authors. Because of this I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not read and review this book as someone who is already disinterested in the genre, and instead let the reviews of people who do like this genre speak for the book instead. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

It's been a long time since a book hit me like this one did. This was OUTSTANDING.

It follows alongside Rob and Maegan, both social outcasts for different reasons as they find an uneasy and unexpected friendship in one another. Rob, who hasn't had a friend in over a year since his father screwed over the finances of everyone in the town and failed in his suicide attempt, isn't exactly comfortable with the idea of friendship anymore after being abandoned by all of his. Maegan, a straight A student who cheated on her SATs and cost hundreds of people their scores, also doesn't have a wide selection of friends. This book follows their journey discovering that they are worthy of friendship again, even when it's jeopardized by Rob becoming a Robin Hood of sorts, stealing from his former friends to attempt to fix his dads mess.

I don't know exactly what it was about this book. The writing was great, and the story flowed really well. Honestly, my favourite character was Rob. He really changed and developed with the story and my heart broke for him several times, especially as he explored how much he genuinely missed Connor, his former best friend. I also liked Connor's developments throughout this book. I literally couldn't put this book down and I'd recommend it to anyone who's looking for a contemporary YA read with heart and that'll break your heart more than you're prepared for.

I really enjoyed this book, just like I enjoyed the first!
The writing is great and really easy to read, makes for a quick and fun read!
I loved the story/plot, and the characters were fab! Can’t wait to read more from this author!

Wow. I doubt there will ever be a day when I read a new book from Brigid Kemmerer and don't absolutely love it. And I really did love this one. It's so impressive how Brigid writes from both male and female points of view, creating not only two brilliantly three dimensional narrators, but also a whole host of family and friends.
The story follows the two characters Maegan and Rob, who are dealing with their own personal issues, as well as trying to decide where the line is between right and wrong. It’s a tale of family, unexpected friendship, and of course romance.
Without giving too much away, Maegan is a completely relatable character in that she isn't perfect but realistic, and was dealing with her own issues whilst also supporting other characters. I especially enjoyed her interactions with her older sister, who I absolutely adored but can't go into too much detail about without spoilers. And believe me, this is one you'll want to read for yourself.
I felt that some very important and sensitive issues discussed in the novel, and both the main characters, as well as many others, really grow throughout the story. It’s definitely another powerful and extremely enjoyable novel from Brigid Kemmerer!

I really struggle when students ask me for love stories that I can recommend. Some are too saccharine, others too explicit or too mature. This is like the Goldilocks of romance novels as it really is just right. A very sweet, not to mention compelling, love story of two young people who are alone in different ways and for vastly different reasons. Told from their alternating point of views, Maegan and Rob both feel like real people who have gone through more than most people could handle, whilst still only being 17. It's a real pleasure to follow their journey both as individuals and as a couple. There's enough scandal and drama balanced along with sweetly told narrative of first love.

Well, Brigid Kemmerer is pretty talented, right? She has such skill to tell an emotional story with different strands of the story and keep me hugely emotionally invested all the way through. I will read anything she writes.

I’m beginning to wish I’d reviewed Call It What You Want as soon as I’d finished it, because as time goes on I’m struggling to remember why I liked this story enough to rate it four stars.


Following Maegan and Rob – a girl whose perfect scholarship sister has just announced she is pregnant, and a boy whose father attempted suicide after being caught embezzling millions of dollars – this is a much darker contemporary than I had expected after seeing the cute cover sprinkled with origami hearts.

I enjoyed both Maegan and Rob’s stories individually, but I begin to feel conflicted when I consider their romance. Maegan is vilified for cheating on the SAT, while everyone at school presumes Rob must have been involved in his father’s crime as he worked at his office, so it makes sense that they are drawn together as they can relate to each other’s struggles… But something about it still fell flat for me. Their relationship seems to develop very quickly, going from gentle flirting to intensely serious in a split second, and I just wanted this to be a bit more of a slow burn. They’re both have some trust issues, finding it hard to develop friendships because of the judgment that they’ve experienced due to their situations, and it would have been nice if this had been addressed more.

That being said, I obviously did enjoy it enough to give it four stars at the time! The writing is easily digestible and despite the length of this story we devoured it in a couple of sittings. Brigid Kemmerer also writes really great friendships: the interactions between Rob and the librarian will forever warm my heart – we stan a supportive adult who just wants to discuss books – and the friendship which develops between Rob and Owen (one of the victims of his father’s crime) is heartwarming to the max. I also loved the way Kemmerer tackled the relationship between Rob and his ex-best friend Connor: it’s a brilliant glimpse into the dynamics and intensity of male friendship, which isn’t focused upon too frequently in YA.

I’m definitely planning on reading more of Brigid Kemmerer’s work in the future, but I’m not sure I understand the hype that her writing attracts just yet. A Curse So Dark and Lovely is one of the other titles in my TBR jar, so I’m hoping I’ll pick that out sooner rather than later, but we also own Letters to the Lost, so I’ll be putting that on my TBR at some point over the next couple of months.

I love a heart so dark and lonely so I was bound to love this, and I did, a perfect book, another one to add to the collection of Bridgid Kemmemrer!

If it's a Brigid Kemmerer book you've chosen, you know it's going to be an amazing contemporary and this is no exception to this rule.

Maegan, an overachieving student, too scared of failing and being in her sister's shadow cheats on her SAT and gets everyones results thrown out. Rob, a once popular lacrosse player, has been disgraced based entirely on his father's actions and not his own. His father was caught embezzling funds from his clients but his school peers are convinced that he knew what was going on. When the pair are partnered together on a calculus project, though neither of them are particularly happy about it, an unlikely friendship begins.

The growth of the characters in the story is exceptional. Maegan and Rob begin to open up to one another and learn that their lives aren't as black and white as the people in school would have them believe. Both have significant family problems and it makes them believable characters.

The story flows effortlessly and it's got to be one of the best books I've read this year. Another amazing book by Brigid Kemmerer, she just doesn't disappoint!

I loved this book. The story is told in two points of view and it worked really well. I liked the characters of Rob and Maegan and enjoyed how their relationship developed.

4.5

I absolutely loved this. I love Maegen and Rob. Their journeys both individual and joint throughout this book were wonderful. It was such a powerful story and i loved all of it. Brigid is just a masterful YA writer and I will read anything she writes and publishes at this point tbh

Overnight, Rob went from being rich and popular to a social pariah at school when it was revealed that his father was embezzling money belonging to the people in town.
The daughter of a police officer, Maegan always does the right thing. Until the one time she didn't. Now Maegan's perfect sister comes back from college pregnant, and Maegan is torn between keeping her sister's secret and telling her parents.
Rob and Maegan are paired together for a project, but neither of them really wants to work with the other.
The duo begin to grow closer but will Rob's actions drive them apart?

Brigid Kemmerer writes my favourite contemporary books and Call It What You Want is more proof of that.
Rob and Maegan were both relatable, likeable and realistic characters. I enjoyed reading as they interacted with each other as well as their friends and families.
I loved Owen and would definitely like to read more about him.
The themes in this were interesting and I thought they were handled well.
I thought the romance was sweet and I could feel the chemistry between the characters.
The plot was intriguing and held my attention, but I did guess one plot twist. I liked the Robin Hood aspect.
I love Brigid Kemmerer's writing. Her books always suck me in straight away and are so easy to read.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable read that I would recommend.

Brigid Kemmerer is a goddess who writes some of the best YA and I know this and still sometimes put off reading her releases. I was approved for an ARC a while back on this one and was so insanely excited, but then the formatting for it was a little skeewiff on my Kindle and I put off reading when various slumps happened. I treated myself to a copy (because there was never any doubt I would buy myself a copy as well) and I have no regrets.

This one was a little darker than some YA I’ve read of late. Rob is struggling with his fall from popularity due to the revelation his dad had been stealing from people and had blown the money falks had given him to invest. Rob used to be that popular, priviledged guy in high school that you hated but people seemed to flock to just to be in his orbit. He’s struggling with that change and the isolation of losing his friends is tough on him. It’s made even worse that people seem to hate him and believe he was stealing right along with his dad. When the book starts he spends more time reading than anything else and it inadvertently ld to him getting excellent grades.

And Meaghan? Everyone knows her as the girl who tried to cheat on the SATs and made everyone fail their test and have to retake it. She’s struggling with her own issues and she’s certainly had a few snide comments made in her direction. When she’s paired with Rob on a class project it’s hard to say who is less excited to be working with the other.

I have to say, I wasn’t sure how Rob and Maegan were going to work together, I mean they didn’t seem like they should fir but somehow they really did. It was lovely to see Rob’s polite good side come out, especially when so many people expected the worse from him from no other reason than who his dad was. Meagan saw the best side of Rob and I think he needed someone to see him that way. Especially as Rob has to face his father every day and struggle with the man he once viewed him as and then the reality facing him. He and his mom were primary carers for his dad and that was tough to read. It’s something no kid should have to deal with and it was a tough blow for Rob as he felt a lot of hatred for his dad but also loved who he once thought he was. It was a lot for him to reconcile and having Meagan there really helped him, I think, because she felt the pain Rob did and helped him realise it was ok to be hurt by his dad and still love him.

Now, the next paragraph is like a major spoiler so please skip it if you don’t want to know a big plot point of this book.

There were some moral questions being asked in this book. Rob is seen as a thief by everyone so is it wrong for him to follow through, especially when he’s doing it to help others? Where is the line on these things? And the people who are benefitting, would they want to know where these things are coming from and would they accept if they knew? It was all a series of questions and I really liked exploring it in this book. I didn’t know how Rob would resolve it with himself doing wrong and how it could possibly end well for him. It did go a little wrong, but I loved the ethics explored as he struggled with his choices as he was driven so far he wanted to cross the line. And was that how his dad felt when he crossed the line to stealing?

And now to non-spoilery things. I loved the friendships in this book, and how it explored friendship where you may not agree with your BFF’s actions but how they can act badly and still be looking out for your best interests. And the friendship between Meagan and her sister! I love strong bonds between family and seeing Meagan slowly grow slower to her older sister once more was brilliant, and when she had to stick up for her sister at one point in the book I was full on cheering, even though she was the younger sister she totally had her sister’s back.

This book was just brilliant and I strongly recommend you read if you haven’t already. it looks at ethics, friendship and what being an outsider is really like. It was just so good.

The main characters were a little younger than I usually read but it was a fairly enjoyable story. The characters were okay though I found Rob easier to understand and relate to than the others. The themes were handled well but again had a younger feel to them than my usual kind of stories.

Enjoyable but perhaps not aimed at me.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

First things first, don't you just love it when you discover an author and she already has 10+ books under her belt? That's how I felt when I read my first book by Brigid (A Curse So Dark and Lonely), and all of them that I've read since, this being the latest, have been fantastic! In Call It What You Want, both of our main characters have had difficulties in the past year, and face anger at school and in life in general. Rob's father was revealed to be embezzling from his financial company 9 months ago, and had swindled most of the town out of their retirement or savings accounts. Rob Sr had also attempted to kill himself, but failed, leaving him in a vegetative state, with Rob and his mam having to care for him. Maegan, on the other hand, was caught cheating on her SATs last year, which led to the whole school's scores being invalidated, and she's now a social outcast at school. She's also facing being the 'imperfect one' at home, even though her sister has just returned from uni with the news that she's pregnant. When students are forced to pair off in Calculus for a class project, both Rob and Maegan are faced with the fact that no-one else wants to work with them, so are grouped together. At first, it's awkward, but as both begin to realise that neither has a very good social life, and with the other they can be truthful and honest about themselves, soon their tentative friendship grows into something more.

I loved this book, and am so glad I decided to pick it up before I went back to work, else it would've got in the way of planning, etc., which would not have been good. Both of the main characters, and the secondary characters, such as Oliver, Samantha, and Mr London, were fantastic, well rounded people - though I shouldn't be surprised with how good an author Brigid is. The romance was beautiful. It wasn't without it's tense moments, or it's angst, but it was real, and it was when both Rob and Maegan's true characters really shined. Without their parent's or society's glare on them, we see them as real people, and I think this may be one of my favourite YA contemporary ships that I've ever read.

Yes, there was a love story in the book, but all of the angst and tension came from the extortion, the cheating, the pregnancy, and the fact that both characters felt so alone, but soon found the people who they could be themselves with - not just each other. The plot line was outstanding, with some of the elements ones that I hadn't seen coming - no spoilers - and I adored the ending, which definitely tied everything up. I'll definitely be ordering any of Brigid's books that I haven't got already, and she's definitely on my auto-buy list now!

I’ve always been a fan of Brigid Kemmerer and this book was no difference. I love both her fantasy and contemporary books and I couldn’t recommend her more. Give it a read!

I received an eARC of this book through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review.

I asked for this book because it sounded like a cheesy teenage love story, full of teenage angst and boooiiii did it provide… and it was sooo much more than what I expected. Got my full attention after the first few lines and couldn`t stop till I finished it (read aall night..but who needs sleep? Am I right? ^-^)
The book is written from the POV of our 2 main characters:
Rob, a once popular high school lacrosse player that had it all – talent, looks, popularity and money- fallen from grace because off his father`s actions and everyone`s suspicions that he was a part of the scam. As everything is taken away from his family, his father attempts suicide and is left in a vegetative state that requires permanent care. As if things weren`t bad enough, Rob also loses his best friend, leaving him with no one to talk to or support him, which leeds to a lot of build up anger and causes Rob to lash out at people around him,
And Maegan, who felt like she spent all her life in the shadows of her older sister, witnessing how easy it was for her to be the best at everything. Feeling under pressure to succeed and become a great as her sister, Maegan cheats at her SATs, causing everyone else`s results to be cancelled and forcing a second examination upon them all. She was branded as a liar and cheater and become a social pariah. Now she`s just trying to hold her head down, without attracting too much attention and finish high school.

When the two of them are paired together by a calculus project, they slowly discover they have more in common than any of them would`ve imagined. They start a complicated but sweet relationship, based on trust and respect, which progresses slowly (not one of those insta-relationships we see everywhere nowadays). But when Rob is planning to fix the damage caused by his father, his actions puts their fragile new relationship in danger and the secrets he`ll uncover might affect other people dear to him, and change his life even more.
The book brings a lot of important topics like loneliness, caring family burdens, the pressure and stress to succeed, what true friendship means, and most important, learning how to forgive yourself and move forward, that mistakes happen, but they don`t define us, we just have to learn from them and improve. The writing is great and it's an easy read.We see great character development and growth and Brigid describes everything so perfect that at times it feels like you're right there, in the same room with the characters, or inside their minds, watching the twitch of the muscles that causes a reaction or feeling the same tumultuous thoughts and sentiments that makes the characters tick. It makes you question your sense of morality and leaves you with an important question : Is it okay to do something wrong for the right reasons?


Thanks NetGalley and Bloomsbery for the opportunity to read this early. Loved loved loved it!!

If you’re not an avid follower of my blog than you may not know this but I am a very big fan of Brigid Kemmerer. I have yet to read a book by her that I haven’t instantly fallen in love with. She has a knack for writing characters that steal your soul and just this amazing way of writing her characters that has you feeling for them on a very deep emotional level. It is the kind of writing that truly pulls you into a book and leaves you breathless when you finish. I apologise that this feels like a bit of a gush but I cannot help it. I just simply love every single book that Brigid Kemmerer writes and every single character she writes about. She brings them to life in such a unique and amazing way. Add to that compelling, addictive, heart-wrenching and intense stories and you might just see why I absolutely love all of her books.

So it should come to no surprise for you to find out that I absolutely loved this book. I devoured it. I was in the midst of a reading slump but this book kept calling to me and once I started, I struggled to stop. I simply had to continue reading. I was hooked on the story and I needed to know how Megan and Rob’s lives were going to pan out. Both of them had so much to deal with in the course of the book and I just loved how it all came together, how they helped and hindered each other. Once again, Brigid Kemmerer has created a book with such amazing chemistry between the characters. Characters that you find yourself instantly rooting for and crying for. This story is complex, moving and intense and I simply raced my way through it, my heart hammering in my chest.

In case it still isn’t clear – I highly recommend this book. (And all of her other books too!) It is one that will make you feel deeply. It is dark and full of depth but it is also light and full of love. And somehow Brigid Kemmerer pulls that off perfectly. I honestly cannot speak more highly of her as an author or of this book.

So if you’re still reading this, stop. Go and pick up this book!