Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

I loved this book! Halle and Nash were the cute will they won't they I needed right now! I loved the insight into blogging life and how online relationships can really dictate in person relationships. I would say before this is published they should add a disclaimer about why it's not ok to lie about your identity and internet safety. Regardless the characters were cute and funny and Gramps is one of my favorites! The writing kept me hooked and I didn't put the book down!

4.5 stars

Think <i>A Cinderella Story</i> meets [book:Alex, Approximately|30312700], add in [book:Eliza and Her Monsters|31931941] as the cream cheese frosting and you have a wonderful book cupcake!

...Was that overdoing it? Yeah, probably.

CW: grief, panic attacks

This is such a fun time! It looks like a classic YA contemporary and that is exactly what it is. A love triangle with only two people in it, online friendships FTW, a sweet little brother that gives it to you straight, hilarious awkward situations you would not want to be in yourself, and a sugary perfect ending. I love the inside look at book blogging, the Jewish representation, and seeing how each of them handle their grief of losing Grams differently. It's a fun, albeit formulaic, time. The writing isn't anything amazing, but the ~DRAMA~ is done with theatrical perfection.

This is also a great rec for any younger teens wanting a new romantic read! This is a sweet, clean read that will make your face crack from smiling.

<i>Thank you to the publisher for sending me an early copy to review. All opinions are my own.</i>

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter. All opinons are my own.

This was a sugary-sweet, heartwarming take on the YA contemporary genre. Kanter created extremely deep characters while also managing to keep the plot lighthearted and sweet. That being said, this book still takes you through a range of emotions, exposing you to the raw feelings of grief, love, heartbreak and not fitting in. I also loved that this takes place in a Jewish community, as that's a religion I haven't read much about, especially in YA. If you're looking for a feel-good read, this is a good place to start

Readers who can lean in to the premise of a long-term deception and who don't mind a super-meta book about books will enjoy What I Like About You. Readers who often yell "JUST TALK TO HIM" at their books will not enjoy this story.

Halle is Kels on the internet, where she's a super-popular teen book blogger (hahaha) and she's been friends with Nash for years. Now she's moved in with her grandfather and uh oh, it happens to be the same town Nash lives in. When they first meet, she pretends she doesn't know who he is and then she continues the deception for most of the book. Her brother points out to her "you've read this book, you know it never works out well," and she still doesn't wise up. It's incredibly frustrating and I didn't buy her reasoning. Still, I knew what I was getting into and was able to ignore it for the most part. All the book talk got boring after a while and I was far more interested in Halle's relationship with Judaism, her family and her new friends. I wonder if people who aren't as into the book blogging community might have found it more interesting?

One note - this is a book about teens written for teens. This is made very clear over and over. Adults reading this book will probably feel offended. Teens may feel validated.

Content Warnings: grief, recent past: death of grandparent, lying


Suzanne received a copy of this book from the publisher for review.

DNF.

There seemed to be a lot I would like about this (Secret identity romance! Bloggers! Cupcakes!) but I got derailed by a) those “uncertain times” and b) the fact that the main character has an open disdain for adult YA bloggers. In other words, me. the part I read, she says that interacting with adult bloggers on Twitter is sooo "exhausting." I read other reviews and apparently this bashing of adult bloggers continues. Help -- I felt like that character in the teen movie hiding in the bathroom stall while mean girls apply lipstick at the mirror and gossip about me. SO awkward!

In the end, I decided this book might be best for teen readers who can appreciate the online drama in the plot and the “adult bloggers are SO annoying” attitude from the main character. As an adult blogger of YA, I understand the not every YA book is for me and that is okay!

Because of issues with my reading device I was unable to read this, and because of the current state of things in unable to replace it. I'm sorry I was unable to get to it but i do plan on purchasing this title in three future.

I received a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest view. Overall I did like this book. Halley's been running her book review blog and creating book covers out of cupcakes in the hope of impressing NYU so she and become a book publicist. Something she has wanted to do her whole life since her grandmother was a legendary YA novel editor. Now she has moved in with her grandfather for her senior year since her parents have always moved the family around because they are Oscar nominated documentary directors. The thing is she has moved to the city of her online only best friend Nash's hometown. Halle wants to protect their online friendship.
Overall I did like the book but Halle did irritate me. A big part was just how long she lied to everyone about who she really was. Nash also seemed one dimensional. The backgrounds also felt like filler and one note personalities. Worth checking out.

I absolutely loved this book, I loved all of the characters and the message of the story, I loved all of the friendships and it also touch my heart the grieving for a loved one. I laughed, I cried and I smiled a lot. Marisa Kanter is an amazing writer and I would definitely continue reading more of her work.

A cute set up and idea but it’s feels very repetitive. There is constant mentions of the importance of NYU and how he’s her best friend online, but very little relationship development at the beginning.

Oh, I love books that mesh online worlds and the real world. Halle has an altar ego – Kels. Kels is super cool on twitter and the blogging world. She has a great YA blog that pairs books with cupcakes. She’s quick, witty, and sure of herself.

Her best friend online is Nash. He is an artist. They share each other’s stuff, comment on everything, and talk in DMs. So what happens when Kels moves to middle of nowhere Connecticut and meets Nash? Please read the book and find out!

This was such a cute ya contemporary. I loved the fact that it was about a YA blogger. I also used to bake cupcakes obsessively and it really made me want to start back.

I had such a love/hate relationship with Halle. At times I just wanted to scream at her but at times I related to her so much.

The love between Halle and Nash was PERFECT. It reminded me of being young and in love. They had great times, and they fought. It seemed so real!

Another positive aspect of this book is Jewish rep! I have never read another YA with Jewish rep. I loved learning about Jewish church services and other holidays they celebrate!

The only issue I had with this book is that Halle made some comments about adults reading YA novels that were not positive. I am an adult – I’m 30. There’s no more denying. The majority of what I read is ya, so the comments honestly made me very sad.

Even with those comments, I would still recommend this book! It was so cute and fun and the romance was great!

The most relatable teen Jewish content I've read in a long time. Marisa Kanter artfully depicts the struggles of being a Jewish high school senior, while running a book blog thinking of what will happen when she's no longer a teen. I related to this book on so many levels, but it was the heart in the characters and their relationships that made this book stand out and become a long time favorite.

I have been slowly getting into the world of contemporary/romances because for a while there I was exclusively scifi/fantasy. I would say this is my third contemporary/romance of the year and it was not bad. I have to say I think I rate this a 3.75/5 but I pushed it to a 4.

First of all, I really enjoyed the characters. I mostly enjoyed all of the secondary characters, and wanted more more more of Halle's online group chat. I loved the dynamic between Halle and Ollie, Halle's family (Team Gramps) and their community. I'm not Jewish, but my best friend is, and I loved seeing the representation. I almost wish that this book had more of a focus on the family dynamic and overcoming the loss of Grams than the romantic weirdness between Halle/Kels and Nash.

The dialogue and culture references to the bookstagram world were amazing. I loved how well that was incorporated into the story. I was there for all of it haha and I am now searching for cupcake inspired cover reveals online. I thought the ending was a bit predictable, but still cute.

Now, for a mini rant.

This might be spoiler-y:

I found that all of the issues Nash and literally everyone else had with the whole situation COMPLETELY VALID. It went wayyy too far. And I think Halle got off easy in the end. I wish she had more consequences. Yes, I think she learned something and was able to grow a ton by the end of the book, but I still feel like there was nothing at stake besides her relationships with her friends/Nash. The drama about her favorite book fizzled out, she got everything she had dreamed of getting, etc and so forth. I think the plot needed more balance in that regard.

And, I would NEVER trust her again if I were Nash. She basically was denied by him because he loved Kels, then made Kels disappear (while breaking his heart) so he would fall for her, and then was expecting him to what - accept that she did all of this when she told him weeks into their relationship? I can't get down with that. What Halle did was really shitty and I was agreeing with Ollie the entire time as he knew what she was doing.

I also wish there was another chapter - epilogue because the ending was a bit abrupt.

All in all, 3.75/5 and would recommend you try this if you liked Tweet Cute!
Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

OMG this was such a cute and fun read! The characters were perfect and I loved the writing. This was the best kind of book to read when I was in a reading slump!

Okay, Google? Play “The Best of Both Worlds” by Hannah Montana. Who doesn’t love a story about a girl who lives a double life? Last week, I shared my Q&A interview with author Marisa Kanter, and today, we’ll be discussing my thoughts on her book!

Filled with delicious cupcake descriptions, relatable teenage angst, and passionate love for books and online friendships, What I Like About You is a love letter to book bloggers everywhere. As someone who’s been blogging for over 2 years, I loved exploring Halle’s journey towards finding herself while following her personal experience in this much-loved community.

What I Like About You follows the perspective of Halle Levitt, a popular YA book blogger who runs One True Pastry under the alias Kels. Halle and Kels couldn’t be anymore different. While Halle is introverted and shy, Kels is popular, confident, and well-loved by her secret online friends, including the graphic novelist, Nash.

When Halle moves to her grandfather’s small town to finish her senior year, she never would have expected to run into Nash himself. As she attempts to keep her identity a secret, she finds herself falling for Nash...who just so happens to be completely swooned by Kels.

The best part about reading this story is that, as a book blogger, it’s incredibly relatable. Marisa Kanter explores some of the notorious online drama of book blogging community *coughcough looking at you Twitter* and she also understands the value of the online friendships we develop as well. I never would’ve expected to find such close friends through my love of books, and Halle’s experience is just the same.

The frustrating part of the book is all the miscommunication between the characters as Halle attempts to keep her blogging identity a secret from her new friends. However, I think it’s completely understandable as Halle’s a teen! She’ll make irresponsible and questionable choices as she learns to feel confident in herself. Personally, I felt frustrated for all the lies, but I also couldn’t fault her for it either.

I personally can’t speak to the Jewish representation in this story, but I love how seamlessly Marisa Kanter wrote it in. While the book was on the longer side and the pacing was on the slower side, I still found her writing to be quite enjoyable apart from hidden secrets debacle (but like..that’s also the whole plot).

Overall, I was very pleased with Marisa Kanter’s debut novel, and I’m excited to see what she writes next. This is a story about teens for teens from someone who understands the value of developing your voice and finding lasting friendships through the internet.

⁣⁣A book about book bloggers? This was a very cute story that I instantly enjoyed for the tie in to what we all do here every day! Not to mention... cupcakes. Lots of cupcakes. Was very cute and I’d recommend giving it a shot! ⁣

I have a bookish hangover that only a pile of cupcakes could fix! I really enjoyed reading What I Like About You and it has left me in a pile of feels. I sat down and read this book in practically one sitting, I just couldn't get enough of it! It's a cute and quick read full of cupcakes, baking fun, AND the narrator is a book blogger. How cool is that?

Up until now I've never read a book following the point of view of another teenager who also runs a book blog, and it was a cool experience to do so. I found that I could relate to Halle when it came to managing a blog/online persona which wasn't something I ever thought I 'd find in a book! For example, my real first name that I go by in real life isn't Alexis. I know, shocker. But, it was really cool and refreshing to see a character with similarities to me, like the whole "different name online thing".

I also couldn't get over the baking! Like, Halle, I love to make cupcakes so seeing her creative process and watching her stress bake was both inspiring and a complete mood. All of the different recipes and baking adventures were fun to read about and I really enjoyed that aspect of the book.

On top of that the characters were really sweet. I especially loved Halle, as you can tell, and Nash. They were all very well rounded and I enjoyed how the relationships between characters developed. It felt authentic and watching the relationships grow was heart warming.

So, overall, I really enjoyed reading this book! It's very sweet and a lot of fun. I definitely recommend it if you're looking for something that'll give you all the feels, make you wish for an endless supply of cupcakes, and keep you hooked until the final page!

Review is on my blog, The Reading Fairy
Disclaimer: I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

TW: Anxiety/Panic Attacks, Death of a family member, grief, 
Rep: Biracial Side Character (Asian, White), Jewish MC+Side characters, Anxiety

"I'm always so hung up on saying the right thing, on stringing the perfect sentence together. Maybe it's okay for my words to come out messy and wrong sometimes, as long as they're true."


Oh my fucking god! I really want to say a huge thank you to the publisher for accepting my request on Netgalley, because I seriously love them right now. I have never knew I needed a book like this in my life because I seriously love books that is like this!

I love books that feature grandparents in the most positive light ever! I've been really close to one of my grandparents. I usually talk about him on my blog especially what is happening with him. He's different much like Halle's grandpa is. The difference between mine and Halle's grandpa is that my grandpa had cancer and is dealing with something right after another.  Halle's grandpa is just dealing with grief of his wife. 

Can we just talk about all the book terms for one second? I'm in love with them, because honestly-seeing people geek over books and scream all about them! Yeah, I can't wait contain my excitement! Aah, I loved the idea of adding teen book bloggers. It was so nice seeing stuff like book bloggers, book Twitter, bookstagram and bookcon! I'd love to go to Bookcon one day though. I'm seriously so jealous of these fictional characters right now.

As a teen blogger, the drama around teen book bloggers is a lot. There's nothing like wasting so many hours making content and still not getting appreciated in the book community. Being a teen blogger is worse than being an adult blogger btw.

Let's talk about the characters. I liked them.

Halle: Halle just really needed to made me want to punch her. I didn't like her behavior. Seriously, most of the book when she was struggling and ghosting EVERYONE including her FRIENDS because she didn't want anyone to know she was Kels. Like wow. And she decided to ghost them, because 'oh no, I'm the granddaugher of an author'.
I did appreciate there were a lot of times where she was suffering from anxiety/panic attacks, and yes! That hit home for me because as someone who is prone to attacks, it's just really nice seeing someone like me. It's also nice seeing someone being successful while not letting her anxiety take her. It's something I wish I could do to mine, but slowly-but surely, I'll try to.
Nash: I seriously LOVED Nash. He's such a precious character who's trying to make graphic novels popular and he does it on his blog. It's just so nice. I love that he deals with his feelings with Kel, a person online, and Halle, who basically treats him like shit. I also love that he is birracial!

The ending?! OMG, I did not expect that though I did because Halle is a shitty person to people and Nash is precious. It was so sweet though.

The romance, however. I'm not a fan of romance in general, but this was one was really okay. I kinda wanted the relationship between Nash and Halle to be shown more, and being together as a couple instead of not really adding it in and Halle being shitty.

Wow! I am currently floating off an amazing book high! I am also excited to write a review the moment I finished the book. It's definitely been a while. I need to do this more often because I feel like you get a better review from me. Plus I can’t type fast enough about my thoughts. I loved the synopsis of this book and that’s the reason I wanted it. This book was so much more than I could have asked for.

We follow Kels who is a book blogger, bookstagramer who pairs amazing cupcakes to book covers, and she wants to work in the publishing industry! She is like me… well if I was 14 years younger she would be me. So not surprisingly I connected with Kels immediately. So she has a huge following and has some great online friends. Nash is her best friend online and they talk every day.

Because of certain circumstances, Kels and her brother move to Connecticut. Everything is great until she finds out Nash lives there and they are going to school together. Kels is not ready for him to meet the real her, Halle. Kels is her pen name she uses in the online world. She should have told Nash the day she saw him, but her anxiety makes it too hard. We end up watching poor Halle struggle through so many situations that make it hard to keep her online life a secret.

I couldn’t get enough of this book. I loved everything about it. C’mon now, YA Books, Blogs, and cupcakes! I don’t want to give anything away but I know you won’t be disappointed in this book. You have to go buy it right now and read it because it will make you love the book community and want to do all the things Kels/Hale does. Please come back after reading this book and let’s chat about it! I need someone to talk to about it, like right now.

What I Like About You is such a beautifully entertaining novel. I loved the characters, and the incredibly awkward tension of knowing that eventually Nash was going to find out that Halle and Kels were one in the same. I can't help but be attracted to novels where something so cringeworthy is going to happen. It's like watching a car accident in slow motion; you know it won't be pretty, but you can't look away. Marisa Kanter's novel is stunning.

I absolutely loved this book. It was such a delightful read, especially during current times. Marisa wrote such a fun and quirky rom-com and I'm excited to share an interview with her in our newsletter. sitdownandwrite.substack.com