Recommended for You has a cute premise, but it falls shorts due to an annoying main character and a busy yet easily resolved plot. Shoshanna may love books and be good at her job, but she's bad at being a friend. She makes a lot of awful choices that hurt her family, friends, and even strangers, which is typical for YA novels, but Shoshanna never grows as a character or learns from her mistakes.

The book is also easy. While chock-full of many ups and downs--anything from fighting parents to working with someone she doesn't like to trying to save the bookstore--each problem is resolved fairly easily without much effort on Shoshann's part. Her friend easily forgive her. She has one decent conversation with her aggravating co-worker and they're suddenly blushing at each other. She magically pulls together a holiday event in less than twenty-four hours to save the bookstore and nothing goes wrong.

I'm all for cute, contemporary romances that are more fluff than substance and include a happy ending, but I still want characters to work for it, you know?

Recommended for You does have some high points, such as the Jewish representation as well as the inclusion of other diversities. This book is also very pro-family and pro-female friendship, which is nice to see in YA books. But the lack of character arc and the ease of both the romance and resolving the conflicts left me wanting something more. Recommended for someone looking for an easy, light read about the holidays.

I really ended up enjoying this book. I started it on a whim one night at 9:30 pm and stayed up until 2 am to finish it! This was a fun, angsty YA romance story that was entertaining. This felt like a love-letter to all book lovers! I ended up settling on a 3.5-star rating. This was an entertaining book, however, I think it was a little surface level for me.

Such a sweet romance for any book lover! It's so great to see Jewish representation and have the characters be so engaging and fun during the story.

A sweet romance set in a bookstore in the lead-up to Christmas as Jewish teens Shoshanna and Jake put aside their rivalry to save the bookstore and fall in love... Good for fans of Marisa Kanter's What I Like About You and workplace settings in YA. Shoshanna puts a bit too much of an accidental wrecking ball through her relationships in this one, and it stressed me out a lot, but overall it was an enjoyable romance and I love a bookstore story.

Story takes place over the time of the week before Christmas. Simple teenage romance between to Jewish teens working at a book store. Not much drama except Shoshanna's moms may get a divorce, Jake and Shoshanna's rocky start to their relationship, and fight with her two best friends. Of course to Shoshanna, who is over enthusiastic about life, everything is devasting. Nothing exciting, not much depth, but a fun quick read.

Everyone put your hands together for Shoshanna Greenberg, enthusiastic teen bookseller! In the throes of the holiday season, she is ready to make every customer's literary dreams come true, but her mood is soured when new holiday hire Jake Kaplan joins the crew-- he doesn't even read for fun! Now Shoshanna and Jake are competing for the cash prize that one lucky employee wins from making the most sales. She needs that money to repair her dear car, Barbra Streisand! I inhaled Recommended for You, and as a bookseller myself I found it all too relatable. Add in a little rivalry, drama, crushes, and I'm sold! Rom-com fans rejoice, I recommend this novel for YOU!

I loved this book so much!! I loved how Jewish the story is and how much fun the cast of characters seemed to be having throughout the novel! I absolutely love Jake and his relationship with his mom! I love how he bakes and cooks!

I went into this book expecting it to be light and cute, and it certainly was! There were definitely some more serious topics thrown into the plot, so it isn't all fluff, but they balance nicely to make a fun but meaningful story. Shoshanna was a very bubbly person. She can definitely come across as naive at times but I found her enthusiasm more endearing than annoying. The writing style definitely waffled between normal YA tone and more juvenile but I still enjoyed it as a whole. The romance was pretty cute, the secondary characters were great, I liked the seamless lgbtq+ and disability representation, and the bookstore setting was (of course) perfect. This was a fun read and I may have to check out more from this author!

2⭐️

What should have been a cute Christmas rom-com about two Jewish teens working in a bookshop was more cringe than cute.

I found the main character, Shoshanna, very hard to like. The author tried so hard to make her endearingly quirky, but she comes across as obnoxiously immature. Frankly, at times she is just downright bratty. She was always putting herself in everyone else’s business and justifying her selfish choices as doing it to help others. Honestly, I was rooting for someone (anyone!) to put her in her place, but no one ever did.

I really appreciated the amount of diversity that is included in this book, such as racial/economic/ethnic/physical diversity. However, the way it was done was so on the nose it came across like the author was like checking off boxes. After learning a new character’s name the first thing that immediately followed was whatever their race or identifying trait was. It didn’t feel authentic or organic in the way it was introduced.

I agree with some other reviewers where it it felt like I was being bombarded with stereotypical Jewish culture rather than feeling like they were authentically Jewish characters. There was a lot of “oy vey” and talk of latkes, but that’s as far as it went.

I think this book could have been cute Christmas read, but so much of it was a drag to read.

Recommended For You by Laura Silverman is such a fun read! Thank you NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the e-ARC!

Shoshanna is an enthusiastic teen bookseller trying to keep it together while seemingly everything around her falls apart. With family drama, friend drama, and even car drama, there's a lot to piece back together. Then, to top that off, she gets a new co-worker, Jake, who just makes everything worse (or does he?)...

As a fan of books and rom-coms, me and stories like Recommended for You were definitely M-F-E-O (made for each other, of course) and I really enjoyed this book. It was cute and quirky and the diverse cast of characters was full of representation.

Every aspect of the book didn't work out perfectly and it got a little rushed at times, in part due to the fact that even secondary characters had pretty prominent storylines so there was a lot to follow. Overall however, I totally recommend Recommended for You for anyone looking for a feel-good holiday read that can actually be enjoyed anytime during the year.

4/5 stars

My favorite thing about this book was absolutely how well Laura Silverman writes a holiday setting. Everything about it, from the depictions of cold weather to the bustling mall to the baking scenes were so *chefs kiss* to me. The atmosphere and setting is just so good.

Another thing that Silverman did really well was have her characters experience change and growth throughout the course of the book. Obviously when you've got rivals to lovers you're bound to see a change in the characters and I think she handled that very well, especially with her main character Shoshanna, who starts out a little brash and abrasive and truly learns a lot of lessons over the course of the novel.

Ultimately this is a cute holiday story about a bookstore, a rivalry-turned-romance, and family.

This was such a fun and quick story that would be perfect to read around holidays! Shoshanna Greenberg loves working at Once Upon, the local bookstore in the mall, and is finding the store a haven after her moms have started fighting and her car is on it's last legs. Shoshanna is hopeful the holiday bonus disguised as a book sale competition is the key to solving her problems, until new hire Jake Kaplan causes some complications. Sparks immediately fly as the two butt heads to win the bonus and get to know each other.

I thought Recommended For You is such a fun and light-hearted story about family, friendships, and friendly competitions. There was a lot of great humor, and everyone just seemed so real. Shoshanna was probably my least favorite because she was quite immature and annoying (which was also called out by many other characters), but she does recognize her moments of immaturity and impulsiveness and try to change. Once Upon was just a comfy and welcoming environment, I could easily see why Shoshanna loved workign there and I want to spend time there with her - and the colorful cast of co-workers. A perfect quick romance perfect for this holiday season!

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank You Publisher for Sending me and ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book, but just couldn't get into it. I think it could have been really fun but I just couldn't get into the writing style.

Once Upon, a local indie book store, was Shoshanna's escape. It was a place where she was received with open arms and where her talents and sparkling personality were always appreciated. At least it was until Jake, the non-reader, started working there. He was determined to usurp Shoshanna as top salesperson, but she was willing to battle to the last book.

When I saw the cover for this book, I knew I had to read it. The cover screamed cute, sweet, adorable, merry, and bright, and I was thrilled that all those words can also be used to describe the story.

Shoshanna was the heart of this tale, and there were a bunch of cracks forming in her life. Her mothers were fighting, her car needed expensive repairs, and Jake was immune to her charms. It was rather delightful watching these two spar, but it was even better seeing them find some common ground and unite for the greater good. These two were really good for each other. Shoshanna was well meaning, but could be impulsive and jump to conclusions. Spending time with Jake helped her slow down a bit and consider things from a different point of view, and as far as I'm concerned, growth is good.

The book is being billed as a rom-com, and it was fun and funny, but the romance was slow to come. However, there was flirting and banter to keep me happy, so I didn't mind the wait. I do wish Silverman had focused a bit more on the romance. There were many subplots in this book, and perhaps, one or two could have been eliminated in order to let us have a bit more on-page courtship. Nonetheless, these two were adorable, and there were many fantastic interactions between them.

I absolutely loved the bookstore setting. Silverman did such a wonderful job bringing the store to life and filling it with such a fun mix of characters. It was hard not to get caught up in all the bookish things, but I also felt the love that filled Once Upon. I would say that almost all my favorite scenes took place in the bookstore. The competition, the celebrations, the events, or the simple conversations shared between book lovers were lots of fun to read about and the community aspect is something I always enjoy.

Overall: This was lively and enjoyable story filled with lots of bookish love, warmth, and cheer.

Review will be available on my blog, The Reading Fairy, on 8/30/2020

TW: parents fights, mention of divorce, absentee parent

Rep: Jewish main character and side characters, f/f relationship, queer side characters, Black side character, Jewish LI

Disclaimer: I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. This does not affect my opinion. 

"Attention," I said into the radio. "We have a code purple." Jake looks murderous as my voice booms out over the store. "The new hire doesn't read books."

I'm not going to lie this book is pretty cute and adorable and maybe it's the reason why I really liked it, (not enough to give it more stars), but this book was pretty adorable nonetheless. 

Recommended For You is basically a lovestory between Shoshanna and Jake while they are working at a bookstore, Once Upon and their lovestry was pretty cute. I'm not saying that because the book was really fluffy, but the romance between the two. The chemistry, the rivals to lovers was so damn adorable to me that I just really fell in love! 

And it's set at a bookstore which sounds like a great place to work. The fact that the employees are close as family was really cute, and I loved that two of them (cough, cough Shoshanna and Jake) got competitive when it came book sale competition and the prize was $250. 

I think the one of the greatest things about this book that I just really loved is that we have people here making mistakes, and realizes what they did was wrong and apologized, and made sure to do better. Because some people can't bother apologizing. And it was pretty fantastic as their improvements to do better was shown at the end of the novel. 

And I seriously love Jake. I wasn't expecting to love him at all especially after what Shoshanna did, but Jake is pretty heartfelt, kind, sweet and he bakes! And I wish he was a real person, and I kinda wish I was able to fall in love but I kinda want him as a boyfriend or something.

The only word I can use to describe it is cute. It was a fun and engaging read about a 17 year old struggling with her life, all set in a book store.

This book was so lovely and was the perfect romantic escape during such hard times. I really loved reading a love story set in a bookstore. It felt cozy, like a hug.

I couldn't wait to sink into this adorable premise about Shoshanna and Jake, two bookstore employees, who are competing for a desperately cash prize to selling the most number of books. My bookish heart adored the You've Got Mail nods and the enemies to love interests angle was done in the sweetest way. Shoshanna's challenging family dynamics (e.g. absentee parent) are touched on in the book and may be significant trigger warnings for some young adults.

In Recommended For You Silverman manages to balance this plot current which sweeps you away with detailed and heartfelt characters. Shoshanna is an incredibly passionate main character who loves books and may be a tad impulsive. Yet her world begins to crumble and she isn't sure how she can fix everything, while also trying to balance her family and job. Full of beautiful book Easter eggs, Recommended For You is for all the book worms and contemporary character obsessed fans.

The story of Shoshanna and her friends and family were actually the star of the show for me. Not only are they full of diverse characters (sapphic relationships, queer side characters, and a Black side character), but there's so much depth within their stories. It illustrates how our best intentions can lead us astray, how our comments and words can be perceived, how we need to allow people to make their own mistakes. They're also sources of pressure on Shoshanna who feels pieces of her life fracturing apart and the uncertainty of it all

Thank you so much @SimonandSchuster & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 01 September 2020)

SYNOPSIS | When Shoshanna's beloved car refuses to start she is told by her moms that they can't financially help her to fix it. She loves working at her local independent bookstore (Once Upon) so when her boss announces a little competition (with a grand prize of $250) to sell the most books in the lead up to Christmas she throws herself at the challenge. However, the new hire Jake also wants the bonus money so the competition is on.

WHAT I LIKED:
- perfectly adorable light & fluffy teen rom-com
- Shoshanna's witty banter & chipper outlook
- its essentially a book about books (what reader doesn't love that!)
- a ton of representation including POC/LGBTQ+ characters

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- too many side plots that could have been explored further