What a beautiful cover and such a sweet and fast YA read! I enjoyed this but don't think I'd read it again.

DNF

I really liked the idea around the book and wanted to love it so bad but it just didn't click with me. I tried reading it but I just couldn't connect to the characters well. It didn't flow smoothly as I would have liked it to be but I really liked the mood that was set.

I tried really hard to enjoy this one but I just couldn’t connect to the characters so I ended up dnf-Ing it at around 40%. I just think it wasn’t for me.

Describing Maybe We're Electric as "Emotionally vivid and endlessly charming, Maybe We're Electric is an artfully woven meditation on how pain can connect us" is a spot-on blurb and synopsis.

This novel has big heart, big pain, and big coming of age moments for both characters. I love the "stuck together in a snowstorm" trope and like the complicated way it plays out for both of these characters and their development.

This one felt a little forgettable to me. It isn't bad, but it's also younger YA which I wasn't expecting from the summary.

I didn’t quite know what to expect from this book but it blew me away. The story takes place mostly over the course of one night, with some flashbacks sprinkled throughout. The two main characters spend the night together in a empty small town museum, getting to know one another and hashing out some of the most difficult parts of their lives. I really enjoyed the banter between the characters and the intimate setting. The secret hanging between the main characters was dark and made me think things were going to end badly, but I liked how they both were able to make the other realize some harsh truths. The story dealt with heavy themes including alcoholism, grief, death and bullying, but it ended with a feeling of hope. I will definitely be recommending this one to others!

I've been in a major reading slump and hoped this book would get me through it. Boy was I wrong.

Tegan flees home at the beginning of a snowstorm and finds herself trapped in the Thomas Edison museum in her hometown of Edison. Just as she plans to ride out the night, class superstar Mac Durant joins her. Both running from demons they don't dare speak aloud, they now have to brave out the snowstorm together, and face things they don't want to.

I did not finish this arc for a few reasons. First, the main character Tegan was kind of boring. She did have some interesting things about her, like the fact that she has a disability in the form of only having two fingers on her one hand. As a result, she's bullied in school and shuts herself down when it comes to interactions. However, she still came off as the "shy girl who has no friends and somehow gets the attraction of the biggest jock in school." Speaking of the jock, Mac Durant had almost... no depth to him? He just was the jock that wants more for himself and somehow falls for the main character in the span of one night. At least I got that much from the 20-ish percent I read.

Everything else pretty surface level in terms of execution. And we get that some big thing happened between Tegan and her mom but won't say what, and I hate when a narrative style does that. We're even seeing it from Tegan's POV, so why don't we get that info?

However the one thing that immediately shut me off from this book was a particular line. Tegan talks about the town of Edison, and says this in her internal dialogue:

"I mean, Edison is boring and all, and being white in an American town that Neel says is a prized destination to Indians halfway across the world is challenging. (I know, I know, poor white people.)"

Mind you, Neel himself is Indian in the story. But Val Emmich, the author, is white. This line read SO wrong to me. First, Neel saying this about his own culture kind of felt unnatural, but feels more like something someone racist would say? Also I kept reading the "poor white people" line as "Oh, us white people are so oppressed" instead of it literally meaning white people with a low income, but even then it still rubs really wrong to me. Ever since this line, I put the book down and I don't think I'll be picking it back up.

I received a copy of this as an e-ARC from NetGalley. Any and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ok, so I’m definitely dating myself here, but does anyone remember the movie Career Opportunities from the late 80s? In the film, a nerdish guy and a beautiful girl get locked in a Target overnight where they form an unexpected bond. (It also happens to be the first time I ever heard of a Target, but I digress). Even though I don’t remember the details of the story really well, for some reason it’s still the first thing that came to mind when I read Maybe We’re Electric.

Tegan Everly is known around town for all the wrong reasons. Born with a deformity, brooding Tegan has always felt like she’s on the outside looking in. She spends a lot of her time working at the Thomas Edison museum in town. She doesn’t completely love the gig (or Thomas Edison for that matter), but she sticks with it as it’s one of the few remaining places that makes her feel close to her dad who died suddenly.

One emotionally charged night the popular Mac Durant comes into the museum where Tegan is hiding out. Bloody and mysteriously asking for help, Tegan goes along with it, but is confused when Mac decides to stick around. After all, besides being classmates, Tegan and Mac have nothing in common. However, after a few deep conversations resulting in some unexpected parallels, Tegan starts to wonder if she pegged Mac all wrong. But Tegan has a secret. Can she share the truth with the true Mac or is their newfound connection destined to be just a flash in the pan?

This was a quick read that still managed to be chock full of insightful angsty moments. Initially your heart goes out to Tegan, but the reader is quickly reminded that everyone is facing their own battles, despite how things might look from
the outside. Another thing I enjoyed about this book is that it wasn’t about the happy ever after. That made the story feel more real and relatable.

While perhaps not as prolific as his previous work, Maybe We’re Electric is still a understated young adult book that should resonate with readers.

This was a nice quick read but I thought it was very well done. I had never read anything but this author before, so I went in blind and was pleasantly surprised. It is a typical Golden Boy falls for quiet girl, but it wasn't as surface level as some other YA romances are. I really like Tegan, her reasons for doing what she did felt true, and the romance felt natural. I am also a sucker for 24 hour plots which is one mostly was. The Edison fandom was a nice added touch. Overall a good read with a nice narrator.

Maybe We're Electric tells the story of two teenagers who on the outside seem to have nothing in common but have found a common ground at one point. The story starts out slowly, introducing the setting and where Tegan and Mac stand. But as the hour ticks by throughout the book, we get to see exactly how interesting the dynamic between the main characters is. the process of how they slowly uncover their secrets for one another is beautiful and achingly hurtful. We get a glimpse on exactly how hard they are dealing with on a daily basis. This book has given me an epiphany about life and how fleeting moments are.

By the end of it, I felt like cradling my heart inside my chest. There was just a lot of emotional baggage in this book. Some which I relate to while the others, I sympathize wholeheartedly. This book is a triumph. Val Emmich has captured teenage dilemma and angst perfectly.

As always, much grateful thanks to NetGalley for the advance read..
While there's nothing new in the story here - two troubled teens forming a most unlikely connection in the oddest of circumstances - it's so skillful, tender and accomplished in its telling that I couldn't help falling for it. And naturally rooting for these two damaged young souls to help each other find their way out the woes afflicting them.
Tegan's a girl who's endured a lifetime of internal and external anguish over a birth-defected hand and now still reeling from the sudden death of her beloved father. Mac is a seemingly dazzling and popular athletic star Golden Boy, who's secretly dealing with the agony of caretaking an alcoholic, suicidal father.......a situation made even worse by the video revelation of his torment and his father's condition by an anonymous social media gossip troll.
When these two have taken as much as they can take, they impulsively flee their homes in the middle of a raging snowstorm and find themselves thrown together and taking refuge in a small museum devoted to the life and work of Thomas Edison.......(where Tegan works part--time as a guide).
Everything you'd imagine from this coupling does in fact occur.....the two slowly lowering their guards, revealing their truths, unburdening themselves of their inner pain to each other......and yes, discovering a romantic attraction.. Until one last revelation of Tegan's undoes them.......and yet leads them both on a road to healing in a satisfying, realistic way..
Though I've read books like this before in different variations, 'Maybe We're Electric stands as one of the very best of them........and not to be missed by anyone who craves a beautifully rendered, heartfelt story. A 4 star read for sure.

Maybe We're Electric by Val Emmich
16/10/2021
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Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Maybe We're Electric in exchange for an honest review.

I think I would have loved this in my earlier teen years. I think a lot of people would have. The characters have big "All The Bright Places" energy (though I wouldn't say the plots are comparable, they're just very faux deep 'not like the other teens') which I used to love reading but I think since I've read it so many times I'm fine-tuned to see where the characterization hurts storytelling.

This is unique and I genuinely loved the narration and the 24 hour book length makes it easy to get wrapped up in this, but it's also a really character heavy book where the characters felt a bit hollow so do with that what you will.

MAYBE WE'RE ELECTRIC by Val Emmich (Dear Evan Hansen) shares the story of two teens trying to figure out how they fit – both with classmates and with their families. Tegan has spent her lifetime dealing with a physical disability so that offers an interesting and rather unique perspective. She is angry with her Mom and runs away during a snowstorm. Mac, who appears to be a popular athlete, is trying to cope with his Dad's alcoholism. The two teens end up taking shelter in a museum dedicated to Thomas Edison; there, they share their stories and a surprising mutual attraction. Although the characters are not especially memorable, Emmich does a decent job of developing teen angst from their reflections: "Why do we care so much what people think of us? Why can't we just say what we want to say?" or "It seems we can laugh all we want, but there's always a lingering pain below the surface that can't be ignored." Both Tegan and Mac grow in self-awareness during a night spent sharing secrets. School Library Journal described MAYBE WE'RE ELECTRIC as "a page-turner filled with romance, teenage angst, and tough choices related to identity." If that appeals (or you like fiction by Kat Spears or David Arnold), give this new title a try. You may also be inspired by the quote from Edison: "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."

I really enjoyed this one. I loved the portrayal of the disability in this book. It isn't often that you see a limb difference as a disability in the book. I felt like the author did a really good job handling that. He put small details about it and how the character felt without making the entire book about that. I enjoyed the developing relationship and the was that progressed though it feels a little like it would appeal more to a younger audience. Overall I really enjoyed it!

I thought this book was pretty enjoyable! I'm not usually the biggest fan of stories that take place over such a short timeframe, so I don't know if I was the best audience, but I was interested enough to keep reading! I thought there were some good conversations throughout the book, and overall I was satisfied. I would definitely recommend this to people who don't have the same time-frame hangups as I do

Tegan and Mac are complete opposites at school. Tegan is quiet and shy, partly because of her disability, while Mac is popular and athletic. One stormy night, Tegan is hiding out at the tiny museum she works at when Mac shows up needing Tegan to call 911 and report something he just saw. Even though Tegan doesn't understand why he can't do it himself, she calls anyway.

Neither of them want to go home after that, so they end up spending the night together in the museum. To Tegan's surprise, the two of them end up bonding. The Mac she's hanging out with is different from the one she sees at school everyday, which only makes her feel worse since she has a secret about Mac that's weighing her down and possibly related to the 911 call she had to make for him earlier.

I feel like there aren't enough books that take place in the span of one day, fewer still that do it as brilliantly as MAYBE WE'RE ELECTRIC. The story is simple: two teens are trapped in a building together because of a snowstorm, but it's the characters and the writing that give this book such incandescent light. I loved Tegan and Mac and all their imperfections and mistakes. I loved that we got to see a disabled character and all of the complex emotions that come with disability. And I loved that Mac was so much more than the cliche golden boy. There's no question about it, these characters are definitely electric. If you're looking for a thoughtful and compelling contemporary read with depth and heart and all the feels, this one is shockingly good.

I really, really hope that the information in the book about Thomas Edison was true because it was fun reading about it and I was excited to learn more. The "not so fun" thing with this book for me was that I didn't like the female protagonist much at all. The male protagonist was okay, but didn't really win my heart over completely either. I could never figure out why the female was having such a crisis, nor why she felt justified in allowing her family to suffer with worry. I could understand the stress the male was under, but was slightly confused at how he coped with the stress/crisis. It would seem that he would have shown a bit more panic or fear for what might be going on at home while he was gone, considering the earlier events of the evening.

Regardless, I did enjoy the book even though I wasn't very invested in the characters. The scenes and the place were described well enough to visualize and to put oneself into the space where they were interacting. So, give the book a try. See what you think.

This book was just okay, definitely not the electric read I was hoping for but good enough that I finished it. I guess I was just hoping for more the whole time. More backstory on Mac and Teagan (has she been pining over him? Why was she so obsessed with him?) more reasoning behind her little snark account and why it was so bad. Honestly just more. The Thomas Edison tie in felt forced and Teagan just seemed spoiled and judgey

I can see this one appealing to the teenage crowd. The characters are flawed but trying to be better. I felt like some of the relationships could have went deeper though as it felt surface level at times. Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.