I was very apprehensive of this book, as I had yet to read a COVID story and I was unsure as to how the author would handle it. But I shouldn't have worried! I do think it may have been a little too soon, but it was handled delicately, and was very relatable in many aspects. Life didn't (entirely) stop during the pandemic, and it was nice to have something to relate to during that time. There was amazing diversity and the romance was fun to follow.

I gave this one a try when it came out and told myself I would revisit it. However, I struggled to get into it because I'm still so wishy-washy on COVID books. This one has a great premise, but COVID books are still hard for me to get in to.

DNF because it turns out I am not ready to read this kind of pandemic book. Not really an issue with the book so much my own issue. I did not rate it on Goodreads for this reason, Could be appealing for teens already wanting to reflect on covid times?

This is a thoughtfully written young adult love story set during the beginning of the pandemic. I enjoyed the characters and their development throughout the book, and the author handled some difficult topics with care and sensitivity. It was such a difficult time and reading about it from a young adult perspective was a thought-provoking journey.

Such a fun and unique story taken place during the Covid pandemic! It has that twist of forbidden romance due to the pandemic rules but still so adorable! It kept me on my toes and the romance was my favorite part!

This is a book I will likely come back to at a later date as it was currently not for me at the time I decided to read it.

This book was just sadly not for me! I was hoping for something different but it turned out to be something I was not expecting, which is okay and I'm sure someone else would love it!

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

RATING: 3/5 STARS

I thought I would be fine reading a COVID lockdown book, but maybe I wasn't ready yet, because I couldn't get into this one. I appreciated what it was trying to do though!

I really loved this. The anxiety and panic attack representation felt real and relatable. I loved the relationships that both Max and Jonah have with their families. The writing sucked me in from the very first page and I really fell in love with the characters.

“Conventional wisdom suggests that, when the world finally does begin to fall apart, love will be the only thing left that really matters. Petty grievances will fall away. You won’t remember who called you Maxi Pad for the entirety of sixth grade (Logan Bennett) or how much money is in your bank account or the hours spent studying for that one calculus exam you almost failed. Instead, you will spend time with loved ones. Hold them close. Be present. Let them know that you care.”

California had just started it’s quarantine lockdown following the beginning of the CoVid Pandemic and Max and Jonah are both out shopping for supplies. Jonah is seeking toilet paper for his older sister who desperately needs it for her Crohn’s Disease. Max is working as a part time personal shopper and she seems to have the last bulks of toilet paper needed to fulfill her orders. Jonah will do anything to get his hands on a pack of TP including negotiating with the cute but prickly stranger, tempting her with the last of the Sparkling Water and Disinfectant Wipes as a trade. After going their respective ways Jonah, with some help from Olivia, hatches a plan to see Max again. He tracks her company down with some google digging and then requests an online grocery delivery. Cancelling and reordering until Max is his designated personal shopper.

What follows is a carefully cultivated friendship/love story between the two. Through the difficulties of not really being able to see each regularly (because of Olivia, Jonah’s sister being high risk and Max more susceptible with her public job) and when they do they must be masked up and 6 Feet apart. On top of the CoVid restrictions they have good old fashioned obstacles such as money and mental health issues. Jonah has the luck of living in a high income neighborhood but has challenges with depression and severe anxiety. Max is very self assured for the most part but money is not taken for granted in her tiny apartment with just her and her mom. Max is working to save for her college fund on top of trying to help her mom with their barely hanging on dry cleaning business.

Can Max and Jonah really last with all their social and economical issues as well as the pandemic working against them?

Hello (From Here) is a difficult love story that starts out at the beginning of the CoVid pandemic. And while presently our world is not as bad off as before life is still a bit different. This book brought back a lot of memories of the early days of the pandemic, some good but a lot bad. My youngest son in fact got CoVid twice. With all the vaccinations and everything. It was a very scary time.
I remember going to the grocery store and I couldn’t find any cleaning products or toilet paper (thank god I was a bit of a bulk buyer (aka hoarder 😁)). But before the toilet paper came back in stock my supply was dwindling extremely low and I started to get a little panicked, to the point that I was worried I would have to go hunting for leaves and such..lol. I can’t imagine trying to start a relationship during this time in our catastrophic world. That’s what made this so interesting to see how it might possibly work.

While this wasn’t a book I would consider fascinating, it was in fact very middle of the road. Pacing was ok. Nothing spectacular stuck out to me. Ok let me back that up. One thing, really animal, stuck out to me. Yes this is another book where a dog took center stage over the humans. I adored Chester the bow tie wearing dog! Jonah was too self wallowing and Max was fine, but that was the depths of my feelings..just fine. I don’t regret reading it though. There were bits of snarky banter that cracked me up. And of course with a book that is centered around CoVid there were some heavy parts. I don’t always mind heavy parts though. In fact before you even get to the first page there is a warning: Please be aware that this story touches on topics such as parental death, COVID-19, AIDS, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and racism.

Thank You Penguin Teen and NetGalley for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

I was hoping to feel less alone when I read this one but I think it just hits too close to home and is just too difficult to read after everything Covid 19 brought to my life and others and ultimately it’s just hard to read

I liked this book more than I thought I would, likely because I read it in October 2022, as the world was inching ever-closer to getting back to "normal". I had a lot of sympathy for the main characters!

Due to personal circumstances, I did not review this in a timely manner to be helpful to the publisher. Please accept my sincere apologies.

Personally, this book was not my cup of tea so to say. I think after everything that happened with Covid and since it released only about a year after Covid began it felt poorly timed. I usually absolutely love romance books and the way this was set up could have been good.

This was just not for me personally!

I have really enjoyed Chandler Bakers previous books. Was excited to get approved for this one. What a nice change of pace. Really enjoyed this book!

A pandemic romance. This was still a bit too fresh for me! I'm not sure I enjoyed it to the amount I could have. The writing was done well. The story was ok. I just was not really that into reading about pandemic life quite yet. I think this will be a great romance in a few years when those who didn't live through the pandemic as fresh as we did. It will offer great insight.

This book still has my heart. I fell head over heels in love with this story that it made me cry. Everything felt so relatable and believable. I wanted to take these characters out for a burger and give them a hug.

I did not love this. This book came out to soon and I wasn’t ready to relive such events. Not a fav.

Thank you to @PRHaudio for the audiobook!

As we approach the two year anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdown in the US, I recommend reading this YA novel. It will take you right back to what it felt like in those first days and weeks. It seemed so temporary at the time, and being on edge was so new. The fight for toilet paper, the fear of being near someone outside even with a mask on, the wiping down of everything before bringing it into the house, it all feels so recent.

This book is a YA love story, but it is so much more than that. You’ll fall in love with the characters and the writing. It is so incredibly witty, and the little nuances the author ingrained are absolute perfection. I laughed so many times during a book that is very heavily centered on such a heavy and upsetting topic.

Get your hands on this one!