This focuses on love and loss, change and growth and I appreciated that. I loved how the author focused on the characters and their adaptation to new life and of course their futures. It’s really interesting and I do appreciate it when authors do that. I loved this book and really loved the emotional depth the author put into these characters and the writing itself. So of course. 5 out of 5 stars!

I’ve always loved these types of books and knew instantly wanted to read this one.
Premise
Rob Starr (sigh) was out of Mia Morgan's league. Of course, she had a crush on him. Everyone did. But in her case, it would just be way too weird to admit that. For starters, their moms were best friends and Mia had known Rob since she was five. But while Mia was now a demi-geek with relentlessly frizzy hair, Rob had become a demi-god and Ellsworth High's basketball superstar. Besides, he’d been going out with the totally perfect Chloe Olsen since, like, forever.

But one October afternoon, a terrible accident changed everything. Suddenly, Mia and Rob were living in the same house and spending a lot of time alone together.
I love the sort of geek/vs popular troupe and I was really curious to get into Mia and Robs story. I was also very curious to read about the accident that caused them to be back in each other’s company again. Also when Miss world starts to change and she’s at a crosswords of what she wants and who she really is that was an interesting journey to follow as well! I enjoyed this one! It would make a good movie!

3,5/5 stars

wow. I seriously was not expecting this.

Disclaimer: I just had maths for two hours and am at a loss for words. read at your own risk, thank you.

so, here's the description:
Rob Starr (sigh) was out of Mia Morgan's league. Of course, she had a crush on him. Everyone did. But in her case, it would just be way too weird to admit that. For starters, their moms were best friends and Mia had known Rob since she was five. But while Mia was now a demi-geek with relentlessly frizzy hair, Rob had become a demi-god and Ellsworth High's basketball superstar. Besides, he’d been going out with the totally perfect Chloe Olsen since, like, forever.

But one October afternoon, a terrible accident changed everything. Suddenly, Mia and Rob were living in the same house and spending a lot of time alone together.

Soon, Mia’s world was changing in ways she never thought possible: new clothes, new friends, and an incredibly hot boyfriend. But was any of it real? Would any of it last? And did getting everything she thought she ever wanted to mean giving up who she really was? (copied from NetGalley's website)

This book is about teenagers, made for teenagers. Especially the ones who cannot seem to fit in anywhere. Or maybe the ones who always dream of hanging out with the popular rich kids.

the book did not start off really interesting as Mia's POV is very biased and the character voice sounded very weak. However, as I kept reading, I realized it is the point because we are reading the memories of a 15-year-old girl.

The plot felt natural and realistic, and things that happen in real life happen here. The events were not forced and fell right with me.

Mia, the main character, was way too immature in the beginning of the story, which changes with her character development throughout the whole book.

i loved Jake from the very beginning to be honest, which got even better towards the end! He was in my opinion really mistreated and misunderstood.

Rob, fucking piece of shit. Rob is another level of Chad. He's arrogant, stupid, ugly (not in Mia's eyes), abusive and manipulative. I hate him, though i can say i had some hopes in the first 25%..

The best part of this book is the epilogue. Leave everything alone. The book is worth reading for its end. Mia's comments and reflections on the entire story and new beginnings are really worth reading. For a teenager, reading this book and seeing how small things can grow bigger and bigger on the person and how easily someone can come and manipulate you, is helpful. sometimes, a lot happens and in the course of it, we who live in it do not realize how downhill things are going. This book is a great representation of this because yes, we know we shouldn't let people manipulate us, but is it that easy to actually do it?

My absolute favourite quote:
"The best days are the ones when i can see how lucky i am. Sure, I went through something awful, but it could have been worse. I survived. And I have real friends who are funny and smart and care about me.
And I have me.
The real me.
And I'll never give myself away to someone who doesn't deserve me again."

Rob Starr by J.A. Howard
Genre: Teen/ YA fiction

This book follows unpopular nerd, Mia Morgan and her unexpected relationship with popular basketball player Rob Starr. However this newfound relationship instigates her high school journey in discovering herself, but not in the way anyone expected.

One thing I liked about this book is how relatable the feelings Mia has, is to a teenager like myself. At first it seemed as if she was being a weak, spineless character. But then you realise she’s your average 15 year old girl, thrown into a world of popularity and fame. Small details Mia mentions really makes the story as it genuinely is a reality for so many teenagers. For example missing out on things because of a boy or the idea of ditching your friends because they’re just not “cool” enough, while sad, is definitely not a feeling that’s unusual to all teenagers.

And despite the fact you know what’s coming, you can’t help but feel sadness and pity reading about Mia and her deterioration in the “popular” world.

I liked the raw honesty of the book, the character development and the way everything flows easily. Parts were definitely cliché, but I expected that.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes high school fiction and genuinely to any teenager who feels as if they don’t belong.


Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️
3/5

ARC provided by NetGalley & Apple Island Press

2.5/5 stars.

Mia is a 15 year old highschooler with a huge crush on the starplayer of the basketball team: Rob Starr. After his mom gets into an accident, Rob and his siblings move into Mia's home. And so the drama starts.

Okay. Wow. This book sure was a rollercoaster. I'm absolutely and completely emotionally drained from reading this. Based on the description of the book I did not expect it to handle such heavy themes. Definitely not a feel good read. I think the messages of self-love at the end are very important messages, and some of those will stick with me for quite some time. I already have some beautiful quotes written down!

The book is written from Mia's POV, so you're basically listening to a very stereotypical 15 year old highschool misfit. A very important note to make is that in the introduction it says the book was written for teenagers, not adult. Seeing as I'm 23 years old I definitely don't fit into the target audience. Nonetheless I do still remember highschool (shocker) and did not find this book relatable whatsoever.

From the get-go Mia was portrayed as a very shallow person. All she thinks about is herself and how to get Rob to like her. Of course, this is exactly what the book is about but I did not expect the main character to be so unlikable. We're supposed to feel sympathetic towards her, right? I did not. At all (okay maybe a bit in the last 10 pages). This isn't exactly a bad thing! Complex characters are an important part of literature, especially literature for young-adults.

I think I mainly enjoyed the book because of the drama and... Not to sound like a bad person, but I was really looking forward to finding out what bad things had happened to Mia. Also I have to admit I actually laughed out loud once, which is quite rare for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC, my review is 100% brutally honest.

Wow. This was one of the heavier reads I’ve done in a while, especially for YA. A little out of my usual romance comfort zone, but I found it an incredibly important story of self-love and self-respect. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up on many school reading lists.

Things I liked:
- I thought the author really nailed the 15yo narration, and I could feel Mia’s angst and obsession.
- Rob was despicable. As an adult reading this, I felt this viscerally. It was impressive how the manipulation and lies were palpable on the page
- The epilogue was really important - talking to parents, getting therapy etc. I would have been disappointed if this hadn’t been featured in such a heavy story

Things I didn’t like:
- I’m 33, and my own child is 2.5, so I found it hard to imagine behaviour like this being real (especially the party set up). But I’m sure it is
- I think more build up towards the sweet reveal in the epilogue would have been nice - but this is the YA romance enthusiast in me speaking!

Note - there were some minor typos e.g. missing quotation mark, “your” instead of “you’re” - just flagging this ahead of publication.

In short: I couldn’t put this down. It was tough to take at times, but a significant read I won’t forget.

I really enjoyed this one, it was heart wrenching at times, it was funny and above all it was relatable which I think is really important for ya fiction.

What a great book on first love, heartbreak,peer pressure and loving your self.. This was a great book depicting teenage relationships. I enjoyed this book ,although Mia made me mad allowing Rob to treat her that way. However she learned to love herself.