Thanks Carissa, For Ruining My Life may have not ruined my evening, but it did leave me slightly disappointed.

This new Young Adult Novel by Dallas Woodburn has a summary that would interest almost any fan of teen romance. Brad and Rose were both ready to start a great senior year, but somehow Carissa- Brad’s girlfriend and Rose’s twin sister- ends up messing it up for the both of them. She signs Rose up for a weight loss show without her permission, sending her halfway across the country, and also breaks up with Brad, shattering his heart just days before the start of the school year. While trying to survive by setting new goals for themselves and attempting to become completely new and better people, Rose and Brad begin to connect and grow feelings for one another. However, their lack of self-confidence prevents them from realizing they both have MAJOR crushes!

When reading the description of this novel, I was ready to be hit with body positivity and inclusiveness. After all, it’s 2021 and we’re talking about a weight loss show! However, I quickly learned this novel is years behind when it comes to not just technology (there’s mentions of a landline), but also to what we have now learned about these reality competitions. The novel does eventually get to this point, but it takes much too long for my liking, so please be warned if you are sensitive to stories that center around disordered eating and fat shaming. There were several moments where it was so dreadful that I almost did not finish.

In addition, in a way to be as spoiler free as possible while warning an audience, there is a side storyline relating to cancer that is not revealed until a little more than a third into this novel. As someone who has lost numerous people to cancer, and who was by their husband’s side during their treatment, I try not to read books that cover this subject, so I would have appreciated some type of content warning before choosing to read. Fortunately for me, yet unfortunately for the novel, this subplot almost completely disappears by the end.

While I did find the outdated viewpoints, unsuspecting content, and lack of a concrete time period struggling, I will admit that I enjoyed a lot of the characters in the story. Doris is a HOOT, and by the end you can’t help but cheer for Rose and her journey. If you’re looking for a quick read, enjoy POV romances, and are okay with reading about the above subjects, I recommend giving it a try!

This is a great book! I love how it's both in Rose and Brad's point of view. Normally I can't get along with books like that, but this one has been done in a great way. It had me hooked from the moment I started reading, so much so that I finished in one day. I found Rose very relatable at times, I also love the way she didn't give up. The same with Brad, at first his reasons may have been wrong, but he soon changed and I love that!

Wasn't really interesting, and marked it as a DNF around 30% in. The characters had slow development, and the plot wasn't interesting.

WOW!! what do i say except the fact that i loved this book its amazing ..maybe cause i mainly relate to everything .I mean thank you so much to the author of this book and her amazing team .The ending just left me speechless they finally end up together and i was so happy .This book is so good i could not even put it down a book so good you block out everything i remember having a bad day .My big sister was like read this book the author is amazing her book the story you would love it . #personal favorite . So if you are a fan of happy ending who enjoys a good glass of wine this is the book i would recommend .I have a feeling am going to repeat this book on New Year's

Please excuse any typos (something always slips by). There will be various unmarked minor spoilers in this review. Read at your own risk.

So, I grabbed this book thinking it would be something cute and light-hearted, while also tackling an important subject - body positivity. What this book actually is ... is none of those things. I see the potential. There were some cute moments. But the whole book is boring. It took me three days to read this (very) short book. THREE DAYS. Every time I picked it up it felt like a chore to read.

I'm trying to be nicer in my negative reviews, because I realize that a real person, with real emotions wrote this book that they love. I know how much energy and effort and devotion went in to this book being created. So I'm going to be as critical as possible.

This story did not work for me. At all. The main problem was the writing.

"Romance" books with both of the love interests having a POV are difficult for me. Part of what I personally enjoy about romance is when you're not really sure what's going on in the other person's head. When the Main Character is infatuated and we have no idea what the Love Interest is really thinking. The reason I like single POV is it lets me construct my own narrative. It lets me speculate about what certain actions mean or what that conversation had implied. When you get both the MC and LI over-analying a conversation and over-sharing it removes all the will-they won't-they tension. Because you know they will (which of course they will, it's a romance, but the fun is not knowing for SURE what the LI is thinking).

What really let me down was how this book handled dramatic moments. If it was Rose's POV we'd go through the moment she'd state some opinions about it and her chapter would end, which is fine. The problem is when Brad's chapters doesn't pick up on what happens next. Instead of carrying on, we have to go back in time, relive part of the dramatic moment and hear how Brad interpreted the same moment. Instead of letting Brad (and the story) move forward the reader got caught in this one step forward two steps back cycle. This happened for almost every single conversation between Brad and Rose.

There was a scene where Carissa and Rose (and Holly- Rose's friend) go to the mall to buy Rose a new dress. I was so looking forward to this scene. To see the twins connect. To see Rose come out of her shell a bit, or even to second-guess her new appearance. But that scene didn't happen. We got all the setup and then we just fast-forwarded to the scene where Rose is wearing her new dress. There was so much potential there. For Carissa to be supportive. For Holly to reinforce her friendship. Even for Rose to show us some of her feelings about her changed body. It was a missed opportunity and it makes me sad as it would have set up the scene where Brad compliments Rose on her dress (it woud have been more impactful had we known more about Rose's feelings on the dress than it made her want to twirl).

Which leads to my next point of what didn't really work. The connection between Rose and Brad. 99% of their relationship happened before we met them. When they'd talk at Rose's house or chat at school or whatever. By the time the book starts they're not even in the same States (Rose is in Texas for the weight loss TV show thing and Brad in in California). There's too much unnecessary drama before the two even meet up again and for the first 1/3 of the book I honestly had no idea what I was supposed to hope would happen between the two. When they did meet up their relationship was VERY superficial. The moments that could have been cute or insightful were cut off and either summarized later or never mentioned.

I really don't know what else to say (actually that's not true. I have a lot to say, but I don't know how to write it properly and convery what I mean). I just really struggled to connect with both Rose and Brad. I never cared about them or their struggles.

I want to write this next part being as nice as I can about it. The whole time I read this book I felt like I was reading something VERY dated. There were references to Titanic and Leo DiCaprio, the MCs both want to work in radio industry, people still have landlines. It all read as something written in the early 2000s (at best). It wasn't until I got to the acknowledgements section and saw that this book had been written over a decade ago that I learned I was right. Here are just a few of the things that stuck out to me. Brad asks for Rose's phone number and has her write it down on a post-it note, which he then puts in his wallet. Brad's rebuttle to his friend saying radio is dying is to argue that the friend listens to podcasts (which are not the same thing, but whatever). Brad just wanders in to the radio station and is handed an intership (and later a radio show of his own). There's a reference to the movie Dumb and Dumber. There's a strange scene at the food bank where this (I assumer) middle-aged guy goes off on this whole life story about how there's no jobs and times are hard and it felt so forced, like an agenda rather than a guy down on his luck. it all felt very 'this is not how the world works now'.

I will say, that I do think the morals toward the end are in the right place. Rose isn't stick thin and it's okay. She's proud of how she feels and how much stronger she is. Brad realizes that he had always been capable of doing the things on his list but he shoudn't have done them for Carissa. The morals just come too late and too buried in all the Carissa nonsense.

The last 1/3 of the book had both Rose and Brad whining about Carissa or how Brad felt about Carissa or if Brad and Carissa were back together. They'd flirt (Rose and Brad) then immediately they'd second-guess everything. This kept going on and on and it dragged everything down. Too much drama about other people's feelings and not enough drama about their own feelings.

The writing style felt too much like journal entries at times. We did this. I did that. I felt like this. He said that. I didn't feel a lot of engagement with the senses or emotions of the POV characters.

I've deleted and rewritten this enough. I hope others enjoy this more than I did.

I really wanted to love this book, it has so many things that are normally selling points that make me immediately pick a book up and that's what drew me to this book as well, but it was hard for me to connect to the characters from the start and the opening statements about weight stuck with me making it harder for me to get through it. I can see what can be enjoyable about this book and I didn't all around hate it, I know this would be a great book for other people it just wasn't the right fit here.

I’m not a YA but I read a lot of romance, so I was more than happy to give this a go. This is a very cute, uplifting reads. I liked both main characters, Rose and Brad, and really appreciated seeing a plus-sized character represented so kindly and sensitively. A great read even if you’re not YA !

Thanks, Carissa, For Ruining My Life, by Dallas Woodbury, tells the story of twin sisters in high school dealing with the ups and downs of social pressure, dating, and the desire for approval. Carissa, the charmed sister who seems to have it all including Brad, the boy her sister Rose likes, takes it upon herself to enroll Rose in a reality show for weight loss. Rose, unhappy with her current situation decides to do it against her better judgement. Brad, after being dumped by Carissa, decides to work on his own self improvement and in doing so, realizes the deep friendship he has with Rose.

Trigger warning - this book is a bit weight obsessed and it’s hard to read some of the bits where characters are basically being berated for being overweight or not trying hard enough to lose weight. We eventually get to a positive message amid self discovery, but it’s not until the very end.

This book was okay. It was enjoyable enough to keep me wanting to read, but it’s lacking. The characters are pretty shallow, the plot predictable, and the dialogue was lacking. Overall I enjoyed getting to know Brad and Rose as well as some of their friends, but not enough to recommend or want to read again.

I wanted to enjoy this YA as a fun and easy read but the weight issue dynamic made it a story that should’ve and was trying to be deeper than it was. The characters were all a little superficial and narcissistic….. maybe that’s the plan seeing as they are teenagers but it meant for me I couldn’t empathise or really route for any of them, I just wanted them all to go away and suck it up!
I don’t mind a high school based YA romance but this didn’t hit the spot for me

'Thanks, Carissa, For Ruining My Life' is a fast-paced and heartwarming new young adult novel from Dallas Woodburn. Rose is used to being compared to her beautiful and talented twin sister Carissa. Not only does Carissa flourish academically and socially but she has a handsome boyfriend, Brad. When we meet our characters, however, Carissa has signed Rose up to a reality TV show miles away in Texas, to help her lose weight, and broken up her apparently perfect relationship with Brad. We follow Rose and Brad as they resent Carissa for ruining their lives as they are forced to embark on a journey of change and self-discovery.

The main draw of this book is the dual perspective of Rose and Brad. They are both likeable narrators and I enjoyed how their narratives moved away and intersected in a fluid way across the text. Both characters learn to live for themselves, whether this is Rose on her journey of self-acceptance or Brad learning to embrace his own passions and not rely on his relationship with Carissa, and their arcs are convincing, if predictable. Sometimes, we see the same events from both perspectives which is often sweet and illuminating (but gets slightly repetitive towards the end).

The end of the story finishes quite abruptly and I was left wanting more from it. My main gripe is that Rose is on a reality TV show and we see her life change as cameras follow her daily. However, the book ends before the show airs and we are left wondering how Rose is going to feel when she is really famous and her weight loss journey out there for all to see. Maybe this is an opportunity for a sequel...?

Overall, I enjoyed this book and the positive messages it gives its readers. Despite being focused heavily on weight loss, we do get messages about self-love and being healthy over unhappy. An enjoyable read. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the author for giving me the e-ARC of this wonderful book.
Keep an eye out for the release date, i.e., 8 Feb 2022!

As the title says, Carissa is responsible for ruining Brad's life, or so he thinks initially. The book is written from the perspective of two people, Brad and Rose (Carissa's twin). As the pages turn it becomes obvious that Brad and Rose are meant for each other. But obstacles keep throwing themselves between the two which just keeps making things complicated.

The book focuses on character development. People get way too insecure and self-conscious about outer things like looks, weight, fashion etc. and don't notice their inner true self which is actually beautiful. Also, there's no point in hiding stuff from people, no matter how much you hide, it eventually comes out. And, instead of keeping things to yourself that just puts you down mentally, it's always best to share what's going on in your mind with your loved ones. These two things are highlighted wonderfully in the book and it's actually great.

Overall, it's a humble, cosy and quick read. The number of characters is less which makes the read perfect because too many characters equals too much confusion. The book is recommended for all YA fans and is a must read!

I got this book Read Now on NetGalley. I checked it out and decided to read it because the author sent me a message on Instagram. So I knew going in this might not be it for me because I am always really on the fence if I can get into YA books or not. I’m 30 and relating to high school kids in books just gets harder lol.
But it wasn’t the YA genre that made me not like this. I did not really like any of the characters. The main thing though is how weight and food are handled. Like it’s just so toxic. The main girl Rose gets signed up for a weight loss show called “Help Me Lose Weight and Live Again” BY HER TWIN SISTER. She tells her that she’s obese and killing herself. Literally says that. In chapter 2! And like it just doesn’t get better.
That ruined it for me not even 10 pages in. I was fairly disinterested for the rest of the book.

*I received a free copy through Netgalley, this in no way influenced my review*

I felt very conflicted about this book, because while I did enjoy reading it, there was nothing special to me about it...

For me, it’s just another YA contemporary with the same plot that I’ve seen hundreds of times and nothing added to make the book stand out.

The thing I disliked most was how there was little to no conflict? Everything builds up throughout the entire book and then by the ending, everything is okay again in 5 pages??

So yeah, I rated this 4 stars because nothing is particularly wrong with it, but it didn’t feel very special.

It was a different style book for me but I still enjoyed it. It shows family relationships and how they can be. A good book that was enjoyable.

Thank you to Dallas Woodburn for asking me to have a read of her new novel, Thanks Carissa For Ruining My Life, due for release on the 8th of February 2022!

I firstly would like to start with trigger warnings.
⚠️⛔️This book talks A LOT about weight, being overweight, losing weight and having people discuss your weight.
I found myself emotional throughout and a little triggered by this concept, However, I pushed through because I was genuinely interested in how the story was going to progress. It was fast paced and I didn’t feel like it dragged at all, so it kept me intrigued.

The book centres on our main protagonist Rose, joining a weight loss reality show during her senior year. She’s been nominated by her twin sister Carissa and is the polar opposite to her in the looks department. Rose envies Carissa, and goes on the show after being somewhat emotionally bullied into doing so.

“Can you look me in the eyes and honestly tell me you’re perfectly happy with your life exactly the way it is now?” - Carissa

Rose also has a crush on Carissa’s (recent) ex - boyfriend Brad, and the two have a friendship which throughout the novel blossoms into something much more!

Without spoiling the book, I want to say I really loved the character development of Brad. Being a teenager is hard enough, being dumped by miss popular and left with so many unanswered questions is even harder. I really liked his growth and how he recognises his feelings for Rose were there even before the weight loss.
Rose, I felt for Rose. Weight does not define you, should never define you.
Especially as a teenager!
I do think in her families heart of hearts, they thought they were doing the best thing for her in the long run though.

A heartwarming story of teenage growth.
Shoutout to Rose’s on set boyfriend, Daniel. They were a very cute rendition of early teenage romance blooming from a mutual respect of one another.

I’m giving this book a 3.5/5 stars!

I’m eager to see where Brad and Rose’s story goes, as it most definitely was left wide open for more! I could go on but do not want to spoil!

Thank you again!

Thank you to the author, Dallas Woodburn, for reaching out to me about reading and reviewing the book as well as NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of the book to review. Thanks, Carissa, for Ruining my Life is a YA contemporary romance novel set to release in February of 2022.

The story follows high-school seniors, Rose and Brad, in a dual-point-of-view format, which I really liked. The infamous Carissa mentioned in the title is the twin sister of Rose and the ex-girlfriend of Brad. At the beginning of the story, we find out that Carissa has “ruined” Brad’s life by breaking up with him, and Rose’s by signing her up for a reality television show without her permission. Throughout the book, both Rose and Brad come to some really important revelations about themselves as well as each other. Rose and Brad’s relationship was wholesome throughout the book going from friends to eventually lovers. The relationship is very slow in progression as the two are always wondering if the other feels the same about them and not communicating their feelings toward each other. I liked the slow-burn aspect of the book. Carissa is an added obstacle in the book along with Daniel, another contestant on the reality television show. There is a sort of love-triangle aspect to the book, too.

Overall, this was an enjoyable book. I feel it is more geared towards middle-grade and younger YA readers, though I believe many readers could find something to like about this book. However, please check the trigger warnings on this book as Carissa, as well as the hosts of the reality television show Rose is on, are both very toxic. There are other topics in the book that may be triggering to some readers as well.

A very sudden powercut led me to read this book in one sitting, and I did enjoy it, but I probably would not have finished it so fast if I had light, and the distraction of social media.

I find it difficult to read books when I do not connect with the main character(s) and in this instance I really did not like Carissa and the way she treated her twin, Rose or her ex boyfriend Brad. To provide you with a sense of how bad she was, she signed her 17 year old sister up to a weight loss TV show without her knowledge or permission... was offended when it wasn't received well by Rose, and then resorted to guilting her into going. There are a lot of sensitive topics regarding weight and food, so I suggest looking into the tws before reading.

Another character we meet in the story is carissa's ex boyfriend, Brad. He opens the book by detailing how she broke his heart, which prompts him to create a self improvement plan to win her back, but he unknowingly has a lot of obstacles to deal with. As a character, he frustrated me a lot, especially with the way he handled situations with carissa's behavior, and the "never gonna give you up" attitude, he may as well have been walking around in a grey suit and orange wig with a boombox, to really get that message across.

There were parts of the book that were really wholesome, the slow burn romance was well written, and I'm always going to enjoy a love triangle. The story was overall really enjoyable, I feel it would be perfect for someone in a younger age category though.

Before I start with my review I would like to thank Dallas Woodburn and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of the book “Thanks, Carissa, for ruining my life”.

Yes, you have read it correctly, the book is called “Thanks, Carissa, for ruining my life”. And let me be honest, this title was the reason for picking up this book. It made me click on the button “more information” and start reading it. Even though I expected some same old cheesy romance story, it wasn’t fully the case. What is the book about?

Rose has some weight problems and is sent by her sister to a nationwide TV show, where she’ll tackle her weight problem in front of cameras. It wasn’t her choice to confront her eating habits and she curses her sister, Carissa, for sending her there.
Brad is content with his life and ready to start his last school year when a week before school starts his girlfriend, Carissa, breaks up with him. He can’t believe that she would do this to him and decides to do anything to win her back.
While life goes on, they both struggle to keep up with it and due to some circumstances get closer to each other. What if in the end, Carissa was doing them both a favour?

I liked this book very much and thought it was a nice book for in-between heavy books. Even throughout the love story, Woodburn manages to highlight various topics. Like for example, the weight problem of Rose gives insights into how a person with an eating disorder would feel. Similarly, Brad struggles with getting his life together and is in search of his future career, what his interests are, what he’d love to do, and so on. The struggles young adults face are well shown here. Nevertheless, sometimes I had the feeling, the author included some stuff only to have touched it once. These were a bit unnecessary, in my opinion. Though, it doesn’t disturb the storyline at the end.

The chapters are written from both points of view, alternating between Rose and Brad's, chapter for chapter. The writing style is easy to read, and the chapters are not too long. It is clearly a young adult story and is a standalone.

I would recommend this book to all YA, romance fans, who like a not-so-perfect-looking MC, and book lovers, who want to get over a book hangover.

This book was extremely triggering and did not handle Rose’s situation well at all!
The relationship between Rose and Brad was super sweet and adorable. I really liked their moments together
Rose’s family and friend held an intervention and nominated her for what was basically The Biggest Loser. Rose, honey, you need a better friend and your family should be ashamed of themselves. Rose, a child, is sent away for 4 months to do extensive exercise and restrictive dieting. Also, what about her schoolwork?
Brad takes a job from 11pm to midnight on a Sunday…and nobody raised an eyebrow or pointed out that 11pm is not really an appropriate time for work when there’s school the next day
Carissa was awful- she treated her twin in a disgusting way, she was rude and aggressive, she was mean to the lady at the food bank. I didn’t buy Carissa at the end, it just didn’t fit with everything she had done so far
I cannot, in good faith, recommend this book to anyone. In this day in age, with everything that is known about health, this book failed. I honestly just assumed that this book should have been about Rose not losing weight because everyone said she should. Instead we hear that there was a guy who cared about her all along but didn’t do anything until she’d lost weight. Toxic at best. The fact that this is a YA book is scary because it contains a lot of dangerous language relating to weight loss including what she ate, snippets of her workout, and some weight loss figures
This book was received in exchange for an honest review. Had this not been the case, I’d have stopped reading after chapter 2.

DNF at 45%

One of the secondary characters get cancer in the middle of the book which is a very sensitive topic for me.

Up to that point the book was okay though the budding romance felt a bit forced.