Segunda leitura em inglês do ano, mas, diferente da primeira, foi meio decepcionante. À primeira vista, o plot tinha um potencial bem bacana, ainda mais pelas vertentes de design de moda com a protagonista e o teatro por parte da melhor amiga dela e do mocinho da história, mas infelizmente foi tudo muito pouco aprofundado e realmente aproveitado na trama.

Na maior parte do tempo, o drama e alguns desentendimentos rolaram soltos, parte do clichê, eu sei, mas eu senti que a autora pesou um pouco a mão ao ponto de ficar entediante em alguns momentos. Isso sem contar o vai e vem da protagonista que, mesmo nas melhores intenções, acabava numas situações meio aleatórias, e, num todo, isso dificultou com que eu conseguisse me envolver mais à leitura porque a Scarlett simplesmente não me convencia de verdade do que fazia ou dizia.

Por outro lado, para um romance de estreia, a narrativa em si é bem fluída, e eu diria que foi também um ponto crucial a não me fazer abandonar a leitura, já que mesmo monótona, a escrita da autora é boa. O romance é particularmente sem sal, ou instalove demais para o meu gosto, então também não me cativou, mas achei bacana o ênfase dado às amizades da protagonista, da forma que Macie, Liam e Gavin não ficam só jogados como amigos, mas participam de fato da história.

O desfecho foi diferente do que eu esperava, com leves irritações pelo vai e vem que a Scarlett faz de novo, mas ainda assim foi um caminho interessante tomado pela autora que, dentro da forma como o o romance foi desenvolvido no livro, fez bem mais sentido do que seria de outro modo, então é um ponto positivo, ainda que possa dividir as opiniões, talvez. Enfim. Foi uma leitura interessante, bacana pela escrita ainda que não tanto pela história, mas a autora tem potencial para outras obras futuras.

"Once I discovered the world of fashion, I was able to create my own personal style and showcase myself in the way that I wanted to be seen. It gave me an outlet to express myself.”"

This was cute but the ending was so dumb. They knew that graduation was coming the entire book why did they act like it was a surprise at the end. I also wanted them to talk a bit more.

I received an arc through netgalley.

TW: sa(to side character)

I received this book from NetGalley and the publishers to read and review. All statements above are my true
opinions after fully reading this book.
This book was cute a enjoyable read! It’s a very typical YA romance book if that is what you are interested in!

Firstly thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for this eARC! I really liked the concept of this but the execution fell flat!

17yo Scarlett has dreams of being a fashion designer and her parents give her a sewing machine as an early Christmas gift however it’s a lot more complicated to work than Scarlett first realised. But she doesn’t bother to learn straight away? Like she decides to just wait a few months rather than find someone to teach her?

I thought the inclusion of Tina the “mean girl” was completely unnecessary - it added absolutely nothing to the storyline. I don’t think Scarlett has any connection with the main love interest Nathaniel, it all just seemed a bit rushed and even then the two don’t actually spend that much time together? I thought her and Macie (her best friend) had a better connection and honestly I think that would have made for a better outcome than how the story really ended!

I think this has a lot of potential as the book was really short - only 180ish pages. I think with a longer book the story could have been fleshed out a bit more as everything was just really rushed! It read more as a first draft with just main ideas written down it just needed some filler if that makes sense?

I recently got into crafting and sewing so this book kind of hooked me with the cover. It was a really sweet read and I think that it would keep anyone with a smile on their face. Loved it!

2.5 stars

When I read the synopsis of Your Dream For Me I knew I needed to read it. I love books about theatre and the fact that this one is about an aspiring fashion designer working in her school’s theatre department sounded amazing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite what I hoped.

Firstly, Scarlett has a classic case of ‘not like the other girls’ or quite possibly ‘I’m better than everyone else in this school because I don’t want to act like a teenager’. She makes a comment about not wanting to participate in the school dance because she doesn’t like how everyone else was dancing. It was a weird thing to comment on.

She genuinely wasn’t a very likeable character, too stubborn and never let anyone explain themselves. Which could be classic teen selfishness, but it was worse than that. She goes off at Nathaniel for not asking her to prom before he can explain himself. It got very annoying and repetitive how often she wasn’t happy with people.

The main issue for me was how two dimensional the characters were. I hardly knew anything about any of them other than their basic appearance and one hobby they have. Throughout Your Dream For Me there was little to no character development and I found that I really did not care what happened to any of them. Especially Scarlett and Nathaniel, I had no desire to see their relationship grow as it had no build up so I wasn’t at all invested.

The use of time in this book was very strange. The pacing seemed way off. I thought everything was happening in the space of a few weeks but apparently, it was months. Characters would exchange a few lines of dialogue and then suddenly hours had passed. This happens a few times and it felt unnecessary and potentially a little lazy. These are the moments where you are supposed to develop relationships and character traits but instead, they say two things and then it’s over.

I doubt if you learned how to use a sewing machine a week ago you’d be able to make a whole dress. It wouldn’t have made a difference to the story if Scarlett was able to sew from the start, it would make her perfectly designing and sewing a dress on her first attempt more believable.

The overall concept was pretty interesting and I liked all of the theatre references. Your Dream For Me was also a pretty quick read so that was a positive. Unfortunately, this was not the right book for me, there wasn’t any issue with the actual writing, it’s pretty well written. But the execution was not great for me.

thank you to Netgalley for this arc, all thoughts are my own.

the first 100 pages of this book were a major drag. the problem was that we were told about the mc's life and not actually shown it. macie is her best friend, yay! but from their interactions, I really couldn't tell. the fleshing out of the characters was so minimal, they felt like cardboard decorations. Nathaniel had literally no personality and I really couldn't care less about him.

then from page 100-184, the plot picked up a little and it got a somewhat interesting but the pacing was just too fast. it was like the author had a limit and was trying to squeeze all 10 misunderstanding situations in those pages. whilst the ending was angsty, I couldn't bring myself to actually feel anything over it because I didn't care about the characters

overall, it could have been SO much better. I'm going to find a book with some real character development to make up for this.

A very sweet rom-com that felt like a hug.
I loved the influence of fashion and how this ties to Scarlett's dreams. It was really well written and I look forward to reading other books by the author.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

While this book is marketed as YA, it read as middle school. The main heroine Scarlett felt a bit naive, judgmental (the dance scene and her reaction to dancing made me laugh out loud) and passive. While she says that her dream is to become a fashion designer, she doesn't act much to get there. Scarlett finally gets a sewing machine and instead of immediatly starting learning to use it, she spends time waiting for a teacher, that randomly appears. In this age of Youtube, people can find loads of tutorials that would help them in learning-especially when you're driven. Also, making a perfect dress without any corrections/try outs as your first project-I don't buy it.

The romance was cute, but very superficial. I don't mind instant love, but I still hope that characters will take time to get to know each other. In this book, we're told that Scarlett and Nathaniel talk to each other, but the talks that are shown feel very shallow.

I think that a younger audience would like it, but this wasn't to my taste. The ending was a good twist, that surprised me and made the book more interesting

Scarlett has a huge imagination and desire to become a fashion designer. She attempts to turn her dreams into reality and learns to sew.

This sweet story explores love and friendships alongside some dramatic events.

I enjoyed this book and think many teens will too.

Sadly I had to DNF the book. I did enjoy parts of it but recently I have read solely dark romance and jumping from that straight to his was a hard thing to do. It was written beautifully but I just lacked interest, the will they won't they relationship was hard to read because it was also sorta insta love. If you like cute teen rom-com drama, I recommend trying this book out. It just wasn't for me

This is a cute simple YA book, but sadly I wasn't fully absorbed and found the characters a bit bland and the plot a bit boring. For me there wasn't enough actual romance and interaction between the main characters, Scarlett and Nathaniel, which made this story feel a bit flat because it wasn't the love story I was expecting. In my opinion, there was too much filler and would be better as a coming of age story for a younger audience instead of a romantic YA. I also wish the ending was happier however it was unique and not cliché so added a nice spin.

a cute and sweet high school romance, with adorable characters but not very interesting plotpoints.

the perfect ya book for those who soley read ya romance.

Review

Thank you NetGally for the ARC. In no way has this swayed my personal opinion.

I just want to start out this review by saying, I felt while reading this Arc I may have been too old. I would recommend this specific romance book towards middle schoolers (12-13). I feel like the maturity level ( or lack there of) could possibly be why I had so many issues while reading.

Reasons why I did not like this book:
-The writing was too immature for my liking. At some points while reading I felt as if I was reading a self help book for teens.
-Also a lot of the writing just felt convenient
-Some parts made me cringe at the characters and roll my eyes at how unrealistic these high school kids were acting
-The characters were so bland, especially the love interest. He had zero personality. There was no banter or humor; just the fact that he could act And that was his only personality trait.
-This book just really had no plot no character driven anything it was just a day in a life of a very unrealistic high school experience.

Reasons why I kept reading:
-There was one character who I actually liked and was funny.
-The book was pretty fast paced even though it lacked a plot.
-Honestly the ending shocked me and was the most relatable and realest thing that was in the book, but also made me mad because I felt like we’d “done all this for nothing”.

Overall I fell like a younger audience would enjoy this but it’s not something I will recommend to anyone of my age. Just keep in mind as you read this review that all readers have opinion and this is just mine. 🤍

Rating: ⭐️⭐️

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are 100% my own.

To begin, I want to acknowledge that I am not the target audience for this book. Saying that, the young adult target audience feels more suited to 10-14 year olds rather than older teenagers.

The main character, Scarlett, was supposedly 17, but acted significantly younger. The love interest, Nathanial, felt very boring and their relationship was underdeveloped.

This book felt more like a tick box exercise to teach young teenagers how they should act when they’re older. The drinking scene felt very anti-drinking and the main characters minimal life problems were solved too easily by quitting her part time job to focus on school.

I did think the ending was surprisingly mature, but it did feel like another lesson for younger teens.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

This debut YA novel is quick and fun coming of age story about friendship and love. It touches on a lot of high school experiences and handles them in a way that seems realistic, but prescriptive.

Yet other parts were just too crafted and unrealistic. I know it’s YA, but we’re just supposed to pretend that a teenager who has never used a sewing machine in her life goes from that to designing and sewing a prom dress in less than a month?

2.5⭐️


It felt like a young YA/ middle school read to me and I was left wanting a bit more depth in both storyline and character development. The general story of finding yourself and the challenges with relationships in high school felt like a good base that just needed to be further developed to really engage the reader. I didn’t feel very connected to the characters or invested in their happiness.

I think if you go into it thinking of it as a middle school read it would probably hit the spot a bit more. For YA it felt like it was missing something for me.

A cute romcom story that any romance reader would love. Fall into this story and fall in love the characters and charm throughout

The description of Your Dream For me sounded right up my alley. It has a cute premise, but I didn’t fully connect with it. It is a young adult book & I think teens will find it really fun, but as an adult it fell a little flat.

i have mixed feelings with this one.
The writing felt weird, there were info dumps, descriptions and thoughts really long and dense that I just skipped those over until there was a conversation.

the characters are kinda plain and flat, I didn't connect with anyone.
the main character, Scarlett, was like vanilla, so simple, mundane and childish like. Her whole personality was fashion and her crush over some boy. Her mindset didn't match with a 17 y/o girl, she feels like she is 13 at most.
Her love interest, Nathaniel, was vanilla too. His whole personality was Scarlett and theater. Just that.
I didn't feel anything with their relationship, not even ashes much less a spark or fire between them. They story is just so rushed.
I felt more chemistry between Scarlett and her best friend, Macie. UGH! I felt the sparks FLYING!
Scarlett's antagonist felt unnecessary, what was the point of that?

The plot and the story was kinda flat, kinda a straight line, I didn't care what happened to them really.

But even after I said all of this, the book wasn't that bad. The main character handled important stuff and topics really well, the pace was good, a really good and sweet read. I wouldn't classify this as a YA, more like a middle school read.