Member Reviews

A great read that does an excellent job of presenting complex themes of relationships, self-love, divorce, and fame into a young adult friendly story. All the characters are excellently written (although some outside the main few can feel a bit two-dimensional at times) and their relationships with each other cover every type: platonic, romantic, mentor, student, and more. The setting and story were well developed, so much so I find myself wishing to watch a show that doesn’t exist.

I can’t wait to see what Desombre comes up with next!

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I wanted to like this one, but I got caught up in too many of the small details. I couldn't get past the inconsistencies with the age of the main character. On the first page Ivy and Allyson are referred to as high school sweethearts, but a few pages later it's middle school sweethearts. It also says Ivy is fifteen years old, but there's talk of college essays and junior year of high school which is typically 16-17. Also, Rynn dumped her in the sixth grade which is typically 11-12 years old, but then says they haven't spoken for five years, and if she's 15 they would have been 10, which is fifth grade. As well, Rynn says she's been a counselor since she was old enough to be, implying multiple years, but if she's also only 15, I've never heard of a camp counselor any younger than 16. 15 is a believeable stretch, but 14 and under I find hard to believe could be a counselor, especially of tweens which are hardly younger than they are. These were a few things noticed in the first 15% that unfortunately made it too hard for me to continue through. Other than some of these small details though, the book shows a lot of promise and could definitely be a cute read for a lot of young adults.

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Ivy Raines is at rock bottom--her middle school sweetheart, a teen TV megastar, has just broken up with her. Feeling blindsided, and abandoned for the nth time, she throws all of her eggs into the basket that is summer theater camp. This is familiar ground. Here, she is meant to relive the glory of her tween heyday, but on the other side as a camp counselor. Hopefully, here she can avoid the publicity of her breakup and even test out her desire to pursue a career in teaching. Maybe here she can find herself.

An ex-bestfriend-shaped wrench is thrown into her plans when she discovers that Rynn is also here. Rynn, who also blindsided her all those years ago when she decided she didn't want to be friends anymore. And it get's even worse when they're forced to collaborate when they get assigned as co-directors for the end of summer musical. Bickering and hijinks ensue, and tensions rise, and Ivy, against all odds, discovers that maybe this summer really is just what she needed.

"I Love You S'more" offers a delightful depiction of the highs and lows of tween/teendom, and all the lessons that growing up comes with in an accessible way. Felt like less of a traditional love story, and more like a growing up story.

3.5 rounding up--Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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