Yes, it is predictable and cheesy but I fell in love with the characters. Taylor and Evan will be a new addition to my "couple goals" list.

TWs: alcohol, verbal abuse, physical abuse, slut shaming

I ended up doing a re-read of this, since last time I read my ARC I didn't have the energy to review it, and I've been going through my Netgalley backlist. Last time I rated The Way to Game the Walk of Shame 4 stars, but unfortunately it didn't gold up to my idea of a four star read this time around.

The Way to Game the Walk of Shame follows Taylor, as she convinces rake-ish Evan, the guy she woke up with after a high school party, to fake date her. As they get to know each other, their con starts to feel more like the real thing, and they have to figure out if they want to get together for real. It has some To All the Boys I've Loved Before Vibes to it, but fails to match the charm of the movie (the book wasn't my cup of tea either, which makes me sad because I love fake dating so much).

To start off, I really liked that their parents were a part of their kids' lives in this book, even if they were left out of the loop for somethings, which is normal. I know that some of the reasoning behind that was because of the daddy issues both Taylor and Evan have, but it was a nice change of pace, and subverted the usual take on a YA contemporary. I liked Evan too, he was funny and really passionate about the ocean and surfing, and it made my younger, marine biology loving self happy. He was really sweet when he wanted to be, and lowkey had himbo vibes when it came to his adoration of Taylor.

Unfortunately, I'm still not sure why he loved her so much; I never saw or felt any connection between them. Taylor fell kind of flat for me, she was too self centered and just...uninteresting to really make me attached to her. The fact that she was CONSTANTLY hitting Evan made me dislike her even more. I think Nguyen was going for more of a fun, playful side of Taylor when she included it, but it came across as her abusing him when she didn't hear what she wanted, and really killed any chance of me liking her.

Then there's the normalized slut shaming and the mom who lets her new husband verbally abuse her son. So, before I start unpacking everything, I just wanted to say that I'm not against having these topics portrayed, it's the way they were shown in this book that really irritated me, because they were normalized and there were no consequences for what happened.

Throughout the book, both Evan and Taylor's POVs have slut shaming in them, and it's shown as completely normal. Evan's ex-girlfriend, who still has feelings for him, is the usual hot, sex positive mean girl stereotype. She sleeps around, has a nice body that she isn't afraid to show off, and is in general a 'bitch'. The entire purpose of her existence is to be slut shamed as an antagonist, and to help prove that Taylor's "not like other girls." Which is repeated throughout the book by everyone, much to my dismay.

Meanwhile, Evan's mom has remarried, to his verbally abusive asshole of a stepfather, Brian. Brian literally walks around verbally abusing and belittling Evan every chance he gets, regardless of who's around. Now, Evan has purposely done things to make him angry, but there's no excuse for an adult (especially a parental figure) to abuse a child like this. Evan's mom is shown as super sweet and loving but does literally absolutely nothing about the abuse. She just lets it happen, and whenever Evan talks to her about Brian, she tells him that he's done a lot for them and to try harder. I hated her, and that this book is essentially telling teens that it's okay for a parent to abuse them if they're nice to their significant other.

The Way to Game the Walk of Shame was really disappointing, I had been hoping for a fun, fake-dating romance, and ended up with a problematic, stereotyped contemporary novel. If you're dying to pick this up, you could try it, but I'd really just skip this one.

Taylor, the well-known celibate of the school, wakes up after a party in the bed of one of the school's notorious bad boys, Evan McKinley. They agree to pretend they are in a real relationship, and, a la Sheldon Cooper, write up a contract to define it. This funny, fun read is a quick romance read.

nope. this guy is a complete jerk. DNF.

First off I LOVE the title of this book!
The Way to Game the Walk of Shame is a story about a high school girl who believes she has to be perfect in every way in her life. Because of this she is dubbed the "Ice Queen". She decides to go to a party, gets drunk and wakes up in the bed of the town "Bad Boy". It doesn't take long for the kids at school to hear rumors of what they believe happened between the two.
To try to make all the gossip die down they decide to pretend they are dating but what they didn't expect was for them to start caring for each other.
This was a cute story. I loved the writing and how the author brought the two totally different teens together and how they helped each other with life events neither had any control over.

This is a wonderful and amazing story. I was so captivated by this from the first chapter. This is one of those stories that I just completely fall in love with. It is kind of cheesy. But I love stories that are like that. It was sweet, and fun to read. Fun to see the pictures of this story in my head. It always made me smile. It made me sad when they were fighting. It was just all over emotional. And completely sweet. I love how this author told the story. I love how she wrote it. I just loved everything about this story. The characters and plot and everything was just perfect to me. It was just great. I cannot wait to see what other novels this writer writes.

When Taylor wakes up next to the biggest player in school, she MUST figure out a way to save her reputation. Her plan: convince Evan (the player) to be her "fake boyfriend." It's a move destined to quiet the gossip about their drunken departure from the party. "The Way to Game the Walk of Shame" is predictable, but not in a bad way. It's more like the kind of predictable one expects when one puts on a favorite pair of jeans. The dialogue is comfortable and the characters are likable. Notably absent are the palpitating hearts and overblown "electric touches" that make so many romances gag-worthy. In short, this is a title that I absolutely loved. Readers who enjoyed Jenny Han's "To All the Boys I've Loved Before" are equally likely to fall for Taylor and Evan. Well done, Jenn P. Nguyen. I can't wait to read more from you!

Taylor Simmons is a Type-A straight A student focused on college. After she is wait listed by her dream college, Columbia University, she does something she has never done before, go to a party and unwind with a few drinks. When Taylor wakes up in the bed of her classmate, notable man-whore Evan McKinley, she finds that everyone at school knows they went off together (they were making out on the dancefloor pretty heavily), and the rumors start flying.

Desperate to salvage her relationship, Taylor comes up with a brilliant plan; she and Evan will fake a relationship, which means everyone will get over their hookup soon enough. However, when they both start feeling real things for each other, both Taylor and Evan will have to figure out what they really want.

Cute read.