This book is a good one, I feel bad for Viviana, with all the these going on with her personally, her family is just another factor to her worries. It's a good thing she has friends she can run to. It's amazing how strong her support system was. Also, should I say, her father sucks big time?

The story was okay. I just don’t get it why Viviana kept telling her bestfriend that it was okay to go after a boy who doesn’t even likes her? Like dang girl, are you looking for trouble? The romance was slow but it was good overal. Not bad.

I liked how strong the main character is. She went through so much during this book, and was still fighting after it was over. I also liked how for once the boy in the story was really understanding about her health. But my favourite part was probably the friendship between Sammie and Vivianna, they were willing to sacrafice things for their friendship and the others happiness. And it was really nice to see a mutual interest in a boy that didn't end in a distroyed friendship.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

See more of my reviews on The YA Kitten! My copy was an ARC I got from the publisher via NetGalley.

Being grade-obsessed is bad for your health and I'm speaking from experience when I say that. Every single school year for me was a stressful one filled with honors and AP classes (excluding science; I quit that honors class track solely because they required a science project every year), little A/B student me trying hard to have my first all-As school year, and a lot of crying. Seriously, someone should have talked to me about seeing the school counselor because I didn't know they could have helped me until after I graduated. Not much good then!

Why do I need to tell you all that while reviewing The Best Possible Answer? Because Viviana is a whole lot like me. The book opens with her finishing up her junior year of high school and going home after her third AP exam only to have a panic attack and end up in the hospital. Her mom cancels the plans Vivi had for a summer at an academic camp, so Vivi has to stay home and deal with her problems: the sexting scandal in her recent past, her parents' rocky relationship, and the growing crush she has on a boy that her best friend Sammie is very much into.

Though novels like Jennifer Brown's Thousand Words have made sexting the A-plot multiple times already, it's very much a C-plot in Vivi's life. Her cruddy ex-boyfriend leaking the intimate photo she sent him happened all the way back in January, after all, and the fallout from the event is finally settling down by the time Vivi's summer begins. It's... somewhat refreshing? how this problem that can be a life-consuming issue is kinda the least worst thing in Vivi's life as the novel goes on.

The A-plots of crushing on Sammie's crush/Vivi's first kiss from way back when, Vivi's parents' separation, and her suspicions her dad might be cheating while he's working on a project in Singapore create a hurricane of emotion and intrigue that will keep readers attached to The Best Possible Answer. Vivi isn't even the only character hurtling toward a mental breakdown! Her neighbor Professor Cox is headed for his own, very different mental health crisis and does things like "bomb" the community pool with tomatoes on his way there. The rep he provides is questionable at best, but I'm not the right person to dig into it.

TAKE YOUR MEDS, PEOPLE. That's all I'm saying.

The cheating dad plotline in particular isn't going to unfold the way readers think and there's no way for it to end but ugly. Without giving much away, he reminds me of Donald Trump--and I make no secret of my distaste for the poorly made up, curdled milk-filled manbag that is somehow the US president.

The Best Possible Answer isn't a light read to any degree, but it still captures that sweet feeling of summer while throwing heavy thing after heavy thing at readers. Whether you want to read it while cuddled up in the dead of winter or during your summer sessions of pool-lounging, this book is a solid perennial read.

And I mean it, don't let grades affect you so much that you have panic attacks. When I asked my photography professor to be excused from the print photo project I'd suffered my attack over, he did just that for the rest of the year. (I think my struggles with the first print photography project and that time I got development chemicals in my eyes also contributed to his decision. Print photography and I really don't get along.)

I requested this book because I had read another book by this author and greatly enjoyed one of her other books. This one was no different. She writes powerful young adult contemporaries with powerful female characters and I loved Vivi and her journey within this book.

Cute summer read, but I didn't connect well with the character(s) and the plot. It was rather short, so nothing was really fleshed out: it felt like a high school story aimed at pre-teens. Really sweet, just nothing beneath the surface.

This one just didn't work for me. I didn't find myself connecting with the story.

Thank you for the chance to read it early.

A very short book! And fairly light, so an easy summer read. I feel like the author tried to cover too much in such a short time though, like some things could have been eliminated without having taken anything away from the main story. This book will probably interest someone much younger than myself - the main character sounded young... so would possibly appeal to the 13/14ish range.

The cover is great, would purchase it solely for the fact it'll look nice on a book shelf!

The Best Possible Answer was my first Kottaras book but will assuredly not be my last. Though not as fluffy as the cover indicates, The Best Possible Answer delivers a cute ship and fantastic anxiety rep.

Viviana works really ridiculously hard to achieve her goal of attending her father’s alma mater, Stanford. She studies so hard, in fact, that she fell asleep while biking back home after an AP test. So hard that she’s actually starting to do terribly. She’s become so tightly wound and anxious that she’s having fairly regular panic attacks. The pressure she feels from her parents and from her father’s absence, which she worries might be her fault just exacerbates her anxiety. I really love the anxiety arc in The Best Possible Answer, View Spoiler ».

Because of her fall from her bicycle and the diagnosis of anxiety, her parents decree that she won’t be doing the summer program she’s been looking for and must rest all summer. They’re trying to help, but they don’t realize that being cooped up with the stress of family life and nothing to do but think is a horrible thing for someone with anxiety. Vivi manages to convince them to let her have a low stress job at the apartment complex’s community pool.

The ship is absolutely adorable. Evan’s such a genuine sweetheart, and Kottaras manages to distinctly avoid the romance “fixing” Vivi’s anxiety. In fact, Vivi cannot even begin to handle the idea of a real relationship until the end when she has a plan for working on her mental health, even though Evan’s massively supportive and understanding. I could, however, have done without the unnecessary love triangle with Vivi’s best friend.

Similarly, there’s a massive amount of drama in the parents’ plot line. Combined with the love triangle, the book sometimes lurched over the edge into melodrama, which didn’t really suit the voice and tone of the rest of the book imo. View Spoiler » That said, Vivi’s arc throughout is fantastic and really emotional.

Read this one for anxiety rep and cute ship, but prepare for a bit of intense melodrama.

Thank you for the chance to review this book, however, unfortunately, I was unable to download this title before it was archived

The book was very short and cute but it didn't stick with me long after I finished it. Some contemporary books just aren't for me and sadly this one made that list.

Such a cute story. Totally something I'd recommend to my students.

I liked that this novel dealt with a few real life issues in a realistic way. It wasn't too deep though and sort of just introduced problems without actively engaging in solving those problems. Not that all these problems could necessarily be solved, but it seemed to gloss over them. [Her dad cheating was a big deal. He was leading a double life and her parents weren't even legally married, they were the other family. I felt it there should have been a bit more to it. (hide spoiler)] I like that negative ramifications of sexting were included and the talk about college and stress were too. None of these topics were fleshed out enough though. They were mentioned but then we moved on to other things like crazy weird neighbors. I think there were a few too many topics trying to be a part of this book and while it may be realistic, that doesn't necessarily make it an enjoyable read.

THE BEST POSSIBLE ANSWER by E. Katherine Kottaras is a beautiful story about love and self-acceptance in the face of today’s numerous pressures.

Viviana thought she had it all: great friends, perfect boyfriend, and a loving family. Her father pushed her to be the BEST and she was. But everything suddenly falls apart when her boyfriend leaks a private photo to their entire school. Her father disappears more and more (for “work”), and she spirals out of control and into the hospital. She isn’t quite sure how she’ll ever recover—the pressure feels like it’s too much.

When she finally returns home, her best friend convinces her to get a summer job at their local pool. Doing something normal might be what the doctor ordered… While working there she meets lifeguard and resident hottie Evan, who makes her feel like she might just be able to trust again. The only problem? Her best friend also has her eye on Evan…

Kottaras realistically shows what the pressures parents and society put on teens today can do to a teen.

This is a story about discovering who you are and what you really want. Vivi (just like most of us), eventually learns that life isn’t always about perfection and there's nothing wrong with that.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to share it with the students in my media center. It is poignant and full of great characters and real experiences. I can relate to the story and it's message.

To be honest, this book was a bit hard to get through. I didn't feel like much was actually happening, though there was also a lot to keep track of. There wasn't much of a character arc for any of the characters either...

Oh gosh…I hardly remember anything about this book. In addition to NetGalley, I also received a physical ARC (so thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin for that). I do remember that I didn’t particularly like the main character. I’ve never been in her exact situation and I do feel bad that she had certain sensitive pictures leaked, but she still just seemed overly whiny to me. I didn’t like her relationship with her mom (though that wasn’t ENTIRELY her fault) and I didn’t like her relationship with her best friend. I’ve mentioned this before and I’ll mention it again, I hate when female friendships are jeopardized because they’re fighting over a boy. It’s just so…juvenile and a cheap way to add drama to a story in my opinion. I also thought the subplot with the main character’s dad was strange…and inconsistent at times.

I DNF this book -- while it started out great. I wasn't feeling the romance or the working.

January is coming to an end and this book is perhaps one of the best possible treats I've had this week. E. Katherine Kottaras never fails to amaze me. Once again, she got me breathless with this teenage drama, angst and masterpiece, The Best Possible Answer.

Viviana Rabenovich-Lowe and her bff Sammie and Evan were really interesting characters. They helped each other grow, supported their issues, discussed their flaws, talked about realities, uncertainties, rewards and cruelties of life. In short, they matured as the story progressed and together, they may not have known the best possible answers to their questions, but they sure did experienced it.

The eccentric Professor Harold Cox made this story more exciting and sensible, what with all his oddities and philosophical thoughts at that. His bathing suits cracked me up, but hey, this Nut actually made more sense than Vivi's own father.

Evan, this guy is The Man. I don't know what else to say about him. I thought he was an endearing and a fair person although he's a little insensitive once in a while.

Sammie, the best friend, also indulged me with her unconditional love and Filipino values. Yes, she's quite a character here in the book, not because she's a Filipino like me, but because she has those traits that I found personable, lovable and memorable. She's a keeper indeed!

Now, Viviana, she's made terrible mistakes in the past, she deals with it every day over panic attacks and has to discover the lies she's been living with. Gosh, my heart went out to her and her sister Mila. I want to hug them and adopt them.

I perfectly understood where Vivi was coming from. Her story hit me right at home. Like her, I also grew up to the high expectations of my parents; they wanted me to get the first honors every year, they wanted me to behave like a proper lady and all. There had also been a time when I rebelled and didn't go home after they got mad at me and lectured me about having a boyfriend during my junior high school. Man, that was an ugly experience, believe me.

There I was, I thought I finally resisted their control over me until I realized my mistakes. What can I say, I was madly in love and young and reckless at that time. Thank goodness, there weren't any cellphones or iPads or Wi-Fi or social media during my time! I was spared of any humiliation and bashers and haters.

Anyway, enough about me.. The Best Possible Answer is a great read. Everyone should meet these dynamic teens. Everyone might see themselves in them. Everyone has questions. And this book might just present the best possible answer.