Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer | Review
Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer
Expected publication: 27th June 2019
Published by Bloomsbury
Genre/s: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance.
Call It What You Want is the fourth book that I've read from Brigid Kemmerer. I first fell in love with her writing style in Letters To The Lost. That was the first contemporary that I honestly thoroughly enjoyed but, before that the contemporary genre was a mystery to me. And since then I've vowed to pick up everyone of her new releases and she has done me no wrong so far, this book being no exception to that. Kemmerer just knows how to suck you in and make you care for her characters so much that it hurts. That's what made this this story in particular even more heart wrenching. There are a number of contemporary authors that could write a story like this and write it well, but it would never feel like this book feels.
Call It What You Want follows two teens who are currently struggling through hard home-life situations and who have both been seemingly isolated by their classmates due to other circumstances. And so when they are forced into being partners for a school project they are also forced to learn more about each other and that everything isn't always what it looks like on the outside. From there they slowly begin to earn each others trust.
I absolutely adored the set up of this plot. One of my favourite tropes that I love is characters being put in a situation where they are forced to work together even though they don't really want to. It is the perfect set up of a not necessarily hate to love but definitely dislike/indifference to love. Which I find is more realistic and enjoyable when it comes to contemporary. These characters in particular really find a trusting friendship with each other first which I thought was great and meant for a more slow-burn romance to really get the feels going. And damn were there feels!
However I really enjoyed how much focus of the story was based on the characters home-situations and school life. It wasn't just a light-hearted romance. It had deep points of importance and as a whole was a hard-hitting story that I won't forget. Also there was a fair amount of excitement and gasp worthy moments, which made this rather addicting to read and also meant that I finished it in less than a day. Although the one thing that annoyed me a little was that the ending was wrapped up a little too quickly for my liking, but of course that didn't take away from the story at all, it's just a personal preference.
My last point is that the book also confronts important topics about judging people and also shows how easily it is to misunderstand what someone says or does. Therefor leading to the discussion of whether or not one mistake can define your life. And also the fact that even if you are brought up in a certain situation, that does not mean you have to follow in your parents footsteps. Everyone is their own self and the only expectations you should care for are your own.
As always Brigid Kemmerer blew me away with this latest release and am so very excited to read more from her in the future.
(Advance review copy provided by Bloomsbury in exchange for my honest thoughts.)
4.5 Stars!
Thanks for reading!
- Sophie
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