Alex, Approximately

3.5

3.5 ??????

I have mixed feelings about this. It was a great easy to read and cheesy YA romance, but it wasn't really one of my favorites.

Things I Liked:
1. the online chat with unknown person concept & Bailey trying to figure out who he is
2. Porter's flirty personality
3. Bailey's dad's character and Grace's character
4. I thought Bailey's character was relatable in the way that she generally avoided deeper relationships or conversations
5. the beginning and the end (I thought the end was sweet when she learned the true identity of Alex)

Things I Disliked:
1. Bailey and Porter's relationship was a little cringe to me - it was more cringe than sweet sometimes in the middle of the book
2. how Bailey described the way Porter made her feel (also cringe)
3. it felt like the plot was sort of random things throughout the middle just to have something other than the romance

I think I would have liked it more if we as the reader didn't know who the mysterious Alex was the whole time. It was still a fun read, and I would recommend it to anyone who really likes YA contemporary romance!

I really loved this book. I surprised myself in the aspect that I thought that this book was not going to do it for me because it was YA and I had not enjoyed that category of romance for a long time. however, the manner in which the book was written as well as the themes that were discussed. they all created a storyline that felt very real because of the three-dimensional depiction of the characters as well as the multiple links that left us clues along with the ways through the old movie references. if anyone who is a huge old film buff I would think this book would tickle their fancy with the movies mentioned as it would be relatable to what they love and enhoy

This premise sounded like everything I want in a book, but unfortunately, I was left disappointed. I think, mainly because I didn't like the main character. I also kept waiting for SOMETHING interesting to happen, but with every chapter, it got more and more annoying.

This book was generally sweet. Bailey and Porter were both cute characters. What I didn't like so much was that while his violence was mentioned, the characters never really addressed it. Bailey thought about how distressing his violence was but then never mentioned it again. Also another review mentioned that Bailey was the epitome of not like other girls, and while this could be true, I felt like she fell more into the category of not like other teens. She was a tiny bit pretentious but I don't mind so much.

I found myself skimming through some of the pages because while sweet, this book was not always engaging.

Likes:
- cute, easy read
- Porter!
- Jenn Bennett's writing mostly sounds like a teenage girl, not like a 40 y/o woman trying to sound like a teenage girl
- Bailey's dad
- wholesome female friendship!!

Dislikes:
- we literally find out in the SYNOPSIS that Porter is Alex, and even if you didn't read the synopsis it's obvious about 75 pages in, yet this doesn't become a plot point until 85% of the way into the book. we then have to wait another ~50 pages for Bailey's oblivious ass to realize it. like is she ok???
- some expressions were super cringey (Jeezus cheezus? Porter likey?? referring to nipples as HEADLIGHTS?)
- Alex & Bailey's “romance” was practically non-existent
- some shit was so unrealistic. like really, Bailey was gunned down by someone stalking her family and Porter & his dad were attacked by a shark and there's a drug addict best friend that steals Bailey's scooter and tries to rob them with a shotgun. ok..

3.5 stars? This one is hard to decide!

Bailey “Mink” Rydell adalah penyuka film klasik. Dia menghabiskan berbulan-bulan bertukar pesan dengan Alex teman maya-nya di komunitas film online. Bailey pindah ke rumah ayahnya, di kota yang sama tempat Alex tinggal. Namun, Bailey yang bertekad untuk menemukan Alex, malah merahasiakan kepindahannya karena ingin menghindari kecanggungan jika mereka tidak cocok di dunia nyata. Secara tak terduga, Bailey bertemu dengan teman kerja paruh waktunya bernama Porter Roth yang sangat suka mengganggu & membuatnya marah. Bailey pun sadar bahwa dirinya berada pada garis tipis antara suka, benci, atau apa pun itu yang dia rasakan untuk Porter.
Setelah membaca Morning Star yang “berat”, membaca YA contemporary yang “ringan” sungguh menyegarkan. Memang sih typical YA, ketemu, awalnya saling benci, naksir, dst plus ending yang sdh bisa tertebak. Namun perjalanannya menuju ending itu ternyata cukup menghibur, aku menyukai Bailey & Porter.

This was a super-cute Young Adult Romance. I really enjoyed the change in formatting for the online conversations between Mink and Alex, and the explanation for why Bailey hadn't shared any identifying information online at all. That was pretty well done.

The book is a Young Adult take on the enemies-to-lovers trope, but it mostly avoided the “he picks on you because he likes you” line. The initial conflict between our two characters is really just due to misunderstandings, and the boy quickly apologizes. (With cookies!) I really enjoyed both of these characters, and I was definitely cheering for them as they revealed more of their histories and insecurities to each other.

I REALLY enjoyed their date to Monterey, California - they visited the Natural History Museum and the aquarium, both of which I have been to personally! I lived in Monterey many years ago, so it was neat to see them in a place I have personal memories of.

Overall, I thought this was an excellent young adult romance. There was some mention of sex, but nothing too graphic. I loved the setting; it brought me back to the Pacific Ocean, even if it was California beaches instead of the cold, rocky Pacific Northwest.

You can find all my reviews at Goddess in the Stacks.

I loved this so much. Sweet and light and happy, but really well-written and very more-ish.

3.5/5

Oh my goodness, this was the most adorable book I have read in a long time. I could not stop grinning like an idiot the entire time I was reading it. It just made me so HAPPY. I love when books can do that.

Porter and Bailey meet when Bailey moves to California to live with her dad. They don't exactly hit it off right away and at first Bailey is focused on finding “Alex”, the boy she's been talking to online who shares her affinity for classic movies and who also just so happens to live in the same town as her dad. As Bailey's search for Alex fails to turn up any leads, her relationship with Porter grows and it's the cutest freaking thing to witness, ugh.

If you're looking for a book that will bring back all of those warm, fuzzy feelings of your first love, READ THIS.

This book was so much fun. Cuteness overload! It was predictable and cheesy, yet very charming. I really enjoyed the relationship between Bailey and Porter, especially their dialogue, it was generally adorable and even hilarious at times. I also appreciated the diverse cast and the sex-positive message. What would have made it a 5-star read for me? More depth to the characters and story, more time spent with “Alex” (there wasn't any chemistry there because she meets Porter just a few pages into the page so it wasn't convincing at all that she would insist on keeping “Alex” a secret and therefore create all that drama), more development to her relationship with her dad and Grace. I would've also liked it if weren't THAT obvious who “Alex” was and at least tried to throw us off for a good while. Nevertheless, I still savored the story and I'm looking forward to reading more of Jenn Bennett.

2.75/5 stars. Okay, so don't let the low star rating fool you. I did like this book a lot. I'd probably recommend it to someone who isn't an avid reader. I just had problems with it.I hate comparing books to one another. I really do. I mean, the next time I see a “the next Hunger Games” comparison I might just burn something down. Yet, I couldn't help it with this book. While I did enjoy it, I would have liked it a lot more if I hadn't already read [b:Tell Me Three Things 25893582 Tell Me Three Things Julie Buxbaum https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1448596179s/25893582.jpg 43223043] or [b:P.S. I Like You 25486998 P.S. I Like You Kasie West https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442247987s/25486998.jpg 45261093]. All three books were so incredibly similar, but I just felt like the other two did things better. (Just FYI, I totally brain farted the title of Tell Me Three Things , so I googled searched “YA waffle book” and that did help me at all)I think the problem for me was that there was no chemistry between the main character, Bailey, and the guy she had been talking to online, Alex. We barely got to see any of their interactions. And the interactions we did have weren't that funny or enjoyable. Also, their conversations we didn't get to see didn't make sense to me. Why would they discuss their locations and where they live to each other openly, but get uncomfortable about telling the other their first name? I didn't get it. At all. Also, even though it's literally so obvious who Alex is, they tell you in the freaking description of the book. Not cool. Then there's love interest Porter who is a quiz-loving, weather-obsessed, surfer who works as security guard and also nerds our about movies. He was almost too much to be honest. And don't let the description fool you. It states that Porter and Bailey are “archnemesises” but they literally only hate each other for maybe twenty pages. Not long enough to really make me feel like they hate each other. (And, if I hasn't already read [b:P.S. I Like You 25486998 P.S. I Like You Kasie West https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442247987s/25486998.jpg 45261093], this wouldn't have been a big deal). Protagonist Bailey is suppose to be film geek. I don't have much experience with a die-hard love of films, but I kind of imagine it's like my die-hard love of books. Whenever I can read a book, I read a book. Whenever I can talk about a book, I'm gonna talk about a book. So, I imagined that Bailey would do the same thing. Did she? Nope. She literally only mentioned movies when it was essential to the plot. Bailey was also so frustrating. It was so, so obvious what was about to go down but she was so oblivious. Literally, everything was painted out for her and she just kept blinking her eyes. Even her dad, who just watched things from a far instead of living it out, saw everything coming from thirty miles awayI'm ranting now. I'm also over analyzing. I really did enjoy this book. Yes, the characters were a little ridiculous. And the plot really isn't the most original. But romantic contemporaries are suppose to just be fun and lighthearted, which is exactly what this book is. I had fun reading it. I'm sure you will have a great time too.