Betting On You
Ratings44
Average rating3.9
Lynn Painter does YA right.
This was an adorable love story with a swoon worthy MMC. Although they are high school aged kids, I didn't get weirded you reading it because it wasn't overly sexualized. I can't stand reading YA that borders on inappropriately graphic. It makes me feel like a perv. And not in a fun way.
4½⭐
“Ella tenía veinte cosas que me molestaban, todas juntas, pero había algo extrañamente relajante en estar cerca de ella.
Tal vez era el ligero brillo que siempre tenía en sus ojos, como si esperara que apareciera magia en cualquier momento. Esa esperanza con los ojos muy abiertos me hizo sentir esperanzado, lo cual era peligroso pero ligeramente embriagador.”
Cute little romance. I could also really relate to Bailey, being a child of divorced parents myself. The author did a really good job describing the thoughts and feelings a teenager goes through while experiencing that.
I was recommended this book because I asked for “hot kissing scenes but no sex” and it partially delivered. There wasn't sex. But there was definitely a lot of talk about it.
When I first started this book I was worried they were going to turn Bailey's quirks into some flaw that needed to be changed. I was gonna rage and then DNF this so hard! Luckily they didn't go that route, so I'm happy to say I finished until the end.
The story has promise but I feel like it was too long and had too many side stories that didn't go anywhere. There are so many things we could have explored more like Charlie's OCD/anxiety about germs. And unfortunately I feel like we spent too much time on the whole divorced parent thing. Look, I'm a kid of divorce, but you want your mom to be happy but you don't want her to be happy? And then we find out her soon-to-be-husband was also a child of divorce but didn't think twice before proposing infront of Bailey's mom, but also doesn't apologize for it?. Are we even trying?
This would have been a 4 stars if the ending was solid, but it wasn't. It felt rushed and unearned. If you're gonna give me a 3rd act breakup, Charlie doesn't get to just show up at prom with a cat and it's okay. I also feel like the characters wasted too much time on this fake-dating thing. Surprisingly, though, I didn't care about all the Taylor Swift references. But to fair I probably missed half of them.
So, it was okay. The kissing scenes could have been hotter and the ending could have been better. I don't think I'd re-read this again, and I'd be hesitant to recommend it to someone else, so just under 4 for me.
I would enjoy this more if I were a few years younger. The main characters are just too childish sometimes (They are technically children though, with lots of kissing...). I just don't get the chemistry & the angst between the 2 mcs. Maybe I got tired of the misunderstanding/miscommunication trope.
But, this book proves one thing: Boys and girls can never be close friends. And I firmly stand by this belief.
This was my first Lynn Painter book, but wow, it won't be my last! Not only is the main plot fun and interesting, the fake dating premise was done in a fresh way, and made this story unputdownable. Although at the very beginning of the story both main characters were not likable to me right away, they both grew on me, and it didn't take long for me to root for them, not only for their romance, but for their own personal growth as well.
I really loved watching them both navigate life in a divorced parent family, only because Lynn Painter did all of those conflicting feelings realistic justice through both Bailey and Charlie's narrative. And the chemistry between Charlie and Bailey?!? Chef's kiss
If you need a good binge read, you just found it!
I wrote a review for The Miramichi Reader. This YA novel's publishing date is in November. Not sure when my review will be posted.