Foolish Hearts

4.5 i love being surprised by books. given the reviews i was pretty sure i'd enjoy this, but i didn't know i'd adore it the way i did. this book defied expectations in so many ways. it skirts around cliches and tropes but manages to bypass them graciously almost every time. we have what could have been a ‘not like other girls' unpopular protagonist, claudia, who actually isn't either of those things. the way that she's not the most popular person in school isn't dramatised - she's still invited to events, she still has friends and people to hang out with, she doesn't eat lunch alone in the bathroom. she just wishes for a little more, a closer friendship, like the one she has with her best friend zoe. zoe, like claudia, and like claudia's brother, older sister and older sister's husband, is super into a world of warcraft-esque game. this is never made fun of, or belittled. it's actually set up to be a really valuable part of the way she keeps in touch with said older sister once she's moved out. after claudia accidentally witnesses the breakup of her school's it-couple, paige and iris (a wlw relationship that mills never feels the need to ‘explain' or justify, but that's just allowed to be), she finds herself having to work with the cold, standoff-ish iris on their school's production of a midsummer night's dream (and we all know i'm always here for shakespeare). claudia has to audition and is sure she won't do well - and she doesn't, but it's never a huge deal. she instead works in the wardrobe department with people who never doubt that that is just as valuable a part of the work as acting. claudia never looks down on them, or looks up at the players. in claudia and iris we get an enemies to friends story that i didn't know i needed, but i needed. it was so well done, the way we find out more about iris and she becomes a fully realised person who's still flawed and who still needs to work on shit, but who's also an avid TION (foolish hearts' staple boy band) fan - another thing that, while the subject of confusion on claudia's part, is never really ridiculed and even becomes an integral part of their friendship. it shows the value and importance of being able to share the things you're passionate about with the people you care about. and it also shows that friendships can manifest in different ways, and you can share one thing with one friend, and another with a second, and that's totally okay. lastly, just because i need to say it and because it was yet another thing that defied expectations: all the guys in this book (to be fair there are like 3) are genuinely so good. claudia's love interest is absolutely lovely - he's funny and always looks out for her without being overbearing, he backs off immediately and without guilt-tripping when she tells him she's not interested, he cares about his friends so incredibly much. having guys in a ya book explicitly say that they love their friends? radical. love it. give me more. anyway this book is heart-warming and sweet and genuinely funny. super recommend.