I'm Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl

this book was honestly pretty annoying to read bc the main character was so unlikeable but the storyline was cute and it was fluff and i still enjoyed it.

OK but more predictable than a good YA novel should be. If I didn't know the definition of a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, I might have been more interested but I have been familiar with the term ever since it was first coined many years ago, and I didn't think McNeil did anything particularly creative or thought-provoking with the trope. Plus there's a really annoying "Chekhov's gun" plot in which one character gives something to another character, who conveniently forgets about it until it is time for all of the item's inherent secrets to come to light.

The book is best suited for tweens and young teens, but it is not one of those YA books that will appeal to adults of all ages.

Actual rating: 2.5 stars, rounded down

I really, really wanted to like this book. But guess what? The universe decided to conspire against me, and there was nothing I could do about it.

- First of all, this book isn't actually terrible. I mean, it features a very unique protagonist — a Filipino-American teenager, which is something you don't see a lot of in contemporary young adult fiction. Plus, it has a super interesting premise, which revolves around the manic-pixie-dream-girl trope, it's effects, possible connotations and the way it caters to the men around us.

- But here's the thing: it doesn't handle either of the two things I mentioned above very well. Right from the start, Bea is a hard protagonist to root for. I found her obliviousness and lack of good decision-making skills particularly grating, and I thought there was little to no nuance in it's supposed deconstruction of said trope. At times, the whole book just felt completely over the top and silly, in a way that made me cringe.

- And lastly, I really didn't appreciate the romantic “win the guy back” plot. I didn't understand what she saw in Jesse, I didn't understand what made her even want to bring Toile down ... which is probably why I spent the rest of the book going “whyyyyyy” as Bea tried to re-invent herself into the perfect girl, just to get him back.

But, of course, don't let this stop you from picking this book up >~< It's gotten loads of rave reviews + it's diverse (not a lot of problematic rep, as far as I saw), so you might enjoy it, as long as you approach it with the right sort of mindset!