Review
I read Beck Medina's Fantastic Mess of Everything last year and praised the anxiety and medication rep while the romance was sweet.
So when Medina emailed me with an offer of reading this short story, I jumped at the chance.
Or Best Offer is a cute romance story, much like Fantastic Mess of Everything. Cara is a typical YA protagonist but coping with the divorce, cleaning compulsion, and social anxiety. She's cute, obscenely crushing on this particular boy, and her best
Also, I want some of the Heartbreak brownies!
I don't know why, but I just love this turn of phrase:
Cara won me over with this little gem on page 7-8:
Minor Sidenote: Shortly after this moment Cara says she's out 250 bucks because of Noah, but shouldn't it be $500???
This is the brief mention of race and color:
Maybe I'm out my lane, but isn't that just heartbreaking? She doesn't want to be brown and wants to be olive like all the popular YA heroines so they can cast white girls as the leads.
It also has a great message about boys and chasing them, which applies for girls & nb people too, and trying to force a connection and romancing a fantasy.
This is one of several reasons I wish it was a bit longer, had a bit more Cara and Liam and Kelly and Jess. But on the other hand, pining and whining over Noah for a long period of time would be dreadful. Cara gets over her issues quick for the progression of the story, and it would be nice to get more detail on and flush it out.
So Basically: Cute, Funny, Real Characters, Real Issues, Wish It Was Longer.
So when Medina emailed me with an offer of reading this short story, I jumped at the chance.
Or Best Offer is a cute romance story, much like Fantastic Mess of Everything. Cara is a typical YA protagonist but coping with the divorce, cleaning compulsion, and social anxiety. She's cute, obscenely crushing on this particular boy, and her best
Also, I want some of the Heartbreak brownies!
I don't know why, but I just love this turn of phrase:
Liam rolls his eyes again, this time it carries his body to his car.
Cara won me over with this little gem on page 7-8:
Her eyes are wide and glistening, but they lead to an infinite source of heartache. Like she's watching that scene in Fox in the Hound where Fox’s owner leaves him in the woods. You know, the saddest scene in the history of filmmaking.
Minor Sidenote: Shortly after this moment Cara says she's out 250 bucks because of Noah, but shouldn't it be $500???
This is the brief mention of race and color:
“It's not flattering on your brown skin is all I'm saying.”
I sigh. I always thought black was a good color on me, considering my olive skintone.
My sister Kelly got Mom’s fair skin, and I got my dad’s. All I remember about my dad is that he and I share the same small, soft nose, square forehead, and, in Jess’s words, brown skin.
Maybe I'm out my lane, but isn't that just heartbreaking? She doesn't want to be brown and wants to be olive like all the popular YA heroines so they can cast white girls as the leads.
It also has a great message about boys and chasing them, which applies for girls & nb people too, and trying to force a connection and romancing a fantasy.
This is one of several reasons I wish it was a bit longer, had a bit more Cara and Liam and Kelly and Jess. But on the other hand, pining and whining over Noah for a long period of time would be dreadful. Cara gets over her issues quick for the progression of the story, and it would be nice to get more detail on and flush it out.
So Basically: Cute, Funny, Real Characters, Real Issues, Wish It Was Longer.
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