Tag: College YA

COLLEGE YA FUN: The Dating Game Review

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Summary (From the publisher):
When a notoriously difficult class for future entrepreneurs leads to three freshmen developing the next “it” app for dating on college campuses, all hell breaks loose…

Type A control freak Sara lives by her color-coordinated Post-it notes.

Rich boy Braden wants out from under his billionaire father’s thumb.

Scholarship student Roberto can’t afford for his grades to drop.

When the three are forced to work together in one of the university’s most difficult classes, tension rises to the breaking point…until, shockingly, the silly dating app they create proves to be the most viable project in class. Late nights of app development, interest from investors and unexpected romance are woven into a true-to-life college drama that explores what it means to really connect online and IRL.

My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

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My Thoughts:

Since college YA is one of my favorite contemporary sub-genres, I’ve been highly looking forward to reading Kiley Roache’s books, Frat Girl and The Dating Game. While I haven’t yet read Frat Girl, I will be soon because I absolutely loved The Dating Game!

The Dating Game is one of those books that I absolutely fell into and didn’t want to put down. The Dating Game does depict college culture in most of its stereotypicalness–fraternities, drinking, all nighters, NETFLIX. Nonetheless, it was a fun ride.

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College YA Meets 90s TV: Finding Felicity Review

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Summary:Caroline Sands has never been the best at making friends. Especially in Arizona, where her parents’ divorce sent her and her mom for a fresh start. Being the new girl and being socially awkward didn’t make finding friendships so easy. What was easy? When her mom started worry about her, Caroline invented a whole life for herself, using the beloved characters of her favorite TV show, Felicity. But it’s now time to head off to college and Caroline has plans to start a “new” life for herself, even if it means taking a tip or two from Felicity. However, Caroline’s plans come crashing down when her mom discovers her lies about her high school friendships. Her ultimatum? Prove in the first semester that Caroline is able to make nonfictional friends and a healthy life for herself at college. If not, she’s headed home to Arizona for good.

 My Rating: 4/5 Stars

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My Thoughts:

If you’ve been following me even for the tiniest bit, you’ll know that one of my reading obsessions of 2018 has been college YA. Currently a college student myself, I’ve just been craving stories with settings and characters I can personally relate to at this stage of my life. I’ve been quickly adding more college YA books to my TBR, but I’m trying to take my time getting through them so I’ll always have the genre on my TBR (not to mention the other 90+ books that are waiting to topple over me). So next on my TBR was Stacey Kade’s Finding Felicity.

As the title suggests, our main character, Caroline, loves the ‘90s TV show, Felicity. You do not need to watch the show going in. Before reading, I never saw the show and I only watched the first two episodes the day I started the book. Stacey Kade does not include spoilers for the show because odds are if you enjoy Finding Felicity, you’ll love Felicity. The show follows a college-aged protagonist who decides to go to college in New York City, against her parents’ expectations to go to Stanford and become a doctor.

I’m sure true Felicity fans will pick up on more, but I did enjoy how Stacey Kade includes elements from the show in the book. There’s bigger plot points, like Caroline wanting to go to Ashmore because Liam will be there, and smaller moments, like when Caroline tears up in class and her classmate asks if she’s okay.

Now, CAN WE PLEASE HAVE A BOOK LIKE THIS WITH PARKS & RECREATION OR FULL HOUSE? YOU WANT ME TO WRITE IT? That’s good because, I already have the first twenty chapters or so planned out.

I’ll keep you up to date on my WIPs one day, but I just love how this book incorporated fandom love. Caroline also loves watching films and other TV shows, including the HGTV channel.I’m a firm believer that everyone needs some Fixer Upper in their life, and I think Caroline would agree.

Outside of its fandom aspects, I really appreciate Finding Felicity because Stacey Kade shows that transitioning to college and making a new life there isn’t that easy. While her situation is a bit unique, we see Caroline struggle to find friends and adapt to Ashmore, but along the way she starts to form some relationships and we leave her at a great starting point. I think it’d be really fun to see Caroline every year of college, like Felicity!

Overall, Finding Felicity is a cute college YA read that will warm your heart and make you crave pizza, as it seems to be the food of choice for Caroline and her classmates. Pizza is truly its own food group for us college kids.

Have you read Finding Felicity? Have you seen Felicity? Share in the comments!

COLLEGE YA ALL DAY, EVERY DAY: I Hate Everyone But You Review

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Summary: Told through a series of emails and text messages, Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin’s I Hate Everyone But You follows Ava and Gen’s friendship while attending their first semester of college at different schools. Ava and Gen promise to document their everyday happenings to one another, with Ava at school in California and Gen away in Boston. From self-discovery, new relationships, sexuality, mental illness, first loves and heartbreak, Gen and Ava help each other figure out their new lives while trying to keep their own friendship together.

My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

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My Thoughts:

I Hate Everyone But You by Allison Raskin and Gaby Dunn has been popping up on my TBR radar since the book came out in September 2017. If you’ve been here even for a bit, you’ll know that I love using the phrase “a bit”, but also that I am always on the hunt for college YA, or young-adult books that have college-aged protagonists or protagonists who are in college. After reading Gloria Chao’s American Panda, I decided to keep my college YA reading going by picking up I Hate Everyone But You.

I love how the book is told in a series of emails and text messages, perfect for readathons and one-to-two sitting readers. Definitely different in subject matter, but I was reminded a lot of Love, Rosie by Cecelia Ahern, since the book is told in a familiar format. Through the emails, we are able to get a first person POVs from Gen and Ava. While we get plenty of humor-infused emails (go back and read the titles of said emails, I personally love “Love, Lust and Beer Pong” and “All the Single Ladies”), the text messages also provided plenty of humor and personality. I admit that I liked Ava’s emails better, mainly because I related to Ava more. I could relate to Ava’s struggle with trying to make friends and navigating new relationships, as well as her temptation to go home on the weekends. Her POV showed the less glamorous side of being a freshman and trying to figure out this new life. And this isn’t to say I didn’t like Gen because I thought she had some funny encounters herself and it was cool to see her adapt to life in Boston.

However, I felt that the book could have have taken place over one year instead of over one semester. Yes, I Hate Everyone But You is on the shorter side, but considering its one semester length, some of the events and the relationships felt a bit rushed. Also, who has the time to get into all the things Ava and Gen do in one semester, let alone their first?? I was lucky enough to find time for a Stranger Things marathon my first semester, between my coursework and adjusting to college life. Additionally, Ava and Gen’s plots were a tad stereotypical when it comes to the “expectations” of college. From the start, Gen parties every weekend and Ava finds herself trying to join a sorority when she’s not too sure if she even wants to take part in Greek life. I think it would’ve made more sense for AVA to NOT be in sorority, but going Greek ends up influencing her storyline.

I Hate Everyone But You addresses a variety of topics. For Ava, the biggest is mental health and for Gen, it’s sexuality. In my opinion, both topics weren’t handled in the best fashion. Ava often references her mental health as a joke, but then delves into some darker moments. I feel like it needed to be fleshed out a bit more, especially when she has problems with her therapist (I also found these emails to be a tad confusing).Gen’s sexuality could have also used a bit more development (I understand that it might not have because Gen is trying to figure it out herself), but I hated when she flipped out on Ava about it.

Overall, I recommend reading I Hate Everyone But You if you enjoy books with unique formats or if you’re looking for college YA. Before heading into the book, I was unfamiliar with Gaby and Allison’s Youtube channel, Just Between Us, but I’ll be definitely checking it out now!

Have you read I Hate Everyone But You? Do you watch Just Between Us? Share in the comments!

I LOVE COLLEGE YA & HERE’S WHY: American Panda by Gloria Chao Review

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Summary: Mei has always tried to meet her parents’ expectations. After all, at seventeen year old, she should be a high school senior, not a freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her parents’ biggest expectation? Going to MIT as a biology major to then go to medical school at Harvard and become a doctor. Mei’s biggest problem? Mei hates germs. Her dilemma grows worse when she only has eyes for Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly not Taiwanese– only Taiwanese boys are allowed for Mama Lu’s daughter. After seeing her brother disowned by her family for dating the wrong woman, Mei can’t bring herself to tell her parents the truth, but she can’t live with lies either.

My Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

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College YA & American Panda Thoughts:

Spring break finally allowed me to read Gloria Chao’s American Panda. I’ve seen nothing but great reviews for Gloria Chao’s debut novel following a COLLEGE freshman. Why the emphasis on college there? BECAUSE I LOVE BOOKS WITH COLLEGE-AGED PROTAGONISTS OR CHARACTERS WHO ARE IN COLLEGE!

Young adults aren’t only found in high school, folks. YA, or at least YA contemporary, is typically categorized as such because the central characters often experience some sort of “first”. But let me tell you, college is filled with plenty of young adults and firsts, and I’m not just talking about having to do your laundry for the first time.

So why I am always on the lookout for college YA?

I’m a college student. Give me people who also live in dorm rooms and live away from home and have to operate on -3 hours of sleep and go to class.

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Growing pains. Yes, I love plenty of YA books with high school aged characters, but as I get more mature (fine, older), I find myself not being able to relate the problems that come with being a high school student and the drama as much.

So why did I love American Panda for being a college YA?

Mei is somewhat more able to stand up to her parents. Yes, potentially being disowned as a college student whose parents pay for your tuition has a lot of problems, but being away at school acted as some sort of barrier between Mei and her parents. I also appreciated her hot chocolate time with Darren.

MEI GOES TO CLASS AND DOES STUDENT-LIKE THINGS, INCLUDING HOMEWORK. Even though I still want to know if she goes to the dining hall or even has a meal plan.

The balance between school and family. I would say the biggest element of American Panda is family, but it was nice to see Mei be able to live her life at school and then spend time with her family. Contrary to her roommate’s belief, some college students (ME) don’t mind seeing their families on the weekend.

There’s no partying or drinking. Yes, this is definitely a no-no on her parents’ list, but I loved how Mei is never tempted to party and has no effect on the plot.

So what else did I love about American Panda?

Mei is Taiwanese-American, but her parents expect her to follow their Chinese traditions and expectations. I really enjoyed learning more about Chinese culture (sidenote: where can I found a Domaeron plush??), and I would love to see more books with characters and authors of such diverse backgrounds. While her family’s expectations drive Mei nuts, I liked how she still appreciated her culture. For example, a lot of Mei’s dancing is infused with Chinese dance, and she acts as a mentor/teacher for young girls of a similar background.

Mei’s mom’s voicemail intros for each chapter were hilarious. I liked how they became a bit more heartwarming toward the end (even though her wisdom and tidbits about Ying-Na were funny), and I’m happy about the state of Mei and her mom’s relationship at the end of the novel.

I read the entire book in a day! Plenty of people are able to read a book in just one sitting, but I haven’t had the opportunity to in a long time. Snow days are good for something! I also found myself not wanting to part with American Panda because I needed to know what happened then and there. I highly recommend reading American Panda for a readathon or de-reading slump motivation because it’s such an addicting read and on the shorter side (just over 300 pages).

While I loved American Panda overall, there were a few things I didn’t enjoy just as much:

There was a lot of MIT lingo that I felt could easily have been replaced with regular college lingo. For example, instead of Mei using the course numbers to say what class she was in, she could have just said Intro to Bio or Calculus 101. However, I think readers who are familiar with MIT/are current MIT students/are past MIT students/are MIT tourists like the ones we see in the book will really appreciate all the MIT-ness, and it was a cool personal touch from Gloria Chao, a MIT grad.

Some of the chapters, especially in the beginning, jumped around a tad much and I was quite confused. I’m specifically talking about Chapters 5 and 6, where Mei has to go to the medical center. I realize now it’s used as a jump start for Mei to realize she doesn’t want to be a doctor, but I felt like it was just thrown at us. We go from her having dinner to her parents to then going to the medical center at 3 AM and finding out she has herpes (trust me, not a spoiler) and having a weird encounter with Dr. Chang??? I really couldn’t distinguish between reality or if Mei was having a stress dream of sorts.

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Have you read American Panda? What college YA books do you enjoy? Share in the comments!