Love, Comment, Subscribe

The love story was endearing and captivating but felt very high-school. My main gripe with the book is that Lily's (female MC) entire motivation was some dumb high-school drama about being excluded. I wish Lily had more depth and nuance in her character. I understand I might be harsh and that the youtube/influencer game resembles high school as it also focuses on popularity and numbers. I will grant Lily's character that but that fact honestly only made me realize that I didn't really want to read about a protagonist who still bases her self-worth on those shallow social interactions at twenty-eight years old. It probably would have worked better had the author included some scenes about exclusion when Lily was in her early 20s. A story that elevates fleeting encounters and getting approval from people who peaked in high school as the main markers of a life well lived strikes me as a rather hollow tale. I prefer reading about characters with a richer set of life experiences and more substantive relationships that shape who they are becoming. on the other hand, I enjoyed reading about Tobin and the rest of the nerd herd. They are the kind of people I would like to read about more.