P.S. I Like You by Kasie West
Genres: Contemporary (YA), Coming of Age (YA), Romance (YA)
Pages: 330
Goodreads
Signed, sealed, delivered…
While spacing out in chemistry class, Lily scribbles some of her favorite song lyrics onto her desk. The next day, she finds that someone has continued the lyrics on the desk and added a message to her. Intrigue!
Soon, Lily and her anonymous pen pal are exchanging full-on letters—sharing secrets, recommending bands, and opening up to each other. Lily realizes she’s kind of falling for this letter writer. Only, who is he? As Lily attempts to unravel the mystery and juggle school, friends, crushes, and her crazy family, she discovers that matters of the heart can’t always be spelled out…
This book was cute, but not exactly captivating. It seems like if you’re already a Kasie West fan, you will love this. Disclaimer: This was my first Kasie West book. I went in expecting some great things and while I didn’t hate it, I didn’t absolutely fall in love with it either.
The story focuses on Lily, who I guess was supposed to come across as one of those quirky not-like-most-girls type characters. Which, sure, she had that going for her. She wore thrift store/handmade clothes, listening to (what I think was) somewhat different music, and wrote lyrics (which isn’t even that quirky). All that was fine. What made me not really enjoy her character was her attitude. She acted like a girl who knew she wasn’t like most girls. That irritated me. She was unfriendly, purposefully distanced herself from others but then blamed the others for being distant, and acted as if she was the only kid on the planet that had crazy younger brothers that she had to babysit. Frankly, she was snooty for someone who complained about others being snooty.
As for the other characters, I have mixed feelings. While reading, I enjoyed her friendship with her best friend. I thought “wow, for once someone has a really good best friend AND it’s a girl!” However, I was reading someone’s review after I finished this book and in that review, she said “the best friend only exists for Lily. In fact, I can’t even remember her name” (paraphrasing). And you know what I realized? I don’t remember her name either. I think that says something. With that said, it was nice to see a friendship that was actually good. They worked through any issues they had fairly quickly and were supportive of each other. Bonus points for that!
The love interest, well, I never really warmed up to him. He wasn’t terrible, but for a book that is 100% about the romance, I should have quickly loved him.
On the plot, which is where I’m even more iffy. It’s insanely predictable. I knew what was going to happen well before it was even hinted. West made it painfully obvious. And this is where I talk about it in more detail, so spoiler: View Spoiler »
Even though I knew exactly which direction this was going to go, and even knew that at some point a certain something was going to happen, I still thought it was cute. It’s an easy read and does somewhat teach you a lesson to get to know someone’s character. I do wish there was a bit more depth to it and that the friendship was actually as good as I thought it was while reading and not just a plot device, but I do recommend it if you want an easy, quick, high school romance.
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| Overall: | 3 / 5 |
14 Comments
Ahh this one sounds dissapointing :/ I haven’t read any Kasie West books, but I think I won’t start my journey with this book. I hope your next read would be better!
Maybe look into some of her other ones? Honestly, I’ve heard great things about ALL of her books. So, maybe this was just me >.< haha
Aww man, I’m sorry this didn’t work as well for you as it did some others. I’m a fan of Kasie West already so I’m probably going to love it.
I hope the next one works better for you! 🙂
Yeah, you might! I said that in the beginning of the review because when I was reading other people’s reviews, those that had already read and loved many of her books loved it and those that read her for the first time with this book didn’t enjoy it as much. It’s still a cute story, though! I just wanted more. I’m picky I guess haha
Aww I’m sad you didn’t enjoy this. I was loving it. I understand what you say about the author making it obvious that Cade is the guy, but I don’t think it was for our benefit. I think it was merely for Lily’s involvement, and for our enjoyment. I really liked the note passing. That was probably what I loved the most. (Yeah, I don’t remember her best friend’s name, either). Lovely review 🙂
Genesis | Latte Nights Reviews
I didn’t hate it, it was cute, but I just wish it was a little more mysterious haha Also, I wish there was a little bit of a conclusion with the music school application. It would have added another element to the story that wasn’t all about the romance, you know? I thought the note passing was cute! I guess since I already knew it was Cade from the beginning, it made the tension between them in the real world a little humorous. I just wish I didn’t find out so soon! >.< haha
This is about how I felt about it. Totally cute so long as you expect a shallow plot line – but some people love that, so then hey whatever works, right?!
Exactly. I didn’t hate it, I actually finished it fairly quickly because it was cute, but the plot was just…meh. I also felt like the ending was SO rushed. It was just happily ever after within 5 pages it felt like. (I think I forgot to include that in my review lol)
I’m not reading this review because I plan on reading this one asap, but I’m glad to know (from your title), it’s cute. Sometimes that’s the just the kind of read I’m seeking: cute, but not intellectual because sometimes lighthearted “happy” is the only way to go. 🙂
Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland recently, Molly. 🙂
That’s very true! Sometimes a good “mindless” but cute read is very enjoyable. And this one was enjoyable in that sense. Having just a light hearted and easy ready is perfect 🙂
I’ve never read this book, but you posed a question in your spoiler that I had to answer. Just cause someone is odd or part of a different crowd doesn’t mean all their friends are the same. I knew plenty of boys/girls in high school who hung out, and were friends, while running within different crowds. I also knew many that ran in multiple.
Well, yes, I understand that BUT most of the time it’s not the case (at least in my HS experience, as I said) It was very rare, in fact I never saw this, in my experience that an unpopular girl had friends who were popular. So I just find it odd that in ALL books I’ve read, this happens. But that’s why I said that its exclusive to my experience. If that makes sense ?
I’m just pointing out that while some schools/areas might not fit the mold there are alternative ones that do. Mine isn’t the only one as I’ve heard stories from friends online who had similar inter-circle mingling experiences. And a lot of my friends are from either other countries altogether or other states in the US. Even my mom has stories of this nature.
I know, I’m saying I get that. But what I’m saying is that in probably 9 out of 10 YA contemp books I read, the odd girl has a best friend who isn’t that odd. Which I just didn’t experience…ever. So it would be nice to also see MY experience. I feel like authors only do this to further the “she’s not like most girls” characterization, not to show a particular school experience. I do understand what you’re saying, though. Obviously my experience isn’t the only one and that all types of people are friends. That’s kind of why I formatted it as a rant and not an actual critique of the book.