Review: Love, Life and the List by Kasie West

Collaborative feature with Alexa. We read ARCs together and post our reviews on the same date.

Love, Life and the List by Kasie West
pub 12/26/17 by HarperTeen
Young Adult - Contemporary
Received from pub via Edelweiss

Plot • Abby feels like her summer is falling apart. She has an unrequited crush on her best friend Cooper. Her father is away a lot for work and she's left to deal with her mother's growing anxiety in his absence. Then when she applies for an art show, she's rejected because her work lacks "heart". Instead of letting that stop her, she decides to create a list of ten things to do over the course of one month in order to give her more life experience. She's hoping that in doing so, it'll give her art the edge she needs but this list ends up becoming about much more than that.

Characters •  It's no secret that I love books that involve best friends falling in love and family and this book had both! It was easy to relate to Abby and I admired her willingness to step out of her comfort zone because of her passion for art. Her family is the one actually helps her put together this list and I loved the dynamic she had with her parents and grandfather (this especially!). But most of all, I could see why she had fallen for Cooper and why they were best friends. With every passing scene, I was internally screaming for them to just kiss already.

Writing • Kasie West's books are extremely engaging and easy to read. I've enjoyed pretty much all of them but with each one, there's usually something missing for me. With this, I felt like she really got it. It still had her trademark lightheartedness but with the characters, the relationship and the portrayal of Abby's family, it finally had the depth I'd look for in her previous books.

Overall feelings • Loved it! I'm fairly certain it's my new favorite from her.

What's your favorite friends-to-lovers story? • This shouldn't surprise anyone but my favorite will always be Pacey and Joey.