You Were Made For Me is a fluffy, contemporary YA
novel that leaves the reader in a ‘feel good’ mood. Contemporaries are some of
my favourite reads as they confront realistic issues which are present for many
teenagers and adults alike. Something else that is great is that it is written
by a Love Oz Ya author!
The book is focused on main character Katie and her
dream of having her first kiss and a dream boyfriend. She is seventeen years
old and embarrassed that unlike her best friend, she’s never had a love interest
and feels like she needs to change this. One day, she and her best friend magically
make her dream boat character and the rest of the book deals with the implications
of this.
When I first came across this book, the plot instantly
intrigued me. A girl creating her perfect boyfriend? It seems like something
every woman would be interested in and I couldn’t wait to read it to see one,
how it happened and two, what the issues arising might be. I wasn’t
disappointed. It is a short book but one which the reader will fly through as
it keeps you engaged, from start to finish. While it addresses somewhat similar
issues to contemporary YA novels, it adds an extra element by having a
character developed out of basically nothing. It was interesting seeing the
dynamic between the characters change once this addition was introduced and how
Katie and her friends attempted to hide him from their families (quite
unsuccessfully!)
The characters in this book each differed
significantly and their own traits were very distinct unlike some other YA
reads. I liked how Katie and her friends were not part of the popular clique and
were the ones trying their hardest to fit in as we got to witness their
struggles and later, triumphs. Theo was probably my favourite character in the
book; he remained the realist throughout and just wanted to help Katie, Libby
and Guy rather than trying to shift the focus to himself. He is so selfless
despite losing him mum previously to illness and being a bit of a forgotten
soul in his family. Guy was one character that I struggled to get into. He was essentially
a long lost Hemsworth brother as described by Katie and as he was ‘perfect’, had
very robotic tendencies. He wanted to be everything Katie was, hanging out with
her 24/7. I feel he may have needed some more depth but I think the author was
going for these characteristics to make him appear needy so Katie would realise
that being perfect, isn’t actually a reality. It also allowed her to eventually
see that her crush at high school, Declan Bell-Jones, was an absolute waste of
time!
One thing I did find I struggled with was some of the
writing. The writing felt quite juvenile, aimed at characters aged in their
early teens rather than late teens. This was evident as main character Katie appeared
overly dramatic which seems to be a characteristic of younger protagonists. She
was referring to kissing a boy as being a milestone moment for her whilst many
other young adult books grapple with other issues at this age. I was intrigued
that within scenes similar to this that there would be a random outburst
regarding sex or something more mature, which seemed out of place considering
the rest of the plot. The characters just needed to appear a bit older than
they were portrayed to make it seem more realistic for the age group.
A real stand out and the focus of the book would be
the themes which were addressed throughout. The overarching theme was that being
perfect isn’t really all that it’s perked up to be and friendships trump
relationships every time! I applaud the author for also including a diversity
including a Filipina-Australian, referencing asexual and aromantic and also considering
characters who were not the stereotypical size small. These are things which
are starting to be more commonly found in young adult books and it is great to
see more people being represented!
Overall, I found this a great, easy read which read
quite similarly to a rom-com. It was fun, had a wide cast of characters who you
either loved or hated and kept me turning the page to see what happened next! I’d
highly recommend to anyone wanting something lighter to read to raise their
spirits.
3 and a half stars
Thank you to MacMillan for providing me with a copy
for review
You Were Made For Me by Jenna Guillaume is released in
Australia on the 11th of August!
No comments:
Post a Comment