In Real Life | Jessica LoveRelease Date: March 1, 2016
Genre(s): Young Adult, Contempoary
Publisher: St.Martins Griffin
Pages: 240
Edition: EARC
Source: Publisher
Rating:
Hannah Cho and Nick Cooper have been best friends since 8th grade. They talk for hours on the phone, regularly shower each other with presents, and know everything there is to know about one another.
There's just one problem: Hannah and Nick have never actually met.
Hannah has spent her entire life doing what she's supposed to, but when her senior year spring break plans get ruined by a rule-breaker, she decides to break a rule or two herself. She impulsively decides to road trip to Las Vegas, her older sister and BFF in tow, to surprise Nick and finally declare her more-than-friend feelings for him.
Hannah's surprise romantic gesture backfires when she gets to Vegas and finds out that Nick has been keeping some major secrets. Hannah knows the real Nick can't be that different from the online Nick she knows and loves, but now she only has night in Sin City to figure out what her feelings for Nick really are, all while discovering how life can change when you break the rules every now and then.
I received a review copy courtesy of the author/publisher. This does not affect my opinion or views regarding the book whatsoever.
.
Road Trip. Vegas. Hot Boy Band. Big Boobs. Vegas
In Real Life definitely had the concept to be a 5 star read, but does it deliver?
.
The beauty of not reading a book's synopsis is that you have absolutely NO clue what you're getting yourself into. It's almost as if you're going in completely blind -- left to discover the plot and whatever else the author has laid out for you on your own. I went in knowing next to nothing about In Real Life, and I was quite pleased to find out the concept surrounds one of my favorite things, road trips! So our MC hits the road to visit her best friend, a boy she's known online for 4 years. It should've been exciting, I mean it was exciting . .
so how come I'm not feeling all that impressed?
Hey, hey
You, you
I don't like your girlfriend
No way, no way
I think you need a new one
If you don't know this song, you've lost major cool points. Okay?
Anywho, if I had to create a playlist that would paint the perfect picture of what this book was about, Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend would be the only song playing. While I was hoping In Real Life was going to be more about the road trip, (which didn't even feel like a road trip, sad face) self-discovery, young dopey love, and all of that good YA jazz, it actually ended up revolving around one thing: the-big-boobed-redhaired-vegassocialite-bloggerextraordinaire-girlfriend. Okay, let me rewind just a bit.
We've All Been There.
Hannah is a straight A student. Hannah doesn't break rules. Hannah does the right thing. Hannah isn't that girl. Well isn't Hannah a freaking peach? (Sarcasm people) If there was anything we got out of our main character, it's that she does everything by the book. She's never broken a rule or disappointed her parents, but when the parentals go out of town, leaving her to spend the spring break with her rebellious older sis and bestie, an opportunity arises for her to finally see heronline boo best friend Nick, and surprisingly she runs for it. One of my favorite aspects of this story was Hannah's and Nick's friendship. Since he lives in Vegas, (which is 4 hours from her residence in Orange County) they've never seen each other in person, causing them to rely on phone calls, texts, video chatting, you know that sort of thing. I can definitely relate to this. Through blogging, I've met some amazing girls and a few boys, and because we all live in different states, countries even, we have to resort to other means of communication. This never ruined our friendship, though. I feel closer to some of them, even more so than my friends outside of the book community. Tons of teens, and adults have online friendships/relationships, and I felt the author executed their connection realistically, making this aspect super relatable.
Ghost-Buster.
After popping up on oblivious Nick in Vegas, things get a bit interesting and a whole lot of annoying. We find out that Nick has a girlfriend hence the big-boobed-redhaired-vegassocialite-blogger extraordinaire thing I mentioned earlier. Problem was, Hannah was just so damn angry about this, and while I get it, it was technically her fault. So okay, he didn't tell his best friend he had a girlfriend, whoopy do, he's also been dropping a thousand and one hints that he liked Han (for 4 YEARS) who kept shooting him down. What's a boy to do? Wait around for her to finally admit that she's in love with him? Yeah, in her dreams. I just felt she was being a bit selfish. Not only was she pissed-then-not-pissed-then-pissed again at Nick like the entire time, she also took her frustrations out on her sister and best friend. By this time, I was pretty much done with her constant whining that I almost gave up, but her jealously towards Frankie (the girlfriend) and a bunch of other entertaining things, (like trying to make Nick jealous) is what kept me going. I enjoy reality TV like drama okay, don't judge.
To be honest, I expected more. I felt the story could've covered more ground than just following the plot line of Hannah pinning after Nick, but I guess I get it. He was her bestfriend, and she wanted him. Do what you gotta do to get what you want . . . not my advice btw.
If you're looking for an easy read full of drama, vegas attractions, and cute boys, then this is a book for you. If not, still read it.
I was guiltily entertained.
so how come I'm not feeling all that impressed?
Hey, hey
You, you
I don't like your girlfriend
No way, no way
I think you need a new one
If you don't know this song, you've lost major cool points. Okay?
Anywho, if I had to create a playlist that would paint the perfect picture of what this book was about, Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend would be the only song playing. While I was hoping In Real Life was going to be more about the road trip, (which didn't even feel like a road trip, sad face) self-discovery, young dopey love, and all of that good YA jazz, it actually ended up revolving around one thing: the-big-boobed-redhaired-vegassocialite-bloggerextraordinaire-girlfriend. Okay, let me rewind just a bit.
We've All Been There.
Hannah is a straight A student. Hannah doesn't break rules. Hannah does the right thing. Hannah isn't that girl. Well isn't Hannah a freaking peach? (Sarcasm people) If there was anything we got out of our main character, it's that she does everything by the book. She's never broken a rule or disappointed her parents, but when the parentals go out of town, leaving her to spend the spring break with her rebellious older sis and bestie, an opportunity arises for her to finally see her
Ghost-Buster.
After popping up on oblivious Nick in Vegas, things get a bit interesting and a whole lot of annoying. We find out that Nick has a girlfriend hence the big-boobed-redhaired-vegassocialite-blogger extraordinaire thing I mentioned earlier. Problem was, Hannah was just so damn angry about this, and while I get it, it was technically her fault. So okay, he didn't tell his best friend he had a girlfriend, whoopy do, he's also been dropping a thousand and one hints that he liked Han (for 4 YEARS) who kept shooting him down. What's a boy to do? Wait around for her to finally admit that she's in love with him? Yeah, in her dreams. I just felt she was being a bit selfish. Not only was she pissed-then-not-pissed-then-pissed again at Nick like the entire time, she also took her frustrations out on her sister and best friend. By this time, I was pretty much done with her constant whining that I almost gave up, but her jealously towards Frankie (the girlfriend) and a bunch of other entertaining things, (like trying to make Nick jealous) is what kept me going. I enjoy reality TV like drama okay, don't judge.
To be honest, I expected more. I felt the story could've covered more ground than just following the plot line of Hannah pinning after Nick, but I guess I get it. He was her bestfriend, and she wanted him. Do what you gotta do to get what you want . . . not my advice btw.
If you're looking for an easy read full of drama, vegas attractions, and cute boys, then this is a book for you. If not, still read it.
I was guiltily entertained.
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