You Have a Match ~ Review by Maryam

 

Summary

When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie…although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front.

But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister.

When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parents — especially considering Savannah, queen of green smoothies, is only a year and a half older than Abby herself.

The logical course of action? Meet up at summer camp (obviously) and figure out why Abby’s parents gave Savvy up for adoption. But there are complications: Savvy is a rigid rule-follower and total narc. Leo is the camp’s co-chef, putting Abby's growing feelings for him on blast. And her parents have a secret that threatens to unravel everything.

But part of life is showing up, leaning in, and learning to fit all your awkward pieces together. Because sometimes, the hardest things can also be the best ones. (Goodreads)

Review

I had high hopes for this book because Emma Lord's first novel Tweet Cute hit a real sweet spot when I read it. I eagerly awaited the new year, not excited for a new beginning because of the pandemic, but excited for this book. My hopes were severely dashed. 

When I started the book I immediately felt like I didn't relate to any of the characters. The main character Abby was a total daredevil who avoided all problems and any sort of confrontation. Her best friends Leo and Connie were the usual type of best friends to the main character, but their friend group contained some tension. The secret sister Savannah was obsessed with her instagram and tried to be a prefect junior camp counselor, making her more distant with her friends. The other supporting characters didn't add much to the story except for maybe Finn who kept getting Abby into a lot of trouble.

The story's plot was not as well developed as it could have been. I ended up laughing at parts that should not have been funny. It seemed like the author tried to make the book contain some serious notes, but for me that didn't make the book any more exciting. The whole "secret sister" shock turned into a drama and escalated way more during and near the end of the book. It was very random to me, because the book started out with Abby finding out she had a sister and then going to summer camp with her. After that, the plot barely focused on the two girls trying to find out what their parents were hiding and more on how Abby and Savannah did not get along. Abby was constantly getting into trouble and making it really hard for Savannah. Then suddenly their parents arrived and everything from the past is out in the open. Even after that, there was no closure until the end of the book. Maybe the author intended for the book to be like that, but personally I felt that the plot could have been more evenly spread out rather than in random chunks that never reached a resolve until the actual end of the book.

Another random part of the book was Abby's huge crush on her best friend Leo. I don't like best friend romances when they have known each other their whole lives and then make things awkward for so long. Both Leo and Abby had feelings for each other and it was quite obvious that they would end up together. However, it was excruciating to watch their awkward interactions throughout the book knowing full well that they were going to become a couple. Possible spoiler: Finn was also thrown into the mix because him and Abby became really close when she was at camp. They almost got together and Leo showed clear signs of jealousy when this happened. It annoyed me that nothing was resolved with Finn, because he told her later he was going to ask her on a date and she didn't tell him no. Abby and Leo's interactions were on and off because Abby was already dealing with her family drama. Thoughts of her crush would just randomly pop up and then there would be an awkward interaction with Leo. In my opinion, the relationship was unnecessary and I felt like it was just thrown in their for some extra drama.

The only good thing I can say about this book is that I related to Abby's difficulty in sharing her feelings with others. Overall, this book was a real let down and if you plan on reading it don't expect a great plot, possibly just a good laugh.

Note: This book contained a lot of swearing that just added to the unappealing nature of it!

~Maryam Yasin