{Review} P.S. I LIKE YOU By Kasie West

 

O P E N I N G   H O O K:

  A lightning strike. A shark attack. Winning the lottery. 
  No. I lined through all the words. Too cliché. I tapped my pen against my lips.
  Rare. What was rare? Meat, I thought with a small laugh. That would go really well in a song.
  My pen drew a couple more lines, blackening the words to unrecognizable before I wrote a single word. Love. Now that was rare in my world. The romantic version, at least.

(page 1, US hardcover edition)

“Fridays were the worst. I had to wait all weekend before I'd get a reply. Was I really already looking forward to Monday? That was backward thinking.”
~Lily, P.S. I LIKE YOU

Are you a mood/atmosphere reader? I am!!!

Over the weekend, I felt like reading Kasie West's upcoming 2017 release BY YOUR SIDE, so I did...and then it made me really want to read more of her books! I've been meaning to get to P.S. I LIKE YOU for months now, so I was finally happy to have that chance.

And......what made it even better??? YOU GUYS. This takes place over Thanksgiving Break!!!!!!!!!!!

I really loved that the characters in the book were celebrating Thanksgiving and that we're about to do the same thing!!!!

So if you love books that take place in "real time," you ABSOLUTELY want to read P.S. I LIKE YOU this week!!!!!

One reason I really love Kasie West's books is because they're full of family, friendship, and sweet, fluffy romance. They're always squeaky clean and I can even feel VERY comfortable recommending them to tweens in need of a good YA romance (Especially great with the upcoming holiday season!). I'm not a huge contemporary reader, but Kasie West is definitely one of my favorites in the genre!

(And if you want to read more books by her, check out my reviews of PIVOT POINT, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US, THE FILL-IN BOYFRIEND, and my personal favorite, ON THE FENCE!)

P.S. I LIKE YOU is another super sweet romance from Kasie West. It brings back old-fashioned letter writing--with a twist! When Lily scribbles some lyrics from her favorite obscure band onto her desk during Chemistry Class, she never expects to come in the next day and find that someone has continued the song! Very few people share her musical interests, and she's impressed. Soon, the two are leaving notes for one another and looking forward to the next day's class just to read each new response. Lily can't decide if she wants to find out who is writing her notes or not...but if it's the boy she likes, maybe it means she'll have a real chance with him?

All of the dynamics I've come to love in a Kasie West novel are at play here. There are great friendships, and even better family moments. Her family moments are always absolute standouts to me. That's one reason I loved ON THE FENCE so very, very much. P.S. I LIKE YOU rivals ON THE FENCE for "Favorite Family," though the two are very different from one another. Lily's family is big and messy and crazy. She has an older sister in college and two younger brothers who love getting into her stuff. One of them even destroys her guitar and makes it harder for her to enter a song-writing contest. Even her parents are interesting, often having contests with one another to see who made the "best" pie or piece of jewelry. Lily's family may embarrass her, but she also loves them to pieces.

And now, this is where I get a little spoilery, so if you want to keep the rest a complete mystery, you should definitely stop reading!

Lily starts keeping a list of the guys who could be the note writer from Chemistry. The two at the top of her list are David, the boy her best friend Isabel keeps trying to set her up with, and her long-time crush Lucas. Regardless of the letter writer, she's bouncing between feelings on both boys in "real life." She likes David well enough and thinks Isabel is trying really hard to set them up...but she can't help but continue to like her long-time crush Lucas. When her younger brother Wyatt's baseball coach turns out to be Cade, the guy Lily most dislikes, she finds him in her life way too frequently for comfort. He's always been a jerk to her. He nicknamed her "Magnet" in gym class--and the name stuck. He dated her best friend Isabel until she broke up with him because he and Lily couldn't get along. He's a bully. But she also can't stop thinking about him. Cade was an interesting character. He's flawed, which a lot of male characters aren't in YA. There was a bullying scene with him and a freshman early on in the book that really soured me to him. Granted, he also had balancing sweet moments, and there is a reason he does the things he does, but still...I don't have to like it! Like Lily, I was never really sure what I thought about him!

P.S. I LIKE YOU probably falls in the middle among Kasie West's books for me, just because I didn't love all the characters. It falls high on the list when it comes to family dynamics! Despite my uneven feelings, I overall really enjoyed this book and think reading it in late November during the holidays is the perfect time of year to devour this book. It will really get you in the Thanksgiving mood!!!

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C O N T E N T R A T I N G S

Content Ratings: highlight between ( ) for details

Romance: PG ( kissing...Kasie West never takes it too far for a tween to read!  )

Language:  --

Violence: --described, but there was a scene with torture that squicked me out a bit )

Other:  PG ( light bullying -- made up names such as "Magnet" and "Pink Lightning." A scene with balancing a ball in the hallway that may or may not have been misinterpreation on the main character's part. The main character also lovingly calls her younger brothers Thing 1 and Thing 2, or Things when talking to them both. Lily also has her friend distract a teacher so she can sneak into a classroom and take something another teacher took from her. )

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C O V E R   D E S I G N: 

Okay, this cover is cute! It's sweet and fluffy and fun--just like a Kasie West novel!

I like the atmosphere of the cover, the way it invokes you to have a good time with the characters!

 

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O F F I C I A L   I N F O:

Title: P.S. I LIKE YOU

Author: Kasie West

Release Date: July 26, 2016

Publisher: Point // Scholastic
Received: Borrowed

SUMMARY:

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…