The Unhoneymooners | Book Review

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

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Goodreads Synopsis

Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky. 

My Review

I really enjoyed this, and binge listened to the audio book. The main character is supposed to be plus-sized, but it wasn't really expounded upon in the book. I was excited that the character was a curvy girl and was disappointed that it wasn't really a good rep of that. However, I loved the relationship between the protagonists, and the story was a fun ride.

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Autoboyography - Book Review

Autoboyography by Christina Lauren

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Description from the Author

Goodreads Choice Nominee for Best Young Adult Fiction 2017

Audible Best of the Year Finalist 2017

ALA Rainbow List Finalist

30th Annual Lambda Literary Award Finalist 

Vulture Best Queer YA Novels

Fangirl meets Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in this funny and poignant coming-of-age novel from New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren about two boys who fall in love in a writing class—one from a progressive family and the other from a conservative religious community.

Three years ago, Tanner Scott’s family relocated from California to Utah, a move that nudged the bisexual teen temporarily back into the closet. Now, with one semester of high school to go, and no obstacles between him and out-of-state college freedom, Tanner plans to coast through his remaining classes and clear out of Utah.

But when his best friend Autumn dares him to take Provo High’s prestigious Seminar—where honor roll students diligently toil to draft a book in a semester—Tanner can’t resist going against his better judgment and having a go, if only to prove to Autumn how silly the whole thing is. Writing a book in four months sounds simple. Four months is an eternity.

It turns out, Tanner is only partly right: four months is a long time. After all, it takes only one second for him to notice Sebastian Brother, the Mormon prodigy who sold his own Seminar novel the year before and who now mentors the class. And it takes less than a month for Tanner to fall completely in love with him.

My Review
Page Count: 407 pgs/9 hrs., 19 mins. 
Narrator: Deacon Lee, Kyle Mason
Genre: YA Comtemporary, LGBTQ, Romance
Stand-Alone Novel

I listened to the audio book. The narrators were excellent. 

I really loved this book. I noticed on Goodreads that some people said that there were some issues with the writing, but I found the story line so endearing that those issues didn't bother me. This book made me feel so many things, that it is hard to process them all at once. I definitely think that this is a book that will stick with me for a long time. 

This book touches on very important issues pertaining to the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS/Mormon) and homosexuality. One of the protagonists has to come to terms with his sexuality while he tries to reconcile how he feels with the Church's teachings that he has believed for his entire upbringing. 

Tanner and Autumn's friendship is wonderful. She is part of the LDS church, but she accepts Tanner completely. They have a sweet, easy way about them, and their friendship perseveres despite some of the conflicts that arise. 

Tanner's parents are WONDERFUL. They accept him and love him unconditionally, and treat him like a person, not a project to be fixed. It was so nice to read about happy family dynamics. 

Overall, I highly recommend this book. It took me through a roller coaster of emotions, and I feel like I learned a few lessons along the way. Go check it out!

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