Review: P.S. I Like You (Kasie West)

Title: P.S. I Like You
Series: standalone
Author: Kasie West (site)
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: July 26, 2016
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance
Told: First Person (Lily), Past Tense
Content Rating: Teen (some kissing)
Format Read: ARC (trade)
Find On: Goodreads
Purchase On: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
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…

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Review copy provided by publisher for an honest review. Thank you, Scholastic!

In a Sentence: A quick and sweet albeit predictable teen romance about misperception in the vein of Pride & Prejudice.

If you know me you know I am a huge Kasie West fan, so it will come as no surprise that this was my most anticipated release of 2016. It took me a long while to get my hands on an ARC (those who know me also know that no matter the author I just can't bring myself to read a contemporary romance in hardcover *shudder*), but when I finally acquired one and soon found myself with a long sick day on the couch, I ignored every other book I was currently reading to devour the delightful story beneath that adorable cover.

Although a little clumsy to start, as expected Kasie's signature easy writing style, engaging characters, and witty banter made for an overall quick and highly enjoyable read. The plot and all its facets were completely predictable, but I looked forward to the letters as much as the main characters, and their awkwardness lead to some relatable misunderstandings and misconceptions in their interactions with others. Lily's crazy family was fun and rather fascinating for someone like myself who was raised as an only child, and with all the absent parents in books nowadays it was refreshing to have hers fully present along with a few adorable albeit occasionally vexing siblings. Her family also cast a somewhat heartbreaking contrast on another's familial situation, making them a very sympathetic character despite their initial relationship with Lily and creating an emotionally charged and eventually tender end to the story.

All that said, I didn't feel this book was quite as polished as Kasie's previous ones, and the personally familiar setting needed a bit more detail for me. Also, while I could relate to the main characters' misconstrued good intentions, I struggled to fully consider the romance a good match because of their animosity towards each other. Even though their eventual reconciliation and connection was really sweet, I don't know if I truly bought it after how they treated each other for most of the story. However once the book was finished, I realized it did somewhat remind of me Pride & Prejudice, and after some contemplation resolved that if the characters could let their previous antipathy slide and just enjoy their newfound affection, so could I. ❤

Conclusion: A witty and sweet teen contemporary romance that was just what the doctor ordered for a sick day on the couch. While not my favorite Kasie book because of the main characters' animosity, I really enjoyed the letters, Lily's crazy family, and fell hard for the love interest at the end. As always I highly recommend Kasie for anyone in need of a light contemporary romance, and cannot wait for Kasie's next novel!

Scribble Rating: 

4 of 5 Scribbles