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Happy Messy Scary Love Review

Happy Messy Scary LoveTitle: Happy Messy Scary Love
Author: Leah Konen
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Trigger Warning: 
Rating:  5 stars
Release Date: May 14, 2019

Synopsis

As everyone at her Brooklyn high school announces their summer adventures, Olivia harbors a dirty secret: Her plan is to binge-watch horror movies and chat with her online friend, Elm. Olivia and Elm have never shared personal details, apart from their ages and the fact that Elm’s aunt is a low-budget horror filmmaker. Then Elm pushes Olivia to share her identity and sends her a selfie of his own. Olivia is shocked by how cute he is! In a moment of panic, assuming she and Elm will never meet in real life, she sends a photo of her gorgeous friend Katie. But things are about to get even more complicated when Olivia’s parents send her to the Catskills, and she runs into the one person she never thought she would see. This sweet and funny summertime romance is perfect for fans of Love and Gelato and The Unexpected Everything.

Review

A special thank you to Netgalley and ABRAMS Kids/Amulet Books for a free advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the unexpected summer adventures of Olivia, whose summer plans fell through and she ends up working at a zipline place. There, she starts falling in love with the boy who she knows is her internet friend, Elm. The plot was super fun and great to read. I definitely did not see a few of the small twists coming, but the plot was very modern and also really fun to read. I especially liked how some 2018 movies were referenced and so is Venmo. Culturally, this book was spot on with the modern times of being a teenager and it was amazing to read a book that was so secure in modern culture.

The setting was unique and amazing, and really well described as well. I really could picture the scenery where the bulk of the book takes place. Also these descriptions were well enough that even as someone who doesn't like horror, I still was able to understand the impact of these references and I actually learned a ton about the genre of horror movies which was not what I was expecting to get out of this book, but it was really interesting to learn about.

One of the most interesting parts of this book was the friendship between Katie and Olivia. I won't get into the dynamic too much because I do kind of feel like its a major spoiler, but there's a lot of interesting and realistic stuff going on between the two girls and is a message that I think a lot of teenagers can relate to in their own friendships, as well as the mentions of the group dynamic. Life isn't perfect or easy but there's definitely a lot of important things going on in here.

If you love horror movies, then this is definitely the book for you. And even if not, it is still an amazing book and a worthwhile read. Jake and Olivia are a really cute couple that are just so drawn to each other and I loved to read it. Definitely worthwhile to give this book a try and a great book for the times and culture of 2019.



View all my reviews here and be sure to friend me on goodreads! I really enjoyed this book and definitely want to try to read some more books like this one this summer.

Thanks for reading!
Alyssa
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