karalee's review
3.0
Reviewing this book because of SF496, which is attempting to erase reality from classrooms and libraries across Iowa.
Terribly cringe and took me back to 2006- the thin obsession, the slut-shaming, the landlines, the stereotypical high school cliques…but it did suck me in.
Terribly cringe and took me back to 2006- the thin obsession, the slut-shaming, the landlines, the stereotypical high school cliques…but it did suck me in.
booknerd777's review against another edition
5.0
This book was really good! I read it in two days which is very fast for me. It was such a cute book.
kricketa's review against another edition
2.0
sara, a brainy but cute student, starts her senior year hoping hot jock dave will ask her out. but when he does, they don't have much in common and he's kind of a jerk. then she finds out that tobey, a slacker musician with amazing eyes, also likes her. as they fall for each other, she encourages him to get better grades and apply to music school. they have their ups and downs, but everything ends happily.
average teen romance- on the boring side. teens looking for fluffier romances will probably like it better than i did, but i didn't even think tobey & sara had that much chemistry. the way colasanti wrote their sexual relationship bothered me, actually. if teen characters are going to dither & make an issue out of having sex the whole book, it's not just going to go away, as an issue, once they do it. none of this "i lost my virginity and it was perfect and amazing. nothing left to think about. the end" stuff. there are other unresolved issues, like sara's weird relationship with her mom, and maggie's dad's other family, that only served as distractions instead of rounding out the characters. overall, disappointing.
average teen romance- on the boring side. teens looking for fluffier romances will probably like it better than i did, but i didn't even think tobey & sara had that much chemistry. the way colasanti wrote their sexual relationship bothered me, actually. if teen characters are going to dither & make an issue out of having sex the whole book, it's not just going to go away, as an issue, once they do it. none of this "i lost my virginity and it was perfect and amazing. nothing left to think about. the end" stuff. there are other unresolved issues, like sara's weird relationship with her mom, and maggie's dad's other family, that only served as distractions instead of rounding out the characters. overall, disappointing.
brookeje60's review against another edition
4.0
This was an okay romance and a good first book for Susane Colasanti. I found it to be a tad bit anti-climatic but either way I flew through it.
ficklefever's review against another edition
2.0
ick. looks like this author went to the school of "boys only ever think about sex" cliches. also, why do these high school seniors sound like the concept of high school seniors imagined by me in 7th grade?
csydgzmn's review against another edition
2.0
This book is kinda boring. I hate that it has 2 pov at a time.
missprint_'s review against another edition
5.0
At the start of senior year Sara knows exactly what she wants, especially when it comes to who she wants to be with. Dave is her perfect boyfriend: cute, popular, and he seems to like her. And he's cute and popular. Maybe they haven't actually talked that much. And true they don't actually have a lot in common. But that doesn't mean they can't work, right? Who can argue with true love? Right?
Turns out Tobey would like to argue. A lot. Because while Sara is busy visualizing her future with Dave, well, Tobey is visualizing Sara. A lot. Before Tobey can make his move, Dave steps in. Game over, right?
Wrong.
Tobey knows Sara is it. He knows they have a connection even if she doesn't think they have anything in common. With a lot of work and a little bit of luck, Tobey is prepared to show Sara that he could be her perfect boyfriend even if she is super smart and out of his league and all she sees right now is a slacker guy who plays guitar.
At the beginning of the year Sara and Tobey don't really know each other. By the end, Sara and Tobey might have a whole new beginning together in When It Happens (2006) by Susane Colasanti.
When It Happens is the first of many delightful books by this author.
Written in chapters alternating between Sara and Tobey's narrations, Colasanti creates a layered story with overlapping events seen from different angles. Although the plot is straightforward the story is complex and filled with characters with depth and a lot of charisma.
Love stories come up a lot in YA stories but Colasanti's snappy writing and authentic voices make this book something different. Aside from being a gratifying story, When It Happens is an authentic snapshot of Tobey and Sara's senior year with everything from college panic to wacky teachers and, yes, first love.
Possible Pairings: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen, The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg, If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta, Say Anything
Turns out Tobey would like to argue. A lot. Because while Sara is busy visualizing her future with Dave, well, Tobey is visualizing Sara. A lot. Before Tobey can make his move, Dave steps in. Game over, right?
Wrong.
Tobey knows Sara is it. He knows they have a connection even if she doesn't think they have anything in common. With a lot of work and a little bit of luck, Tobey is prepared to show Sara that he could be her perfect boyfriend even if she is super smart and out of his league and all she sees right now is a slacker guy who plays guitar.
At the beginning of the year Sara and Tobey don't really know each other. By the end, Sara and Tobey might have a whole new beginning together in When It Happens (2006) by Susane Colasanti.
When It Happens is the first of many delightful books by this author.
Written in chapters alternating between Sara and Tobey's narrations, Colasanti creates a layered story with overlapping events seen from different angles. Although the plot is straightforward the story is complex and filled with characters with depth and a lot of charisma.
Love stories come up a lot in YA stories but Colasanti's snappy writing and authentic voices make this book something different. Aside from being a gratifying story, When It Happens is an authentic snapshot of Tobey and Sara's senior year with everything from college panic to wacky teachers and, yes, first love.
Possible Pairings: Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan, What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen, The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg, If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta, Say Anything