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colleens_conclusions's review against another edition
2.0
This book was just ok. I wasn't sold on either of the main characters but I did like the side characters better actually. Kane was the only main character I ended up caring about because of how loyal he was but one of the reasons why I didn't like him was because he went on and on about having a crush on Summer for two years but he even admitted he didn't even really know her.
It just felt like one of the instant love plots.
I get the fact that it's high school, teenagers are going to have crushes for no reason sometimes. I still liked the friendships more in this book.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This had no impact on my thoughts, my thoughts are my own.
It just felt like one of the instant love plots.
I get the fact that it's high school, teenagers are going to have crushes for no reason sometimes. I still liked the friendships more in this book.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This had no impact on my thoughts, my thoughts are my own.
stormiclouds's review against another edition
4.0
Something I'm Good At is an adorable young adult romance. Caroline Andrus has created characters that are almost impossible not to like. Kane is an irresistibly cute puppy who loves food puns and Summer is the sweet, honest girl everyone wants to be friends with. I've never read any of Caroline Andrus's books before now, but after Something I'm Good At, I will definitely be reading more of her work. Kane and Summer's story is a quick, clean romance that is excellent for summers by the pool. If you're a fan of Sarah Dessen, then I think you will love meeting Kane and his friends.
aprilalwayswithabook's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know anything about Lupus or how a teenager would react to being diagnosed, but the love story is sweet and light and I smiled a lot.
hugbandit7's review against another edition
5.0
This book is more than teenage angst - it is about hope, forgiveness, perseverance, friendship, and love.
This may be a YA book but it spoke to me and I raced through this book like there was no tomorrow. The story flowed well, the characters were flawed yet real, and it shed some light on Lupus.
Kane is goofy and Summer is reserved but finds what Kane has to offer might be exactly what she needs. I appreciated that the characters weren't rushing into anything, mostly because of Summer's disease and her reservations, but that they took time to get to know each other. The relationship is not smooth sailing but it was real and honest.
I also liked Matt and Abigail, good friends to the end. I'm hoping we get to see stories for each of them in the future.
This book had me laughing at times and is worth the read.
This may be a YA book but it spoke to me and I raced through this book like there was no tomorrow. The story flowed well, the characters were flawed yet real, and it shed some light on Lupus.
Kane is goofy and Summer is reserved but finds what Kane has to offer might be exactly what she needs. I appreciated that the characters weren't rushing into anything, mostly because of Summer's disease and her reservations, but that they took time to get to know each other. The relationship is not smooth sailing but it was real and honest.
I also liked Matt and Abigail, good friends to the end. I'm hoping we get to see stories for each of them in the future.
This book had me laughing at times and is worth the read.
alynutzaaa23's review against another edition
5.0
I received an eARC of this book through Netgalley, in exchange for my honest review.
This was a sweet summer read, about teenage love, life struggles, hope, friendship and forgivness. Super easy to read and very well writen. A lovely story, without the teenage angst that usually comes with this type of books. and great characters.
I`m gonna start with Kane, whom I`ve felt verry attached to through the story (besides being a male character, he was very relatable). He`s a goofy guy, always smiling and cracking jokes, quite good at making people smile/laugh. He might seem as a very imature person, vey clumsy and prone to accidents - we learn about his many accidents and trips to ER throughout the story, and maybe a little too pushy when it comes to things he made his mind up, but I think if we dig deeper, he`s actually very caring and strong headed. Someone that kows exactly what he wants and is willing to work hard to get it.
Next, we have Summer, a sweet and reserved girl, that used to have it all figured out. She was quite popular, had many friends, was involved in lots of extracurricular activites at school, had a beauty blog and was dreaming of becoming a make-up artist until she was diagnosed with lupus. When she realised she`s gonna be sick her whole life, she distanced herself from everyone and gave up all her hard work and dreams to avoid letting people down or becoming a burden. She`s strong and brave and once she let`s Kane and his friends slowly in her life, she starts fighting back, not letting her sickness win.
We see some great friendship relationship from Matt and Abigale, Kane`s childhood friends. Besides their daily bickering, they definitly care and support eachother. They support Kane`s attempts to win Summer and even try to give him advice. Also, they are making sure Kane`s not falling in depression once Summer is pushing him away and igonres him. What impressed me the most, was the fact that they continued to be Summer`s friends as well, after she and Kane break up, and they still cared and helped her, even if she was the reason their friend was hurting. That`s great qualitty friendshi material right there.
This story hade me laughing out loud at times and tearing up at others, so i`d deffinitly recommend it!!
.
This was a sweet summer read, about teenage love, life struggles, hope, friendship and forgivness. Super easy to read and very well writen. A lovely story, without the teenage angst that usually comes with this type of books. and great characters.
I`m gonna start with Kane, whom I`ve felt verry attached to through the story (besides being a male character, he was very relatable). He`s a goofy guy, always smiling and cracking jokes, quite good at making people smile/laugh. He might seem as a very imature person, vey clumsy and prone to accidents - we learn about his many accidents and trips to ER throughout the story, and maybe a little too pushy when it comes to things he made his mind up, but I think if we dig deeper, he`s actually very caring and strong headed. Someone that kows exactly what he wants and is willing to work hard to get it.
Next, we have Summer, a sweet and reserved girl, that used to have it all figured out. She was quite popular, had many friends, was involved in lots of extracurricular activites at school, had a beauty blog and was dreaming of becoming a make-up artist until she was diagnosed with lupus. When she realised she`s gonna be sick her whole life, she distanced herself from everyone and gave up all her hard work and dreams to avoid letting people down or becoming a burden. She`s strong and brave and once she let`s Kane and his friends slowly in her life, she starts fighting back, not letting her sickness win.
We see some great friendship relationship from Matt and Abigale, Kane`s childhood friends. Besides their daily bickering, they definitly care and support eachother. They support Kane`s attempts to win Summer and even try to give him advice. Also, they are making sure Kane`s not falling in depression once Summer is pushing him away and igonres him. What impressed me the most, was the fact that they continued to be Summer`s friends as well, after she and Kane break up, and they still cared and helped her, even if she was the reason their friend was hurting. That`s great qualitty friendshi material right there.
This story hade me laughing out loud at times and tearing up at others, so i`d deffinitly recommend it!!
.
lrn_frr's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing
lianareadsblog's review against another edition
4.0
Liana 4 stars
Something I'm good at by Caroline Andrus is my first book read from the author and was a fresh and enjoyable read.
The story centres around teenagers and their courses and their life in high-school, which is not always easy for everyone especially when they get to discover that an illness has turned their life upside down and they have to adapt.
Summer prefers to be alone and close the door to her heart by staying away from old friends and extra curricular activity for school as she can barely cope with her new life and she doesn't want to be a burden for anyone, but then comes along Kane, some will say he's an adrenaline junky for getting so many times to the ER with a broken bone or injury but I think he's just a normal teen. There's a beautiful friendship development between them and I enjoyed their story.
A fast paced young love story with a twist that reminds us that nobody is perfect and everyone around us carry a burden inside even if they want to hide or protect us from heartbreak.
faerietears's review
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
I went into writing this book wanting to write a light romance for teens. I wanted to touch on what someone suffering from an autoimmune disease would have to deal with. I didn't want the tone to get too dark or heavy though, so I don't delve too deep into Summer's struggles, instead choosing to give a light overview. I hope readers will understand a little of what someone with lupus or other autoimmune diseases goes through day to day from reading Summer's chapters. (If you've read an ARC, I don't have the link in there, but google the spoon theory for more information about that. I'll be including the link in the final copy.)
The premise of the story - the boy who's no good at anything, but can make the girl smile - came from the song SOMETHING I'M GOOD AT by Brett Eldredge. That song made Kane who he is. He's a little immature, not very good at any one thing, but he's full of heart.
All too often I see teens in YA acting far too mature. You won't find so much of that in this book. (Not with Kane anyway!) I attempted to make my teens act like the 16 and 17 year olds that they are.
If you're wondering what's next for Sol del Mar High, I intend to write Mark's story!
I went into writing this book wanting to write a light romance for teens. I wanted to touch on what someone suffering from an autoimmune disease would have to deal with. I didn't want the tone to get too dark or heavy though, so I don't delve too deep into Summer's struggles, instead choosing to give a light overview. I hope readers will understand a little of what someone with lupus or other autoimmune diseases goes through day to day from reading Summer's chapters. (If you've read an ARC, I don't have the link in there, but google the spoon theory for more information about that. I'll be including the link in the final copy.)
The premise of the story - the boy who's no good at anything, but can make the girl smile - came from the song SOMETHING I'M GOOD AT by Brett Eldredge. That song made Kane who he is. He's a little immature, not very good at any one thing, but he's full of heart.
All too often I see teens in YA acting far too mature. You won't find so much of that in this book. (Not with Kane anyway!) I attempted to make my teens act like the 16 and 17 year olds that they are.
If you're wondering what's next for Sol del Mar High, I intend to write Mark's story!
cocoafiend's review
2.0
Accident-prone Kane finally gets the perfect chance to talk to Summer, the girl of his dreams, when they meet by chance at urgent care. However, Summer is dealing with being diagnosed with lupus, and has pushed all her old friends and interests to the side to hide her illness. Still, Kane has made up his mind, and he won't give up pursuing her for anything, even if he knows she's keeping secrets from him.
This was a cute, quick read, but honestly the premise and execution--the way that Kane wouldn't give up when Summer was, at first, clearly not interested, but of course she falls for him eventually because his persistence is just so cute--rubbed me the wrong way. The author mentioned in the afterward that she wanted to write teens the way they actually are, and that Kane is supposed to be immature, but I hope that parents these days are teaching their kids more about acceptable boundaries and that it IS normal for teens to respect girls or boys when they indicate that they aren't interested. I'm not going to say this book has no place on my shelves, because it's just a cute, clean, uncomplicated romance, and I know kids in my community will enjoy both that and the added element of Summer having a chronic illness. But I don't personally enjoy romance stories that reinforce the trope that persistence means you're going to succeed in romance, and, in this case, it frankly creeped me out.
This was a cute, quick read, but honestly the premise and execution--the way that Kane wouldn't give up when Summer was, at first, clearly not interested, but of course she falls for him eventually because his persistence is just so cute--rubbed me the wrong way. The author mentioned in the afterward that she wanted to write teens the way they actually are, and that Kane is supposed to be immature, but I hope that parents these days are teaching their kids more about acceptable boundaries and that it IS normal for teens to respect girls or boys when they indicate that they aren't interested. I'm not going to say this book has no place on my shelves, because it's just a cute, clean, uncomplicated romance, and I know kids in my community will enjoy both that and the added element of Summer having a chronic illness. But I don't personally enjoy romance stories that reinforce the trope that persistence means you're going to succeed in romance, and, in this case, it frankly creeped me out.
moonykitten's review against another edition
5.0
So freaking adorable!
I loved it - and kind of squealed and grinned, now my jaw hurts and i want to re-read it again this instant.
So adorable, easy-read romance, sometimes that is what one need! <3
I loved it - and kind of squealed and grinned, now my jaw hurts and i want to re-read it again this instant.
So adorable, easy-read romance, sometimes that is what one need! <3
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