rinku's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Kate in Waiting was my first read of 2022 and I’m happy that it was this book. The story centres around the theatre kids Kate, Andy, and Matt. Kate and Andy both fall in love with Matt which threatens to tear their yearlong friendship apart.
The plot itself was really cute but a bit predictable. Around the half, I already had the right intuition who would end up with whom, and I was happy by the results. The school life was written so well too, and it just makes you wanna go back to school honestly. Just seeing your friends every day is a luxury you start to appreciate when it’s gone.
I also appreciated how diverse this book is. In fact, I haven’t read a book before that integrates diverse characters so easily. As a writer myself, I admire the way Albertalli does it, so simplistic and natural but not without mentioning the hardships some people have to suffer because of their identity.
Kate was an amazing main character, and it was easy to connect to her. I felt the emotions she had just as strongly, for example her disappointment that only Andy goes into the advanced drama class or . Furthermore, she grows so much in the course of the story and realizes that her way of putting people in different boxes is not the right way to approach other people, especially concerning her brother and Noah. Her insecurity because she was bullied in the past for her singing was depicted great as well.
Spoiler
when Matt told her that he was gay, and Andy told her that they’re dating. My heart dropped both times because I could feel Kate’s disappointment so intensely. I was to be honest first mad with Andy as well, but I later started to understand his behaviour and that he didn’t want to out Matt without his consent. The only thing here that I didn’t find too realistic is how fast Kate was over MattBut the story introduced too many characters and names that I sadly couldn’t completely keep up with who was who. I say sadly, because the authors describe the behaviour of her characters so vividly that you instantly have a picture of them in your head.
Since this was my first novel of this author, it took me some time to get used to <i>Albertalli’s</i> writing style. At the beginning, it was just too much for me. It’s so full of pop cultural references which felt a bit exhausting and overloaded. I had the same feeling with the humour; I smiled a few times while reading this book, so the book was funny, but it tried at some points too hard to be funny and teenager-like.
Still, this was an enjoyable and cute read and I’m eager to read more by the author!
(On an off-topic sidenote, I just watched Super Eyepatch Wolf’s fantastical video about Garfield where he mentions that Garfield is just everywhere, and wouldn’t you know it: Kate’s last name is Garfield. Not gonna lie, I was a bit freaked out by this lmao.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, and Mental illness
Minor: Homophobia
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