A review by kmbooks
Yes No Maybe So, by Becky Albertalli, Aisha Saeed
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
DISCLAIMER: Before I start the review, I will say that while reading, I gobbled up the book quite quickly and always wondered what’s next. However, after reflecting on the book I realized it’s flaws.
That’s right I rated a book with LGBTQ characters, POC characters, and Muslim and Jewish characters 3.5 stars. Why? Because that’s the problem. No I’m not homophobic, racist, islamophobe, or anti Semitic. The problem is the book was trying too hard to be “trendy”. I get that the authors wanted to be representative of all people but it seemed to forced. We need more gay characters? Ooo, she should come out. I also felt like they targeted republicans way too much. In fact it demonized them. Oh, they’re on the other side? I can’t be friends with them. Also the characters could easily be defined in one word. Jamie? Awkward. Maya? Muslim (literally her whole personality is she’s Muslim). Nolan and Felipe? Gay. This in turn created a very dry plot. The end was the most frustrating because it seemed to squeeze most of the plot in the last 100 pages. I feel like the concept of this book was pretty good but the way it was executed was subpar. However, I did rate this a 3.5 and not a 1 so I’ll list some positives.
***Positives***
•Woke teens
•Explained what it’s like to be Muslim
•Showed what it’s like to be a minority in America and especially the South
All in all, the book was... meh. That’s all it is. I would recommend this book for 12 years olds and up (pretty clean but language was pretty significant, no racial slurs though). Maybe if you are looking for something to speed through quickly to meet your reading goal or something but realistically, I don’t see how someone would LOVE this book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~SPOILERS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Was the romance really necessary? This book would have developed just fine if Jamie and Maya stayed as friends and Maya didn’t have to give up parts of her faith just to make out with Jamie. I did feel like Rossum losing was a great point of the book. Even if you give it your all, you might not have the most desirable outcome. It would have been nicer if the whole Sara and Maya situation would have been more of a focus. They were friends in the beginning for a chapter or two, then ghosted each other for a sentence in every other chapter, had a huge fight towards the end, and in like the last chapter, she happens to show up at Scavino’s all the way from Athens to Atlanta to vote and save their friendship. Didn’t really make sense and could have played a bigger and more meaningful part to the story.
That’s right I rated a book with LGBTQ characters, POC characters, and Muslim and Jewish characters 3.5 stars. Why? Because that’s the problem. No I’m not homophobic, racist, islamophobe, or anti Semitic. The problem is the book was trying too hard to be “trendy”. I get that the authors wanted to be representative of all people but it seemed to forced. We need more gay characters? Ooo, she should come out. I also felt like they targeted republicans way too much. In fact it demonized them. Oh, they’re on the other side? I can’t be friends with them. Also the characters could easily be defined in one word. Jamie? Awkward. Maya? Muslim (literally her whole personality is she’s Muslim). Nolan and Felipe? Gay. This in turn created a very dry plot. The end was the most frustrating because it seemed to squeeze most of the plot in the last 100 pages. I feel like the concept of this book was pretty good but the way it was executed was subpar. However, I did rate this a 3.5 and not a 1 so I’ll list some positives.
***Positives***
•Woke teens
•Explained what it’s like to be Muslim
•Showed what it’s like to be a minority in America and especially the South
All in all, the book was... meh. That’s all it is. I would recommend this book for 12 years olds and up (pretty clean but language was pretty significant, no racial slurs though). Maybe if you are looking for something to speed through quickly to meet your reading goal or something but realistically, I don’t see how someone would LOVE this book.
~~~~~~~~~~~~SPOILERS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Was the romance really necessary? This book would have developed just fine if Jamie and Maya stayed as friends and Maya didn’t have to give up parts of her faith just to make out with Jamie. I did feel like Rossum losing was a great point of the book. Even if you give it your all, you might not have the most desirable outcome. It would have been nicer if the whole Sara and Maya situation would have been more of a focus. They were friends in the beginning for a chapter or two, then ghosted each other for a sentence in every other chapter, had a huge fight towards the end, and in like the last chapter, she happens to show up at Scavino’s all the way from Athens to Atlanta to vote and save their friendship. Didn’t really make sense and could have played a bigger and more meaningful part to the story.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Islamophobia, and Hate crime