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A review by lenoreo
The Summer of Jordi Pérez by Amy Spalding
5.0
https://celebrityreaders.com/2021/07/13/summer-of-love-week-4-the-summer-of-jordi-perez-and-the-best-burger-in-los-angeles-by-amy-spalding/
4.5 stars — Well shit, that was everything I love in a YA wrapped up in a bubbly bow.
I wonder if I would have enjoyed it to quite the same degree if I hadn’t listened to it. The narrator was the fucking bomb. She epitomized Abby, and I could imagine her as a real person. The way she did all her internal thoughts, it was absolute perfection. And everything from her pacing to her emotions to her distinct voices made the performance just stand out. Like, I could listen to this one again and again when I need to be delighted and happy.
I just wanted to hug Abby so much, I could see tiny pieces of myself in her. I loved the thousand thoughts running through her brain, the second guessing about how she’s coming across…that vulnerability hit me right there. And the spacing out? Oh yeah, can totally vibe with that. She was a perfectly flawed but loveable teenager.
I ACHED at how low her self-esteem was at times, and how some of the most innocuous things can really fuck up your sense of self, even if you’ve misinterpreted what other people mean. I did kind of want a bit more from her at the end with Jordi…her remorse? Basically how she made it up to her was more subtle and less overt. But it’s not as though I don’t understand where her insecurities come from…it was just not as balanced a conclusion as I would have liked. But probably a bit more real.
Jordi was pretty freaking great, and a wonderful balance to Abby’s over the topness at times. I kind of loved their relationship — from the crushes to more, it was just so ridiculously cute and happiness inducing.
And I kind of loved that we got not only an epically adorable love story, but also a fantastically abnormal friendship story. Jax was hilarious. I loved that most hetero love stories have the quirky gay secondary character, but in this one we got the quirky straight secondary character. Their friendship was really unique and adorable, and I loved how it was something different from what Abby had with her other girlfriends.
I even appreciated the bumps in the road Abby experienced with some of the people she was closest to — because that happens. From Malia, to her sister Rachel, to her Mom. It showed how people can grow and change, and that’s not always easy.
All in all, I suppose I can see how this might not be everyone’s bag, but it was TOTALLY mine. It hit all the Lenore buttons.
4.5 stars — Well shit, that was everything I love in a YA wrapped up in a bubbly bow.
I wonder if I would have enjoyed it to quite the same degree if I hadn’t listened to it. The narrator was the fucking bomb. She epitomized Abby, and I could imagine her as a real person. The way she did all her internal thoughts, it was absolute perfection. And everything from her pacing to her emotions to her distinct voices made the performance just stand out. Like, I could listen to this one again and again when I need to be delighted and happy.
I just wanted to hug Abby so much, I could see tiny pieces of myself in her. I loved the thousand thoughts running through her brain, the second guessing about how she’s coming across…that vulnerability hit me right there. And the spacing out? Oh yeah, can totally vibe with that. She was a perfectly flawed but loveable teenager.
I ACHED at how low her self-esteem was at times, and how some of the most innocuous things can really fuck up your sense of self, even if you’ve misinterpreted what other people mean. I did kind of want a bit more from her at the end with Jordi…her remorse? Basically how she made it up to her was more subtle and less overt. But it’s not as though I don’t understand where her insecurities come from…it was just not as balanced a conclusion as I would have liked. But probably a bit more real.
Jordi was pretty freaking great, and a wonderful balance to Abby’s over the topness at times. I kind of loved their relationship — from the crushes to more, it was just so ridiculously cute and happiness inducing.
And I kind of loved that we got not only an epically adorable love story, but also a fantastically abnormal friendship story. Jax was hilarious. I loved that most hetero love stories have the quirky gay secondary character, but in this one we got the quirky straight secondary character. Their friendship was really unique and adorable, and I loved how it was something different from what Abby had with her other girlfriends.
I even appreciated the bumps in the road Abby experienced with some of the people she was closest to — because that happens. From Malia, to her sister Rachel, to her Mom. It showed how people can grow and change, and that’s not always easy.
All in all, I suppose I can see how this might not be everyone’s bag, but it was TOTALLY mine. It hit all the Lenore buttons.