[Early copy from Netgalley. This doesn’t affect my opinions or review.]

I was so excited to read this, but upon starting it, I was honestly appalled by one of the three protagonists. Her favorite way to destress was to catfish people, and she talked about how “good” she’d gotten at it in the months leading up to the story. Another one of the protagonists came off as very cynical and pretentious, nearly impossible to please in terms of both socialization and media. Only one charmed me enough to stop me from putting the book down a few chapters in.

So why, you may ask, did I rate the book so highly?

Because it did the most unexpected, impressive 180, and ended up being brilliant. Because there was so much more to both of the characters I didn’t like, and their development was so incredibly well-done. Because it managed to be both a quintessential romcom and so much more—a story of flawed teens figuring out who they are and what they want in life, of friends that love each other like family, of what love really is and all the ways it can be interpreted and expressed—and it was beautiful. Because it was fun and funny but also thoughtful and hopeful, and I know I’ll be thinking about it for a long time.

Despite my rocky start with this book, Love Somebody ended up being everything I love about YA contemporaries while also being its own unique story. I saw parts of myself in all three characters, and soon enough was rooting for all of them, unable to pick a favorite. I sped through most of it in a single night and thought about it whenever I wasn’t reading or was reading another book. Rachel Roasek wrote a phenomenal book, and I can’t wait to see what she does next. This book is not one to sleep on, and I’ll shout that from the rooftops.

Representation