Anyone who’s even remotely interested in young adult books has surely heard of Katie McGarry by now. I’m not the biggest contemporary fan, but I have been wanting to read a Katie McGarry book for quite a while now. I finally got my hands on one!

I have to say, I really, really liked it, but I didn’t love it. There were so many things that were great about this book: the family issues, friend/school issues, and the insight into the foster care system. However, the one big thing that kept this book from being a five star book for me was the romance. I’m sad to say that the romance in this book fell super flat for me.

I really loved reading from both Echo’s and Noah’s POV. Katie McGarry pulled this off very well and I was able to immerse myself in both of their lives. Echo and Noah both have a heartbreaking past and serious issues that they are dealing with. This is how they end up meeting at the school therapist’s office. By the way, Mrs. Collins was probably my absolutely favorite part of this novel. I loved her insights and the clever way she dealt with these two.

The secondary cast of characters was very well done (as you can tell, by my love of Mrs. Collins). I really felt the struggle for Echo when her popular friends didn’t stand by her. Noah’s friends, Isaiah and Beth were at the same time entertaining and frustrating (well, mostly Beth). The family drama with Echo’s dad and stepmother was extremely relatable to me.

So why did the romance not do it for me? Part of it is because Noah is supposed to be a tough, bad-ass, one-night-stand type of guy, but the instant he sees Echo, he kind of melts into a pile of pudding. And not in a good way. He starts smelling her all the time and calling her mushy nicknames, such as his “siren”. This was so unrealistic to me that every time Noah became Mr. Cupid, I wanted to set my book down. A book should draw me in, not push me out.

On top of that, I just honestly didn’t feel any chemistry between Echo and Noah. I understood why they were drawn to each other, but I didn’t feel it. It was empty and felt forced.

So yes, I really enjoyed this book. But I wasn’t sucked in and it wasn’t the amazing I wanted it to be. However, I think this is a case of “it’s not the book, it’s me”, because many people love this book and I really do understand why. Contemporary fans will love it. I am really excited to read more Katie McGarry, though!

For this review and more, check out Book Love, my blog!