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Saturday, November 18, 2017

Stefanie's Thoughts: My New Crush Gave to Me by Shani Petroff





Charlotte Charlie Donovan knows exactly what she wants for Christmas: Teo Ortiz. He s the school s star athlete, in the National Honor Society, invited to every party, contributes to the school paper (where Charlie is co-editor), and is about to be featured as One to Watch in a teen magazine basically, he's exactly the type of guy Charlie s meant to be with. The only problem he barely knows she exists.

But Charlie is determined to be Teo's date to the Christmas ball. And she has a plan: To rig the paper s Secret Santa so that she can win his heart with five perfect gifts. But to do that she needs help. Enter J.D. Ortiz Teo s cousin, and possibly the most annoying person on the planet. He s easy going, laid back, unorganized, spontaneous, and makes a joke out of everything the exact opposite of Charlie (and Teo). But he's willing to provide insight into what Teo wants, so she's stuck with him.

Yet, the more time Charlie spends with J.D., the more she starts to wonder: does she really know what, or rather who, she wants for Christmas?


Review copy provided by Swoon Reads (all thoughts are my own)




Hello everyone, 

Today I'm reviewing what might be one of my favorite holiday themed reads ever: My New Crush Gave to Me. I'm such a fan of cute, fluffy stories where you know it'll end happily and you just can't help but gush over the characters; plus it's holiday themed, so bigger bonus.

Not only have I been full out watching Christmas movies, I love reading holiday themed books as well; I just find it's harder to find holiday reads than movies, so naturally when this popped up in my mailbox I was ecstatic. I'm not sure about you but it seems like holiday YA books are a rare treat; I've read a bunch of holiday mysteries but it seems like not as common in YA.

I hadn't read any other books by this author before, but based on the cover I knew I'd enjoy this one; her other book Romeo and What's Her Name is currently on my to-be-read list and I can't wait to dive into it.

Charlie was such a fun main character; she had the greatest lines and I enjoyed her panicking over everything, because that's what I do! She loves lists, so do I! She plans everything. so do I! It was like this book was almost written for me (I mean, I know it wasn't but it would be pretty cool to think about). I, unlike Charlie, tend to be late or on time for things and Charlie loves being early for everything.

Charlie has the greatest best friend in Morgan. I loved how Morgan was totally in Charlie's corner when it came to the shenanigans of Secret Santa. I imagined their friendship like something my best friend and I would have gotten into in high school. Morgan was also at times the voice of reason and noticed things before Charlie did, such as Charlie probably spending her time thinking about the wrong guy. Morgan herself is in a relationship, but isn't boy crazy, which was a good opposite to Charlie.

Best bonus: no love-triangle! I liked how Charlie spent all her time thinking about Teo and being with JD on her quest to get the perfect presents for Teo. I will admit, I was a tad hesitant because I was worried about a love triangle, but nope not here.

If I found one negative it would be that I guess I'm tired that in almost every YA it seems to be the main girl always crushes over the most popular boy in school; I know this goes back forever because this is the same plot of every 80s/90s teen movie, but I mean what's wrong with falling for the normal guy (and yes I do know that a bunch of the plots also deal with girl falling for boy next door, say Drive me Crazy). I guess though, if they wouldn't fall for the popular boy then they;d never crush on the normal guy. 

The whole setting and feel of this book made me crave Christmas; we actually just picked our Secret Santa's at work and I can't wait to start shopping for mine (it'll basically be like shopping for myself!). The atmosphere brought me back to high school and to that magical joy of Christmas and falling for your first crush.

4.5 happy fluffy snowflakes for this one.

Until my next review,

Stefanie

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