I was given a copy of Kate in Waiting in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Penguin Random House Children’s UK and Becky Albertalli. 

Synopsis:

“[PRINCIPAL CAST LIST]

Kate Garfield

Anderson Walker

Best friends, and contrary to popular belief, not co-dependent. Examples:

Carpooling to and from theatre rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient.

Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment.

Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway.

But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off-script.

Enter Stage Left: Matt Olsson

He is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson.

Turns out, communal crushes aren’t so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson’s friendship…”

Review:

I absolutely devoured this book. Before picking up Kate in Waiting it took me almost two weeks to finish the last book I read, that did not happen here. I finished this book in under 24 hours and I honestly could not put it down.

The biggest reason for this was definitely the short chapters. I felt like I was making constant progress through the book and because they were so short I kept saying “I’ll just read one more” and before I knew it I was done.

As someone who is a theatre lover that also has experience with high school productions I found myself reliving my one experiences. Which I loved. Doing the musical at school was always my favorite part of the year and I loved that this is what Kate in Waiting was about.

Kate was a great main character who was aware of her flaws and would own up to any bad actions. It’s not often that a teenaged character will be so self-aware and will know when they have been a bad friend or need to own up to their actions, but Kate handled all of this well.

The idea of the ‘communal crush’ was really fun and when things started to become serious with this it made for really interesting and intense moments. The friendship and jealously side of the ‘crush’ was handled extremely well and I was happy to see that this was not a cliche straight girl and gay boy best friend type story.

At times the over-use of the term ‘f-boy’ was a little too much, however, it was definitely funny most of the time. I usually dislike the whole ‘we’re not like other people’ type of trope, but it definitely worked here. The inside jokes between Kate and her friends were hilarious and I really wish I had a friend group just like it.

Overall there was a great representation of all genders and orientations in Kate in Waiting and sensitive issues were handled extremely well. The story has its moments of highs and lows throughout, but as a whole, it is extremely uplifting. If you are a fan of musical theatre/have contributed to a school production yourself then you will love Kate in Waiting.

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