*I was sent an ARC of The Roommate Arrangement in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Simon and Schuster, and Samantha Markum for my copy of the book*
Synopsis:
Blair might be a little type-A, but she never thought of herself as completely overbearing…that is, until her two best friends drop her from their housing arrangement a week before her pre-college summer coding program is about to start.
Blair knows if she switches to an on-campus dorm, her parents will make her give up her expensive sculpture class with her dream mentor in order to pay for it. Desperate, she agrees to be the fifth roommate to four off-campus sophomores who are also in a last-minute bind. But things get complicated when one of her new roommates turns out to be her brother’s best friend, Jamie Atwater.
Blair begs Jamie not to tell her brother about the new living arrangement. Her brother would go straight to their parents, who would definitely not approve, and all her plans would fall apart. So they strike a deal: she’ll help him finish coding the app he’s building if he promises to keep her secret.
Spending more time together shouldn’t be a problem. Sure, Jamie has a new haircut, a mysterious tattoo, and a year’s worth of earned muscle, but it’s not like Blair is noticing. After all, they’re only roommates, right?
Review:
I had a great time reading The Roommate Arrangement. This was my first book by Samantha Markum and it definitely won’t be my last. She has created realistic characters that develop truly beautiful friendships. Even though Blair’s situation started out badly, I feel like she really landed on her feet with her new friends – who doesn’t love a found family?
From the very first chapter you can see that Blair’s friends do not deserve her in their lives. They completely suck and I’m glad she found real friends in the end. “Is that why they find me so unbearable? Because I can’t stand the thought of letting the stench of old hot dogs and sweaty soccer uniforms and rotting iced coffees stew in my car? Because I’ve spent the last four years picking up after them?” No one needs to be a mother to their “best friends”. I can’t imagine how exhausting this would be. Also, Blair, you’re not the unbearable one, please don’t say that about yourself.
Blair was also extremely genuine and actually hilarious, “If I’d ruined a piece of furniture that had cost thousands of dollars, my parents would have considered selling me to One Direction to make up the difference.” What an excellent call back to fan fiction from the 2010s. Please tell me you get this reference, don’t make me feel super old. Do people still write fanfics like this but about like BTS or some other popular boybands? We can’t let the ancient texts die.
Something else I love about her is that she’s very self aware. I won’t give too much away but Blair realises that not everything in her life is the right choice for her, no matter what other people have to say about it. She’s very strong-willed and level headed for a teenager. She has her moments of bad decisions and being a little cringe worthy, but who didn’t at that age?
“Andres makes tea, Mikey grabs her weighted blanket, and Felicity puts on an animated show about a bald kid with powers.” I’ve included this quote purely because it’s an Avatar: The Last Airbender reference and that makes me very happy.
One part of The Roommate Arrangement that could have done with a little more time was building the romantic relationship between Blair and Jamie. You can see they kinda like each other but I think Jamie’s big declaration would have held more weight if it was a little more obvious throughout. Still, I did really like them together and his declaration is lovely. “I love that about you. You seem like you’re made of marble, but you’re actually soapstone, aren’t you? Softer than you’d expect.” Excellent callback Jamie. This is what really convinced me he was in love with Blair. Referencing something she mentioned in passing in a declaration of love is *chef’s kiss*.
The Roommate Arrangement was a joy to read from start to finish. It pretty much does what it says on the tin, but with a lot of complex characters who all have their stuff going on. I won’t talk about what exactly as they’re pretty big spoilers, but I loved all of Blair’s roommates for many different reasons. If you’re a fan of found family, this is the book for you.
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