Synopsis:
Everyone at Ryder High knows what it means to have a teal envelope taped to their locker on the first day of the month.
Mya Burton received not only one envelope, but two.
The second envelope held a change to the Secret Admirer program— if she agreed, Mya would be the first girl to have two Secret Admirers.
It had never been done before. In each clue, the boys would both answer the same basic questions, followed by writing a short, non-identifying letter to Mya.
At the end of the month, she would have to choose just one without knowing who he really is.
But before she can, a shakeup hits the school. A hater slanders the game, leaving Mya feeling defeated and the other chosen girls needing to stick together.
Will Mya be able to finish her month on a happy note?
And will her blind decision be the best one for her?
Review:
Dear Mya was another instalment with a twist on the original concept. I definitely preferred this one to Dear Emilia, but I do think the original concept worked for a reason. This instalment felt very anti-climatic – without giving too much away.
Firstly, I felt a distinct lack of max in this instalment. I assume it’s to give him some space before his book, which is next and last in this season of the series. He’s been a fairly large part of every other instalment though so his absence was noticeable. Also, yes, I’ve just learned there’s an entire other series of these books and I love that.
Can’t believe it took 9 books for someone to finally call out the secret admirers game as being a bit weird and stalkerish. I really enjoy these books and the concept is fun in a make believe world but it would be a bit creepy in real life wouldn’t it?
The fact that none of the boys are ever mentioned by name is so weird. It’s always “my guy” or “x’s boyfriend”. It would have been a nice reminder of who was in which book as I’ve really spread these out so I don’t remember a few of the earlier ones.
Mya asked the question I’ve been thinking this entire time, “It was something I always wondered—how did a group of high schoolers know how to do such beautiful writing?”. The entire concept feels a bit far-fetched for high school boys to pull off, but I am willing to suspend my disbelief if it results in cute romances.
“Ultimately, the Secret Admirer months ended up with the boy and girl dating. My month wouldn’t be any different, except I would be going in blind. Like a blind date… but a relationship.” Mya, please tell me you’re aware that you are not obligated to actually date whoever the secret admirer is. I feel like this statement contradicts the one the neutral third party sends when the girl receives the first envelope.
Mya’s friends setting up their own version of Blind Date to help Mya humanise the two guys without bias was really sweet. It was also a very fun part of the book. Part of me does think it would have still created bias as one of them was her best friend, but it was still a nice idea. Sadly, you never find out which answers belonged to which guy.
As I mentioned in the introduction of this review, I found Dear Mya to be a little anticlimactic. I was really looking forward to the unique concept of this instalment but it didn’t interest me as much as I expected. The reveal of the secret admirer was also very disappointing. I was convinced Milo was one of the secret admirers. Mya has some really lovely interactions with him during the play rehearsals and I really liked his character. I’m going to assume he was the other admirer as you never find out who the second one is.
I wouldn’t say Dear Mya has been my least favourite in the Love Notes series, but it’s definitely not my favourite either. Here’s to hoping that Dear Max is a strong end to the series.
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