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.
The envelope is part of a tradition called the Secret Admirers, something the students go crazy for.
After tragedy struck, no one thought there would be an admirer this month.
However, a little late, a teal envelope shows up on Phoebe Calloway’s locker.
And with it, an ongoing playlist to use as clues toward the admirer’s identity.
It’s music to Phoebe’s ears—especially since music is her biggest passion. But she soon finds out it’s not the melody that’s important in the songs her admirer chose.
It’s the lyrics.
As the songs keep coming, she’s close to figuring out who he is—but is she prepared for the actual reveal?
Review:
I feel like you can rely on the Love Notes series to deliver a decent read. They’re not the most amazingly written books in the world, but I do find them very easy to read and entertaining. They’re my go to books if I have an active Kindle Unlimited subscription.
Something I wasn’t expecting was for Dear Phoebe to start out really sad. I was so excited to get back into these books again, but then all of a sudden: “Today, we said goodbye to a Ryder High staple, Mr. Thompson.” I’m actually so angry about this. What was the need to kill off the sweet old man that started the secret admirers tradition? They could have done the wall of letters dedicated to him as a retirement present.
This book did make me happy though. The clues for this secret admirer were given through songs and we all know how much I love music by now. I love that each book is now getting a unique concept for the clues. If someone that liked me in school created a playlist of songs that makes them think of me, I would have died from happiness.
Although saying that, I didn’t really know any of the songs in the book other than anything by Hozier. I think that more than proves I’m not the target audience for these books, but what can I say, I love an easy read every now and again – especially when I’m in such a huge slump.
I wasn’t expecting book one of season two to show similarities to the original series but here we are. Archer, who you think could be Phoebe’s secret admirer, is 100% the new Max. He’s the comic relief that’s nice to everyone. I’m not mad about it because I loved Max, but it will be interesting to see how Archer will develop. He basically admits to having feelings for Phoebe despite not being her admirer. Thankfully, he’s more than happy to be put in the ‘friendzone’.
I won’t give away who Phoebe’s secret admirer is, but this one is very sweet. It’s a pairing that actually makes sense as they’ve been given a reason to want to be together. I’ll never forget my confusion about the pairing in the last book of season one. It made absolutely no sense to me.
Dear Phoebe is an entertaining read that gives a more complex background to the characters than some of the previous instalments. I loved the music clues and I hope each instalment continues to have a unique concept for the secret admirer game.
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