Call Me Maybe by Cara Bastone
For a long time Cara Bastone’s audiobooks were the only ones I properly enjoyed – I’m much better at listening to audiobooks now. However, you still really can’t beat a full-cast audiobook, they’re so good. Especially for someone like me who zones out during descriptions. The fact that his entire book is multiple phone calls, so no descriptions of surroundings or feelings, it’s a super easy listen.
This was the first full-cast audiobook I listened to and it really made an impression on me. I loved it so much. The chemistry was off the charts and the whole concept was so cute. I’d highly recommend checking this out if you’re looking to get into audiobooks.
Synopsis: Paint your toes. Pick up the wrong coffee and bagel order. Drive from Brooklyn to Jersey in traffic so slow you want to tear your hair out. It’s amazing all the useless things I can accomplish while on hold for three hours with customer service. Three hours when I should be getting the Date-in-a-Box website ready to launch at the big business expo in a few days. Except my shiny new website is glitching, and my inner rage-monster is ready to scorch some earth… when he finally picks up. Not the robot voice I expected but a real live human named Cal. He’s surprisingly helpful and really knows his stuff, even if he’s a little awkward…. in an adorable way.
And suddenly I’m flirting with him? And I think he’s flirting back.
And suddenly it’s been hours, and we’re still on the phone talking and ordering each other takeout while he trouble shoots my website.
And suddenly we’re exchanging numbers and sending texts and DMs every day, leaving voice mails (who even does that anymore?!).
And suddenly I’m wondering if it’s possible for two people fall in love at first talk.
Because I’m falling… hard.
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
This is such a sweet book and I actually enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. I very weirdly love romance books with an anonymous pen pal aspect, they’re so good. Maybe this is a trope I need to talk about in my ‘tropes I love’ series?
I summed up my experience with this book perfectly in my review “I pretty much raced through Simon vs the Homo Sapiens agenda. It was such an easy read (in the best way) and I really loved it. It’s always great when I find myself constantly reaching for a book because I can’t get enough of it and that’s what happened here. There wasn’t anything particularly outstanding about the book, but I liked how feel-good it was at times and I’m a big fan of anonymous messaging in romance situations.”
The film is also really good if you are thinking of watching it. They do make it a bit obvious who Blue is though.
Synopsis: Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised.
With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has suddenly gotten all kinds of complicated. Now, change-averse Simon has to find a way to step out of his comfort zone before he’s pushed out—without alienating his friends, compromising himself, or fumbling a shot at happiness with the most confusing, adorable guy he’s never met.
Check out Young Creative Press on all socials
You can also check out my StoryGraph here
[…] Like this post? Why not read this one too: The Best Of: Standalones #12 […]