Name: Stella's review of Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli
Item: Yes No Maybe So
Rating: 4
Author: Stella

Becky Albertalli

Aisha Saeed

A book about the power of love and resistance from New York Times bestselling authors Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed. YES Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate--as long as he's behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers (or, let's face it, speaking at all to almost anyone) Jamie's a choke artist. There's no way he'd ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes...until he meets Maya. NO Maya Rehman's having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is canceled, and now her parents are separating. Why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing--with some awkward dude she hardly knows--is beyond her. MAYBE SO Going door to door isn't exactly glamorous, but maybe it's not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer--and so are Maya and Jamie. Mastering local activism is one thing. Navigating the cross-cultural crush of the century is another thing entirely.

Yes No Maybe So

A book about the power of love and resistance from New York Times bestselling authors Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed. YES Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate—as long as he’s behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers (or, let’s face it, speaking at all to almost anyone) Jamie’s a choke artist. There’s no way he’d ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes…until he meets Maya. NO Maya Rehman’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is canceled, and now her parents are separating. Why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing—with some awkward dude she hardly knows—is beyond her. MAYBE SO Going door to door isn’t exactly glamorous, but maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer—and so are Maya and Jamie. Mastering local activism is one thing. Navigating the cross-cultural crush of the century is another thing entirely.

ARPITA ♡

My mom and grandma are huddled at the kitchen table in front of Mom’s laptop—I mean, that’s not the weird part. Grandma’s always here. She moved in with us when I was nine, right after my grandpa died. And the huddled-over-a-laptop part’s not weird either, since Mom and Grandma are both big-time tech geeks. Mom runs campaign analytics sometimes for Senator Mathews, and obviously Grandma is our resident social media queen.

Krystal Campbell 

Stella

Wes Michaud

such a fun book loved it. loved the characters and the setting it felt so real and I found myself feeling like it was election season again

Bria

** spoiler alert **
           I didn’t like this book. Maya is literally celebrating Ramadan and all she does is fast. She briefly mentions to Jamie that she doesn’t want to go against her religion then puts it on her parents. It just didn’t seem like religion was important to her, so what was the point of her being Muslim? Yeah, she fights back against the hijab bill, but was that for Muslims or just her mom? Anyway, I think if you’re going to bring a religious holiday into the story then it needs to truly be part of the story because all Maya cares about is how hungry she is from fasting. Also, I hate the whole “I’m giving up my religion for this white boy” trope. Why is it that poc always have to give up things for white people? And why as poc would anyone want to keep dealing out this trope? Give me a “I’m a white boy giving up my religion for literally any other person” trope.

It is cool that the authors actually went door to door campaigning to get more info about that.

Cigdem O

cok fazla abd politikasi vardi,,, tw usa politics deseler yeridir

Karis Ryu

From New York Times bestselling authors Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed comes a heart-warming, hilarious story about the power of love and resistance. Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state candidate - as long as he's behind the scenes. There's no way he'd ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes...until he meets Maya. Maya Rehman's having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is cancelled, her parents are separating and now her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing - with some awkward guy she hardly knows ... Going door to door isn't exactly glamorous, but maybe it's not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer - and so are Maya and Jamie. Mastering local activism is one thing. Navigating the cross-cultural romance of the century is another thing entirely.

Joana da Silva

13th book read while I'm still home because the Covid-19 is still out there. 
I bought this book on a whim because I had a hairdresser appointment and had forgot my book at home. I mean, I had to, I dye my hair. That means sitting in a chair for 30+ minutes. 
However, this turned out to be a curious choice. It talks about US politics, racism, white supremacy and the struggles of being a woke teenager who can't do anything because they're 17. 
This book has a strong message of love and hope. It certainly helped seeing a light amongst all the darkness that's surrounding the world right now.

Alice Myles

4.5 STARS

Becky Albertalli books are my happy place, truly no other author makes me feel this happy when reading. Can I be reincarnated in a Becky Albertalli universe please and thank you. I've been going through a rough patch of really enjoying the books I'm reading at the minute and who knew that all it would take was Becky Albertalli? (Me, I probably knew that) 

I wasn't instantly hooked on this like I was with Simon vs but once it got to a point, I just absorbed it. I've never read anything by Aisha Saeed before but I really enjoyed her parts of the story too! The story was really well balanced and not to compare political romance stories but this was better than red white and royal blue in my honest opinion but maybe I just related more.

Laneh faith mesa

DNF 
A very childish feeling “love” 
May try again but on first try not a fan.

Emelie

400 pages of an election I had no interest in what so ever..

Shereen Evans

If you are wanting a quick read, this will do it. It was a fun read. There were times that Jamie and Maya annoyed me with their teen angst. If there wasn't as much political stuff it would of been a cute romance. I gave it three stars because I could have done with out some of the fluff. The gradual love interest between Maya and Jamie was done well.

ayah ♡

dnf @ 36%

this was,,, not great. After really liking other books by Becky Albertalli I thought this would be great, but it really wasn't. tbh, i was not only bored, i just,, didn't care??? We're not going to go into the whole POC and muslim rep and stuff cuz that was a whole other mess, but i was very unimpressed by this book. I really, really expected better

Bernadeta

Thia book was good, but it is a bit frustrating. It's not really interesting in the Begining, so it took a bit longer to get reading, but when you read more then half it gets really interesting. I would say read it!

Steph L 

Would rate this book higher than 5 stars if allowed. Oh my goodness I loved this book so.much. The story is very much needed today, and it is done fantastically. I loved Jamie and Maya, and I was rooting for them. I cheered and cried my through this book with Maya and Jamie. Sophie is a gyb supporting character, and I loved seeing her Bat Mitzvah.

mighty dragon 

i think i picked it up a month after it was released but stopped after a couple of pages. but few of my friends gave this book a pretty high rating so hey! maybe i should try to read it once again!

aaaaand i regret. because now here comes a full rant review i thought i'd never write anymore.

— both authors are familiar to me, though i haven't read aisha saeed's books. but i loved becky albertalli's. because we get pov for each of our main characters i just thought it should've distinct writing style? it blended well, perhaps way too well i actually forget this was written by two different authors.
— i can't find the chemistry between the characters who supposed to be in love with each other. perhaps this is because friends to lovers isn't exactly my favorite trope but i really can't find it. they vibe well as friends.
— now here's the thing about maya's identity. this book relies a lot on that, with one a jewish (jamie) and another a muslim (maya). interfaith relationship is common, at least around me and in my country. people who identify as muslim yet isn't really religious and doesn't do any of the practice is common as well. and there are some who fast during ramadan but skip prayers (myself would be an example). and there are also those who do relationships (and all the intimate skin-touching stuffs) before marriage. i get why people would see these muslims as "bad rep" in media. but it's real, it's happening in real life. these kind of muslims exist. though of course, unfortunately, the western book publisher had always chose this one trope to publish.
[ the rest of this review might contains spoilers ]
however, thing about maya is, she think of her faith as a big deal. i don't know if she only thought about it recently after (SPOILER) the election thing, but even she just thought about that, i just... idk, i kind of expect her to take it more seriously? so when i saw her completely changed her mind about dating (yes, i know she actually just following her parents' order? caution? before, but still) i felt a bit ehh... 
i don't think i get to decide if it's bad or okay, i mean i will fall into the same category with her—if we were to put different-types-of-muslims in some boxes. i'm just feeling a bit... i don't know, curious? her parents also seemed to have a change of heart just because she's "growing up" and "will go to college next year". i sort of hoped she will continue with pacaran is haram, it'd be a nice change to see thing like this happen in books (also THEY FOUGHT ABOUT IT! and it was pretty bad. love truly conquers all it seems) but heh. this is ya romance.

overall, i don't think this book is that bad. it was just... plain. it doesn't excite or impress me.

Eloise

Yes No Maybe So is an amazing political young adult contemporary romance. This book is beautifully written by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed. I loved Yes No Maybe So from start to finish it was completely engaging from the very first chapter. 

Yes No Maybe So is told through the alternating perspectives of Jamie and Maya. Jamie Goldberg is a Jewish teenager who is funny, kind, loyal, shy, and socially awkward. Maya Rehman is a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who is kind, passionate, caring, and strong. I loved how much Maya and Jamie's families were present throughout this book, they were both really supportive family systems in their lives. I loved the book’s exploration of friendships and how complicated and messy they can be. I love a good friends to lovers romance, and Jamie and Maya's relationship is one of the best. Both characters developed so much over the course of the story, with more understanding of each other and the political climate.

Overall, Yes No Maybe So is an important story, full of love, hope, and politics. I highly recommend picking up a copy!

Shan

One of the cutest YAs I have read in a while. I enjoyed this one more than Frankly in Love. I will remember this one for a while

Ana Robbinson

Being an Indian, I’d know a thing or two about, racism, bigotry and some shitty politics. So despite this book being set in a western country with a slightly different form of government, I was able to relate to it on a very spiritual level... 

It made me want to get out there and do something to change this world and its ways. 

I think that’s the success of any book - making us want to initiate change...

Brooke Barnett

I enjoyed the topics discussed and the relationship between Jamie and Maya. I liked how there was some truth behind the book.

Flavia Louise

anderson elizabeth

Sofi Claros

Setting aside all the problems with muslim rep, this book was not THAT bad, it just lacked something, maybe a better plot? I'm a sucker for YA contemporaries, I love them, but this for me felt too plain, I didn't have much to it that made me go "omg i love this book" you know?

Rania Singla

This book was a very light and fun read. It taught me a lot about politics and discrimination, along with having a touch of romance. It gives out a very strong message and should be read by many more people. Overall, it was simply enlightening. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Qaisarah Kamal Fariz

no bc this literally put me in a several day reading slump i had to force myself to read 😐

the beginning was so slow, and i only got into it during the last like, third of the book. overall the plot just wasnt very interesting even if it did talk about modern day issues. 
i saw a bunch of disappointed reviews but i thought i would give it a try after seeing it on display at the library plus the cover was cute 😩

so yeah i would give it a 3/5 bc im feeling a little generous <3

Krystal Campbell &
Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli

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Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli