Lana Wood Johnson

A hilarious, snarky, and utterly addicting #ownvoices debut that explores friendship, sexual orientation, mental health, and falling in love (even if things might be falling apart around you).

Technically, You Started It

menna

wishing I could have someone to talk to like they talk to each other

Fátima

Este libro me recordó a mi época de ávida lectora de Wattpad, allá por el 2014 o 2015, porque allí es bastante común encontrar historias narradas exclusivamente a través de mensajes de texto. 

Tal vez las cinco estrellas que le di, no sean del todo objetivas. Pero disfruté mucho la historia y en cierta forma me hizo feliz así que quise dárselas.

Me identifiqué mucho con la protagonista. Además, la relación (tanto de amistad como romántica) que se forma entre ambos personajes es la cosa más bonita. Sin mencionar que me reí y me morí de ternura (todavía no supero la forma en la que Martin se le declaró, ¿okay? okay). Y te amo Martin, por ser tan fan de los gif como yo.

Haley es demisexual y de hecho la representación de este tema se me hizo muy buena y acertada. Además, es muy poco común encontrar un personaje que se identifique como tal, la única otra vez que leí a alguno fue Aled de Radio Silence, así que si tienen alguna recomendación de similares estaría muy agradecida porque de verdad me hace mucha falta leer más personajes así. Por otra parte, Martin es bisexual así que nos encontramos frente a un libro diverso, donde ambos personajes están tratando de hallarse a sí mismos y descubrirse, tratar de ponerle un nombre a lo que sienten y encontrar su lugar.

Good night, Martin, who potentially likes anybody.
Good night, Haley, who only likes people if they really deserve it.

Soy muy fan de la forma en la que inicia todo este cuento, ya saben que uno de mis clichés favoritos es el hecho de que se comuniquen por mensajes o cartas en lugar de conocerse en persona. Además, todo el asunto de la confusión porque el primo de Martin se llama EXACTAMENTE IGUAL a él y por ende Haley no sabía con cuál de los dos estaba hablando realmente, me tenía muy entretenida y la forma en la que se da cuenta de sus sentimientos hacia Martin fue encantadora porque ella cree que está desarrollando sentimientos por ambos, aunque no es el caso y la confusión se me hizo adorable.

Me encantó el sentido del humor, el intercambio y la interacción. Además, soy muy fan de que se toquen temas importantes así que vale la pena mencionar que también se trata la ansiedad.

Frases que eran literalmente yo:

I'm not used to people actually listening to me.
Or remembering all the stuff I say.
*
EVERYONE I've liked hasn't liked me back.
I've never managed to like anyone who COULD like me back.
If I can like the wrong person at the wrong time, that's the only person I'll like.
And I can never tell anyone because it's way too late and everything about it is wrong.
I can screw up any chance at a relationship. It kinda comes with being me.
 -What do you mean?
I'm freak out.
You've seen it.
I can make anything awkward. I like everything too much. I know more than any human should about things no one cares about.
I barely speak aloud.
Even my friends don't want to spend time with me.
*
You were so quiet so I thought you were shy.
Like catatonic.
But I could tell you were paying attention to everything.
Like all the time.
It's intimidating.
*
Yet you worry about imaginary people kissing.
*
-But you like people?
-I mean, yeah.
I LIKE tons of people, but it's kind of always too late to do anything about it.
Even if they may have liked me at first, they get the sister vibe and don't want anything else.
*
It's not like I hadn't wanted to kiss someone before.
But it's never been the right person at the right time.
*
It would have been so much easier to want things the way everyone else does.
-But you only made yourself miserable. I get it.
*
I don't like MOST guys right away.
I don't like most at all.
*
There's got to be this thing
Oh, yeah, I get it,
Like a spark. But, ugh, I hate that term, you know, just like someone flipped a switch. 
Like I'm just going alone and realize I can see one person differently.
And once it's there... it's way bigger than the other kind of liking someone.
*
But I don't get that feeling everyone else describes as love or even lust until I've really gotten to know someone.
So I let imaginary characters have crushes fo me.
-Hence all the reading.
Exactly!
*
I usually feel lonelier around more people.
It goes with being the quiet one.
*
this really you or another celebrity crush cosplay update?

Elisa Bieg

What an absolutely adorable book. 
Told entirely in text message form, this includes a meet-cute, misunderstanding, a hint of enemy-to-lovers (one-sides at least), some geeky goodness, and some really fun banter. 

It has helped me a ton in my efforts to snap out of a book slump and it was really fun and refreshing, so I’m rounding up my rating to 4 STARS and recommending you give it a go if you need something, light, fun, and easy to follow to lift your spirits or get your out of a funk!

Dee B. 

Aw. That was cute. Haley is so oblivious it hurts 😅😅😅

Zahia Saeed 

This was fun because I pretended I snuck into someone's phone and was reading their messages.

I just really love stories in unconventional epistolary formats where you get as much information from the absences as you do from what's actually told. Was it 100% believable that all their conversations happened over text, especially at the end when everything is getting cleared up? Of course not. But it's still a ton of fun to read and a super interesting concept. I had a super good time reading this and seeing Haley work out her demisexuality on page was absolutely amazing. Absolutely recommend picking this one up.

Candyce Kirk

Alice

Nathalie Matsuda

this was so cute and funny and my inner teenager is very satisfied right now

Lena

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for review.

This is how you do a book featuring a bisexual character without making that the entire plot. This is how you do a nerdy character without overloading the reader with references and aging the book instantly. This is how you do a fun light read! This is how you do a book of teens texting! 

I loved that the only person to use "U" "R" was a mum trying her gosh darn best. 

If you're in the mood for just a fun time give this a try!

Clara hash

B. K.

4 stars. Sweet. Adorable. Loved the text-conversation format.

Read for The Reading Rush 2019 (Challenge #4: Read an author's first book).

Angie

Tera West

This book made me sad. Not because of what happened in it, but because of what didn’t. It really does have a lot of potential, it could have been a 5 star, but it just wasn’t. There was more drama than necessary between the female main character and the female side characters. So much that I actually lost track of who was the bad guy, all with in a 5 hr audiobook. Also the main conflict was blown way out of proportion and could have been fixed way before it was even addressed. I wanted to love this book so bad but it honestly just sucked.

Tiffany Engler

I really enjoyed this book. It's not a book I thought I would enjoy due to it's format. If anything, it's made me want to pick up more books like this! It did it so well. I loved Haley and Martin. They fit together. They're soul mates. For sure. I want more!

Read my full review here:
https://mybookishfantasy.com/2019/10/...

Becca Futrell

On one hand, this story was so CUTE & I got my way in the end. However, there were times when I just couldn’t dig it??? I don’t think books that take place ENTIRELY in text messages are for me.

Technically, You Started It

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