Maurene Goo

An NPR Best Book of 2018 A Boston Globe Best Children's Book of 2018 A We Need Diverse Books 2018 Must-Read A TAYSHAS 2019 Reading List Book From the author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, a laugh-out-loud story of love, new friendships, and one unique food truck. Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn't so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind? With Maurene Goo's signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look.

The Way You Make Me Feel

Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn't so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad's business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind?

alexandra

(sometime in 2017): I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THIS IS ABOUT BUT THE COVER IS SO WONDERFUL AND THE MODEL IS ASIAN AND I WANT IT NOOOWWWWW omg

(after finishing): this book is a love letter to LA and so much more I'M SO EMO. i literally cried while reading it; it was so unexpectedly emotional and beautiful. definitely one of my favorites of the year/ever. BRB CRYING.

FULL REVIEW TO COME

brianna

"I'd protect that little part of the universe for as long as possible."
 

This was the most unexpected gem of a book and I have never been so happy. I hadn't heard much about this book except that Maurene Goo wrote it and I know everyone loves her writing but this was completely new to me. The idea of a summer job at a food truck working with your high school nemesis sounded like so much fun to me so I picked it up on a whim and it did NOT disappoint. Everything about our main character Clara was so fucking FUNNY and there was never a dull moment with her. She had such a strong personality and I found myself growing so attached to her because honestly, she reminded me a lot of myself in high school especially with the group of friends she had at the beginning of the story. You don't typically see female characters like this in contemporary novels and shes become so important to me over the last 24 hours and I would've never expected this? I don't typically grow this fond of characters unless I see myself represented in them and that's usually through race or sexuality but to see someone's personality mirror mine at that age is so refreshing and honestly exciting. Stop writing female characters as wet rags PLEASE because I need more smart ass, emotionally unavailable female characters in my YA contemporaries NOW. 

However, the only thing keeping me from giving this a full 5 stars is the last 70 pages. Those were the most unrealistic, out of pocket pages I've ever read and thats where the story fell flat for me. No teenager runs away to a different country because their daddy yelled at them. That's really the only criticism I have for this and that everything was resolved a little too nicely but again, it's YA contemporary what more can I say.

Anyway, I can't recommend this more and I definitely see myself rereading this in the near future and picking up some more of Maurene Goo's books ASAP.

Connor 

Maurene Goo might be my favorite YA author now?? I loved this?? And also really want to eat everything from this food truck so brb gotta go learn how to make Brazilian Korean food, it sounds amazing. (This woulda made a great enemies to lovers, but I also really really love how much love it gives to friendship, and also Hamlet was precious.)

Dee B. 

Aw this was cute. It didn't hurt as much as I had set myself up thinking that it would which was a pleasant surprise for me. This book has the potential for pain but each was handled so gracefully: (view spoiler)[her Mother's absence, her father's new girlfriend, the fact that the mother/daughter trip that she'd built up in her head was nothing like the reality because the pedestal that she'd placed her mother on was not hers to begin with, the set up for a potential love triangle between her/Rose/Hamlet (hide spoiler)] and I couldn't be happier. Sometimes it's nice to not have to feel pain EVERY TIME you read. lol.

Flavia Louise

I loved the dynamics in this book. The enemies to best friends trope was top notch. Her being raised mostly by her dad was also something I don't often see in YA as well as good communication between separated parents.

Courtney ✿ @librarycutie

i 
  looooved
 this book! it was definitely one of my favorite contemporaries i’ve read in a long time and was last full of diversity. i loved Clara, she’s very care free and only annoys me once in the book but she quickly learns from her mistakes. i love the friendships in this book, and how Clara is branching out unintentionally and all this stuff is happening to her. i love it. i love it.

also let’s talk about hamlet. he’s so stinkin’ cute!!!

Katie

This book was so fun! The concept of a Korean-Brazilian fusion food truck is kind of the best thing ever, and I was so excited to get to read about it! There is a enemies to friends relationship development, which is one of my favorite tropes. The main character, Clara, goes on a journey of self-discovery over the course of a summer working on her dad's food truck. Unfortunately, this is essentially the entire book. It didn't exactly LACK depth, but depth was also not in abundance. It was well-written and enjoyable, but I don't think it brought a lot of new stuff to the contemporary YA summer romance genre. I would definitely recommend this book for a quick, fun read!

laura

I read this book in a day. I really thought this was such a fun summer themed read. I read the next book by this author and felt that this book was also super strong. I liked that this book focused so much on self discovery. I really also enjoyed how clara changed so much throughout this novel. This book had a lot of mini plots travel, job, competition and they did not all mesh together super well to make a strong clear novel. I felt like some parts were quickly tied up and I wanted the last 50 pages to be bit longer and sreached out. I really did enjoy the characters in this book thought and would read more by this author in the future.

Marisa Shibata

i finally finished reading it hurray 🥳🥳 this was actually a super fun book, despite what my 4 months of reading time may suggest 😳. amusing characters and a simple story of a girl just changing over the summer and becoming herself.
it’s an ordinary trope but written so casually and paired with the humorous characters makes for a refreshing read. initially i felt like the way that clare’s friendship w patrick etc was left unresolved felt lacking but then again friendships do end just as abruptly irl too so i suppose i have no qualms about this book 😌 definitely a fine summer read.

mads <3

*4.5

I really really really enjoyed this book. What keeps me from giving it five-stars is just my personal opinions. I don't like the trope of petty "enemies" to friends. But I ended up loving the friendship it was just hard to get into. That aside, this was just so cute. If any guy wants know what a girl wants in a boyfriend READ THIS BOOK AND TAKE NOTES ON HAMLET. I LOVED the relationship with her dad. The second I finished this book I ran downstairs and gave my dad a hug. Anyways, highly recommend this book.

Megan Leprich

Leelynn Brady

Okay, okay, okay.

So I needed to sleep before I talked about this book because I was legit very emotional after reading this book. Like, wow. I had so many feels about this book and I could see so many aspects about my own life that Clara went through, and even Rose, and I just felt for them all. So yeah, I’m still emotional about it, but I wanted to write this review before I had to go to the doctors. Here goes.

Read the rest of the review on my blog Sometimes Leelynn Reads

Ashton Reed

4.5/5

Absolute, positively warm and fuzzy and hopeful....

As in, that’s the way this book made me feel!

I’m seriously so shocked but happy about how much this book has impacted me. First of all, the characters are all so great and lovable, but also flawed and deep. The story is perfect and great, and the food truck idea is so cute!! And the love interest, Hamlet *insert starry eyes here* is a freaking dream - yes, I have a new book boyfriend. He’s seriously the sweetest.

Mostly, I want to talk about the characters specifically. I related so much to both Clara and Rose, which is probably one of the biggest reasons I enjoyed their story so much. Clara went through a lot of character growth that I can apply to my own life, which meant so much to me. I literally cried so hard at the end haha.

I wish I wrote this closer to when I finished so I could really give you my gushing crying feels, but alas, I didn’t. Still, highly recommend! Especially if you’re like me and Clara: you’re stubborn and you find it hard to be vulnerable, even with people you love :)




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The Way You Make Me Feel

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