When Katie Met Cassidy

I think I’ve grown so used to YA books of teens and young adults finding themselves that seeing a person unlearn and relearn who they are was really refreshing. I loved that we didn’t leave Katie and Cassidy as a perfectly solid couple, and I love the direction that Katie is going in. I will say though, there was more emphasis on being together because of sexual chemistry than I liked.

I read this quickly, and it isn’t the worst romance I’ve ever read, but nowhere near my favorite. I wanted to like it, but both Katie and Cassidy felt like caricatures. If this book was written in 1990, I’d be ok with it, but it felt so behind what is commonplace now. Just meh for me.

** spoiler alert ** DNF AT PAGE 9 that has to be some type of record i’m sorry but dear god this is gonna be harsh utter. stereotypical. garbage. as a lesbian this was insulting just on page 9 so i cant imagine the people that suffered through this monstrosity

“this larger than life space was in fact just a room like any other. It struck Katie then how much it was about the people who filled a space with drama and personality, with love and grudges and out-size emotion, that made a place what it was.” • this story was too short in my opinion, this plot had so much potential for a really great story about self discovery. still a cute quick read though

3.5/5 i really enjoyed the first half but the second half slowed down quite a bit and for the amount of times they had sex, it was disappointing that there were no actual sex scenes. But all in all a quick, easy read.

Just finished this book and I have complicated feelings about it. There were definitely some cute parts and it was an easy quick read! But there were so many stereotypes and a few things I found problematic. I understood that Katie’s thoughts and judgments were mostly just her internalized homophobia, but there was nothing else in the book to combat those thoughts so it seemed to reinforce them even more.. I would have loved to see some bi representation or to see it even mentioned as a possibility. Katie has always thought she was straight, but when she falls in love with a woman she’s just like “oh wow have I really been gay this whole time???” and I wish we could have gotten deeper into her figuring out her sexuality. This book just reinforced the stereotypes around butch and femme lesbians and mentioned no in between. Also the relationship just seemed kind of surface level and insta-lovey, when it could have been so much deeper. Kind of disappointing😞

Pretty typical "girl meets girl," "girl questions sexuality as a result" book. Nice and fluffy, which is what I wanted, plus a couple "oh shit!" moments to keep it interesting. It was a super quick read, and I really enjoyed it! However, one thing stuck out to me: until Katie met Cassidy, she never seemed to question her orientation or her attraction to men. And yet, as she struggles with her attraction to Cassidy and what her sexuality is, she never once wonders if she might be bisexual, nor do any of Cassidy's friends who discuss Katie's orientation. It's always "is Katie gay/lesbian?" despite the fact that she literally just broke up with her male fiance. At the end of the book, (view spoiler)[the answer is "I don't know!" and it's still never brought up as a possibility. (hide spoiler)] I'm not saying she is definitely bisexual or that the character should have been written as bisexual, but it was just a bit disappointing that the word was never once uttered as she struggles to figure herself out. It's as if the only two options are "straight" or "gay." Overall, it's not a huge deal. It's just what I thought about whenever her sexuality was questioned. But other than that, it was a great read! Oh, and one other thing: I wish we got more. The book seemed to end abruptly (though the ending was cute) but I wanted to know (view spoiler)[how her mom reacted to her letter! (hide spoiler)]

This was an extremely straight book for it to be a wlw romance. Homophobia. Zero steam. Overdone and annoying straight-girl trope.

This was SUCH a disappointment. It read like it was written by a straight woman who has never met a real-life lesbian. All the jokes read like they were TRYING to be funny, not actually funny. And very few things felt resolved at the end. When will I get the cute wlw contemporary romance I deserve?

Right now, as I've just finished the book in it's entirety of 264 pages, there are tears springing out of my eyes like a faucet. There aren't that many wlw or f/f books out there and I tend to take them with a grain of salt but this definitely was an amazing book, hence the high star rating. The dual perspective was incredibly well done until the end where we have a moment of weak writing, where the author has a moment of suspense and then glides over to five minutes before the scene. It was a little off putting but nothing to tack a star off. Just a minor detail I noticed. I loved all the characters especially that they were raw, and real and the realism in this novel was breathtaking. Not to mention it was positive and educating. I like that we have a character whose been forced to put on a facade for a long time, and is challenged by someone different to bring out her real sef, despite the fact that this person is another female and oh- what are these feelings? But I'm not gay? I like the inner battle of Katie and her trying to figure out what she's feeling and what she's telling herself. I like that she questions motives and speaks up for herself. I love that Cassidy is a strong female character who knows consent. I love that she's a "Casanova" and she's the type of character who drowns her surrows in pleasures and alcohol while maintaining a motherly boss figure amongst a strong community of women who make her stronger. I kind of wished the side characters and friends were dealt upon further but the interactions we got we're both hilarious and stimulating. I also love the dynamic relationship between Cassidy and Katie and that they learned to be good friends before moving onto something deeper and more confusing. Honestly there are only good things to say about this book. I loved this book and honestly as someone who doesn't see enough of her own target range content... this only fueled my gay heart. I loved this so very much and I need ALL of you to read it. Lately, I'm not sure why, but young adult has been a hit or miss for me. Maybe more adult novels like this are more up my alley? Read it!!!

6.43 on CAWPILE I really enjoyed this book. It's was fun and very easy to read. Katie and Cassidy are very cute together. *SPOILERS* The 'fight' was very predictable and I saw it coming, but I guess that's just a romance thing as well. The problem was resolved quite fast and it felt a bit too fast actually. We worked up to that point and after it happened, the story was done and they lived happily ever after. I would have loved it, if this book was a bit longer. But I still enjoyed it very much.

When Katie Met Cassidy is a contemporary romance set in New York. Katie’s world is turned upside down when her fiancé leaves her for her best friend and then suddenly at work, she is thrown in to the path of Cassidy; a fierce and fascinating woman, Katie is infatuated from the first moment they meet. After both feeling intrigued by each other, they agree to go for a drink and what ensues is a friendship in which both women learn from each other… but will it ever become more than that? More than LGBTQIA+ representation, I really liked the way Perri used the book to comment on gender constructs and society’s perceptions of gender. Cassidy’s attitudes to her clothing and the ways she views herself was a refreshing and poignant part of the book. This quote in particular resonated with me: “Getting called “sir” was no more or less correct than getting called “ma’am” or “miss”. None felt exactly right, so it was all the same to Cassidy.” Cassidy was very much used as a paradigm to show how gender constructs are thrust onto everyone and actually, they don’t reflect how everyone feels so why are they also so assumed? While I enjoyed this book for its romance, overall I don’t think it went very deeply into the story. The book was only 264 pages and I think it perhaps would have been more impactful had it explored things in a bit more detail. Katie questioned herself and her sexuality throughout but I wouldn’t say this book has bisexual representation – Katie very much felt like a straight woman who happened to fancy another woman. With one dimensional characters, a truckload of stereotypes, and a superficial storyline this book just felt a bit lacking. I read this quite quickly and enjoyed it overall but I don’t think it does anything groundbreaking or memorable. It’s an okay, cute story, but only really scratches the surface of these characters’ personalities. Had Perri used it to include a few more subtle but impactful themes, storylines or characters, I would have been more impressed. Cute and fun, but all in all a bit forgettable!