Book Review: In Real Life by Jessica Love

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Title: In Real Life
Author: Jessica Love
Genre: YA - Contemporary
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Original Release Date: March 1, 2016
Pages: 240
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

Hannah Cho and Nick Cooper have been best friends since 8th grade. They talk for hours on the phone, regularly shower each other with presents, and know everything there is to know about one another.

There’s just one problem: Hannah and Nick have never actually met.

Hannah has spent her entire life doing what she’s supposed to, but when her senior-year spring-break plans are ruined by a rule breaker, she decides to break a rule or two herself. She impulsively decides to road trip to Vegas, her older sister and BFF in tow, to surprise Nick and finally declare her more-than-friendship feelings for him.

Hannah’s romantic gesture backfires when she gets to Vegas and finds out that Nick has been keeping some major secrets. Hannah knows the real Nick can’t be that different from the online Nick she knows and loves, but now she only has one night in Sin City to figure out what her feelings for Nick really are, all while discovering how life can change when you break the rules every now and then.

Long Distance Best Friends

Hannah and Nick became friends because of their siblings and forged a strong friendship over the internet. They grew with each other and shared the most important and least important moments of their lives with each other, but they have never met each other face to face. Now that they've finally met, Hannah has discovered that Nick wasn't being completely honest with her about who he was.

Being a World of Warcraft player, I've met so many people online. Of the people I've met, I've forged lasting and meaningful relationships with many of them. I've even had the opportunity to meet many of them, and am still friends with them after so many years. And just like Nick, we all have our internet persona that we adorn in order to make judgmental strangers accept us into their fold. Who doesn't want to be accepted? When I read the synopsis of this book, I knew I had to read it.

Pros

Plot - The plot to this story was simple - two online friends meet and complications ensue. Sometimes a simplistic plot can be boring, but that wasn't the case here. The book read very much like a movie, which is something I look for in young adult contemporary novels. On a personal level, this situation was so relatable to me. I knew exactly what Hannah was feeling, being an internet dwelling introvert myself. This book had such a fun plot built on top of the awkward "there's no screen between us" situation and the "what do you mean you lied to me??" situations.

Romance - Ah, the slow burn romance - my favorite kind of romance trope. There's something about being on the edge of your seat when you know the main characters are destined to be together from the first page yet they haven't done it yet! I spent the whole book cheering on this adorable pair. However, there were also a few insta-loves interspersed (I loathe these), but they didn't bother me like they usually do because insta-love really bothers the main character (I feel your pain, Hannah).

Setting - I have never read a book that takes place in Las Vegas before. Honestly, it's not a setting I would even consider for young adult story. I thought it was well researched and well done. I didn't particularly like that the author glorified underage drinking in a young adult book (full disclosure, I'm a total hypocrite). I'd definitely like to see more young adult novels written in unusual real locations.

Cons

Characters - The place where this book truly fell short for me is in the character department. The characters in this book are all very one dimensional. Instead of seeing the characters' personalities, you're bluntly told about . Most of the characters' personality traits are info dumped by another character telling somebody what their personality is like. It struck me as an amateur move. I felt like I didn't really know who any of them were, so in turn I didn't actually care much about them. The only reason why I cared about the two main characters is because I personally saw myself in the main characters. It gave me an honest empathy for them, but not for anybody else.

Overall

This was an extremely relatable book for me. One of my most valued friendships was forged nearly entirely online for years. When we met face to face it was intensely awkward, but it was a moment I will never forget. Reading this book reminded me of that friendship, as well as other friendships that I have developed online with people from all over the world. I think that's why I loved this book so much. This book was a fun light and fluffy read. I'm sure it wasn't meant at all to be a deep reminder of the value of long distance friendships (this was just a happy accident). Sometimes you just read a book that makes you melt because you've lived that story before. I recommend this book to anybody who wants a cute and easy story to brighten their day. I don't believe that you have to be able to relate to the story to enjoy it the way Ms. Love intended it to be enjoyed.