Book Review: “The Way You Make Me Feel” by Maureen Goo

“The Way You Make Me Feel” by Maureen Goo (2018)

Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance, Fiction

Page Length: 336 pages (hardcover edition)

Synopsis:

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.

Review:

The Way You Make Me Feel is a fun, entertaining, and fluffy YA contemporary set in the summertime! The story follows main character, Clara who is wild, rebellious, and outspoken. A  prank gone wrong at prom leaves her working in her dad’s food truck, KoBra, with her arch-nemesis Rose. Rose is the exact opposite ideal student, but is actually a loner. Can the two of them put aside their differences and learn to work together?

This book gave me all the summer feels with its vibrant neighborhoods of LA, warm weather, and that general sense of “fun in the sun”. I enjoyed the concept of a food truck for the summer and though it seemed like a simple plot at first, Goo wove in a strong narrative with her multi-layered characters and all the events that take place in the story. I enjoyed this book much more than her first novel, I Believe in a Thing Called Love, and felt this book’s writing was much stronger.

Not only is the book focused on diverse culture and delicious cuisine, but it’s a coming of age story. Clara is figuring her life out, growing up, dealing with her dad finding in love, and falling for the cute boy who keeps visiting the food truck. What I love about Goo’s novels in the focus on families. I loved the relationship between Clara and her dad and how they were so close and always have each other’s backs. He’s fallen on the role on the role of two parents since his separation with Clara’s mother and is there for her constantly. Clara’s working in her Dad’s truck forces her to grow up, but also makes appreciate everything he’s done for her and why the KoBra is his pride and joy.

The romance was so cute in this novel and though it seemed like insta-love, I appreciated that it took time for them to really develop a relationship with each other. My favorite part about reading this novel overall was how it transported me to LA and all of its delicious cuisine. Some of the food descriptions had my mouth-watering!

If you’re looking for a summery read full of first-love, lots of good eats, and self-discovery, this is for you!

Final Verdict: