Blog Tour – Review: “Smash It” by Francina Simone
About The Book
Olivia “Liv” James is done with letting her insecurities get the best of her. So she does what any self-respecting hot mess of a girl who wants to SMASH junior year does…
After Liv shows up to a Halloween party in khaki shorts—why, God, why?—she decides to set aside her wack AF ways. She makes a list—a F*ck-It list.
1. Be bold—do the thing that scares me.
2. Learn to take a compliment.
3. Stand out instead of back.
She kicks it off by trying out for the school musical, saying yes to a date and making new friends. Life is great when you stop punking yourself! However, with change comes a lot of missteps, and being bold means following her heart. So what happens when Liv’s heart is interested in three different guys—and two of them are her best friends? What is she supposed to do when she gets dumped by a guy she’s not even dating? How does one Smash It! after the humiliation of being friend-zoned?
In Liv’s own words, “F*ck it. What’s the worst that can happen?”
A lot, apparently.
#SMASHIT
Buy Links:
Amazon| Barnes & Noble | Indie Bound | Apple Books | Books-A-Million | Google Play
Review
Smash It follows the story of Olivia who is a girl trying to navigate her way through high school. She decided that this year will be her “year of yes” in order to push herself to try new things and be more confident in herself. So she decides to try out for the school musical along with her friends Dre and Eli (which she has a crush on). Will she be able to conquer her obstacles in her senior year?
I love Olivia, Dre, and Ei so much. They reminded me of the Three Musketeers as friends. You can really see that they care for one another and like how they a little tight knit family. The characters in this book are so entertaining. and even though their personalities clash from time to time, they still still make for a lively cast of characters. I could relate to some parts of Olivia’s character since I’m a shy and anxious person by nature. I’ve also done similar “yes” projects on my own to try new things. It may be scary for Olivia, but the payoff is that she grows in confidence and in life experiences .
I appreciated how this novel is relatable and realistic too. The story is not only partially a romance with a friends to lovers trope (the love triangle build up was interesting) but a story about coming of age. Each character especially Olivia has to make some different decisions that will affect her life and overcome great obstacles. It’s something everyone deals with at some point in life and high school those decisions are heightened. There are so many crossroads to chose from and we’re unsure of which way to go.
This book also shows that relationships between family, friends, potential crushes aren’t always clean cut and can get messy at time. It is a part of life and how things are handled will determine how things work out. When love is thrown into the midst it gets a bit tangled. Also I loved the idea of Othello the musical. Don’t know if it’s real or not, but this one gives me Hamilton vibes. All of Olivia’s theater experiences reminds me of when I did musicals back in school and fun/hard work of putting a production together!
Final Verdict:
About The Author
Francina Simone believes in one thing: authenticity. She writes YA stories full of humor and hard life lessons with sprinkles of truth that make us all feel understood. Her craft focuses on stories about girls throwing caution to the wind to discover exactly who they are and what it means to love. Francina is also known for her BookTube channel, where she discusses controversial topics in books.
Aaa, I’m so pleased you liked this! My friend told me about it just recently, and we were enthusing over the premise, so it’s great to hear the book lives up to it. I’m hugely looking forward to giving it a read.
Yay! Hope you enjoy it when you read it. 🙂