Happy Tuesday and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for KIND OF SORT OF FINE by Spencer Hall! I’m going to share my review with all of you today, plus more information about the book and author, and where follow the rest of the tour! And now without any further ado, let’s get to the review!
I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Kind of Sort of Fine by Spencer Hall Published on June 22, 2021 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Genres: Contemporary, YA
Pages: 288
Format: ARC
Source: the Publisher
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Author Links: Twitter, Goodreads, Instagram, YouTube
Senior year changes everything for two teens in this poignant, funny coming-of-age story that looks at what happens when the image everyone has of us no longer matches who we really are.
Senior year of high school is full of changes.
For Hayley Mills, these changes aren’t exactly welcome. All she wants is for everyone to forget about her very public breakdown and remember her as the overachiever she once was—and who she’s determined to be again. But it’s difficult to be seen as a go-getter when she’s forced into TV Production class with all the slackers like Lewis Holbrook.
For Lewis, though, this is going to be his year. After a summer spent binging 80s movies, he’s ready to upgrade from the role of self-described fat, funny sidekick to leading man of his own life—including getting the girl. The only thing standing in his way is, well, himself.
When the two are partnered up in class, neither is particularly thrilled. But then they start making mini documentaries about their classmates’ hidden talents, and suddenly Hayley is getting attention for something other than her breakdown, and Lewis isn’t just a background character anymore. It seems like they’re both finally getting what they want—except what happens when who you’ve become isn’t who you really are?
tl;dr
- really cool concept, execution fell a little flat
- fat people? don’t have to lose weight?? to feel good about themselves????
- Hayley’s description of her breakdown felt so much like my own that I probably shouldn’t have read this, so even though it’s only briefly mentioned, I’m putting a strong TW for depression and anxiety
- I feel like this would have been a great book ten years ago, but for 2021 it’s very- eh.
did i like it?
I liked certain parts of it? It definitely had a cool premise (kids learning cool things about their classmates hidden talents), and the the anxiety/depression roller coaster with AP kids was really well done, but I’m a characters girl. If you write the characters well, I will read anything and everything you write forever and ever, but if they fall flat, not even the best plot ever will make it better. In this book, I liked Hayley for the most part, but I didn’t ever really connect to or like Lewis and I actively hated Cal, so that kind of made my enjoyment go down.
favorite character?
Hayley for sure!
will i re-read it?
probably not
the book in ao3 tags
- 80s movie marathon
- self-loathing fat character please watch out ok
- trigger warning: detailed descriptions of depression
- the title pretty much sums it up
- side characters doing more interesting things than the main characters
- please be nice I started writing this like 10 years ago (*reads like*)
I really enjoy this cover edit with me in a hot air balloon! (I especially like that it’s blocking Lewis so it’s just me and Hayley on the cover)
7.9/10 stars!!!
- Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen
- North of Beautiful by Justina Chen
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
- How to be Popular by Meg Cabot
coming soon!
About Spencer Hall
Spencer Hall graduated from the University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky in with a BS in English. He moved to Chicago to study improv, but soon realized when it came to being funny, he was better at writing things down than making them up on the spot. When he’s not writing, he can be found running by the lake, occasionally performing stand-up comedy at poorly attended open mic nights, and researching how to become a professional mini-golf player. Kind of Sort of Fine is his first novel.
What do you think about Kind of Sort of Fine? Have you added it to your tbr yet? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!
I don’t know that this would be a good fit for me at the moment – character hating being fat and descriptions of depression, etc. Thanks for all the pros and cons! I appreciate it. I am usually very much a character person when it comes to books as well.
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