Hi friends and happy Friday! I decided to do a double book review week, since I also finished A Tale of Two Besties, by Sophia Rossi, which Penguin Young Readers generously gave me a review copy of in exchange for my honest opinion. This book was really cute. It tells the story of two best friends (unsurprisingly), Harper and Lily, who are starting high school and going to different schools for the first time. Harper has always been the cool one, who looks out for Lily (who’s personality and decision to wear a pair of costume wings all the time have earned her the nickname gawkward fairy). When the two switch positions in their new high schools, their friendship hits a major hurdle. The book focuses on how each girl deals with her new social status and the changes that occur within their friendship. If you want more from a summary, you can read the goodreads copy here.
The book is set in LA and full full full of slang and pop culture references. At times, I felt like the book went a little far into the LA descriptions, like it was satire or making fun of the city (especially the descriptions of Lily’s new alternative, artistic school). But even so these moments were funny, and I definitely enjoyed this book a lot.
It skews a little younger than most of the YA I read, which makes sense since the characters are rising freshmen. But I LOVED that the focus of the story was a friendship. There are one or two romantic moments, but they are more than secondary (thirdly, fourthly, maybe even fifthly?) to what’s really going on in this story, which is Lily and Harper trying to remain friends while creating individual identities.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something talking about LA in a funny way, a book about friends, or anyone who might be starting high school after this summer. Thanks again to Penguin! It was a very fun read!
Alison Doherty 