The Year of Living Awkwardly Review

Synopsis from Simon & Schuster:

Bridget Jones’s Diary meets Mean Girls as lovably flawed high school student Chloe Snow chronicles another year in her life while she navigates the highs and lows of family, friendship, school, and love in a diary that sparkles with humor and warmth.

It’s Chloe Snow’s sophomore year of high school, and life has only grown more complicated.

Last year, Chloe was the star of the musical. This year, after an audition so disastrous she runs off the stage in tears, she’s cast as a lowly member of the ensemble. Will she be able to make it through the show knowing everyone’s either pitying her or reveling in her downfall?

Chloe’s best friend, Hannah, is no help: she’s been sucked into the orbit of Lex, the velvet-gloved, iron-fisted ruler of the sophomore class. Chloe’s dad is busy falling in love with Miss Murphy, and Chloe is no longer speaking to her mother, who is sending her increasingly desperate and unhinged emails from Mexico. As her parents’ divorce negotiations unravel, a custody battle looms.

If only Chloe could talk to Grady about it: his parents are divorced, and he’s easy to talk to. Or he was, until he declared his love for Chloe, and she turned him down because despite all her rational brain cells she can’t seem to get over Mac, and then Grady promptly started going out with Lex.

As the performance of the show approaches, Chloe must find a way to navigate all the messy elements of her life and make it through to the end of the year.

About: The Year of Living Awkwardly is a young adult fiction written by Emma Chastain. It will be published on 7/10/2018 by Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, 384 pages. The genres are young adult, contemporary, and fiction. This book is intended for readers ages 12 and up, grades 7 and up. This is actually book 2 of the Chloe Snow’s Diary series: book one was called Confessions of a High School Disaster. According to the publisher’s website, Simon Teen is “delivering fresh, bold voices that inspire compulsive reading for teens and beyond. With a focus on high-concept commercial fiction, we’re proudly known as an imprint to push boundaries, to be daring and edgy and of the moment. Our dynamic books—from cult classics to electrifying debuts—embrace escapism and get people talking.” Please see below for more information about the author and publisher.

My Experience: I started reading The Year of Living Awkwardly on 6/27/2018 and finished it on 6/30/2018. This book is an excellent read! I enjoy high school reads a lot, especially when books are upbeat and easy going like this one. It has humor and a diverse of characters exploring who they are and how they perceive themselves. The mean girl Reese is tolerable. I like her smart mean under the guise of being nice rather than being outwardly wicked mean.  For this, I can understand how Chloe feels being on the receiving end. I like Tristan and Chloe’s friendship. Tristan’s love life really pulls at my heart strings. Although this book comes from a series, I feel it’s fine to read as a standalone. It does reference to last year (book 1) but if you are curious like me, you may want to pick it up.

This book is told in the first person point of view following Chloe Snow expressing herself in a diary format. She lives with her lawyer dad while her mom runs off to Mexico with a younger man. This book started out with Chloe working at the pool and flirting with Grady. Coming Sept, Chloe will start her Sophomore year at High School while Grady starts his Freshman year. The year started awkwardly already because her dad is going out on dates with her favorite teacher. She worries her classmates will tease her when they found out. In addition to that, Grady told her he likes her but she told him she’s not into younger guys. Chloe wants to do something memorable this year at the Halloween dance, but what she planned for, something else happened and she regrets not keeping her eyes closed.

A well written book, The Year of Living Awkwardly is a fast paced and fun read. Chloe can be relatable to many readers. She beats herself up, not physically, when it seems obvious what she should do but instead do the opposite. She feels gross for enjoying gossips after it happened. She has plans to put herself out there and do something more. I feel like I’m reading about me sometimes, especially how she feels when summer vacation is over. She thought she should’ve done more. I like how Chloe pep talk herself about how it’s okay to sit alone because I’m the same way, I would rather stay home than go to the movies/restaurant alone. I like her relationship with her dad. I highly recommend everyone to read this book if you are looking for some light reading.

Pro: fast pace, page turner, easy to read, humor, diversity, relatable, friendship, teen love

Con: none

I rate it 5 stars!

Buy it here for free shipping: Book Depository or Simon & Schuster’s website

About the Author:

Emma Chastain is a graduate of Barnard College and the creative writing MFA program at Boston University. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and children. (Info & Photo obtained from Simon & Schuster’s website).

More information about Simon Pulse:

Website: http://simonandschusterpublishing.com/simonpulse | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Simonkids | Twitter: https://twitter.com/simonkids | Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/simonteen

***Disclaimer: Many thanks to Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to read and review. Please be assured that my opinions are honest.

xoxo,
Jasmine