User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
As soon as I read the summary for
Four Days of You and Me I knew I would love it. Turns out I shouldn't be so confident with my reading taste, because inevitably a book like this will throw me a curveball and make me question everything I think I know.
We follow Lulu and Alex's romance on four field trips across four years, seeing how their relationship progresses as they grow and mature. The concept sounded so cute! From escape rooms to NYC to London, we see Lulu and Alex breakup, makeup and follow their dreams.
Unfortunately, the concept that initially drew me in turned out to be the main downfall of the story. While abstractly the idea sounded fun, in actuality it wasn't executed well. As a result of the non-linear timeline, the pacing felt strange and it was difficult for me to keep all the flashbacks and timelines straight. It was so jumpy and fast paced that it didn't leave any time for development. As well as that, it gave the book a strange tone. It was simultaneously mature in terms of some slightly sexual themes, but dramatic and immature in the character's thoughts.
While this book had its occasional cute moments, I didn't feel the chemistry. The relationship between Lulu and Alex felt dysfunctional and almost toxic at times. They were deeply co-dependent, prone to miscommunication and dramatic. I was getting whiplash as I read the book due to the non-linear format.
One chapter they were enemies, the next they were saying I love you and the next they were fighting. Most of the characters were done well, at the very least likeable even if they weren't completely fleshed out. Except for the one character that we spend the most of the time with.
Lulu. I'm not entirely sure what it was about her, but oh boy did she
get on my nerves . She began alright, but the further I read the more I hated her.
When it came to writing Lulu it felt like the author was
all tell and no show. We are
constantly told that she is vegan and wants her school to have a veggie patch but apart from that her supposed love for the environment doesn't express itself. Additionally, things seemed to be thrown in about her almost as an afterthought to give her some sort of personality. Apparently she loves dancing? Apart from a couple of lines when convenient,
I never would have known. This may sound nit-picky, but when you love something, say dancing, it plays into the way you perceive the world. You see things differently, move differently, think differently. A book that did this really well was Loveboat, Taipei. Overall, I just felt Lulu had the potential to be a well-rounded character but it missed the mark for me.
I've never read anything by Miranda Kenneally before, but I know she is really well loved in the YA contemporary romance world. So I'm not sure if it is just a me issue, a this book issue or a this author issue. I would occasionally get drawn into the story, but then a character would say something cringey and I would be pulled right back into reality. For some lines, it felt like a classic case of adults trying to write teenagers. It was so overly dramatic that I couldn't even be bothered to roll my eyes after a while.
All that said, I think some of my feelings are so strong due to the fact that I had really high expectations going in. I enjoyed the first few chapters, but for me it went really downhill from there. I couldn't turn off the critical part of brain while reading this, but if you think you can I would recommend this as a fast paced, easy to fly through and mindless read.
Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for this ARCRelease Date: 5 May 2020
Rating: really liked it
3.5*
Did Alex really touch my hand? What does it mean? I need to check my horoscope ASAP.Four Days of You and Me was an enjoyable read. If you’re looking for a transformative YA novel where the characters are already established and have nothing to learn or grow from, (which sort of defeats the purpose of transformative, but whatever) then this one probably isn’t for you. Four Days of You and Me is a light-hearted YA romance read. The characters are flawed, they make mistakes, they make more mistakes, and when they learn from those mistakes, they still make a few more. Personally when I pick up a YA romance, I’m not looking for a personality guidebook. So Alex and Lulu’s on and off again dynamic works for me. Lulu is the schools “garden girl” aka hippie, and Alex is the popular baseball player who also works at his family’s restaurant all of the time. Lulu has dreams of writing/illustrating graphic novels, and Alex just wants more than the family business. They have cute tension from the start, and their story is told in LuLu’s POV over the course of their high school years. The story does time jump a bit, and it takes awhile for it to not feel so disjointed. But once I caught on to the yearly field trip, vs the months prior, it wasn’t so bad.
I loved Lulu and Alex’s sweet back and forth. I loved all of their friends. I loved that even though they had drama with other boyfriends/girlfriends along the way that they ended up eventually working those things out. I realize that many people don’t want to read the main characters with other people, but that aspect of this book made it feel relatable. The natural ebb and flow of love. Especially young love when you’re still figuring out you and not just you with someone else.
All in all this was a good read. It’s entertaining. It’s two young people growing into themselves and figuring it out how they can fit together better. If you’re looking for that, combined with a super cute rollercoaster of emotional teenage angst, then Four Days of You and Me is a winner.
AVAILABLE NOW!
*ARC
Rating: really liked it
Nothing makes me more sad that when an anticipated read doesn’t live up to the hype. This book left me wanting so much more than I was given. It could have been the perfect story, but it just missed the mark to make a connection I normally feel when Kenneally writes a book. Her Thousand Oaks series is one of my favorite YA sports books, and I was just spoiled by this to think this book was going to be the same way.
This book is told over the span of specific days over the course of high school. Lulu and Alex meet at the the start of freshman year, and it progresses onto a relationship over the next years which faces ups and down. Alex plays baseball, but it doesn’t feature a lot into the story. Just like Kenneally was trying to add sports into the books because that is what she does. Lulu is an artist though, and she is working on a graphic novel, It is sweet how passionate she is about her art and how much she loves books. The relationship between her and Alex isn’t bad, but I just feel like there were just glimpses into the story and not like a fully formed story I could connect with.
I think it would have been cute had these each been separate books that were longer and formed a series. I was interested in Lulu and Alex. But I wanted more time and chances to connect with them. This would be a good summer read, but it just didn’t work for me. I still love this author, and I’m so excited about more people having the chance to read Kenneally.
Thank you NetGalley and Source Books Fire for the advanced review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Rating: really liked it
2 stars, maybe 2.5 stars if I'm being generousI went into this book thinking it would be the YA version of One Day (a book I really loved, despite its tragic ending), except instead of spanning a course of 20 years, it would cover only the four years that Lulu and Alex (the MCs) are in high school. And it kind of was, to a certain degree—only without everything that made One Day so great. Contrary to what the synopsis would lead you to believe, the book follows the characters on multiple days throughout the school year, not just on the annual May 7th field trip, which kind of detracted from what lured me to the book in the first place.
Part of what made One Day so great was the constant
will they, won't they tension that was always present and made Emma and Dexter so compelling and irresistible. You couldn't help but root for them, both as a couple and as individuals. This book didn't have that; in fact, I didn't like Lulu and Alex together at all, and I
really didn't like them individually. Especially Lulu. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I actively despised her. And it wasn't just because her decisions/thoughts with regard to Alex were just plain illogical. It was her general self-righteousness and the holier-than-thou That Vegan™ thing she had going on. I say this as a former vegetarian myself: the only thing worse than an aggressive carnivore is a sanctimonious, proselytizing vegan—especially one who cheats on said vegan lifestyle, like Lulu.
Not to mention that Alex and Lulu simply had no chemistry together. Their dialogue was neither fun nor witty, but it did make me cringe! There was just no tension or heat. Some people might attribute this to the fact that the book is YA and teenagers are just awkward. But I've read enough YA fiction chock-full of tension and witty banter to know that the YA genre is capable of both, so I'm not really buying into that excuse.
Ultimately, this book isn't worth the time it takes to read it. If you're drawn to the whole
seeing the characters one day each year concept, I recommend picking up One Day instead.
Rating: really liked it
Four Days of You and Me is the perfect example of why timing is everything. Had I picked this up at any other time, I probably wouldn't have gotten very far before setting it aside, not because it's a bad book, but because I'm definitely not the target audience. Like a CW or Freeform teenage soap, this book was filled with drama, drama, drama.
Omg, does my crush like me?...Sorry, I just really need to focus on getting a college scholarship right now instead of our relationship...I like him, but I'm not sure I'm ready to go all the way just yet. Catch my drift? But because this was exactly the type of mindless young adult romance I needed right now, I was totally immersed in this world and the lightness of it.
My favorite part of
Four Days of You and Me is the way in which the story is told. No, it's not told on the same day every year like David Nicholl's
One Day, so don't go into this expecting that like I did. Instead,
Four Days of You and Me is told in four parts, each part starting in the present before the story flashes back and takes the reader on a journey to find out how the characters get to where they are. It was interesting to how the main couple's relationship changes throughout the course of high school. It made me feel so nostalgic because it reminded me a lot of my high school experience.
I'm giving this one 3.5 stars because while I loved the plot and some of the side characters, I had a difficult time connecting with the main character. She felt too immature at times---and not just because I'm no longer in high school. Even her friends had to call her out a few times, and each time I wanted to applaud them. 🤦🏻♀️
Rating: really liked it
Adorable Adorable Adorable
I had super high expectations for this and although it didn’t quite meet them, it was still a great read.
3.75⭐️
full review to come
Rating: really liked it
ARC received in exchange for an honest review - thank you! Generally, Miranda Kenneally writes cute YA contemporary sports romances, which I quite like. They're slightly angsty, well-written, and adorable.
This book was none of those things. It was
stupid, unrealistic, and filled with unlikeable characters. The central couple consists of
Louise Wells, perky blonde daughter of the town dentist, and
Alexander Rouvelis, son of a Greek restaurant owner who's legendary at baseball. Or maybe it's basketball. I can't quite remember, it's one of those random ultra-American sports.
Anyway, the book traces the ups and downs of their relationship throughout all four years of high school. All the major milestones seem to happen on or around May 7th, the date of the Coffee County High School class trip. And you know what? They're bloody PAINFUL to read about.
Let's take it year by year. ➽ Freshman year: Lulu, a vaguely-committed vegan, tries to get a school garder approved. Alex, as class president, denies her. There's low-level enmity until they get stuck in an escape room together during their class trip. They date for the next ten months until misunderstandings and insecurities break them up.
➽ Sophomore year: the class trip is to a waterpark. Both flirt with other people. More drama and hurt feelings, largely because Lulu and Alex are both emotionally stunted morons.
➽ Junior year: they go to New York. Lulu's in a relationship with another boy, and emotionally cheats on him. Like, a lot. While also gaslighting him.
➽ Senior year: finally properly together, now they have to deal with university drama while on a trip to London.
All the Reasons I Think Alex and Lulu are Unhealthy as Hell ❌ They keep asking each other and pressuring each other to do things which the other person seriously doesn't want to. Like, Lulu is a vegan, but she thinks to herself that she'd give up her veganism for him - a seriously unhealthy thought.
❌ They DESTROY other people in their toxic, self-destructive spiral with each other. People like Lulu's boyfriend and Alex's girlfriend. There's so much emotional cheating and it's never even discussed - they just do not give a crap about anybody other than themselves.
❌ They're so co-dependent.
❌ As people, they are caricatures. Dislikeable, stupid caricatures. Lulu is the sort of repulsive teenage girl obsessed with getting away with wearing as little clothing as she can get away with - like, she wears a skimpy bikini as s sixteen-year-old on a school trip! Alex meanwhile is just a jock with no real external interests or hobbies. In that regard, I guess they're perfect for each other.
❌ This is more to do with the book than the characters, but... this story is MELODRAMATIC AS F*CK. Towards the end, it devolved into scenes from an actual soap opera. It doesn't help that the writing was surprisingly stilted.
Overall A big disappointment from an established author.
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Rating: really liked it
Every spring the students of Coffee County High School get to take a class trip. The locations get better as they get older. And every year, Lulu's relationship with Alex Rouvelis gets a little more convoluted and intense. As freshmen, they were enemies after an intense race over a student council position. But they couldn't deny their chemistry either. The two date, breakup, and much more across the span of four years, but each year, the class trip seems to bring them together again. And Lulu and Alex must decide if their love is worth fighting for.
"Our first kiss was exactly four years ago today, and since then, nothing--and everything--has changed." I hate writing less-than-positive reviews, especially for authors I typically enjoy, but this book was not a favorite of mine. It's told across Lulu and Alex's four class trips (one per year) with flashbacks to other times. I simply could not warm up to Lulu or Alex. Honestly, of the two, I probably liked him better, but we don't hear his side. It took nearly half the book for the story to engage me even a little bit, and I thought about giving up, but for some reason, I have a tough time just stopping a book.
Now, I read YA a ton, so it's not that I don't enjoy YA novels. I read one right after this and *loved* it. But I found this story way too simplistic, and I feel like teens would too. There is so much better YA out there--for all of us. The book just felt simplistic in its writing and the "will they / won't they" storyline was boring. I did not care if they did or not. Honestly, there was a side plot about Lulu's gay best friend Max that was much more interesting--I would have rather read about him!
Supposedly Lulu is an artist/writer and that's her thing, but that felt forced. Mostly, the book felt about a girl (and her friends) all trying to find boys to like (and like them back). That's what they cared about and talked about. I felt no huge connection between Alex and Lulu and hence no reason to root for them to choose each other. They didn't feel destined for one other, as most couples do in a good romance. The story does pick up a bit near the end, but by then, I just felt burned out.
So maybe this story would resonate a bit more with a teen set (and it should be an older teen set, due to language and themes), but there are a lot of other better books out there. Now, others seem to enjoy this more than me, so maybe I just got caught in a bad mood. 2.5 stars for me, though.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire in return for an unbiased review.
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Rating: really liked it
I’ve read and enjoyed several of Miranda’s other books and was basically beside myself when I got my greedy hands on this one. The cover is cute and the synopsis sounded like everything I could have wanted. Sadly, I’m wondering if 2 stars is too high of a rating.
I liked Lulu? Yes, that’s a question. She’s talented and driven and I’m not sure what else I can say. She does come across as sheltered and whiny. Alex is charming when he wants to be, but also a jerk. Together there’s no chemistry or honest communication between them and the push and pull didn’t create the banter I was hoping for.
Plot wise, it didn’t work at all. I expected massive detail on four specific days over four years. Instead, it’s a disjointed timeline that sort of revolves around a date on a class trip. Each chapter is a flip flop of then and now, but not now now, whatever year it was now. Make sense? There’s a lot of drama, a lot of dating other people while still being emotionally invested in each other, and then each saying they’re willing to give up their dream colleges for the other.
Overall, this just wasn’t for me. There were some cute moments sprinkled throughout, but they were few and far between. I spent a good portion of the book reminding myself that I wasn’t the target demographic, but there’s a lot of co-dependency and aspects of a toxic relationship that makes me wonder if it’s the right thing for teens.
**Huge thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for providing the arc free of charge**
Rating: really liked it
Such a sweet story! It’s been a while since I’ve read any YA, but I’ve always enjoyed Miranda Kenneally’s books, so I knew I had to read her newest.
Lulu and Alex start as rivals freshman year, both running for class president — Lulu on a green platform, and Alex capitalizing on his popularity as a baseball star. When Alex wins, they exist as frenemies for the rest of the school year, until accidentally getting locked into an escape room together on their class trip. As they finally acknowledge their mutual sparks, Lulu and Alex start a relationship that will last throughout their high school years, despite ups and downs and time apart.
As each section of the book focuses on the class trip for that year, we get to see how Alex and Lulu have matured, and how their relationship has matured with them. There are problems along the way, of course. Alex’s devotion to baseball and his commitment to working in his family’s restaurant leaves him unavailable except for late at night, past Lulu’s curfew. They both end up frustrated and unable to see past their own hurt, so a break-up is inevitable.
Still, every year on May 7th, as they set out on another class trip, Alex and Lulu seem to be thrust back into each other’s orbit. They really are great together, and even when trying to make something work with other people, they both realize that what they have is special.
I love how matter-of-fact the author is when it comes to teen relationships. There’s no judgment here, and the characters all enjoy varying degrees of healthy sex lives. Alex and Lulu take their time getting there, but they do enjoy gradually deepening levels of intimacy, and when they finally decide to have sex, it’s with lots of discussion, explicit consent, and pre-purchased condoms.
The supporting cast is quite good too — best friends and cousins and teammates, each with their own lives and quirks. They form a loyal and strong core, and I liked that we get to see Alex and Lulu not just 100% about their relationship, but really engaged with true friendships.
I also appreciated that Lulu and Alex each have their own passions — Lulu as an author/illustrator of graphic novels, Alex with baseball — and that they support each other’s dreams and goals. Neither one would ever suggest that their plans outweigh the other’s. It’s refreshing to see two characters work through their differences without losing sight of how much they care about each other.
Miranda Kenneally writes terrific, strong female characters, and Lulu is no exception. She’s talented and smart, and someone who’d be easy to like in real life. Four Days of You and Me is a quick read, and I really enjoyed this glimpse of high school life and all its drama, humor, and adventure.
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
Rating: really liked it
Miranda Kenneally has been an auto-buy author of mine for a long time now, her books are always my go to when I need a pick me up. And it’d been a while since I’d read any of her books, so you could say that my eager anticipation of Four Days of You and Me was an understatement. Once again Kenneally did not disappoint when it came to this book, I enjoyed the twists and turns we were given with Alex and Lulu and how the chapters panned across the past and present of their lives during their time at high school. There were seriously so many ups and downs, that I was at times dead set that Alex and Lulu weren’t meant to be. But I liked how Kenneally kept us guessing at how things would end up between them. The friendship groups in the story were a delight too, seeing them change up, pan out, but still remain strong over the years. I thoroughly enjoyed Four Days of You and Me, this book made me super nostalgic of the trips I made back in my high school years and the meaningful and long-lasting friendships I made during that time. If you haven’t already picked up this lovely book, what are you waiting for?
Rating: really liked it
* I received an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*
This book was absolutely addictive from the very beginning! I fell in love with each of the characters from the first page and I couldn’t quit reading to see what would happen to each of them on each field trip that they took! The love story in this book had my heart strings tugging at every turn of the page and I felt every heartbreak that our main character did! This is my first book read by this author and I will read more of her work now that I read this one. I was scared to read her other works because everyone loved them so much but, holy crap this book has blown me away! This book comes out on May 5th and I highly recommend this book to absolutely anybody. It even inspired me to pick my work in progress back up and to get it published once it’s long enough to be published! This is definitely one of my top favorites of the year.
Rating: really liked it
3.5⭐️
I loved the drama in this one, it reads just like a high school ABC family show from when I was a teenager (I just made myself sound so old but that was only like 4 years ago lol).
I enjoyed the multiple timelines and seeing the romance and storylines unfold as the narrative bounces back and forth between months and years. At the beginning, I was worried about getting lost in the frequent back and forth but this ended up not being case. It was pretty easy to keep things clear as far as what events happened when.
This book didn’t really do anything to blow me away but if you go into this just expecting a fun and entertaining read, that’s exactly what you’ll
Rating: really liked it
severely disappointed😔 rtc
Came here for a good school rivals to lovers and ended up loosing a piece of my sanity that ill never earn back.
For some quick pros: it was fun? It was definitely easy to read, some of the banter was cool.
Now my list of cons:1. Pacing:Since the plot follows 4 school trip days of 4 different years, freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior.
But the thing is there’s no consistent plot. At all.
Every year goes like this:I hate him, he’s annoying, oh wait we made out again, are we dating? miscommunication, i hate himThe pacing gives us virtually no time for context or to see the plot in action. In addition to never seeing the real plot point, the only thing were going off of is Lulu’s perspective of what happened. Which led to lots of annoying miscommunication.
2. Characters in their entirety:They’re all unmemorable, especially Lulu. I had to look up her name because i forgot it in a week.
See,
Lulu loves miscommunication, everything she does ends up with her or the others exiting the conversation with the wrong idea.
She can’t ever decide what she wants, and ends up hurting people in the crossfire. She breaks up with Alex, and then decides she loves him again; putting Alex through emotional suffering. She then decides she doesn’t love him and dates another guy. A nice guy, a great boyfriend and person in general. She then decides that she actually does love Alex and breaks up with her former nice boyfriend, hurting him. She lies about being accepted to a college in Rhodesia Island, hurting Alex and everyone in her life. It’s all mess, and not an
”omg this is interesting drama” way, just.
No this is so annoying stop it kind of way.
Alex is the same, unmemorable.
Alex makes some questionable moves, whether its continuously asking when they’ll have sex or going on trips with other girls without telling his girlfriend. He is in no way an awe inspiring YA love interest. He also hurts some girls that he was talking to, but then suddenly drops them for Lulu. Yeah, he’s not the best guy.
Also his outfit descriptions are really lame. He wears backwards hats a lot, yknow
that aesthetic. Not a major fan, if you’re going to put all this effort in describing all their fits maybe make them cool.
3. Insensitive approach to veganism:Lulu is vegan, and that’s thoughtfully shoved down my esophagus every 10 pages so i don’t forget. Don’t get me wrong! Vegans are great, if that’s what you want or like the sure! But when it comes to Lulu,
she reprimands every single person who isn’t vegan. nothing wrong with standing up for the environment, but to an extend, animals were made for humans to eat. And being vegan or vegetarian is a personal choice for your own benefit. Lulu scoffs and snaps at anyone eating a hotdog on field trips, either in her head or to their face.
It’s severely annoying and honestly blind. besides the fact that these are Highschool boys at amusement parks,
not everyone can be vegan! Existing or pre-existing EDs, allergies, or mental/physical needs can make it very very hard to be vegan/vegetarian. So the fact that Lulu hates on strangers/friends for eating meat or dairy is super lame.
4. It reads like a fanfic:And not like a novella, just. Like a fanfic. Besides the commonly used miscommunication trope, it reads like it came straight from wattpad. There’s unlikely, weird mishaps like her bikini top flying off that doesn’t happen very often in the real world, Alex is hit by a bus, the whole
”how will i get into my dream college if i can’t get that sports scholarship anymore!” trope, everyone conveniently ends up with a partner, and the writing is by no means eloquent.
For their senior trip they go to London, and meet up with another group from and Italian Academy. During their entire time together they are only referred to as
”The Italians” not _____ Academy or even by their names. Just
”The Italians are following behind us, the Italians nod in approval, the Italians laugh at our joke,” etc. it just left a very icky feeling in my stomach. If you’re Italian and don’t find it weird or aren’t offended, then it’s nothing, but i personality thought it was disrespectful.
All of the side characters are randomly coupled up. Even if they barely met or don’t even seem like each other’s type, it was just for the sake of it. There’s nothing wrong with being single? One side character was immediately coupled with the “head Italian” and they met a maximum of 4 days ago. Apparently no one is allowed to be single and free in this universe.
it’s basically a shrine for JK Rowling. its like the author wants to be paid for this free advertising! She sure loves to hype up a unapologetic racist:)
”She’s wearing a T-shirt that says Muggle.”
“‘This is absurd, no one’s even asked her what her Hogwarts house is.’
‘It’s obvious she’s a Gryffindoor, like you.’”Just two examples of the MANY. Some of them blatantly praise her.
Overall, it was just sad. And not even in a heartbreaking
omg this is so sad but good way, no just this is hurting my soul its so cringey. A very unpleasant read. If this is the YA standard maybe by short story from 8th grade isnt that bad
Rating: really liked it
So cute! RTC
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Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!
