Mini Reviews : Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend by Cassie Mae & Right of Way by Lauren Barnholdt

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend
Author : Cassie Mae
Publication Date : January 8th 2013
Publisher : Self-Published
Goodreads - Amazon

It’s stupid to fall for your brother’s ex. It’s even worse to enlist another’s help to win the ex over. But Brody is desperate and Hayley, his partner in American Sign Language, is more than willing to lend him a few tips.

She’s the school’s matchmaker,’ and with her bizarre and positive personality, Brody finds her easy to talk to, even about the most awkward situations. Hayley’s tips seem to be working, but as Brody learns more about his matchmaker, he starts finding reasons to spend time with her, and not the girl he thought he was in love with.

But Hayley isn’t ready to fall for anyone. Labeled the “Funny Fat Friend” within her group, her self image makes it impossible for Brody to share his feelings without Hayley shrugging it off as a joke.

Convincing her Brody can, and did, fall for the “Funny Fat Friend” turns out to be harder than simply falling in love.


Personal Thoughts

Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend was a short but cute read that had me smiling from start to finish. I've always been a huge fan of romances that crop up from friendships first and this book is one prime example why I love such romances. Told in the POV of Brody, Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend totally charmed me with the adorable dialogues and interactions between Brody and Hayley. Both Brody and Hayley were lovable characters who, by the end of the book, grew close to me. Brody was a typical teenage boy. He was simply a normal guy. He had such a sweet and caring side to him that it was hard for me not to love him. Hayley too was a sweet girl who had good intentions. Despite being the sweet, fun-loving girl that she was on the outside, Hayley was going through an emotional dilemma in the form of body image issues. Because the book is not told from her POV, we don't get to see her feelings when it comes to the issue, but we do get to see how her insecurities have impacted her interactions with boys through the eyes of Brody whenever a boy gets close to her. Regardless of the serious issue of body image tackled in this book, Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend delivered a humorous and completely adorable romance that progressed at a beautiful pace. This is definitely a book that I recommend to fans of YA contemporaries.

Rating

Cover : 3/5
Plot : 4/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 3/5

**Overall rating : 3..5/5**

Summary (from Goodreads)

Title : Right of Way
Author : Lauren Barnholdt
Publication Date : July 9th 2013
Publisher : Simon Pulse
Goodreads - The Book Depository

Can a road trip repair a romance gone wrong? Find out in this standalone companion to Lauren Barnholdt’s Two-way Street.

Here are Peyton and Jace, meeting on vacation. Click! It’s awesome, it’s easy, it’s romantic. This is the real deal.

Unless it isn’t. Because when you’re in love, you don’t just stop calling one day. And you don’t keep secrets. Or lie. And when your life starts falling apart, you’re supposed to have the other person to lean on.

Here are Peyton and Jace again, broken up but thrown together on a road trip. One of them is lying about the destination. One of them is pretending not to be leaving something behind. And neither of them is prepared for what’s coming on the road ahead…

Personal Thoughts

Right of Way by Lauren Barnholdt promises a road trip in its blurb. What it fails to mention, however, is that the characters in this book are childish, spoiled and act like that the small issues they suffer from will lead to the end of the world. To say that the main characters, Peyton and Jace are unlikeable would be an understatement. YA contemporary is a genre that rarely fails me. Unfortunately, Lauren Barnholdt's Right of Way happened to fall in the category of YA contemporaries that failed me. Now, don't get me wrong. This book did have tons of potential, but the characters ruin the entire essence of this potential. Jace and Peyton met a few years ago at a party in Florida while Peyton is off visiting her family and they hit it off. When Peyton returns to her hometown, they continue their relationship via phone calls and texting. But when all of a sudden Jace stops calling Peyton, she is heart broken. When I found out about why the two of them broke up, I literally could not stop laughing because it was that stupid. Plus, it was something that could have been cleared up had Jace had the balls to actually ask Peyton. I thought it was entirely too over-dramatic and definitely not a reason they should have stopped talking to each other. Peyton was the kind of girl who basically complained every little issue she faces in life. Plus, she had this annoying ability to run away from her problems instead of confronting them and trying to solve them. By the end of the book, she had not changed one bit and she was still running away from her issues. Another complaint I had with this book was that throughout the entire book, nothing big happened. It got to a point where it was just so boring and I skipped to see why the two of them had broken up. As far as the road trip aspect goes, it wasn't what I was expecting. The road trip only lasted like a day or so. Needless to say, this was disappointing. Characters that showed no growth whatsoever throughout the book, a sorry excuse of a road trip and a bland romance were what I got out of Right of Way. If you're looking for a good road trip book, then I recommend Saving June by Hannah Harrington and Golden by Jessi Kirby.

Rating

Cover : 4/5
Plot : 2/5
Characters : 1/5
Writing : 3/5

**Overall rating : 2..5/5**

Thank you to Edelweiss and Simon Pulse for the e-ARC of Right of Way.