Books I've Read: Just Friends

I got this one out of the library because I haven't read much YA recently and I miss it.  I thought it was a new book, read the whole thing, then discovered, when I went to add it on Goodreads, I'd already read it.  Have absolutely no memory of that at all.  Usually when I've already read something, it feels familiar and I'll remember at least a little bit about the story.  This one - nothing.

It's about Jenny, a smart girl who makes perfect grades and has very few friends and her friendship with the school bad-boy, Chance.  They meet by *ahem* chance in their oral communication class when they're paired up for an assignment.  Chance spins a lie that Jenny easily and eagerly picks up - she and Chance are childhood besties and have spent all their important moments together.

The lie is fun and soon spills out of the classroom and into the rest of their lives.  Jenny finds herself enjoying spending time with Chance who might not be quite the bad boy his reputation would have him painted as. Through Jenny, Chance gets a chance to live a more normal life than what he gets at home.  Through Chance, Jenny gets to experience all the high-school things she's seen on TV, but never experienced herself.

 The more time they spend together, the more true the story they've been spinning becomes - they really are best friends.  But maybe that's the biggest lie of all..

I didn't think this was a particularly well-written book and some parts of it really strained credulity.  Jenny's single mother is painted as being overprotective, but there is no blowback when Jenny and Chance stay out all night at an old barn.  More than once.  Chance's parents are supposed to be selfish and fight all the time, but we never really see that.

It's one of those books where miscommunication and misunderstanding provide all the conflict and you know the whole thing could be resolved- and is, toward the end of the book - with a single conversation.  Which is always frustrating.

So, while there is a fun premise here, the execution isn't great and I fund myself questioning the veracity of so many things the characters did and said.

So, I probably wouldn't recommend this one unless you're looking for something quick and easy to read in an afternoon for some reason...

But don't just listen to me; here's the blurb:

A new spin on the classic smart-girl-and-bad-boy setup, this witty contemporary romance shows how easily a friendship – even one built on an elaborate lie – can become so much more.

Jenny meets Chance for the very first time when she is assigned as his partner in their Junior Oral Communications class. But after they rescue a doomed assignment with one clever lie, the whole school is suddenly convinced that Little-Miss-Really-Likes-Having-A’s and the most scandalous heartbreaker in school have been best friends forever. It’s amazing how quickly a lie can grow―especially when you really, really want it to be the truth.

With Jenny, Chance can live the normal life he’s always kind of wanted. And with Chance, Jenny can have the exciting teen experiences that TV shows and movies have always promised. Through it all, they hold on to the fact that they are “just friends.” But that might be the biggest lie of all.

Debut author Tiffany Pitcock delivers a spot-on depiction of first love and the high school rumor mill in Just Friends, chosen by readers like you for Macmillan's young adult imprint Swoon Reads.