I honestly didn't care that much about James. He was fine, I guess. I liked when he put those ignorant employees in their place, though. I mean, he straight-up fired one of them for being homophobic, as he should. Ait didn't bother me much, but he was a little annoying at times. Like in the final episode. He seriously thought being jealous of James and Marco when Bas was pouring his heart out was appropriate. That felt off to me. Also, he asked James whether he actually loved him. I don't think you should have to ask that. That seems like you have such little trust in your partner. He should stop doubting James all the time. James never showed any indication of having an interest in anyone else than Ait. The characters are well developed and ... anticipation and curiosity build throughout - School Library Connection

I enjoyed some parts of this book but the rest was a bit boring. I probably would have dnfed it if I hadn’t received an arc via Netgalley, and I’m grateful because I would have missed so many good parts otherwise, but I’m also not. Can you see the dilemma? I feel like most of the time, a lot of "romance" books are light and happy. I love how Alissa brings light to a lot of what other people experience. Throughout CIWYW, Sloane and Ethan have this off-and-on-again relationship and she for some reason cannot seem to let him go- no matter how he treats her. CIWYW shows the reality of an unexplainable love for someone that you know you shouldn't love. I feel that this is something a lot of people experience, but is rarely a "trope" (if you can even call it that?) in books. Brigid Kemmerer’s books always look so cute on the outside but always manage to pull my heart out! 💖 One of the side characters is gay. Rob’s dad tried to die by suicide prior to the story’s beginning. He now lives in a wheelchair and is unable to speak or move. I always love the star-crossed lover books where a popular guy is paired with an unpopular girl, or vice versa, on a project, so this was right up my alley. Except, here, we have two totally different social groups coming together…but they’re both now outcasts, and I loved the twist on that trope I love so much. And, even more than that, I love that Kemmerer could explore trust among two ‘wrongdoers’, along with betrayal, friendship, attraction-and standing up for what you believe to be right. I loved it. It’s all so convoluted and twisty and turny in the sense that Maegan doesn’t know what to think about Rob, whether he was involved or not, and where his morality is questioned as he finds himself turning into a modern day Robin Hood.

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I devoured this book in less than 24 hours, which is a pretty rare occurrence for me now that I have both a teenager and a toddler in the house. Falling in love with Rob and Maegan was so easy to do. Brigid Kemmerer is brilliant at creating these scruffy underdog characters with complex layers who are undervalued and underappreciated by the people around them.

My love for Brigid Kemmerer grows and grows with every book of hers that I read. Her books are addictive and her characters are precious ✨ There are a lot of hard-hitting topics included in this too. So much. The thing that I found most moving was the idea of learning to forgive yourself; of not letting one mistake define who you are. I think a lot of us should be reminded of that.PDF / EPUB File Name: 302308_Call_It_What_You_Want_1Ppdf_-_chrish.pdf, 302308_Call_It_What_You_Want_1Ppdf_-_chrish.epub One mistake can change your whole life, the way you’re viewed, and can influence each new decision you have to make, and we get to see what the aftermath is like for both someone who made a one-time mistake that marred their chances of getting into ANY college when they were a shoe-in before, and someone who didn’t do anything wrong, nor know anything about it, yet pays the steady cost of betrayal every day, both at school and, more devastatingly, in his own home.

If you enjoy YA contemporaries, you’ve got to give Brigid Kemmerer a try. I think she’s more known for her fantasy books, but her contemporaries are where its at for me. I honestly almost cried in the beginning of this book. Mostly because I thought I was diving into another sad depressing book that would put me in a funky mood. Thankfully, things start looking up and the characters were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. No, not heaven.. but friendship. CALL IT WHAT YOU WANT has more language and sexual content than I remember her earlier books having, though. See the content section below for more information.

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I could not stop reading this book. I wanted a story that could leave a few bruises on my heart and I got exactly that. I couldn’t get enough!

despite these things, i see a lot of potential in the authors writing and i think that with future books, she could get better and have more in depth and mature books. So, about the plot. I love the idea of "exposing" the BL industry, and they definitely took a much more serious approach than Lovely Writer. It was almost a bit too heavy for me, but it was probably also realistic. Either way, there is for sure so much shit going on behind the scenes. Not in all instances, but some, and it's so sad to think about. We need to remember BL actors are also people, so we should treat them as such. No forcing them to go on insane diets, no forcing them to get surgery, no robbing them of their freedom. Basically, let them have their basic human rights. Also, no fanservice unless they're completely comfortable with it. Let's not get too invested in relationships that most likely aren't real. It can be very damaging.As is common with Kemmerer's other YA contemporaries this story also focused on characters who are misjudged. You don't ever truly know what's going on in someone else's life. I love how reading her books remind me of that. The relationship between Maegan and Rob has many ups and downs. There are a lot of stones to step over between the two of them. And then let their home lives and preconceived thoughts of one another really take over. But I loved that throughout Call It What You Wantthey really got to know each other. They are very different people at first and it was great seeing them interact with one another. They really brought out the best in one another. Maegan and Rob were so innocent with one another and gosh it made this book so good. Brigid Kemmerer is just fantastic at writing these relationships. The storyline is consistent, albeit sometimes a bit rushed due to episode constraint, the character's stories are realistically portrayed. I love that the series not only focuses on the love story of James and Ait but also took time to explore Bas's. His story has so many layers of conflicts that season 1 was not able to completely unwrap and his story line is the one I'll be looking forward to see in season 2. When they are paired together for a calculus project, neither Rob nor Maegan are happy about it. They were never friends before their lives fell apart and certainly don't want to be now.