I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks NetGalley for sending this through!

I'm going to go against all the stellar ratings I've seen for Dating Down and say quite bluntly, I did not enjoy this book.

This is a YA book that does not translate well into other genres. Maybe I've felt too comfortable with YA based on our recent experiences with books like The Hunger Games etc that have universal appeal. This one was written in such a manner that I really found it hard to appreciate, the tone being far too young for me to enjoy.

Tammy is a teenager and runs into some trouble when she makes up a boyfriend. She sulks off and finds herself in even deeper trouble when some thugs try to rob her. The down on his luck ne'er do well Gary swoops in and saves her, and she's immediately in love with him. The feeling is mutual.

In an emulation of Romeo and Juliet, Tammy and Gary must traverse the complexities of their disparate backgrounds to meet in the middle and give their love a chance. I just wasn't buying it.

I absolutely loved it. It hooked me in from the first page. It was filled with drama and emotional roller coasters.

It was a light and easy read which I definitely welcomed cause I needed it.

Will look out for more of Alex's work.

This was a cute little story, I honestly was hoping for something more though. I wish there was more emotional depth to it, Tammy and Gary fell in love so fast, im not a fan of the whole instalove thing, and i hate it when there is so much conflict and bad things that happen to the characters because of lack of communication. Tammy was very selfish and spoiled, and I never really saw any change in her, and Gary and his brother, they just accepted what Tammy did like nothing, what ever happened to pride? This was a quick read, read it on a slow day at work and was finished with it pretty quickly. I recommend it for the beach going person.

Dating Down is an entertaining book. Really easy to go through, with real characters that care about real problems. This is something missing from many books nowadays, most characters in a lot of books barely have any concerns other than the main issue of the book. Here, we can see how they struggle with different angles of their lives, including the romantic side, of course.

I'd say though, this book falls short in showing real emotions. Tammy and Gary seem to feel superficially deep. With this, I mean that they feel intensely and fast (whether it's love, rage or any other emotion), but it's not actually significant or meaningful since most big emotions take way more time than the time the book gives them. It made things feel rushed which made the book fall significantly in quality.

This story has got most of the teen angst present. If you're talking about insecurities, desire to prove oneself, independence, emotional turmoil and the outbursts-then this book has all that.
What I found most interesting was the turnaround, you've got Tammy, the insecure, curvy girl who is trying to be noticed by her peers and family. You've also got Gary who's never caught a break since getting into the foster care system, and between the two a yearning blossoms. It's their chemistry that I struggled with. All in all, it's a short read. Thanks Netgalley for the eARC.