I really wanted to like this book. The synopsis held so much promise, but the book failed to deliver as much as I hoped for from it. I enjoyed it well enough, but with a few tweaks it could have been an even more enjoyable read.

This was a cute book! I had a bit of a hard time relating to it having never had a sister, but this gave me chick-flick vibes so I was into it! Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

This book wasn't for me. It wasn't a bad story, but I just couldn't get into it. I tried but I called it after like 40%. A case of, it's me, not you.

I finally have a chance to tell you all how adoring this novel is. I recently started college and I feel myself relating to Jenn’s personal dilemma within the book and how her younger sister, April, feels because I have a little sister too. Moving away to college and having siblings is something that many can relate to in terms of the feeling of leaving them behind. Spieller has such a beautiful talent for books and I am very thankful that I had the opportunity to read this!

I love books that show complicated familial relationships in a way that is true to life and this is exactly what this book was. April and Jenn were written in such a way that I instantly cared about them and their relationship. It was nice to see their relationship at the forefront of the novel and less about their romantic relationships, although there is a sweet romance in the book.

I’m so glad that I got to be a part of the blog tour for She’s the Worst! I decided I’d try out a bulleted review this time, so bear with me. 🙂

I loved the relationship between April and Jenn. Honestly, I can say that I’ve never actually read a book about a sister bond, and since I only have brothers, I actually found this really refreshing!
The premise behind She’s the Worst was very interesting, and I loved how April planned a day down memory lane for her sister. It seemed like the perfect way to mend what was broken.
This book felt very much realistic to me. I feel like sister drama is very much real and yeah, sure, it could be solved with better communication, but the whole book felt very raw and real to me, which I very much appreciated.
The book cover is deceiving… it makes it seem like it’s such a light and fluffy fun read. It’s actually a lot more than that!
I loved the dual perspective. I’m really a sucker for alternating POVs.
I loved that it was set in LA too!
I did find some of the book to be kind of slow. It’s definitely worth sticking through because overall, I fairly enjoyed it.

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

This was such a heartwarming and unique contemporary. I loved how it focused on family and sibling dynamics above all else. And then little romance that was present only served to strengthen the book.

All the good aside though I did find the ending to be a little too convenient for my liking but that was such a minor negative amidst all of the great parts of this book. Overall I highly recommend this unique contemporary!

I totally requested this book because of the cover, but this story did not disappoint!

The story is about two sisters, and told in dual perspectives. I love when authors do this because I enjoy seeing both sides.

What I loved most about this book was the setting. The sisters go on an adventure and I like reading about places I have never been. Makes me feel like I'm the one there!

I enjoyed the writing as well. This was a quick read and flowed nicely.

She’s the Worst is a messy, complex story about sisters, April and Jenn, who haven’t been in close in years. But when April notices that Jenn seems sad about staying home for college, she plans a day filled with visiting places that are significant to them both. The book alternates between the sisters and the entire outing soon dissolves into a comedy of errors, except probably less funny to the girls. It’s clear their memories of the past and what each consider “significant” differ and I thought it was a great way to highlight their different personalities and the whole little/older sister dynamic. Ultimately though, I didn’t connect to either girl or the choices they were making. Both came across as extremely selfish and while I get that miscommunication was meant to be the main conflict, everything got wrapped up too neatly at the 11th hour when I felt there was so much more to explore about their family lives (their parents are a doozy) and the relationship between the two sisters. I would've liked to see more time spent allowing April and Jenn to get to know one another and bond in the present. Because we saw very little of this until the end, the book didn't resonate with me in any way.

I was given an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my review. All opinions are my own.

So after reading this book, I can absolutely say that all of the people in it are the worst. The parents, who fought constantly and put their own happiness before their childrens'? The worst. The fact that they would rather see their kids forgo college to keep THEIR dream store afloat? The worst. The sister that wanted her older sister to stay close to home so that she didn't have to work in the store? The worst. The older sister who wanted to escape for her own good, not caring that she was leaving everyone else to clean up the mess? The worst. With that being said though, I didn't hate the book.

This was a fairly quick read. It annoyed me most of the way through because the characters were just so unreasonable, but likable at the same time. I rooted for them, but also wanted to slap them. The bond between the sisters was cute, and I loved the relationship that developed in the end of the book. I really wish we would have found out a bit more about the parents and whether or not their relationship actually got better, but I liked the fact that the book focused mostly on one day. This is a good book for anyone looking to read a sister bonding story.

Anyone with siblings, especially girls with sisters, will be able to relate to this book. Because no one annoys you more than your sibling. And no loss of friendship hurts more than losing closeness with your sibling. This book is like a postmortem, an examination of everything that has gone wrong between these girls and their misguided attempts at fixing things. And especially how their perceptions of their family and relationships are skewed. The ending is a bit cheesy but ultimately satisfying.

I really tried to like this book but I just couldn't connect with the main characters. I felt it was forced. I think the book has a lot of potential. But I guess I am really picky about my YA books.

The first thing that drew me to She’s the Worst by Lauren Spieller was the adorable cover. Not only is it super cute, but it’s also pink, and I absolutely can’t resist the color pink. The storyline for the book sounded super cute, so I was really excited to check it out.

To sum it up, She’s the Worst is the story about two sisters who used to be really close, but have drifted apart over the years. When April thinks her sister, Jenn, is depressed about not getting to go away for college, she plans a fun day in an attempt to cheer her up. But Jenn has a pretty massive secret that could be pretty destructive to her family, and the secret is about to come out.

The story is told from alternating viewpoints between the two sisters, and I always like this because we can get both sides of the story, so to speak. The relationship between the two sisters felt very realistic, as I’m sure a lot of sisters have this kind of relationship. The constant bickering and arguing between the two felt real, but it started to get on my nerves as the book went along. BUT, these two were saints compared to their parents, who were definitely the worst part of the book.

(Also, my favorite character is definitely the boy next door!)

I thought the storyline for this book sounded really interesting, and I was definitely curious to check it out. I do enjoy adventure stories, and getting to read about places I have never been. I will probably never made it out to California, but it was fun getting to visit through these girls. The setting was definitely the best part of the book.

Overall; She’s the Worst was a quick read, and I very much enjoyed taking the journey with the girls as the story went along. Though the girls arguing and bickering did get on my nerves, I still enjoyed the storyline. But don't let this stop you from reading the book! I hope you check it out, and enjoy it!

Thanks Net Galley for the preview!
This book was cute and sweet but didn't leave me wanting more. April and Jen were both at times very selfish and it put a lot of strain on their relationships. I felt bad with how angry and aggressive the parents were and it clearly made the family unstable. I would have liked the author to explore this dynamic a little more and make the parents talk about their issues. I felt like there was a missed opportunity to resolve these issues within the book. Overall, the story didn't keep me interested.

I had really high hopes for this book but as I kept reading, it progressively got worse.

What I Liked:
* Honestly...not much. The Ferris Bueller/10 Things I Hate About You comparison was fun... if only it was more like them.

What I Didn't Like:
* The miscommunication trope. I understand that there wouldn't be a plot or even a book if some of it didn't happen but literally it just KEPT happening. Jenn is lying about leaving for Stanford...tomorrow. How is it possible that EVERYONE but her parents and sister know that she is literally leaving for college the next day?? What did Jenn think would seriously happen? That they would just pick up and move on like it was nothing? For a character such as Jenn who holds her head high for thinking she's so mature and responsible, lying about moving away is literally the dumbest thing I've heard of.
* The characters were SO FLAT. I kept forgetting which perspective I was reading from because Jenn and April sounded the exact same. The only difference was April talked about soccer and boys and Jenn was on about Stanford and Thomas.
* The constant bickering back and forth between April and Jenn. There were so many spots where things could have been resolved and then we could see them start to bond more but then one of the sisters has to say something incredibly rude or insulting and then they would run away.
* I thought Los Angeles was a big city?? How are they getting around to all of these places so quickly?!
* The relationship between Nate and April was SO forced and randomly thrown in there. I'm so down for the friends to lovers trope but this wasn't done well at all.
* And last but not least, THE FREAKING PARENTS. I get how people get all caught up in their ways and such but these guys take the freaking cake for awful parents in YA. They're in the entire book but they're just as bad as the parents who ARE NEVER AROUND. At least you don't have to read about them purposefully hurting themselves by having to do everything together BUT THEY ARGUE THE ENTIRE FREAKING TIME. They're so clueless about their kids, they're incredibly selfish. GET A FREAKING DIVORCE ALREADY.
* It ended so abruptly. I would have LOVED for these dumb problems to have been resolved SO MUCH EARLIER so we can see the sisters bond and grow close and for these dumb freaking parents to grow up and realize how much their mentally abusing themselves and their kids. But nope, we spent the entire book watching all of these PERFECTLY FIXABLE ISSUES constantly go back and forth for them all to be resolved in less than 10 pages.


Honestly, I didn't realize I had all of these kinds of feelings for this book until I started writing this review. Like I said, it had SO MUCH POTENTIAL but it ended up driving me crazy by the end. I was skimming majority of it just to get it over with. Yikes. Sorry this review was so harsh but I genuinely don't know how else to get my thoughts for this book out.

Surprise! It’s another blog tour and book review this week! We’re taking a one-week hiatus from Marshmallow Fridays for this, but never fear. Veronica will return next week. This week, I have quite the treat for you. Lauren Spieller’s newest, She’s the Worst, which hit really close to home for me, so I’m super excited to be part of this blog tour and review it for y’all. The Fantastic Flying Book Club has been good to me, and this book is all part of it. Let’s go!

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In She’s the Worst, we get the alternating perspective of sisters Jenn and April, who are as different as sisters can be. Jenn is a recent high school graduate, the valedictorian of her graduating class, who decided to stay home and attend community college in order to continue assisting their parents as they run their antiques store. Her long-term boyfriend is headed off the Stanford in three days at the start of the book, and she seems upset about it, at least to April. But really, Jenn is hiding a pretty big secret that could tear their family apart, and it’s about to come to light.

April is a rising junior and a badass soccer player with the opportunity to play in front of a scout for USC in the fall. But she’s also the less responsible sister (according to Jenn), and the one who doesn’t help out around the house or store. She’s been hooking up with a soccer stud and doesn’t know if he has any interest in dating her, even though she’d like to date him, and she hasn’t felt like her sister cares about her in years. When she sees how sad Jenn is about her boyfriend leaving, she’s reminded of the pact they made when Jenn left middle school behind for high school – they’d spend one entire day together before Jenn left for college.

April plans the whole day, and drags a reluctant Jenn with her. It starts out awkward, and gets worse when Jenn finally shares what’s been weighing on her for months. But as the day goes on, the sisters start to realize that they have a lot more in common than they thought, and maybe they’ll be able to mend their family after all.

book cover (1)

3 Things I Loved
April. I was the Jenn in my family, but now that I’m older, I understand April a lot more too. She is coping with their parents’ incessant fighting in the best way she can, even if it isn’t Jenn’s way. And she’s accomplished in her own ways too, even though they’re different from Jenn’s ways. I found her to be refreshing, and she reminded me so much of my own little sister that I think I loved her most.
Nate. Ah, I love a good boy next door. He’d do anything for April – and Jenn – and he’s just overall sweet and lovable. More boys next door, please!
Jenn. I didn’t dislike Jenn, but since I was the embodiment of Jenn when I was in high school, I found myself cringing sometimes. But she’s out here doing her best too, and she’s been in the middle of their parents’ fights for so long that it makes sense she’d do something drastic to try to set them on some sort of path. You’ll have to read the book to find out what I’m talking about!
Dislikes/Problematic Content
Although this was super white and pretty heteronormative, the actual thing I want to talk about here are April and Jenn’s parents. It was hard to read their fighting. I say that in a way that means Spieller did an excellent job writing the dialogue, because I could FEEL the discomfort in the room, the tension that Jenn especially always has weighing on her shoulders. I could definitely see this being triggering for some people, because their parents are so absorbed in their own fighting that they have no idea what their children are even doing. And that’s the saddest part of all of this.

Rating
A reminder of the rating scale:

Red = DNF, I hated everything
Orange = Ugh, no thank you
Yellow = I mean, I’ve read worse, but there were problems
Green = This was good!
Blue = Oh my gosh, I loved this book!
Purple = This is the unicorn of books and I will be rereading it until the binding falls apart and EVERYONE should be reading it!
I’m so happy I had the opportunity to be part of this blog tour. This book was so well-written, and so fun to read! I’m giving She’s the Worst a BLUE rating. Be mindful of the trigger I mentioned above, but it’s really really good. Also, sister, if you’re reading, I love you. ❤

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley, and The Fantastic Flying Book Club for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Giveaway
And here’s what you’ve all been waiting for – the Rafflecopter giveaway!

Happy reading!

THE SETTING
Spieller’s love and passion for LA were obvious in this book. As someone’s who never went to the city before, I really had a good time reading Jenn and April one day adventure as they’re trying to rekindle their sibling’s connection. Each place that both sisters visited was very well-written and the scene was vivid! So, I applauded Spieller and her writing for that.

THE PLOT
The plot was simple enough and exactly how it was presented on the blurb. What I found to be the most surprising was, as a character-oriented reader, I found the plot to be very much entertaining. I was digging each destination and enjoyed the memories’ revelation between the dual perspective of both sisters. It surely feels overwhelming at times, because I couldn’t imagine how someone could go through so many places and activities just in one day, while also making life-changing decisions and dealing with so many dramas.

THE CHARACTERS
Oh my God, how do I start with all these characters?! Most of them had such a bold and strong personality. Now let’s combine that with years of family drama, ineffective communication, and self-oriented issue. Boom. A complete roller coaster ride from the beginning until the very last page.

As much as I enjoyed how Spieller wrote these characters and their multidimensionality, it was surely exhausting and overwhelming to witness them interacting with each other. I have no idea who to root for, as none of them was described as that flawless protagonist. For someone so smart and perfectionist about almost every aspect of her life, Jenn was obviously not as perfect as she thinks herself to be. I couldn’t explain too much without spoiling the story, but I found it to be unbelievable that Jenn was capable of keeping such thing for so long. And I found April to be a bit more okay since she’s a teenager yet she’s dealing with how her own family can’t trust and support her enough to pursue her ultimate dream. And please don’t get me started on both parents, because they were plain horrible. I didn’t find any good aspect from them and they were nothing but continuous loud action packs 24/7.

Thankfully, I found a bit of time to relax and lay back when it comes to Nate. The guy was super sweet and deserves all the good things in the world! I wish he got more screen time in the story because his perspective as someone who grew up with Jenn and April will be super interesting! As for other side characters, they were okay but definitely not stand out.

THE VERDICT
She’s the Worst was a fun family-oriented story. The dynamic characters combined with the adventurous one-day plot could be a huge potential if the writer didn’t use ineffective communication and manipulation as the ultimate source of the problems. There were many aspects that Spieller could use to spark more drama within this story without making everyone always screams at everyone.

Ferris Bueller’s Day Off meets 10 Things I Hate About You in Lauren Spieller’s latest novel, She’s the Worst! She’s the Worst follows two sisters, April and Jenn, who haven’t been close in many years but try to reconnect on the eve of Jenn heading off to college. I loved the sisters’ messy relationship! Even though I don’t have a sister, I could definitely relate to some of the bickering with my younger brother who has a very different personality than I do. Each of their relationships with their parents is also very complicated. Above all though, this novel is a total love letter to LA and I loved seeing the different places April and Jenn visit! It would be fun to follow their tour in real life!

my sister’s two years younger than me, and sometimes i just can’t help thinking – she’s the worst. the absolute worst. i always get annoyed by the littlest things she does, and reading this story from the perspective of the younger sibling was such a refreshing experience – i understood that sometimes things are not what they seem on the surface, and that to maintain a good relationship with my sister, i should sometimes put myself into her shoes instead of judging her for everything she does.

while some parts were entertaining to read, i couldn’t really relate to april and jenn. my sister and i are pretty close with each other and talk all the time, so i don’t know what it’s like to be completely estranged from your sister to a point that makes hanging out with her awkward and intolerable. jenn also annoyed me at times and i didn’t like how she keeps hiding things from her family.

and the ending felt a bit rushed, to be honest. the whole story takes place in the span of twenty four hours and most of the book just drags on and on, while the final parts are whirred past. i wondered how april and jenn can visit so many places in a single day and then suddenly just go back to normal after hours of fighting. it seemed like the author was trying to piece the time together in weird ways to fit their schedule and i didn’t like how that turned out.

other than that, a large portion of the book involved people being mean to each other, and it was reaaaaaaallly annoying. and i’m not talking about the regular sibling level of mean. i’m talking about ditching your sister to go eat lunch with some other people, and being petty and tattletaling on each other kind of mean. the whole thing’s so stupid, i found it a bit hard to believe that jenn got into yale.

overall i’d give this three stars out of five, based solely on its entertainment value. i was hoping for a relatable read about a (balanced) love-hate relationship between sisters, but what i got was a (10%) love-(90%) hate relationship, and i was disappointed. but although the sibling relationship in this book doesn’t really resemble mine, i’m pretty sure that some people out there will be able to relate to it or find it interesting, so go pick this up if it seems like something you’d enjoy!