At a Halloween party where multiple people give her well-intentioned but un-asked-for advice, Olivia “Liv” James comes to the conclusion that her life isn’t living up to her expectations. She decides to create a list of to-dos to change herself and her future. She’s inspired by Shonda Rhimes’ book, The Year of Yes, and vows to be bold, learn to take a compliment, stand out instead of back, go on a date, and stop crushing and move on. As she goes about these tasks the tagline says it all, “Mistakes were made”.

Featuring: angsty teens, body positivity, and a love rectangle.

Liv has to find out the hard way who her real friends are and that love doesn’t come easy.

My thoughts: This book unexpectedly made me cry. I wasn’t ready for the depth of emotion we get out of Liv. Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than a decade out of my teenage years and I found myself frustrated by her lack of maturity and her inability to communicate as a crux of the book. That being said, I like the character growth that we see throughout the book from nearly every character, not just Liv. Don’t let the bright colors on the cover fool you though, this book packs a punch. The teen characters are going through very difficult times in their lives. There’s racism, sexism, bullying, fatphobia, you name it and it’s pretty much in here.

I will offer some of the same criticisms that other reviewers have though, in that there are some lines of dialogue in here that go too far for my personal taste. I understand that teens will unintentionally say things that are incredibly insensitive and often will not get called out for it by their peers, but there were comments in here that were downright painful to read. The teens in this book call each other out on a lot, so it’s hard to see comments that are insulting to many groups go by like they’re acceptable jokes. This book tried to tackle a lot of hard topics, and it didn’t hit them all with the same level of sensitivity.

My rating: 3 stars

Simone gives such a clear voice to the feelings of teenagers, but also her main character is such a clear presence that readers can connect to .

I enjoyed getting to go with Olivia through the journey of starting her ‘F’ it list. I liked seeing her do things that scared her and to put herself out there. While there were some snags, it was a nice journey.

This was a cute contemporary romance about a young girl who overcomes many life challenges. We see a lot of mention to individual struggles due to race, gender, and economic status (to name a few). The characters were diverse and unique with strong personalities. I would definitely recommend this for young highschool age kids, as it could be positively impactful for them and their perspectives.

I will not be giving feedback on this book as I couldn’t really get into it but I think others may enjoy it.

I was NOT a fan of this book...I pushed through thinking it might get better but MAN just too crude and jokes that just didn't hit and characters who just weren't likable.

Although Eli I really did like...but Liv I just didn't.

When I think of literary fiction, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels. This is a perfect book to snuggle up with on any day.

This book was not for me. I could not get into the story and I felt like some of the jokes were insensitive. I would not want a younger YA reader to read this and think what was said in the book is okay to say. I felt really uncomfortable reading this and had to force myself to finish. The illustrations for the cover was beautifully done though.

Thank you to NetGallery and to Inkyard Press for giving me a copy for my honest review.

I appreciate how the novel addresses body image without encouraging conformity. Liv confronts her body anxieties and discovers the importance of having friends who appreciate you, even if it's teasing. I like how this book emphasizes friendship. She initially hangs out with Eli and Dré. She befriends two girls grudgingly, and while it's not always easy, she appreciates how they confirm her and check her behavior when she needs it.

Well-written. I have a hard time reading books with this much profanity, but Francina Simone's writing and characters are fantastic. I liked Liv's witty, honest, and flawed journey. Some racial remarks, particularly those directed at a Hawaiian and an Israeli-Palestinian character, bothered me. Despite the fact that the offensive or racist remarks were made by irreverent characters, I found them difficult to read and unnecessary.

I thought the story's dialogues about race were excellent for sparking debate and displaying nuance. When Jackie says the N-word and a white theater child calls her out, Liv steps in. The plot revolves around intimacy. Her friend suggests she sleep with someone she doesn't care about but who would make an excellent lover. Another friend opposes casual relationships and advises Liv to wait. Liv sees intimacy as reclaiming her body in a new way, but the desire to do so outweighs all other considerations. She causes pain and is initially unrepentant, as if feeling bad about her decision is the same as feeling guilty or embarrassed about her body.

Despite the fact that she reconsiders her feelings and how her actions have affected others, I believe the emotional consequences have faded. Everyone shrugs and says nothing is wrong. Possibly. Perhaps, but in my experience, people take much longer to recover from betrayal. Overall, I enjoyed this book in parts. Liv is not without flaws. I like how she's trying to grow and learn from her mistakes.

Authentic and messy. Bold and real. Positive and questionable. This was a young adult retelling of Othello. Now having never in my life read Othello or know a thing about Othello I couldn’t tell you if it had anything to do with Othello or not. What I can tell you is I really liked the voice of the story. Liv is a 17-year-old girl trying to find her way. Dealing with her insecurities, wanting to be noticed, but afraid to be seen. After attending a Halloween party in a hoodie and khaki shorts Liv decides it’s time to make a change. She creates a F*ck It list and vows to start stepping out of her comfort zone. One of the first things she does is tries out for the high school musical production of... you guessed it... Othello. With her besties Dre and Eli by her side Liv starts... well... living. *Pun intended*

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Liv was such a real character. She had real thoughts, feelings, insecurities, hopes, and dreams. Was she selfish? Yes, but seriously who isn’t when they’re a teenager? She made many a mistake and usually learn from them. The dialogue of the story was so authentically teenager. As a mother of teenagers who has spent some time listening to conversation between my kids friends I found it so real. Teenagers can be so crass, so insensitive, so selfish, and yet so caring. Loved Liv’s friendship with Lennox and Jackie. The sex positivity and the body positivity were fabulous. Eli and Dre we’re great friends and I really liked Liv’s crush on Eli. What I didn’t necessarily love about the book was how entangled and messy everything got towards the end. I think perhaps the story could have done without that, but maybe that has to do with the Othello retailing? A well told story with a genuine feel.

Can we gush over this cover for a minute? It’s so refreshing to see a cover with thick thighs! I would have loved this story as a teenager. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get into it.

I received this copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: Smash It! by Francina Simone

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Pages: 269
Genre: YA Fiction
Sub-Genre: High School Fiction
Location: Florida, US

IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK THEN TRY…
Book: More Than Maybe by Erin Hahn
TV: Glee

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All my reviews can be seen at This Is My Everybody | Simple Living | Denise Wilbanks at www.thisismyeverybody.com

♡ Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

First off, what I liked. I liked how Liv comes out of her shell and starts to be more confident in herself. I love that she takes risks and tries out for the play like she has always wanted to. I like that she finally stands up to people and expresses herself when she needs to.
What I don't like is the language. I know this will show that I'm an old fuddy-duddy but seriously. Can't we show that young women can be strong and independent without throwing around the "N" word and the "F" word? Calling everyone "B's" and everything else? Do they always have to talk about sex and drugs? Even if that's how the kids that age are talking, shouldn't we, as adults, be setting an example? Show them it isn't necessary? Do you have to write like that to make a best-selling book? I think it's important for the youth to learn that it just doesn't sound good to be throwing those words around like they are nothing. And that's what they do in this book. Because of that, I don't recommend it at all.

Didn't capture my attention and engagement. I'll hopefully try again in the future.
Didn't capture my attention and engagement. I'll hopefully try again in the future.

It's not that I don't think teenagers have a preoccupation with sex. It's that this book was so wildly focused on one thing that I forgot an adult wrote it. Not for me. Or honestly for most teens I know.

I am disappointed with this book. I was expecting one thing and received another. It had potential but it was not well written.

I tried to read this one and couldn't get into it. I enjoy Francina Simone's YouTube channel, but this book wasn't for me.

Good rep, the cover would be easy to convince a lot of my students to give it a try. It took me a bit to get into it but it picked up.

I received an egalley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun read. I assume it's much better, the more familiar with Othello you are. But I also thought it was just a really great coming of age/ romance on its own.

Initially, I was going to be reviewing this novel as I usually do, by pointing out its positives and negatives. I had actually liked this book because it had a lot going for it. However, the author has chosen to make some racist remarks towards Hawaiian people and made an extremely insensitive joke regarding the Palestinian genocide. The author has also not rectified this in print copies of this book. I am completely against any of the remarks made by this author in her book, and will not be giving any star ratings or promoting this book. However enticing this story may seem, its racist comment mean I can only encourage readers to skip it for better options.