Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for providing me with an ARC!

This is not a typical Marissa Meyer book but I loved it anyway. Contemporary romance has become my guilty pleasure lately and this reminded me more of a Julie Murphy or Becky Albertalli book...only there's no LGBTQ+ representation. Which really kind of bothered me. While the majority of the story is the slow burn hate-turned to crush-turned to love relationship of Prudence and Quint, there were several side characters who could have been LGBTQ+. Meyer usually does a great job with diversity of ethnicities in her work, but (besides Simon and Hugh in Renegades) there is little LGBTQ+ representation. I think either Pru's brother or Ari, the best friend, could have very easily been written as an LGBTQ+ and literally nothing would have had to change.

That aside, I really enjoyed this story. Prudence is a flawed but likable character whose growth over the course of the story is meaningful and believable. I guess in some way, Quint is Pru's Manic Pixie Dream Boy, but I don't even care, I love him so much. Quint is hilarious and lovable and I can't wait to see adorable fan art of him with baby sea otters and sea lions. The secondary characters took a backseat to the Pru and Quint romance (Pruint!) and I really wanted more of them. I would totally read a sequel with Ari or Jude as the MC.

Music is a huge factor in this story. Prudence's family owns a record store, her and her siblings are all named after Beatles songs, Ari is a songwriter, and there are three karaoke scenes! I love karaoke, am a huge Beatles fan, and was familiar with the songs referenced, but I could see a teenage reader losing interest because they lack the background knowledge. Either way, I loved all the music references and created a Spotify playlist inspired by songs or artists mentioned in the book.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3LYGt2Tibx62xh7HnyAzDw?si=n20DdIXTTo-48wrhPhFZ9A

So if you enjoy contemporary romance, love adorable sea creatures, and don't mind a lack of LGBTQ+ rep, I highly recommend this one. But you should listen to some Beatles and probably watch Jaws beforehand.

I will always read anything Marissa Meyer writes and was thrilled to read an arc of her new contemporary ya novel. It was adorable and fun to read. Quirky and enjoyable characters, one of my favorite tropes and discussed real world problems in a powerful way. I look forward to seeing what Meyer does in the future with contemporary lit and I wouldn't mind a revisit to Ari? Or Jude? Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I got to hear Marissa Meyer talk about her first realistic fiction YA novel at Librarypalooza and I couldn’t wait to read it and I’M OBSESSED!
Prudence is an overachiever who has a lazy, tardy science partner that causes her to get her first ever C. After a fall Pru gets the ability to enact instant karma (both good and bad) on those around her. The power definitely goes to her head, but also allows her to grow more, finding her moral compass and realizing things aren’t always as they seem. I am DYING for Ari and Jude’s stories so I hope that’s a thing. 😉 This book also deal with ocean and animal wildlife and conservation that I hope sparks a conversation and change. I would read books like this everyday if I could. 100% amazing all around. Thank you Netgalley for an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Started slow but so happy I stuck with this book. Enjoyed how the main character progressed from using her "powers" for bad at first but then started using them for good. Really enjoyed the animal rescue storyline.