*Blog Tour- Review & Playlist* If I’m Being Honest- Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

Mean Girls meets The Taming of the Shrew in this romantic follow-up to Always Never Yours

Cameron Bright’s reputation can be summed up in one word: b*tch. It’s no surprise she’s queen bee at her private L.A. high school–she’s beautiful, talented, and notorious for her brutal honesty. But when she slips up in front of her crush, Andrew, any affection he may have had for her quickly fades. To win him over, Cameron resolves to “tame” herself, much like Shakespeare’s infamous shrew, Katherine. If she makes amends with everyone she’s ever wronged, Andrew will have to take notice. Thus, Cameron begins her apology tour with Brendan, the guy whose social life she single-handedly destroyed. At first, Brendan isn’t so quick to forgive, but slowly he warms to her when they connect over a computer game he’s developing. To Cameron’s amazement, she actually enjoys hanging out with Brendan; he appreciates her honesty in a way Andrew never did, and she’s left wondering: maybe you shouldn’t have to compromise who you are for the kind of love you deserve.

Purchase Links

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE

BOOK DEPOSITORY

My Review:

”If there’s one thing I’ve learned from kissing him- other than how nerdy junior boys can be unexpectedly proficient kissers- it’s that you can’t pick or predict the person you’ll fall for. You can’t figure it out with a list or a plan.”

This is Mean Girls meets Can’t Buy Me Love with a mix of Jenny Han. With a mix like that, this was adorably perfect. If you love romantic comedies, teen drama, mean girls, video games, classic literature, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show then you are in for a massive treat.

Cameron is one of the most popular girls at school and everyone knows that she is the resident top Bitch. She speaks her mind with blunt honesty and doesn’t hold back. Other students follow her opinion like a pack of lost puppies.

The person who she wants the attention from is Andrew but she blew her chance when she belittled a fellow student at a party in front of him. He uttered the words that now consumes her life. “You’re a bitch, Cameron Bright!”

Cameron devises a plan to make amends with the students she has wronged. She thinks that showing Andrew that she’s a good person will change his opinion of her.

As she starts on this process, she realizes that this isn’t as easy as she first thought. Some are easy to forgive but others like, Brendan are making this more difficult. She ruined his life in the sixth grade by giving him a horrendous nickname and he’s putting up quite the fight.

The apologies bring her closer to a group of people she never thought she would hang with. She starts to realize that they bring out the best in her. After spending time with Brendan, Cameron comes to some life-changing realizations.

Maybe love isn’t something you make happen, unexpected love surprises you in the best ways.

This was totally charming and I became addicted to finding out what was coming next. This fresh take on a feminist retelling and all on romantic comedies will make you desperate for more work by these two authors. It was divine!

If I’m Being Honest teaches us that we shouldn’t be so quick to judge someone. Stand up for yourself and others when you see that they are down and out. It’s great to speak your mind and be honest, but keep other people’s feelings in sight. This was super cute and an absolute delight from cover to cover. Teen romantic comedy lovers with rejoice at this interesting spin on a classic remake.

Playlist:

*Clicking on the title and artist of each song will take you to the video on YouTube!*

Bitch- Meredith Brooks

Bad Reputation- Joan Jett

Popular- Nada Surf

1-2 Crush on You- The Clash

Teenage Dream- Katy Perry

Sweet Transvestite- Rocky Horror Picture Show

Time Warp- Rocky Horror Picture Show

Baby, I Love You- The Ramones

I Wanna Dance With Somebody- Whitney Houston

Toxic- Local H

Maps- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Fade Into You- Mazzy Star

About the Authors:

Raised by a school librarian, Austin’s always had a passion for books, especially books for young people. He met and fell in love with Emily in high school and went to Harvard University as an undergraduate. He studied English (focusing on Shakespeare) and graduated magna cum laude in 2014. Recently, Austin worked as a journalist for The Hollywood Reporter. He is currently a UCLA law student; however, there’s nothing he loves like writing with Emily. Emily, whose parents are screenwriters, has loved writing and story-telling since an age she hardly remembers. Since meeting Austin (she says it was middle school–accounts vary), Emily attended Princeton University as an undergraduate, studied psychology, and graduated magna cum laude in 2014. While at Princeton, she wrote the first novel in her self-published YA fantasy trilogy, The Last Oracle, which was featured in USA Today and was a finalist for the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.