Blog Tour- Review: Kate in Waiting by Becky Albertalli

Thanks to @TheWriteReads & Penguin for being a part of this tour!

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Title: Kate in Waiting

Author: Becky Albertalli

Publisher: Penguin

Published: May 4, 2021

Pages: 400

Format: e-ARC through Netgalley- Thank you, Penguin!

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Blurb: 

From bestselling YA rom-com queen Becky Albertalli (author of Love, Simon) comes a new novel about daring to step out of the shadows and into the spotlight in love, life and theatre. 
 
[PRINCIPAL CAST LIST] 
Kate Garfield 
Anderson Walker 
 
Best friends, and contrary to popular belief, not co-dependent. Examples: 
 
Carpooling to and from theatre rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. 
Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. 
Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway. 
 
But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off-script. 
 
Enter Stage Left: Matt Olsson 
 
He is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson. 
 
Turns out, communal crushes aren’t so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson’s friendship… 

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Review:

I was excited about this one! It’s got such a great premise and I was intrigued by the idea of best friends liking the same guy. I wasn’t sure how you could make this work but Albertalli did it.

I’m going to be brutally honest here and say that I had a rough start with this one. I was about 20% of the way and not sure that I wanted to continue. I pushed through and I’m so glad I did. My biggest issue at this point was I was becoming rather annoyed with the writing. I don’t know how many times “f-boy or f*ckboy” was brought up to this point, but it was a lot. I had paragraphs where I could count the word on both hands! It was getting rather annoying and I wasn’t sure if I could take anymore. Thankfully, it cooled off a bit but just a bit. I would say, this is my biggest issue with this book.

Something that I loved in this book was the friendships! I do wish we got to explore Brandie and Raina’s friendship with the group a little more. Sometimes I felt like they were just thrown into the mix but I enjoyed what I did get from them. I loved Noah and he was an instant favorite (out of all) character of mine. He brought a lot of laughs and broke up some of the tension in a great way. On the flip side, I didn’t think we got enough of Matt. I didn’t connect with him and I don’t know that his character was fleshed out enough to really fall for him. I think for a character driven book we didn’t get quite enough from them.

Andy and Kate is a relationship that I think many people dream of in High School. Anyways, I love how they are trying to deal with their feelings for the same guy and not hurt each other. Albertalli did a great job with bringing out the true nature of something like this. They would want to support each other one second and completely flip to jealousy the second. It’s human nature, no matter how much you love your friend. I think seeing that made it feel all the more realistic. There are times that this book gets cheesy but it could be the age group.

I think one of my favorite aspects is how Albertalli brought in the sibling relationship. From the beginning, we don’t get much there but by the end, it’s so good. I loved Ryan’s character and I’m glad his relationship with Kate blossomed. I know, with age differences, siblings can kind of disappear. It was nice to see that no matter what that relationship is truly never gone.

Overall, I did end up liking this book. I think it’s such a sweet story and Albertalli handles it in a way that makes it believable. I did have some issues with the writing style but that could be my preferences. If you have enjoyed her previous work, you will probably like this one too. It’s a great palate cleanser and if you want something light and cute then this is a great option.

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About the Author:

Becky Albertalli is the author of the acclaimed novels Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (film: Love, Simon), The Upside of Unrequited, and Leah on the Offbeat. She is also the co-author of What If It’s Us with Adam Silvera. A former clinical psychologist who specialized in working with children and teens, Becky lives with her family in Atlanta. You can visit her online at www.beckyalbertalli.com. 

Twitter: @beckyalbertalli 

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Thank you to @TheWriteReads & Penguin for this tour and providing me with a copy of this e-book!!! My opinions are my own and receiving this book for free did not persuade them!