Giselle's Reviews > The Replacement Crush

Vivian is madly in lust with the bad boy of her town. When he dumps her, her heart is devastated. She vows never to let her lustful hormones get in the way. Her solution? To come up with a Replacement Crush. Someone she has a solitary no chemistry with. That is until a new boy comes into town with his software building smarts and Clark Kent good looks, Vivian starts to realize that she can't help who she falls for.

Well that turned out to be cuter than I expected. Here's a book about slut shaming, making all kinds of stupid mistakes, being absolutely clueless in love and being a little narcissistic that you can't even see that you're hurting people in the long run. This has it all for the teen audience. It reads a little younger than I'm used to, but also be wary of sexual assault that happens. I for one think it's important that it's shown in books today because we shouldn't shelter the younger generation of such abuses.

This is also one of the most slow-burn romances I've ever read because of sheer stubbornness! I felt like it dragged on took long and that's why I didn't quickly read this. It didn't interest me because of the slow pacing. We all know there's going to be a big climatic ending so that's what I was waiting for and Lisa Brown Roberts definitely delivered it. Vivian is definitely a teenage character going through the motions of finding her voice and realizing how strong she can actually be. I loved that her mother is an author and owns a book store. That is the dream! I also love that she's a book blogger and seeing some of her reviews where definitely adorable. I loved that she came to terms with who she wanted to be. Standing up for herself even if there were someone there like Toff to help her. I loved her friends (even when they were being intrusive) because they cared so much about her. And then there's Dallas who I pretty much guessed is biracial due to his last name. So yay on the diverse front! There's also mentions of her Korean best friend and queer best friend. Though I know these were shoved as minor characters.. Slowly but surely we're getting there aren't we? We just need more.

Pick this one up if you're looking to put a smile on your face! Or if you're in the mood for a quick contemporary romance.

RATING 4/5

QUOTES

You should eat. He's not worth losing your appetite over. (13)

I'm not some library book you can borrow for two weeks, then return and forget about. (15)

I rode home quickly and hid out in my bedroom, grateful to be surrounded by fictional boyfriends instead of real ones. (92)

It's like a bad movie, watching you pretend you don't like him. (123)

God, it's so much easier to read about this type of drama than actually live it. (187)

Maybe I was just a nerdy bookstore girl, but didn't I matter as much as anyone else? Didn't we deserve to be treated decently if someone dumped us? Or even if we broke up with them? (278)

I needed to stand up for myself. (287)