Status Updates From A Long Way from You (Where ...

I'm on the acknowledgements now. I wasn't expecting some parts of the ending, especially the part with Tad.

I'm happy Kitsy's conflicts with Amber and Hands are being resolved now, even if they feel pretty contrived.

Annika serving as a reminder that Kitsy needs to reevaluate what's important to her at home? That's fine with me. Her serving as conflict to drive the latter and Tad apart? That's contrived.

I think I'm getting to the point where I'm finding Kitsy's internal conflict's monotonous. While I can still get behind it, Heasley's rehashing the same thoughts per chapter, and they're on the longer side.

In interacting with Kitsy after the clay mishap, I can see Mr. Picasso's growing on her. Even though she's missing the scholarship meeting to hang out with Tad, I think it'll prove possible in Kitsy's future. She just needs to believe in herself more.

That fight Kitsy and Hands had proves the latter is definitely clingy.

I can't decide if Tad following Kitsy to make sure she got home safely was nice like she thought it was or a little creepy.

Part of me gets behind Kitsy's anxiety of fitting in and trying to navigate a new city without getting lost. I'm wondering where Art Boy's going to pop up next if not in one of her classes. I'm not sure if it's a bad sign I'm the most interested in the romantic subplot.

This is definitely falling into some early 2010s YA trappings (is there going to be a Corrinne and Kitsy conflict, or is there some shaming going on?), but I'm interested in Kitsy's self-discovery and Heasley's utilizing humor well.

I've had this book for about four and a half years now after I found it at a local library book sale. Re-reading the synopsis now, this feels early 2010's YA Hallmark and I'm on board. The character naming isn't what I'm used to, too.