This past month I read Ramona Blue with a couple other bloggers for a book club started by Courtney at Curly Book Owl. Like any blogger I’m writing the review a week after I read the book… and I don’t remember much of it and I don’t normally take notes when I’m reading. So here are my discombobulated thoughts in no particular order:
- I wanted more swimming! I haven’t read a sports book in forever and I was thinking this was going to be kind of sporty.
- Freddie and Viv’s relationship hit so close to home. It was nice to see a realistic thing done so well
- It wasn’t as swoon-worthy or memorable as I thought it was going to be. That being said I also read two contemporaries back to back and it’s not my type of book at all. They started to blend together.
- It was a quick read, I read it in a day so it’s a solid choice for a readathon!
- But… it did drag in the middle. I had to stop and do other things for a bit before continuing.
- Ramona was a bit generic with the looking out for her family/ letting it hold her back I really want a character that is like “screw you guys I’m going to college. I can help you out better when I get a degree.”
- Ramona and Hattie perfectly capture what it’s like to have a sister. You fight all the time and don’t agree with things but in the end they’re always there for you and you’re always there for them.
- The supporting characters are all very well written and I want to be friends with all of them. They’re fun and energetic but accepting and grown up.
- I really can’t speak on the representation, but one thing that I haven’t seen many people mention in reviews is how Freddie educates Ramona on police brutality.
- They call each other out on their stereotypes, which sometimes felt as though it was pushed in there to be there and other times was natural.
Basically while I can see why everyone loved this book, it just wasn’t for me. I kind of knew that going in it probably wasn’t going to be my thing but I wanted to read it anyway. However, I’m glad I read it and if someone wanted a diverse or contemporary romance this would be one of them I recommended.
I received a free ARC of this book via a program at work. This did not impact my thoughts in any way.
J. K. I'm Exploring! 
Ahh I’m working on my review right now and we have all of the same thoughts!! Like exactly the same–I don’t even have anything to add! Nice to know we have a similar taste in books ☺️
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I was reading other people’s when I was writing mine and everyone either loved or hated it! I was like it was just meh…. I still look forward to reading yours though!!
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That’s exactly how I felt!! Although, I actually did like it a lot in the beginning (for a contemporary book) but just felt more and more disconnected as it went on…
And thanks! I hope to have it up next week, but we’ll see!
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True… also someone else’s review talked about how her friends were like “you’re not the same person” because of everything and I completely forgot about that! It really annoyed me at the time (until I forgot about it)
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True! I didn’t really care for her friends in the first place, sadly, so that just made things 10x worse 😕
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I liked them in the beginning because they were fun but then it just went downhill
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I liked them in the first few appearances they made, but I just kept wishing they had more depth to them… Although I did like Freddie’s friend! (Can’t remember his name, whoops 😬)
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Tbh most of their names escape my mind…
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Haha yeah, not a good sign 😅
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I really like the cover of this one. There is just something about the cover blue. I also really enjoy water on books. I love how you did this review because this is how I feel so many times after reading a book. I don’t know what to say but my thoughts are just all over the place. I may have to try that with some books I read but haven’t gotten to read yet. Maybe I’ll check this out.
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I definitely had to reread my review because it’s been so long. I like the concept of the cover but I don’t really like digital art covers 🙈🙈 I kind of think I should do my reviews like this it was a lot easier to scan through.
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I always tell myself I want to do this style of review sometimes but then I’m worried people won’t like it. I really enjoyed it. I sometimes want to write a review but I forgot certain things but I do have little things I want to point out. I have to give it a try sometime.
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Do it!!! I just had this one in my drafts for a week or so and kept adding to is as I remembered things too.
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Yeah I think I will try that and see how it goes. My mind is all over the place with some of these books.
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