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Review: Seven Percent of Ro Devereux

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Seven Percent of Ro Devereux by Ellen O'Clover

Seven Percent of Ro Devereux
Ellen O’Clover
HarperTeen
Published January 17, 2023

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About Seven Percent of Ro Devereux

A clever, charming, and poignant debut novel about a girl who must decide whether to pursue her dreams or preserve her relationships, including a budding romance with her ex-best friend, when an app she created goes viral.

Ro Devereux can predict your future. Or, at least, the app she built for her senior project can.

Working with her neighbor, a retired behavioral scientist, Ro created an app called MASH, designed around the classic game Mansion Apartment Shack House, that can predict a person’s future with 93% accuracy. The app will even match users with their soul mates. Though it was only supposed to be a class project, MASH quickly takes off and gains the attention of tech investors.

Ro’s dream is to work in Silicon Valley, and she’ll do anything to prove to her new backing company—and the world—that the app works. So it’s a huge shock when the app says her soul mate is Miller, her childhood best friend with whom she had a friendship-destroying fight three years ago. Now thrust into a fake dating scenario, Ro and Miller must address the years of pain between them if either of them will have any chance of achieving their dreams.

Fans of Emma Lord and Alex Light will love this stand-alone contemporary novel with a masterful slow-burn romance at its core.

My Review

Okay, yes: I totally see the comparison to Emma Lord’s books with this one. It’s got big emotions, deep characters, and swoony love. All things I’ve experienced in Lord’s books, too.

And all things I loved about SEVEN PERCENT OF RO DEVEREUX.

It’s another book that made me absolutely weep. Ro grieves over the loss of a friend. She’s in anguish over the rift between her and her childhood bestie. (This is a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers story.)

I loved Ro’s relationship with her dad. They definitely do not see eye to eye on how she should proceed with the MASH app and even with her life after high school, but though he has to make some hard parenting decisions, he clearly loves and supports Ro through it all, even when he’s trying to warn her of bumps in the road he sees ahead for her.

I also loved Ro’s relationships with her friends, Maren and Miller. Her memories from her childhood and the transition to the present pulled me deep into the story and had me so invested in her relationship with Miller. And I couldn’t help loving Maren. She’s awesome, too.

All in all, I’d say this one was a big win for me. It’s a debut, so an author I’d never read before, and it’ll be a strong contender for favorite of the year, I believe.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Ro’s best friend Maren starts dating a girl.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Ro remembers a boy assaulting and attempting to rape her. Kissing between two girls. Kissing between boy and girl. A boy and girl spend a night together.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
A violent crowd injures a boy.

Drug Content
At 15, Ro drank alcohol at a party.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of SEVEN PERCENT OF RO DEVEREUX in exchange for my honest review.


Review: Boys I Know by Anna Gracia

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Boys I Know
Anna Gracia
Peachtree Teen
Published July 5, 20222

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Boys I Know

*A high school senior navigates messy boys and messier relationships in this bitingly funny and much-needed look into the overlap of Asian American identity and teen sexuality.*

June Chu is the “just good enough” girl. Good enough to line the shelves with a slew of third-place trophies and steal secret kisses from her AP Bio partner, Rhys. But not good enough to meet literally any of her Taiwanese mother’s unrelenting expectations or to get Rhys to commit to anything beyond a well-timed joke.

While June’s mother insists she follow in her (perfect) sister’s footsteps and get a (full-ride) violin scholarship to Northwestern (to study pre-med), June doesn’t see the point in trying too hard if she’s destined to fall short anyway. Instead, she focuses her efforts on making her relationship with Rhys “official.” But after her methodically-planned, tipsily-executed scheme explodes on the level of a nuclear disaster, she flings herself into a new relationship with a guy who’s not allergic to the word “girlfriend.”

But as the line between sex and love blurs, and pressure to map out her entire future threatens to burst, June will have to decide on whose terms she’s going to live her life—even if it means fraying her relationship with her mother beyond repair.

My Review

I had so much fun reading this book. It’s like all the best things and also most cringe-worthy things about high school romance told in a heartbreaking but also often wry and comical way. The relationships totally hooked me, especially June’s relationship with her mom, with Candace, and with Rhys.

I love that June grows so much and the ways that growth impacts her other relationships. I loved the humor woven all through the book. It’s in the antics between June and her friends. The banter between her and her sister. Even the tense exchanges between June and her mom have wit and fun mixed in.

June’s mom is constantly quoting Chinese proverbs to her to remind her about different things or reinforce her rules and ideas. At one point, June learns that one of the proverbs her mom quotes all the time has a second half she wasn’t familiar with. The meaning of that second half completely changes her understanding of the part her mom always quotes. It also starts June thinking about her relationship with her parents in a different way. I loved the way the proverbs were used, but I especially loved that moment where learning the second half of the proverb changes June’s perception. I thought that was a really cool moment and probably one of my favorite scenes. (My other favorite scene is the last one with Rhys, which kind of brought the whole story together. I loved it.)

All in all, I loved the relationships in this book and the growth that June experiences. I think fans of YOU’VE REACHED SAM by Dustin Thao will like this one.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
June is Taiwanese American.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl. Reference to touching over clothes. A girl plans to engage in oral sex with her boyfriend. Some references to sex and oral sex. One scene shows sex.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
June and her friends sometimes smoke pot and drink alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of BOYS I KNOW in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Past Perfect Life by Elizabeth Eulberg

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

Past Perfect Life
Elizabeth Eulberg
Bloomsbury YA
Published July 9, 2019

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Goodreads

About PAST PERFECT LIFE

Small-town Wisconsin high school senior Allison Smith loves her life the way it is-spending quality time with her widowed father and her tight-knit circle of friends, including best friend Marian and maybe-more-than-friends Neil. Sure she is stressed out about college applications . . . who wouldn’t be? In a few short months, everything’s going to change, big time.
But when Ally files her applications, they send up a red flag . . . because she’s not Allison Smith. And Ally’s-make that Amanda’s-ordinary life is suddenly blown apart. Was everything before a lie? Who will she be after? And what will she do as now comes crashing down around her?

My Review

Ally starts the story with this cute life in a small town. She and her dad don’t have money, but they share daily rituals that show how close they are and how much they love each other. Taco Tuesday, movie night, Packers games. Things like that. The Gleason family makes up the larger part of Ally’s inner circle. I think those characters had the most spark and variety in them. The banter between Rob and the rest of the group made those scenes a lot of fun to read.

I felt like the story stalled out a little bit around the 3/4 mark. Ally’s kind of just trying to get by and biding her time until she comes up with another idea. I think that was a necessary moment in the story, but I felt like it dragged on longer than it needed to.

Other than that, PAST PERFECT LIFE is a pretty smooth read. I’m a sucker for a story that touches on themes about the importance of family and community, so this book definitely scratched that itch for me.

Overall, I’d say PAST PERFECT LIFE is perfect for fans of IN ANOTHER LIFE by C. C. Hunter or WHERE THE STARS STILL SHINE by Trish Doller.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 15 up.

Representation
Characters are white and straight.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing between boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
Ally’s family is Catholic and goes to mass on Christmas.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content 
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links which cost you nothing but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of PAST PERFECT LIFE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Dawn on the Road by Lea Waterhouse

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , ,

Dawn on the Road
Lea Waterhouse
CrossLink Publishing
Published February 23, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

When Dawn learns of an opportunity to visit a college for the arts, she feels desperate to go. She knows, though, her parents would never, ever go along with her dreams of pursuing a career in photography. But when an old friend from her past returns to town and offers Dawn a ride on his motorcycle, Dawn realizes this might be the perfect chance to chase her dream, and reconnect with the gorgeous guy she once left behind.

Dawn’s sense of the world (sometimes lack of it) and her struggle to embrace her dream really resonated with me. I liked the ways in which her journey remained her own. Sometimes I felt like Justin’s wisdom and superior experience sort of overshadowed Dawn, but I liked that Dawn, on her own, crafts this spiritual journey apart from her relationship with Justin. I also liked that this story isn’t wholly a romance. At the heart of the story, Dawn faces some issues of maturity and cosmic questions. She’s a bit shallow and unfocused at the beginning, but definitely shows some growth by the end of the book.

The one thing that kind of left me shaking my head is the ending. I don’t want to give away what happens, but I felt like through the whole story Justin behaves a certain way, and then at the end he makes a choice that felt contrary to his character and the rules he’d established for himself.

On the whole this was a quick read with strong spiritual content that would probably appeal to young readers looking for stories featuring Christian girls. I liked the way the story used Dawn’s interest in photography as well.

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Cultural Elements
Dawn’s parents are atheists and pretty forceful about their beliefs. Justin is a Christian but reluctant to share his beliefs with her.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
Dawn’s mom educated her about sex and provided condoms, so Dawn would be prepared. Dawn feels embarrassed about this, but when she leaves for her trip with Justin, she brings one condom along, just in case. She feels very attracted to Justin, and it seems he feels something for her, too.

One kiss at the very end of the story between a boy and girl.

Spiritual Content
See above. Dawn attends a church service and later begins her own exploration of the Bible and prayer. She becomes a Christian through these experiences.

Violent Content
None.

Drug Content
None.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.