KATE IN WAITING BY BECKY ALBERTALLI // blog tour book review: theatre kids ft. wonderful writing & lovable relationships

Hello, there lovely friends!

And welcome to my Kate in Waiting tour stop which I’m just SO excited to be part of. My schedule has been crazy lately but I took this delight to the beach with me and simply devoured the whole thing.

Big thanks to The Write Reads for inviting me onto this tour, I’m so honoured!

Okay but the way this book is kinda great and STOLE MY HEART?! Love to see it.

I didn’t realise that I was flying through this book and so invested in all of these characters until like 50%, which by then it was too late and !!!!!

Becky Albertalli is such SO GOOD. I absolutely LOVE her writing style. I love how it’s quick and fun, but not pretentious or cheesy. It’s just easy and flows well. The dialogue was also great, and I was laughing out loud on many an occasion. And LOVED all the cute nicknames omg *insert heart eyes*

I know one of the issues people have is the amount of times the term “f**kboy” is used but tbh I was not bothered at all. Teens think like that so…

The teen representation is also SPOT ON and in my opinion, very accurate. They’re not fake and they actually felt LIKE TEENAGERS. I find that in a lot of more recent YA contemporaries, teenagers are written as… less intelligent. Idk if I’m making much sense or if you understand what I mean. But they seem really off?? Anyways, I loved the portrayal of Gen Z teens in this book. Pop culture references included *wink wink*

The plot was… rather slow. Which I absolutely don’t mind in contemporaries. I love just following along with the characters and having a fun time. The book is very easy to fly through as the chapters are all quite short. They also all end on a note that just makes you want to keep reading aka MY FAVE KIND.

I LITERALLY LOVED ALL THE CHARACTERS OMG!! They’re just so easy to love and you become so invested. I loved the theatre aspect of the story and I literally felt like I was going to star in a musical. I also LOVED how easy the diversity was slipped in, there’s a Black MC as well as a trans SC, amongst various other queer characters, Jewish and disability representation.

But what stands out most are THE RELATIONSHIPS. Specifically the platonic friendship between Kate and Andy. The two of them are just,,, goals. They’re the bestest and I was so in love with them. I love how easy it was between them and how even though there’s romance, the main relationship is the love between the two best friends. And though, there is a kind of a love triangle (LOVE that it’s between a straight girl and a gay guy!!!), it wasn’t annoying in my opinion. Yes, it was complicated and messy, but I liked that. It was a huge plot element but it was never over-dramatic. Becky is a genius.

Did I mention the friendships?? Because they were great.

But also the romances were ADORABLE. I don’t want to spoil anything for you but lemme just say I kinda loved Noah. Obviously loved literally all of the characters but also,,, Noah. And also the sibling relationship! Looovvveeed that and also very much related!!

This book was like… a warm hug. It has so many layers that all just worked so well together. It deals with all of these kinds of relationships whilst also being about navigating teenagehood. I seriously related to Kate and her whole experience. Highly recommend this YA contemporary packed with diversity and wonderful relationships.

“Maybe he followed us?” I slide my feet forward on the tiles. “Oh my God. He fell in love with us and followed us home from camp.” “WAIT—”

✮

“Once, Andy looked at Noah, apropos of nothing, and asked, “Are straight boys okay? Do they need help?” The age-old question.”

✮

“Gay people have to love Oreos now,” explains Anderson.”

✮

“I know exactly what you mean.- It’s the most underrated sentence on earth.
Translation: no, you’re not weird. Even your weird stuff isn’t weird. You make sense.”

✮

“Maybe some songs are just unruinable.”

“I’m not Rapunzel at all. I’m a paper lantern. I’m floating, lit up from the inside.”

✮

“I am so platonically in love with Anderson Walker, it makes my brain hurt.”

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.

HAVE YOU READ THIS BOOK? WHAT DID YOU THINK? IS IT YOUR FAVOURITE BECKY ALBERTALLI? I’D LOVE TO KNOW!

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