What's Not To Love? by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

Dec 12

Dec 12 What's Not To Love? by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

I couldn’t put this book down. But then there were moments I had to put it down because I just couldn’t. If I think about it, that was the theme of this book. There are moments you can push through because the reward or goal is waiting on the other side, and then there are moments you’re just like “I can’t even.” But you have to decide what moments matter most to you. And no one embodied that more than Alison.

Alison is ready for her real life to begin. And that life she is referring to is at Harvard, all the way on the other side of the country, away from high school, sentimentality, immaturity, and especially Ethan, her rival. Or so she hopes. But Ethan has been copying her every move since the start of high school, and thus he could very well end up at Harvard with her. But Alison isn’t going to let some little competition keep her from her goals. In fact, Alison is going to use this competition to get her where she wants to go in life.

Although I understand where Alison is coming from, however, she isn’t as mature and adult as she thinks. For one thing, her older sister Jamie has moved back home, after calling off her engagement and quitting her dream job in Chicago, yet Alison thinks her sister is stuck or not applying herself. Which really pissed me off. But because Alison is 17, there is so much about life she doesn’t understand. Yet this is not what makes her immature. It is her coming to some sound conclusions and then dismissing them, because she truly doesn’t want to acknowledge them or want to admit she is in that camp that reinforces her immaturity. And I loved how her mama checked her. Leading with understanding but letting her know she is NOT an adult, and her mother will do the parenting and Alison should stick to high school. Alison is reminded multiple times just how un-adultlike she truly is and that she needs to learn to live her high school life and not focus so much on adulting.

I didn’t like Alison’s character. Or Ethan’s for that matter. They both did things that crossed a professional boundary but it was the constant bickering and needing to one up each other that was getting a bit tiresome. And when Alison finally decides to remove herself from the equation, Ethan shuts down. While I didn’t like that his character merely conceded or stemmed from Alison’s, I felt there was more depth to Ethan that we just didn’t get to see because everything is from Alison’s perspective. And because Alison refuses to see things from others’ perspectives (after seeing things clearly and rationally, then dismissing those revelations), her immaturity, along with Ethan’s, comes across that much stronger.

Yet I did like the dynamic between these two. True they are rivals turned lovers but I think they were so much more than that. They were respected colleagues if you will. So many times in rivals turned lovers tropes, the two not only dislike one another, but they treat each other like garbage. Ethan and Alison are teenagers in high school, so they aren’t the most respectful all the time, but there is respect there. They push each other to be better versions of themselves. Plus, when confronted with their feelings for one another, they don’t just slip into a relationship right away. They have to work through their immaturity and distrust before they can get there but they do have open and honest conversations with one another about life, including their feelings and relationship. However, I did feel like their final coming together was rushed at the end.

I felt this novel dragged on in certain regards. As I mentioned, Alison’s instance on adulting, their rivalry, her refusal to see things clearly, it just got to be too much. Although, I will say, the takeaway from this novel was well worth weeding through all 389 pages. What’s Not To Love will help you see that doing fun things isn’t the only way to live in the moment. And skipping out on them doesn’t mean you’re missing out. You have to define what living in the moment means for you and determine what things are most important to you. What’s Not To Love is a book that I’m sure you’ll love reading.