BOOK OF THE MONTH REVIEW: If I’m Being Honest

June Book of the Month: If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
Published: April 23, 2019

Episode Ten: If I’m Being Honest

[WORDS ABOUT WORDS THEME]

ANNOUNCER: This review is brought to you by Words About Words.

BREE: Thank you for tuning in! Today we will be discussing our June book of the month, If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberly & Austin Siegemund-Broka.

TREE: Please enjoy this photo of me cosplaying Cameron before we get started.

BREE: For those of you listening, it’s a picture of Tree in front of the famous pink wall in LA. Can we get started now?

TREE: (laughs) Of course!

TREE: So I know we were really excited about this since we love Emily and Austin. How did you feel about their sophomore novel?

BREE: I really enjoyed it! Almost as much as their debut novel, Always Never Yours.

TREE: Yeah I agree. This one was so much fun and I love their contemporary voice, but I think I liked Always Never Yours a little bit more. Did you have any favorite moments?

BREE: I really liked Paige and her friend group. Their characters were weird, and nerdy, and completely comfortable with who they are. What about you?

TREE: Seeing Cameron become friends with Paige and her group was my favorite part. I did love seeing the relationship develop too; soft boys for the win. I was heavily reminded of the Princess Diaries (books) because of the Rocky scene, the computer science boy, and the quirky friend group. Which was entertaining because I love those books.

BREE: I also liked how Paige’s friend group was really into cosplay and how that tied into the plot. (hint hint) In contrast, I had some issue with Cameron’s other friends, specifically one of her ‘best friends’ Elle.

TREE: I did have a problem with the fact that Elle has 15 million subscribers on YouTube, which when we looked up the top Beauty Gurus on YouTube, the one with the most subscribers only had 14 million subscribers. I don’t remember how many years she had her channel, but I highly doubt that this would be feasible. Which is a petty critique, but it still irked me.

BREE: I feel that. On the other hand, the romantic pairings in this book were really cute! No spoilers, but I think Cam found someone perfectly suited for her, and I found their scenes super fun to read.

TREE: If I’m Being Honest (laughs) it was a really cute ship. Emily and Austin write some really cute relationships and banter. I loved them together.

BREE: I think my favorite thing about this book had to be the cameo of the two main character from Always Never Yours. I was totally not expecting it either, which made it so much better.

TREE: I knew there was a cameo, but I thought it was be a ‘blink and you miss it’ kind. But, this one was perfect. Anything else you want to add?

BREE: Yeah, I just wanted to say that for someone who is written so smartly, it took Cameron an awfully long time to figure out what she wanted to do with her future.

TREE: I agree she was very intelligent at times and then seemed oblivious at times. I understand the struggle of figuring out what to study, but she just did not seem to grasp that she could have a path different from her dad. The whole situation was really dragged out, which bothered me.

BREE: I just want to add that even though were seemingly hyper-critical of this book, we still really enjoyed reading it!

TREE: I did really love this one. I think it is just hard to review contemporary books because aside from ‘I love the characters’ and ‘this ship is cute’ and ‘I had fun reading this’ there never is much else to say. Then we just focus on the small details we did not like and then it sounds negative. [pauses] Do you want to add anything before we wrap up?

BREE: All I’ll say is there were a few loose ends that weren’t quite wrapped up, and I would have appreciated more context and closure with those.

TREE: With that being said, what was your rating?

BREE: I’m giving If I’m Being Honest 5/5 stars. Overall, I really enjoyed the writing and the story. Most of my critiques were things that I noticed upon reflection after I finished the book.

TREE: Me too. 5/5 stars. I loved the characters and there were some fun and cute moments. I can’t wait to see what Emily and Austin write next.

BREE: Yeah, me too! I’m excited for Time of Our Lives but that doesn’t come out ‘til 2020. (cries) They did just release the cover for it though, and it’s too fricken cute!

TREE: I know! I can’t stop gushing about it. (Cover included at end of post.)

ANNOUNCER: Thanks for tuning in for this review of If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberly & Austin Siegemund-Broka.

BREE: Make sure to tune in next month when we review A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab!

TREE: Time for me to reread this one. I read it in 2016 and have forgot most of what happens in this novel!

xoxo, Bree & Tree