ARC Review: The Way He Looks at Me by Juliana Mae

Title: The Way He Looks at Me
Author: Juliana Mae
Rating: 3/5 Stars
eBook, 232 Pages
Expected Publication: February 14th, 2015
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Summary: Annie and her family left everything behind and moved over 3,000 miles away to California for her mother to become a musician. When Annie is reunited with an old family friend who is also an up-and-coming musician, she's far from complaining. Especially when he takes her to her first movie premiere where she meets two of her favorite bands. Hayden from Vas Happenin' shows an immediate interest in Annie, and wastes no time in getting Annie's number. A coincidental run-in at Starbucks leaves Annie with a kiss from Colt from Sons of Jannone. How will Annie be able to choose between the two? Or will someone else stand in her way?

I received an ARC copy of The Way He Looks at Me by author Juliana Mae. She's a super sweet girl that I've spoken to before, and we've even featured her book of short stories and poems on the blog before, In The Heart of an Unsocial Butterfly, here. So needless to say, I was touched that she asked me to review her newest book, and I was very excited!

The Way He Looks at Me is an interesting book for sure. Annie just moved from California after breaking up with her boyfriend Jesse (after on their last night together he makes it clear that he's more than ready to move on). Now, she lives one floor above a cute family friend, and that same friend introduces her to her two favorite boy bands in the whole world (in one night!). To make it even better, the lead singers of both bands express interest in Annie. What's a girl to do?

Well, Annie thinks it's a bright idea to date both of them at the same time. (Yes, you heard me - she dates both lead singers simultaneously. And they're both semi-okay with it. And so are her parents. And the friends/relatives of both of these boys. Strikes me as capital-C Craaaaaaazy.) Right off the bat, that bothered me. Annie makes it clear to everyone, even the paparazzi, that she's dating both boys until she can find out which one she loves more. What the heck?

At first, I thought that it was the author's intention to make her poly-amorous. Until I figured out that it wasn't. Annie's just an indecisive, naive teenage girl. She's juggling two boys, all while ignoring the fact that there's a third that has more feelings for her and cares for her more than either of the others.

Annie just needs a good slap upside the head, and also for her mother to encourage her that what she's doing is wrong, instead of sitting up every night waiting for her to spill all of the girlish details. Not a single adult in Annie's life told her what she was doing was wrong, not even the paparazzi, and I found that so, so frustrating.

The ending was such a cliff-hanger, though! I'm not big on spoilers, so I won't ruin it for anyone, but...I flipped past the pages frantically after that, hardly able to believe it was over. If there had been a thought bubble over my head, all it would contain would be "!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!" 

All in all, The Way He Looks at Me was a cute, refreshing read that was full of lots of twists and turns and the indecision of teenage-dom, with parts that you could hardly believe. Author Juliana Mae is a sweet, awesome girl and I'm so glad to help her out and review her newest book. :-)

   
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