Title: Recommended For You
Author: Laura Silverman
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Paperback, 272 Pages
Publication Date: September 1st, 2020
Paperback, 272 Pages
Publication Date: September 1st, 2020
Summary: Shoshanna Greenberg loves working at Once Upon, her favorite local bookstore. And with her moms fighting at home and her beloved car teetering on the brink of death, the store has become a welcome escape. When her boss announces a holiday bonus to the person who sells the most books, Shoshanna sees an opportunity to at least fix her car, if none of her other problems. The only person standing in her way? New hire Jake Kaplan. Jake is an affront to everything Shoshanna stands for. He doesn’t even read! But somehow his sales start to rival hers. Jake may be cute (really cute), and he may be an eligible Jewish single (hard to find south of Atlanta), but he’s also the enemy, and Shoshanna is ready to take him down. But as the competition intensifies, Jake and Shoshanna grow closer and realize they might be more on the same page than either expects…
I received an advanced copy of RECOMMENDED FROM YOU from the publisher in exchange for an honest review, and I'm glad that I did, because this was a very enjoyable book!
As the summary explains, Shoshanna works at Once Upon, an independent bookstore that she loves more than anything in the world. But when she gets a new co-worker who doesn't even read (gasp!), she's determined to show him who runs the place. That is, until their boss announces a company-wide bookselling competition with a hefty cash prize. Then she's ABSOLUTELY determined to show Jake Kaplan who's boss. But competing against one another inevitably means that there will be some curveballs and surprises, and as the competition heats up, maybe so do their feelings...*wink wink*
I enjoyed reading this book. For starters, working at an indie bookstore has always been my dream and I never got a chance to, so I spent a majority of this book living through Shoshanna, and also I was swooning for moody, broody Jake Kaplan from the start. At times, it felt like Shoshanna was a little bit immature, but at first as I was reading I didn't even want to focus on that because I know that I am, in fact, a slightly older reader (currently 22!), so I just chalked it up to me being a little bit older and the fact that I am no longer YA's initially targeted audience (which...ouch! How did we grow up so fast???). But then other characters in the book brought up how Shoshanna tended to react quickly and often with immature methods to things both with her friendships and the bookstore, and I realized that the immaturity was actually a part of the story's narrative, and how Shoshanna learns to combat that and still be sensitive and determined and kind with her passions while also handling them in other ways (such as keeping secrets or avoiding embarrassing PA broadcasts, LOL!). So once I figured that out, I was able to see Shoshanna's incredible character arc from the beginning of the story until the end, with her learning the depths of what it means to be a good friend, and a good companion, and a good competitor...and also the important life lesson that things are not always going to go your way, nor will you always be able to fix all of your problems on your own, and you have to trust others and trust in the process. It was a really great and heartwarming story.
In terms of pacing, I think the second half of the story captured me a lot more than the first. I spent a lot of the first half of the book just wondering where the story was going, because there was a lot of build-up but I just didn't find myself absolutely captured and glued to the book's pages. Like I said, Shoshanna starts off as pretty immature, which made it feel a little difficult for me to connect with her because some of the decisions she makes (without spoiling it, all I'll say is the way she treats her friends, and even sometimes how she competes against Jake), but as the story goes on and the other characters around her teaching her about how, as I mentioned above, sometimes life throws you curveballs that you can't handle on your own, or at all -- sometimes you have to let other people work out their issues, or trust in the process. So for the second half of the book, where the competition really starts to heat up and there are some surprising curveballs thrown in, I was absolutely captured by the story and finished all the rest of it in one sitting. It just took a little bit of time to get into for me, but just because I had that issue doesn't mean that you will, so you should definitely still give this book a try!
Overall, I enjoyed reading RECOMMENDED FOR YOU. I may have had a hard time getting into it at first, but overall it was a sweet, funny read about friendship and antics and surprises and growing as a person that I soaked up while sitting in the pool and getting some sun, and it definitely left me with happy, satisfied vibes. If you're looking for a new read to pick up, then you should definitely consider checking this one out!
As the summary explains, Shoshanna works at Once Upon, an independent bookstore that she loves more than anything in the world. But when she gets a new co-worker who doesn't even read (gasp!), she's determined to show him who runs the place. That is, until their boss announces a company-wide bookselling competition with a hefty cash prize. Then she's ABSOLUTELY determined to show Jake Kaplan who's boss. But competing against one another inevitably means that there will be some curveballs and surprises, and as the competition heats up, maybe so do their feelings...*wink wink*
I enjoyed reading this book. For starters, working at an indie bookstore has always been my dream and I never got a chance to, so I spent a majority of this book living through Shoshanna, and also I was swooning for moody, broody Jake Kaplan from the start. At times, it felt like Shoshanna was a little bit immature, but at first as I was reading I didn't even want to focus on that because I know that I am, in fact, a slightly older reader (currently 22!), so I just chalked it up to me being a little bit older and the fact that I am no longer YA's initially targeted audience (which...ouch! How did we grow up so fast???). But then other characters in the book brought up how Shoshanna tended to react quickly and often with immature methods to things both with her friendships and the bookstore, and I realized that the immaturity was actually a part of the story's narrative, and how Shoshanna learns to combat that and still be sensitive and determined and kind with her passions while also handling them in other ways (such as keeping secrets or avoiding embarrassing PA broadcasts, LOL!). So once I figured that out, I was able to see Shoshanna's incredible character arc from the beginning of the story until the end, with her learning the depths of what it means to be a good friend, and a good companion, and a good competitor...and also the important life lesson that things are not always going to go your way, nor will you always be able to fix all of your problems on your own, and you have to trust others and trust in the process. It was a really great and heartwarming story.
In terms of pacing, I think the second half of the story captured me a lot more than the first. I spent a lot of the first half of the book just wondering where the story was going, because there was a lot of build-up but I just didn't find myself absolutely captured and glued to the book's pages. Like I said, Shoshanna starts off as pretty immature, which made it feel a little difficult for me to connect with her because some of the decisions she makes (without spoiling it, all I'll say is the way she treats her friends, and even sometimes how she competes against Jake), but as the story goes on and the other characters around her teaching her about how, as I mentioned above, sometimes life throws you curveballs that you can't handle on your own, or at all -- sometimes you have to let other people work out their issues, or trust in the process. So for the second half of the book, where the competition really starts to heat up and there are some surprising curveballs thrown in, I was absolutely captured by the story and finished all the rest of it in one sitting. It just took a little bit of time to get into for me, but just because I had that issue doesn't mean that you will, so you should definitely still give this book a try!
Overall, I enjoyed reading RECOMMENDED FOR YOU. I may have had a hard time getting into it at first, but overall it was a sweet, funny read about friendship and antics and surprises and growing as a person that I soaked up while sitting in the pool and getting some sun, and it definitely left me with happy, satisfied vibes. If you're looking for a new read to pick up, then you should definitely consider checking this one out!
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