Review – P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

Page Count: 326

Publisher: Point

Publication Date: July 26th, 2016

Rating: 4 out of 5 hearts

Synopsis:

Signed, sealed, delivered…

While spacing out in chemistry class, Lily scribbles some of her favorite song lyrics onto her desk. The next day, she finds that someone has continued the lyrics on the desk and added a message to her. Intrigue!

Soon, Lily and her anonymous pen pal are exchanging full-on letters—sharing secrets, recommending bands, and opening up to each other. Lily realizes she’s kind of falling for this letter writer. Only, who is he? As Lily attempts to unravel the mystery and juggle school, friends, crushes, and her crazy family, she discovers that matters of the heart can’t always be spelled out…

My Thoughts and Review:

I have been a fan of Kasie West’s writing for around two years now so when I heard she was coming out with a new contemporary novel, I pre-ordered a copy in the blink of an eye. I knew what to expect and overall I’m happy with P.S. I Like You.

The novel follows a character named Lily Abbott who is quirky girl with a not so secretive music geek persona. With her unique sense of style as well as her love for indie songs instead of pop, most people don’t understand her, and quite frankly, they don’t seem to want to. That is until she finds out that someone else also shares the same taste in music as she does. The discovery is made when Lily realizes that another student from a different class period has written the lyrics to one of her favorite songs on the desk they share. Soon enough, the two begin to exchange letters in secrecy. Letters that include a wide range of topics, from humorous jokes to life issues.

If you’ve never read one of Kasie West’s contemporary novels before then P.S. I Like You may come off as super cliché to you. I’m not going to lie and say that it’s not, but I will defend the book by saying that the author’s style of writing is what makes the plot less cliché.

One thing I loved while reading this book was the humor that the author included throughout the chapters.

“Okay, so, um that looks like a deformed turtle or something but it was meant to be a bowl of soup… Do you see it now? No? I won’t attempt to draw again.”

“Do you want to see Bugs Rabbit?”

“You mean Bugs Bunny?”

“No, it’s a rabbit.”

I also enjoyed the little notes and letters Lily and her pen pal gave to each other. I thought they were a cute aspect of the book, especially because the two shared inside jokes.

The minor characters in this novel were also really likeable, specifically Lily’s large and wild family. They all had different personalities but combined, they were a bundle of fun and love. With four kids and two amazing parents, they were perfectly imperfect.

Also being my boy band crazed self, my fangirl heart squealed when One Direction was mentioned in the book. Shout out to my fandom!

This was me when 1D was mentioned.

On a more serious note though, this book was not perfect. There were some things that weren’t all that great in my eyes.

For one thing, this book was quite predictable. There weren’t any plot twists that came off as a surprise to me. This does not mean that I wasn’t hooked onto every page though, because I was. To be exact, I was captivated by this book until around two or three AM.

I also found that Lily’s best friend was a bit of a lackluster. She wasn’t that special of a character to me because she wasn’t spectacular in any sort of way. Sure, she was there when Lily needed her but I wished there was more of her to love.

However, one connection that I really did like was between Lily and her lover. I say lover because I don’t want to spoil this book for anyone. Even though their relationship was predictable and bound to happen, I still think the sweet moments that they shared were swoon worthy.

The ending felt a little rushed to me because I am still left with some unanswered questions, but open endings aren’t always bad, right?

All in all, Kasie West has yet to disappoint me with her literature. I love her books and will continue to love them for as long as possible. P.S. I Like You isn’t her best piece of work in my opinion, but it was definitely enjoyable. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes YA contemporary.

Don’t you love the cover of this book? Let me know in the comments!