ARC #Review: THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU by Lily Anderson

THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU

Summary:
Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West--and his horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing--down to number four.

Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben's, including give up sleep and comic books--well, maybe not comic books--but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it's time to declare a champion once and for all.

The war is Trixie's for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben's cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie's best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they're on--and they might not pick the same side.

Title: THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU

Author: Lily Anderson

Source: eARC via the Publisher

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Publication Date: May 17, 2016

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase:

Amazon | Chapters | TBD

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute and fun retelling of Much Ado About Nothing which if you haven't read it (or watched an adaptation), you really should. This is most definitely my favourite Shakespearian comedy and I would recommend this retelling to everyone. Anderson writes a cute narrative that will have you laughing and swooning at the same time.

I loved all the little references splattered throughout the book, but I wasn't a fan of the "gatekeeping" that Trixie did with Ben. I understand it was a part of their banter but it still made me feel uncomfortable because she was very much "If you don't know as much as me about the things I love, you aren't worthy of my time" and that overlapped in how she dealt with other people as well. I liked that her friends sort of kept her in check but it still left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

I did really like all the other characters though and the way that this played out. I liked the modern, high school take on the original play and thought it was really well done. I liked what was said about the amount of pressure put on teenagers to do well in school and I liked that it was addressed. I liked seeing Trixie go from a little cocky and arrogant to taking a step back to evaluate how she handled people and situations. I think her relationships were the best in the story but I did like that everyone sort of had their own lives, own friends, own interests, and Trixie just happened to be there for some of it.


The voice and dialogue in this were so fun and witty and I 10/10 would recommend this if you are a fan of hate to love, Marvel comics, and Joss Whedon. Anderson really knows what it's like to be nerdy and cool and I think this is a book that will speak to people of all ages.