The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo

ARC, 357 pages

Release Date: May 8, 2018

Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Read from: May 4-6, 2018

Stand-alone

Source: TxLA

For fans of:  Contemporary, Romance, Contemporary, Summer Lovin,  Diverse Characters, Realistic Fiction, Stand-alones, YA

     From the author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, a laugh-out-loud story of love, new friendships, and one unique food truck.
     Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn't so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind?
     With Maurene Goo's signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look.

*MY THOUGHTS*

      I was a bit iffy about this one because the last one I read by her I was really on the fence with it. Nevertheless, I sat down and read this in two days. I don't know the last time I did that. Although it had its issues, it was still an enjoyable summer read. 

"Summer was usually about sweaty make-outs, sunscreen, and sneaking into air-conditioned theaters. Now it was about Rose Carver and grilled meats. I had leveled down hard-core.."

pg. 117

    Clara is the class clown and she feeds off the laughs she provides to her friends and even those that don't like her. But one day she went too far and her dad sentences her to working for him on his food truck. Even worse, with the person who got her into this mess, Rose Carver. But unexpectedly, working there over the summer gets easier and more fun as the summer goes by. 

"Is that the same tank you wear every single day?" "How dare you this is my weekend tank."

pg. 166

    The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars was the MC. I understand she was a prankster, but LAWD someone should have told her for stunts like she did someone could get hurt or ARRESTED. A lot of the things she did didn't even seem funny to me. I was definitely more of a Rose fan. I liked that she was able to calm her down. And then there was Hamlet. I liked him for her too. He wasn't afraid to tell her like it was, no matter what the situation was. She was so annoying and they really helped to tone her down. I didn't really start liking her until close to the end I realized. And last but not least, her dad was THE BEST.He was present in her life and he was super funny and acted like a parent. Not always present in YA nowadays. (It's normally a present mother)

"You only start liking them when they stop paying attention to you."

pg. 175

    I really loved summery, food truck setting of the book as well. It was something that I had never read before and it was fun to see the way they worked together and how things were different from a real restaurant. (I worked at Olive Garden before) It was also really great to finallybe able to read some books set in the sunshine when the sun is actually shining outside. 

""His entire face lit up- he was Christmas Day and Disneyland all rolled up into one."

pg. 222

    I also really loved the plot. It was set at a great pace. I found that it flowed so easily, that I wasn't even aware that that much time had passed. (The whole summer.) I found that I was so invested in the story that I didn't care, I just wanted it to keep going. 

"People who would be there for you even when you messed up and behaved like a little jerk? They were the good stuff."

pg. 340-341

     I had a small issue with the main character in the beginning, but for the most part I really liked this one. This one is very different from her last, I Believe in a Thing Called Love. I can'y wait to see what else Goo will write.

Overall, I give this