Reviews: Love From Scratch + Some Mistakes Were Made

Love from Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill

pub 4/5/22 by Delacorte Press • Young Adult - Contemporary Fiction • Received from pub for review⭐⭐⭐  3 stars | Reese Camden is hoping that her summer marketing internship at her dream job Friends of Flavor, a popular cooking channel in Seattle, will eventually turn into job in the fall. Her main competition though is Benny Beneventi, who is a charming and very cute culinary intern. When they're thrown together for a video shoot, it goes viral and everyone on the internet is shipping them so naturally their bosses decide to make this a regular segment where they compete onscreen over making dishes. Reese doesn't want to be distracted by a guy but as they spend more time together on and off the camera, it's hard for Reese (and the readers!) to ignore the obvious chemistry between them. The highlight of the story was definitely the adorable progression of their relationship and Benny is just a sweetheart. But the book actually had an unexpected but very honest theme running throughout the entire book when it comes to double standards at the workplace, on the internet, and in high school. Reese's experiences and her commentary will be relatable to a lot of young women and that was another aspect of the book that I thought was done extremely well. But something was missing for me overall and I don't think I can even pinpoint what could've been done differently. I just know that while I liked the book and thought it was cute and smart, I didn't feel totally invested or connected to the characters. 

Some Mistakes Were Made by Kristin Dwyer

pub 5/10/22 by HarperTeen • Young Adult - Contemporary Romance • Received from pub for review⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars |  Some Mistakes Were Made is one of my favorite books of 2022 and one of the best young adult (bordering on new adult) books I've read in a really long time. I thought about it for days after finishing and re-read certain parts over and over again. To be honest though, I don't know if this will be for everyone but it was 100% my cup of tea. Messy and complicated relationships, flawed characters, angsty, intense first loves, steamy—this was my jam. It's told from Ellis' perspective but it's very much the story of Ellis and Easton, who have been friends since childhood and whose relationship went through some growing pains (for obvious reasons) as they got older. But then something happens that forces Ellis to move halfway across the country and she decides to cut ties with Easton completely. When Easton's mom invites her back home for a celebration a year later, it's time for Ellis to confront her past and what she wants in her future. The book alternates between the present and past so we can see the rich history that exists between these two and what led to the present, which is fraught with tension and a clearly unfinished love story. The way this author wrote the book gave me so many feelings and at times, I felt my heart ache for these two. The alternating timelines were the perfect way to tell Ellis and Easton's story and I was completely wrapped up in it from the first page until the last.