Out Now from Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers; 368 pages
Content Warnings: Mentions of parental death & cancer, mentions of surrogacy, catfishing, mentions of an absentee parent, mentions of homophobia & transphobia, underage drinking, sexual content
About the Author: “Rachel Roasek received her BA from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2017, with a degree in Drama and two minors in Sign Language and Anthropology. When not coming up with fictional worlds, she works as both a voice actor and stage technician. She currently lives in Raleigh with a few dying plants and her dog, Lupe.” (Bio taken from publisher’s website.)
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When all-star soccer player Christian Powell sees the smart and mysterious loner Rosalyn “Ros” Shew for the first time, he instantly falls head-over-heels for her. His first attempt to ask her out ends up being a total disaster. Determined to win Ros over, Christian enlists his ex-girlfriend-turned-best-friend, the aspiring actress and small-time influencer Sam Dickson, to help him. Together, the pair devise a plan to get Ros to fall in love with Christian. But playing with feelings is a dangerous game, and when Sam and Christian’s plan goes off the rails, all three of them must decide how they really feel and what it is that they really want.
Rachel Roasek’s debut novel, Love Somebody, puts an interesting twist on the love triangle trope. I liked how text messages were interspersed throughout the story, because they really helped immerse me in the love triangle the characters found themselves in. I also appreciated all of the queer—and specifically bisexual—representation in this novel! Ultimately, though, this book missed the mark for me. I wanted to like Christian, Sam, and Ros, but I had a difficult time connecting to them because they felt largely superficial and stereotypical. It was frustrating to read each of their perspectives, because at times it seemed that they were little more than their character archetypes. While Christian, Sam, and Ros did experience growth over the course of the book, it was all very predictable and left me feeling unsatisfied with their character arcs. The ending of the novel was also disappointing. It felt rushed and unrealistic for the situation the characters were in. Everything seemed to wrap itself up too neatly and too quickly, and I found myself wishing for more than what I was given.
PRR Writer, Sadie Cruz