A Thread of Book Reviews

Analee, In Real Life — Janelle Milanes

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Summary: Over 2 years ago, Analee lost her mom to cancer. A year after her dad met and fell in love with someone else. Six months ago, she stopped talking to her best friend.

On top of all that she’s socially awkward and hopelessly in love with a guy she’s never met.

In order to get over her awkwardness and make the guy of her dreams jealous she agrees to fake date a fellow classmate. In return, he’s hoping to win back the love of his life.

Review: I expected this book to be a fluffy YA cliché but it was so much better. It was well written, and the characters were all unique and complex. It deals with grief in a very honest way. The first-love aspect of the story felt real.

As I was reading it, I felt awkward with Analee, and happy or angry at other times. The novel was sprinkled with humor that had me laughing out loud. But there were some moments when I was close to tears.

The ending took a twist I didn’t expect and wasn’t rooting for, but I realize that it was done in order to show that this book was never about the romance. It was about Analee’s growth as a character: her growth in confidence, self love, and her overall ability to find happiness.