I'm Not Your Manic Pixie Dream Girl

Actual rating: 2.5 stars, rounded down

I really, really wanted to like this book. But guess what? The universe decided to conspire against me, and there was nothing I could do about it.

- First of all, this book isn't actually terrible. I mean, it features a very unique protagonist — a Filipino-American teenager, which is something you don't see a lot of in contemporary young adult fiction. Plus, it has a super interesting premise, which revolves around the manic-pixie-dream-girl trope, it's effects, possible connotations and the way it caters to the men around us.

- But here's the thing: it doesn't handle either of the two things I mentioned above very well. Right from the start, Bea is a hard protagonist to root for. I found her obliviousness and lack of good decision-making skills particularly grating, and I thought there was little to no nuance in it's supposed deconstruction of said trope. At times, the whole book just felt completely over the top and silly, in a way that made me cringe.

- And lastly, I really didn't appreciate the romantic “win the guy back” plot. I didn't understand what she saw in Jesse, I didn't understand what made her even want to bring Toile down ... which is probably why I spent the rest of the book going “whyyyyyy” as Bea tried to re-invent herself into the perfect girl, just to get him back.

But, of course, don't let this stop you from picking this book up >~< It's gotten loads of rave reviews + it's diverse (not a lot of problematic rep, as far as I saw), so you might enjoy it, as long as you approach it with the right sort of mindset!