The Way to Game the Walk of Shame

What an adorable, fluffy book. This was definitely the perfect read for a beach vacation. The plot was silly and straight out of a rom-com and I loved it. I tend to skew toward dramatic, dystopian teen fiction so I'm always very pleased when I love a contemporary YA novel, especially one so sweet.

Taylor was great and Evan was a surprise; usually, the “taming a lady-killer” trope isn't my thing, but this was done in a pretty believable way. How could you not be smitten with a girl who presents you with a detailed contract outlining the parameters of your pretend relationship?

The banter between the two leads was cute and the alternating POV was actually handled well; too often, multiple POVs will sound the same, but I thought Taylor and Evan had fairly distinct voices, all things considered.

This isn't breaking the mold or revolutionizing literature, but it doesn't have to! It set out to be a sweet book and it did that well.

My one real complaint about this book: why does there always have to be a “bitchy” girl to contrast the “not like other girls” female protagonist? Such an overused trope (I mean, there were a lot of tropes in this book, but they were mostly handled in a fun way) and just contributes to sexist ideals. If that were out of the narrative, I would easily give this book 5/5 for being so pleasant and heartwarming.