Tweet Cute

In the tradition of Hilary Duff's acclaimed Cinderella Story (2004), classmates Jack and Pepper bond via anonymous messages. Then, another form of social media comes into play: Twitter, as the title implies. Cue snarky personified brands—one of my least favorite things in the world—feuding over grilled cheese. How many ways can Jack and Pepper interact before realizing they're talking to each other? Can their different personas combine into anything other than a mess? Or will the moment of discovery break the spell?I have mixed feelings about this, and here's a few reasons why:- In my opinion, Lord gets how young people talk and use technology more than many YA authors. But, she sometimes misses the mark, and every time I picture Steve Buscemi with a skateboard slung over his shoulder. - Acknowledging that doxxing and BuzzFeed (here Hub Seed, what) and Brand Twitter exist is not enough. There needs to be some stance taken, some criticism or analysis. Lord was more direct about academic pressure than social media, even though the latter is so central it's in the title. What happens when a big verified account targets someone with a fraction of their followers? What happens when a business gets someone young and hip to deflect from scandals by tweeting out the right gif at the right time? How does humanizing a corporation to make it “relatable” distort sense of reality?I'm not asking for Black Mirror (I never am), but if you write a book where technology is so central, why wouldn't you grapple with such questions? Isn't that the point?- I'm always a little skeeved out by that trope where multiple generations of two families are/have been romantically involved.. In all, this brings something new to the table, and I'm sure it'll be a crowd pleaser. I think its main pitfall is biting off more than it can chew. The characters and plot dart around tying up loose ends that didn't need to be introduced in the first place. That leaves it more tense and scattered than it needs to be, and things end up more squished than unpacked. But if you like [a:Alice Oseman 7789423 Alice Oseman https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1515091539p2/7789423.jpg], [b:Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda 19547856 Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Simonverse, #1) Becky Albertalli https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1402915678l/19547856.SY75.jpg 27679579], or [b:Eliza and Her Monsters 31931941 Eliza and Her Monsters Francesca Zappia https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1476994065l/31931941.SY75.jpg 52586056], you'd probably have fun with Tweet Cute.