He Must Like You by Danielle Younge-Ullman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Caution spoilers ahead! I realize that last year’s Danielle Younge-Ullman book Everything Beautiful Is Not Ruined was stellar….like I gave it 10 out of 10 and it was in my top 3 of the year. So I had high hopes for He Must Like You….but this isn’t nearly as nuanced and insightful and intimate. It tries to be – searching for the parallels between how girls and boys are socialized, and the bravely tackling different levels of consent, but….it felt formulaic (girl wants boy), contrived (the assembly? blech) and way too happy of an ending….talking through things to your rapists, Dad’s bipolar under control with only the promise of a medical regime, Perry being shamed by the town, and a promising class action suit. The author just tried to pack in too many characters and too many subplots.

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