I’ve been trying to read at least a little bit outside of my usual habits recently: there are genres I mostly avoided or just never bothered to read. Romance is definitely one of them, especially young adult romance: basically, unless the protagonists were LGBT, I was not interested in reading mainly about people falling in love. This book showed up on my BookBub daily book bargain email, though, and I was intrigued by it’s other main plot about “influencer” culture, because I HATE that culture.
Unlike my experience with “The Book of Essie” (another book that addressed unhealthy societal trends, but also a book that really sucked), I didn’t walk away regretting reading this one. Heh, which sounds like damning with faint praise, but Just For Clicks was a charming read!
The main plot centers around twin sisters Claire and Poppy, who have been stars of their mom’s mommy blog since they were very young. Poppy is fully invested in this lifestyle, and Claire is ready to escape it as soon as she can. The romance comes in when Claire meets a new boy at school who seemingly has no interest in the Internet and celebrity culture. Claire is spiky and unsure around him, but of course ends up falling for him.
Things I liked: this was a quick read and I found myself not wanting to put it down. Claire is a complex character and when she lashes out, it’s understandable and characterized well. The book has empathy for most of its characters: I went in prepared to hate Claire’s mom but left hating her actions, but understanding them. Poppy is presented as more than just a fame-obsessed jerk, as well.
Things I didn’t like: there’s a plot twist that seems unnecessary and that creates more drama than I was interested in from such a light book. The love interest himself is pretty boring: I liked his family more than I liked him. And things are wrapped up a little too quickly and too neatly in the end: the climax doesn’t feel very climatic.
But all in all, if you’re a fan of YA and romance, I think you’ll enjoy this. It’s a pleasant read.