My Rating ~ Five stars

5-gold-stars

RELEASE DATE: 26 February 2019

Publisher: Pan Australia

Format: Paperback

Pages: 247

Blurb

You know all those movies where teenagers have, like, THE SUMMER OF THEIR LIVES?

This summer is probably not going to be that.

Source: Everything that’s happened since yesterday …

The last thing sixteen-year-old Maisie Martin thought she’d be doing this summer is entering a beauty pageant.

Not when she’s spent most of her life hiding her body from everyone.

Not when her Dad is AWOL for Christmas and her gorgeous older sister has returned to rock Maisie’s shaky confidence. And her best friend starts going out with the boy she’s always loved.

But Maisie’s got something to prove.

As she writes down all the ways this summer is going from bad to worse in her school-assignment journal, what starts as a homework torture-device might just end up being an account of how Maisie didn’t let anything, or anyone, hold her back…

Review

Thank you to Pan Australia for providing me with a copy of What I Like About Me in exchange for an honest review.

Here lies Maisie Martin,

dead from embarrassment,

aged sixteen.

Maisie spends every summer at a beachside town with her family and another family, who’s son, Seb, has been Maisie’s childhood friend since forever. Who’s son also happens to be the boy Maisie has been secretly in love with since she was 13. But this year, Maisie’s dad is stuck at work and can’t join them, her parents don’t seem to be talking, her friend she’s invited along to cheer up, after her boyfriend cheated on her, starts taking an interest in Seb, Seb’s annoying best friend is always around AND Maisie’s older sister is coming along – the sister Maisie hasn’t wanted to speak to for a long time. On top of all that, her teacher has set homework that means she’ll have to write in a journal every day, while she’s supposed to be on holidays. It’s definitely not going to be the summer of her life.

I absolutely loved this book. It was laugh out loud funny, had cringeworthy moments for the characters and a great body positive message. I loved the Aussie summer feel to the book, it was so relatable for me (the summer and the embarrassing moments that just seem to follow you around when you’re a teenager) and I was SO THERE for the Dirty Dancing film mentions! I honestly laughed constantly and then got teary near the end (then laughed again). The positive body image talk throughout the book was so fantastic. I also loved that the author explored the fact that even the people who seem to ‘have it all’ often aren’t always as happy as you think. They’re both such important messages, not just for young people, but all people.

What I like about me was one of my favourite contemporary reads in the last year and I’d highly recommend it!