A fresh, irresistible rom-com from debut author Emma Lord about the chances we take, the paths life can lead us on, and how love can be found in the opposite place you expected.
Publisher: St. Martins Press
ISBN: 9781250759627
Pages: 368
Publication Date: January 21st 2020
RRP: $16.99 AUD
Personal Rating: 4/5
Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.
Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.
All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.
As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected.
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This eARC was given to me by Wednesday Books in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.
As many of you may know, I am not a big fan of contemporary romances unless they are very unique. Tweet Cute is one of those very unique and quirky contemporary romances that keep me from disliking the genre as a whole.
Tweet Cute is told through the dual point of view of Pepper, an overachiever who happens to be the daughter of the owner a big burger franchise called Big League Burgers and occasionally forced to run the Twitter for the said franchise. Jack, the other point of view, is Pepper’s classmate who is often confused by his popular twin brother, he’s always busy working at his family’s deli and took over the helm of his deli’s Twitter when Big League Burger steals his grandmother’s iconic grilled cheese recipe. The two essentially go on Twitter showdown taking the Internet up by a storm. However, at school, they are also dealing with the pressure of being seniors at very expensive private school who need to decide what university they want to go to and careers they wish to pursue (on top with dealing daily teenage stress).
Tweet Cute was a sharp and witty book that reminded me of a well placed Wendy’s tweet. Less than 50 pages in you will find yourself deeply invested in the lives of Jack and Pepper and their hilarious Twitter showdown. You also become invested in them as characters because debut novelist Emily Lord was able to give Jack and Pepper a distinct voice which would allow you to distinguish whose POV you were reading without having to glance at the chapter heading.
Even though this is a romcom, the romance isn’t the centre of the plot. Jack, in particular, is dealing with the pressure of being the “spare twin” as his brother gets to do whatever he wants, and Jack is stuck at the deli and expected to take over the family business. Not only is this expected from him, but at school, he is constantly mistaken by his twin that he accepts the fact that he will live in his shadows. His character arc was beautiful when he finally takes a stand to be Jack as he wants to be rather how people perceive him to be. Pepper on the hand had
Family relationships are meaningful in this novel, and they were not sidelined for the romance plot. In particular, the relationship the kids had with their parents, both fearing to let them down so Jack and Pepper would allow being pushed around by their parents essentially. Ms Lord explores this situation and gives Jack and Pepper an opportunity to find themselves and understand that they don’t have to follow the path their parents set for them (especially when there is a legacy involved). There is also the sibling relationships that were core component to this novel — I don’t want to give too much away about this because the sibling relationships were so genuine it actually made my heart turn to smoosh. We need more of these relationships highlighted in YA literature.
My main warning with this book is not to read it while your hungry (or peckish). Pepper runs a food blog with some delicious recipes and frequently stress bakes. Ms Lord attention to detail in describing delicious desserts like monster cake are so scrumptious that it will leave you desperately wanting to have your own slice of the different cakes and sweets.
Overall this was a quick fun read that I would recommend if you want a rom-com that isn’t centred around the romance. Tweet Cute is the true Gen Z novel that speaks to the tech-savvy generation.