Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia for giving me an eArc in exchange for an honest review!
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
ISBN: 176055913X
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 11 August 2020
RRP: $17.99 AUD
Personal Rating: 5/5
You Were Made for Me by Jenna Guillaume is a hilarious romcom that you need in your life! It follows the story of Katie who somehow managed to create a living boy out of clay with her best friend Libby. This boy is real, just like Pinnichio became a real boy after the Blue Fairy blessed him. This boy is like a long-lost Hemsworth brother: six-foot tall with floppy hair and eyes like the the sky on a clear summer day. The perfect dream guy. A guy named Guy, who is completed devoted to Katie because that was what he was born to do.
After Katie and Libby create this hunky seventeen year old, they find themselves dealing with bigger problems. How to keep him a secret but let the world know he exists a the same time? Cue in craziness, teen drama, self-love and growth!
You Were Made for Me is the love child of Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging and literally all the best Hallmark-like Christmas movies (minus the Christmas part). This book made me laugh, made me gasp, made me relive how stressful it is to be a teenager trying to figure out life. It’s light-hearted and sweet, making it the perfect book to devour when you need some feel-good entertainment in your life.
Katie felt like a teenager and reminded me of myself during those years. Being so stressed out cause due to the lack of romance and trying to fit the social norms of what it is to be perfect. Katie is a bit obsessed with having the perfect kiss, perfect boyfriend, perfect mural that she becomes a tiny-bit self absorbed. Her friends call her out on this through-out the novel until she finally realizes that and learns that being perfect is overrated because no one and nothing is perfect (maybe except Guy, he’s is LITERALLY perfect). Katie’s character growth and personal growth did not revolve around Guy (or any guy) but herself and she got there with the help and love from her friends.
Which moves me to my next topic, the friendship dynamics in this novel are PERFECT! Libby and Theo, are Katie’s best friends and honestly the fact that they are willing to call her out on her nonsense, fight and make-up and love each other is something more YA novels need. Because real friends call you out on your BS and are there for you while you’re being silly and shower you with love afterwards.
Guillaume deals with the complicated teenage feelings about appearance, friendship, bullying, love and identity so well. We have a character who realizes that they are asexual and that character’s friends respond by wanting to learn more about their identity and supporting them. It was so beautiful I nearly cried.
Even though I am no longer a teen, I felt very seen in this book. I wish books like these were around when I was a teen, because it’s just so pure and deals with topics toxic idea of perfection in a realistic manner without pulling any punches. Also the book ended with the characters still learning about who they are rather than having everything about life figured out. Let’s be real even in your twenties you are still learning about yourself and figuring life out.
Honestly this book need to be made into a Netflix Original Film ASAP because it’s such a great story.
LGBTQAI+ inclusivity? CHECK. Mashing stereotypes? CHECK. Soft boys? CHECK! Characters of colour with depth? Check. Dogs? Check! Present parental figures? CHECK! RELATABLE STORY? CHEEEECK!
For real, add this book to your TBR. It is the fun heart-warming book you need in your life amidst of the 2020 dumpster fire.