Happy Messy Scary Love book review

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Happy Messy Scary Love by Leah Konen
Published by Amulet Books on May 14, 2019
Pages: 272
Source: Netgalley
Goodreads

As everyone at her Brooklyn high school announces their summer adventures, Olivia harbors a dirty secret: Her plan is to binge-watch horror movies and chat with her online friend, Elm. Olivia and Elm have never shared personal details, apart from their ages and the fact that Elm’s aunt is a low-budget horror filmmaker. Then Elm pushes Olivia to share her identity and sends her a selfie of his own. Olivia is shocked by how cute he is! In a moment of panic, assuming she and Elm will never meet in real life, she sends a photo of her gorgeous friend Katie. But things are about to get even more complicated when Olivia’s parents send her to the Catskills, and she runs into the one person she never thought she would see. This sweet and funny summertime romance is perfect for fans of Love and Gelato and The Unexpected Everything.  

I have definitely been on a feelgood streak the last couple of months and Happy Messy Scary Love fit this category to the tee. The feelgood genre is one that I fall into when I am in a reading slump and wanting to get back into my reading mojo. I know it’s purely because they are generally easier to read than something that has 86 characters with 400 subplots, not that I don’t love those books. I do. But they aren’t the best when you’re struggling with reading in general. Happy Messy Scary Love was a lovely nice romance story based around the issues that come with being friends with people online.

For me Happy Messy Scary Love was the perfect mixture of a rom com with the right amount of angst for me. I think the downfall for some of these YA romance is the amount of back and forth, especially with the juvenile reaction that comes with that. I hate the insta-love that plagues YA at the moment but this book doesn’t fall into any of these traps. It was refreshing to see relationships and friendships build through mutual interests and actually getting to know people before jumping into “this is the boy I will change my entire life for”.

I enjoyed the horror film aspect of this story, as someone who grew up with a mother who loved Stephen King and watched horror films as a regular thing. So it was great to see all the horror references in Happy Messy Scary Love. They were so well integrated into the story line that it felt like such a natural part of the plot and I loved the way that it played into each of the characters stories and backgrounds. I would have loved for it to have had a bigger part in the actual story.

I definitely think that Happy Messy Scary Love is meant for a younger audience which is why I think I it only got a 3-star rating. I found some of the themes to be a little simplistic and there was definite potential for character development and growth. It goes back to whether I’m outgrowing YA in general, I don’t think so but I do think I’m leaning towards more complex characters and story lines.

I would recommend Happy Messy Scary Love, and I really enjoyed reading it. I just wished there had been more of complex story and characters. These feel-good stories are the perfect answer to my reading slumps!

Have you read any good YA books with complex characters and stories? Let me know in the comments!