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The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You #1
The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You
Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West--and his horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing--down to number four.
Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben's, including give up sleep and comic books--well, maybe not comic books--but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it's time to declare a champion once and for all.
The war is Trixie's for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben's cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie's best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they're on--and they might not pick the same side.
Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben's, including give up sleep and comic books--well, maybe not comic books--but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it's time to declare a champion once and for all.
The war is Trixie's for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben's cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie's best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they're on--and they might not pick the same side.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published May 17, 2016
About the author
Lily Anderson
16 books662 followersLily Anderson is the author of THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU, NOT NOW NOT EVER, and UNDEAD GIRL GANG. A former school librarian, she is deeply devoted to Shakespeare, fairy tales, and podcasts. Somewhere in Northern California, she is having strong opinions on musical theater. Find her online at www.mslilyanderson.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 942 reviews
March 16, 2019
This was SO FRAKKING CUTE. I adored every single page of this damn book. My heart is so happy.
April 30, 2016
OMG! I COULDN'T PUT THIS BOOK DOWN! and it cracked me up. Well a lot of it did, there are some serious stuff and some love stuff which was all done soooooooooooo very nicely!
**SOME SPOILERS**
The book is about three best friends, Trixie, Meg and Harper. They go to Messina Academy for the Gifted - Mess for short :-) It's a school for nerds and geeks and I want to be one and hang with them! But I'm not smart like they are and I love that they love comics and graphic novels and all the cool tv shows and stuffffffff. Omg!
They are regulars at the comic book store and they get Marvel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and stufffff! Trix is saving up to get the whole collection of Doctor Who figurine's they have in the store. OMG!
They watch Sherlock and Doctor Who and all kinds of other cool stuff. There was even a reference to Hulk smashing something! I'm in love. I love my hulk smash.
I'm going to add random excerpts here and there. Oh and this is an UNCORRECTED PROOF copy of the book so quotes etc could be changed in the finished copy
When I first started the book, I thought they were in middle grade because they are sort of goofy acting but they are seventeen and can't wait to graduate. I fell in love with all of these characters! Trixie just wants to get through the school year and out and she is stumped that Harper and Meg suddenly want love. Harper finds it but I won't talk about that. Trixie has an ongoing fight since childhood with Ben West. All they do is fight and call each other names. <---- You know where that will eventually lead toward the end of the book.
•••••••
Ben West spent summer vacation growing a handlebar mustache. Seriously.
•••••••
My hand shot out and two fingers wrapped around the edge of his mustache. I yanked, just once. He yowled like a jungle cat and staggered away from me.
"Hmm," Meg said. "It is real."
I nodded. "Who knew, right?"
"Of course it's real," West snarled, stretching his face as he rubbed the injured portion. "God, you miserable harpy. I haven't reached out and grabbed you---"
"If you make one more comment about my chest," I said, brandishing a threatening finger, "so help me, West, I will end you."
•••••••
I reached over and flicked a piece of chicken nugget shrapnel from her specs. "I've had time to plan with all of the good TV being on hiatus. Without Game of Thrones, I get weird."
"That's why I took classes over the break," Harper said. "And rewatched Supernatural."
"God, I love the Winchester brothers," Meg said. She nibbled on the end of a chicken nugget. "You know, considering it's our senior year, normal people might be thinking about things like the harvest festival."
•••••••
I love this book so much. They are just some of the coolest kids. You just have to read the book if your interested in any of these things I have mentioned. I'm not sure it's a guy book, but still.
There are no major love scenes just a couple of couples kissing from time to time. It's pretty much about all of the friends sticking together and some finding things out about each other.
Some major stuff happens at the school and they have to rally together and prove their innocence and the innocence of others. But they are gifted and smart and they defeat the man!!!! You can't keep an awesome nerd down! :-)
I also love how Ben and Trixie finally realize they are good together. Well, there is a reason that happened, it wasn't like they just found out.. Ugg, I can't tell you how it all went down, it's really cool and I can't tell you that. One last little sweet excerpt.
"You're perfect," he stammered. His eyes flickered up to mine and held. "Don't ever stop being you."
"I'm just school and comics, too," I breathed. "I don't know how to be anything else."
"Don't be anything else. Be Trixie."
Awwww, oh and he turned her on to the Saga graphic novels. How cool is that!!!!!!! I love it!
Okay I'm done rambling on. Read it if you think it sounds like something you like. I loved it! I know, I said that, but I said it again!
**I would like to thank St. Martin's Griffin for a print copy of this book through The Reading Room in exchange for my honest review. I would also like to thank Netgalley for a kindle copy as well, but I read the print book instead.**
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
**SOME SPOILERS**
The book is about three best friends, Trixie, Meg and Harper. They go to Messina Academy for the Gifted - Mess for short :-) It's a school for nerds and geeks and I want to be one and hang with them! But I'm not smart like they are and I love that they love comics and graphic novels and all the cool tv shows and stuffffffff. Omg!
They are regulars at the comic book store and they get Marvel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and stufffff! Trix is saving up to get the whole collection of Doctor Who figurine's they have in the store. OMG!
They watch Sherlock and Doctor Who and all kinds of other cool stuff. There was even a reference to Hulk smashing something! I'm in love. I love my hulk smash.
I'm going to add random excerpts here and there. Oh and this is an UNCORRECTED PROOF copy of the book so quotes etc could be changed in the finished copy
When I first started the book, I thought they were in middle grade because they are sort of goofy acting but they are seventeen and can't wait to graduate. I fell in love with all of these characters! Trixie just wants to get through the school year and out and she is stumped that Harper and Meg suddenly want love. Harper finds it but I won't talk about that. Trixie has an ongoing fight since childhood with Ben West. All they do is fight and call each other names. <---- You know where that will eventually lead toward the end of the book.
•••••••
Ben West spent summer vacation growing a handlebar mustache. Seriously.
•••••••
My hand shot out and two fingers wrapped around the edge of his mustache. I yanked, just once. He yowled like a jungle cat and staggered away from me.
"Hmm," Meg said. "It is real."
I nodded. "Who knew, right?"
"Of course it's real," West snarled, stretching his face as he rubbed the injured portion. "God, you miserable harpy. I haven't reached out and grabbed you---"
"If you make one more comment about my chest," I said, brandishing a threatening finger, "so help me, West, I will end you."
•••••••
I reached over and flicked a piece of chicken nugget shrapnel from her specs. "I've had time to plan with all of the good TV being on hiatus. Without Game of Thrones, I get weird."
"That's why I took classes over the break," Harper said. "And rewatched Supernatural."
"God, I love the Winchester brothers," Meg said. She nibbled on the end of a chicken nugget. "You know, considering it's our senior year, normal people might be thinking about things like the harvest festival."
•••••••
I love this book so much. They are just some of the coolest kids. You just have to read the book if your interested in any of these things I have mentioned. I'm not sure it's a guy book, but still.
There are no major love scenes just a couple of couples kissing from time to time. It's pretty much about all of the friends sticking together and some finding things out about each other.
Some major stuff happens at the school and they have to rally together and prove their innocence and the innocence of others. But they are gifted and smart and they defeat the man!!!! You can't keep an awesome nerd down! :-)
I also love how Ben and Trixie finally realize they are good together. Well, there is a reason that happened, it wasn't like they just found out.. Ugg, I can't tell you how it all went down, it's really cool and I can't tell you that. One last little sweet excerpt.
"You're perfect," he stammered. His eyes flickered up to mine and held. "Don't ever stop being you."
"I'm just school and comics, too," I breathed. "I don't know how to be anything else."
"Don't be anything else. Be Trixie."
Awwww, oh and he turned her on to the Saga graphic novels. How cool is that!!!!!!! I love it!
Okay I'm done rambling on. Read it if you think it sounds like something you like. I loved it! I know, I said that, but I said it again!
**I would like to thank St. Martin's Griffin for a print copy of this book through The Reading Room in exchange for my honest review. I would also like to thank Netgalley for a kindle copy as well, but I read the print book instead.**
MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List
March 17, 2017
This was the book I needed and I didn’t even know it until I started reading it.
This was all kinds of nerd heaven. Just try to imagine what kind of trouble genius kids who are all competing for rankings in their private school could get into… and slip it into a retelling of Much Ado About Nothing add in a contentious relationship and you’ve got The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You.
Trixie is currently ranked fourth… she wants to be number 3 by the end of the school year and she wants to bump Ben Watson out of the way. Watson – V – West has been a regular show and quite often it’s a gloves off battle. Trixie has some new ammunition when senior year starts, and it appears that Ben has decided to grow a moustache… of sorts. Not only do the war of words seem to get harsher, but the fights now are causing a rift among the group of friends.
“Is it heavy’? I asked Ben, waving at his moustache. “Like weight training for your face? Or are you trying to compensate for your narrow shoulders?” He gave a half-hearted leer at my polo “I could ask the same thing of your bra.”
But what if Ben doesn’t really hate Trixie… and what if Trixie doesn’t really hate Ben? As Trixie starts to question her feelings for Ben, students seem to be dropping like flies from the class rankings for cheating… but what is happening is almost unbelievable, and Trixie is determined to get to the bottom of it and prove that what people are saying just isn't true.
If you’re looking for the mother lode of nerdy references, lots of witty and fun banter, a clever & fun interpretation of a classic, wonderful friendships and hate to love relationship, then look no further. With unique and interesting and amazing characters, you’re going to want to add this book to your to read list immediately.
Thank you to the publisher for an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!
This was all kinds of nerd heaven. Just try to imagine what kind of trouble genius kids who are all competing for rankings in their private school could get into… and slip it into a retelling of Much Ado About Nothing add in a contentious relationship and you’ve got The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You.
Trixie is currently ranked fourth… she wants to be number 3 by the end of the school year and she wants to bump Ben Watson out of the way. Watson – V – West has been a regular show and quite often it’s a gloves off battle. Trixie has some new ammunition when senior year starts, and it appears that Ben has decided to grow a moustache… of sorts. Not only do the war of words seem to get harsher, but the fights now are causing a rift among the group of friends.
“Is it heavy’? I asked Ben, waving at his moustache. “Like weight training for your face? Or are you trying to compensate for your narrow shoulders?” He gave a half-hearted leer at my polo “I could ask the same thing of your bra.”
But what if Ben doesn’t really hate Trixie… and what if Trixie doesn’t really hate Ben? As Trixie starts to question her feelings for Ben, students seem to be dropping like flies from the class rankings for cheating… but what is happening is almost unbelievable, and Trixie is determined to get to the bottom of it and prove that what people are saying just isn't true.
If you’re looking for the mother lode of nerdy references, lots of witty and fun banter, a clever & fun interpretation of a classic, wonderful friendships and hate to love relationship, then look no further. With unique and interesting and amazing characters, you’re going to want to add this book to your to read list immediately.
Thank you to the publisher for an early copy in exchange for my honest thoughts!
August 16, 2018
RATINGS: 4 HILARIOUS STARS
After reading the book, I was stuck with my absurd goofy grin and due to my overwhelmed emotions, my previous review might have indicated that I'm crazy. Anyways, I'm getting back to the current review.
I picked up the book because of the title. The book cover was promising, too. (seriously, who can ignore a cover which looks like a comic and a contemporary got mixed?) When I dived into the book, I couldn't help but relate myself to Trixie. The book was filled with fandoms, pop-culture, Marvel and DC, etc. references which is surprisingly adorable. Not that I'm complaining about but I come from a country where IQ level and ranking is somewhat still considered to be most important factor in life so I could totally relate to these students. The nerdy banter, eccentric characters and light-hearted drama with cutest friendships was something I really craved for. The book is a bit predictable but honestly, I never expected that ending.
So if you're into young adult, high-school rom-com with enemies-to-lovers trope, you can surely give this one a try.
Thanks for reading my review. Happy Reading!
After reading the book, I was stuck with my absurd goofy grin and due to my overwhelmed emotions, my previous review might have indicated that I'm crazy. Anyways, I'm getting back to the current review.
I picked up the book because of the title. The book cover was promising, too. (seriously, who can ignore a cover which looks like a comic and a contemporary got mixed?) When I dived into the book, I couldn't help but relate myself to Trixie. The book was filled with fandoms, pop-culture, Marvel and DC, etc. references which is surprisingly adorable. Not that I'm complaining about but I come from a country where IQ level and ranking is somewhat still considered to be most important factor in life so I could totally relate to these students. The nerdy banter, eccentric characters and light-hearted drama with cutest friendships was something I really craved for. The book is a bit predictable but honestly, I never expected that ending.
So if you're into young adult, high-school rom-com with enemies-to-lovers trope, you can surely give this one a try.
Thanks for reading my review. Happy Reading!
April 30, 2016
Between the Doctor Who reference in the synopsis and comparison of MAAN meets Ten Things I Hate About You, my expectations were quite high going into this book.
I loved Trixie and Ben. Like an irrational sort of obsessive kind of love. They're smart and snarky and the banter is unbelievable. The entire cast of characters were awesome. And Trixie's parents were hilarious.
Everything from the overall plot to the epilogue and all of the stuff in between was nerd filled perfection. I loved every single thing about this and I know I'll be reading it again.
**Huge thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review**
I loved Trixie and Ben. Like an irrational sort of obsessive kind of love. They're smart and snarky and the banter is unbelievable. The entire cast of characters were awesome. And Trixie's parents were hilarious.
Everything from the overall plot to the epilogue and all of the stuff in between was nerd filled perfection. I loved every single thing about this and I know I'll be reading it again.
**Huge thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for providing the arc in exchange for an honest review**
June 11, 2017
4.5 stars
My little fangirl heart is soooo happy =) Numerous mentions of Doctor Who, Firefly, Joss Whedon, numerous superheroes....the nerd in me is squealing =D
An added bonus...this is a Much Ado About Nothing retelling.
If you are a fan of any of the above, you will love this.
------------
The description mentioned Firefly and Doctor Who
And this is a Much Ado About Nothing retelling
SOLD
My little fangirl heart is soooo happy =) Numerous mentions of Doctor Who, Firefly, Joss Whedon, numerous superheroes....the nerd in me is squealing =D
An added bonus...this is a Much Ado About Nothing retelling.
If you are a fan of any of the above, you will love this.
------------
The description mentioned Firefly and Doctor Who
And this is a Much Ado About Nothing retelling
SOLD
April 17, 2019
Trigger warnings: bullying. I think that's it??
16/4/2019
This is delightful from start to finish and I love it.
31/3/2018
On reread, I'm bumping this up to 5 stars. It's such a brilliant retelling that captures the ridiculousness and the fun and the humour of Much Ado perfectly. Nerdiness abounds (although I do sliiiiiightly question the idea of a group of teenagers being as dedicated to Joss Whedon's work as this lot are) and it's woven into the story flawlessly.
Trix and Ben grated less this time around, probably because I knew what to expect. On the whole, it was an absolute delight and I'm so glad I reread it.
29/6/2016
4.25 stars.
I picked this up because the blurb was all "Teens who love comics! And Doctor Who!", and I was automatically sold. I had no idea that it was a retelling of Much Ado About Nothing, so that was an unexpected but incredibly welcome surprise.
Trix is kind of a grating character to begin with, but to be perfectly honest? Beatrice is exactly the same at the beginning of MAAN. Ben is a pain in the arse at the beginning of the book. But Benedick is exactly the same. They grow and change together and become super adorable, and it was pretty stinking cute.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the nerdy elements included in the story - it's set at genius school, and in addition to being incredibly smart, these are kids who love Star Wars and Doctor Who and Saga and who make time once a week to go to the comic book shop. They all have their own interests and their own personalities. And it's really obvious that Anderson got advice from her students in regards to discussing their fandoms, which is totally fabulous.
Basically? It's a hell of a lot of fun.
16/4/2019
This is delightful from start to finish and I love it.
31/3/2018
On reread, I'm bumping this up to 5 stars. It's such a brilliant retelling that captures the ridiculousness and the fun and the humour of Much Ado perfectly. Nerdiness abounds (although I do sliiiiiightly question the idea of a group of teenagers being as dedicated to Joss Whedon's work as this lot are) and it's woven into the story flawlessly.
Trix and Ben grated less this time around, probably because I knew what to expect. On the whole, it was an absolute delight and I'm so glad I reread it.
29/6/2016
4.25 stars.
I picked this up because the blurb was all "Teens who love comics! And Doctor Who!", and I was automatically sold. I had no idea that it was a retelling of Much Ado About Nothing, so that was an unexpected but incredibly welcome surprise.
Trix is kind of a grating character to begin with, but to be perfectly honest? Beatrice is exactly the same at the beginning of MAAN. Ben is a pain in the arse at the beginning of the book. But Benedick is exactly the same. They grow and change together and become super adorable, and it was pretty stinking cute.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the nerdy elements included in the story - it's set at genius school, and in addition to being incredibly smart, these are kids who love Star Wars and Doctor Who and Saga and who make time once a week to go to the comic book shop. They all have their own interests and their own personalities. And it's really obvious that Anderson got advice from her students in regards to discussing their fandoms, which is totally fabulous.
Basically? It's a hell of a lot of fun.
May 6, 2016
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
I first read this book way back in January, after I finished my exams, and devoured the whole thing in less than a day. Afterwards, life seemed to get in the way, and I kept putting off writing my review that I realised I needed to reread the book in order to remember what happened. After rereading only the first few chapters, everything came back to me, and I remembered just why I loved the book in the first place.
The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You is a retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. The main characters are all students at Messina Academy for the Gifted, also known as the Mess, and spend the majority of the day in classes most college students couldn't cope with. As their senior year begins, they face the dreaded class lists, published every week, showing who has the best results, and who doesn't. Trixie and Ben have been ranked third and fourth for most of their school career, and keep jumping each other from time to time. Trixie can't stand Ben, and would love nothing more than to be him, once and for all. For Ben, it's a whole other matter; yes, he would like to be third, but his feelings towards Trixie are completely different. They have to spend time together once their best friends become a couple, and it's tense, to say the least.
However, that's the least of their problems. Soon, the class list is tampered with, and when Trixie's best friend is accused of doing so, she is expelled. Ben and Trixie have to join forces to discover who the real culprit is, and even though they're now in the lead, statistically, they put their friendships above everything else.
First things first, I don't like Shakespeare, and have never read, seen, heard, etc., this play. I know, an English person not liking Shakespeare :0 No matter how much I like books, I'm not exactly a fan of classics, except Jane Austen. However, adaptations of Shakespeare - such as 10 Things I Hate About You, She's the Man, etc. - are right up my street, as was this book. I adored the book so much, I couldn't put it down, and when I discovered it was Anderson's debut, I was immensely impressed in her writing style.
The main characters, Trixie and Ben, were fantastic, in their own ways. They were geeky, but still extremely approachable. They spend a lot of time at the local comic book store, and the book was full of fandom references, enough to appeal to just about everyone. Their relationship was difficult since they'd been in first grade, but since then, Ben had been trying to make up for it, but Trixie stood her ground. Over the course of the book, we see Ben time and time again attempt to become friends, and more, with Trixie, and she's completely oblivious. Everyone else knows what's happening, but she can't see anything past her hatred. I adored their relationship. We really see them get over their past, and their feelings develop, even as their dealing with the real problem of friends being expelled, and friendships breaking up.
If you haven't been able to tell I loved this book, well, I did! It's the perfect kind of contemporary retelling for me, and I just wish I'd had it in my life earlier. The writing style was so compelling that I was hooked from page 1, and my only problem was that it ended - I could have read so much more! I'd recommend you pick this up, even if you're not a fan of Shakespeare, because you don't need to be for this retelling. A perfect YA Debut!
I first read this book way back in January, after I finished my exams, and devoured the whole thing in less than a day. Afterwards, life seemed to get in the way, and I kept putting off writing my review that I realised I needed to reread the book in order to remember what happened. After rereading only the first few chapters, everything came back to me, and I remembered just why I loved the book in the first place.
The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You is a retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. The main characters are all students at Messina Academy for the Gifted, also known as the Mess, and spend the majority of the day in classes most college students couldn't cope with. As their senior year begins, they face the dreaded class lists, published every week, showing who has the best results, and who doesn't. Trixie and Ben have been ranked third and fourth for most of their school career, and keep jumping each other from time to time. Trixie can't stand Ben, and would love nothing more than to be him, once and for all. For Ben, it's a whole other matter; yes, he would like to be third, but his feelings towards Trixie are completely different. They have to spend time together once their best friends become a couple, and it's tense, to say the least.
However, that's the least of their problems. Soon, the class list is tampered with, and when Trixie's best friend is accused of doing so, she is expelled. Ben and Trixie have to join forces to discover who the real culprit is, and even though they're now in the lead, statistically, they put their friendships above everything else.
First things first, I don't like Shakespeare, and have never read, seen, heard, etc., this play. I know, an English person not liking Shakespeare :0 No matter how much I like books, I'm not exactly a fan of classics, except Jane Austen. However, adaptations of Shakespeare - such as 10 Things I Hate About You, She's the Man, etc. - are right up my street, as was this book. I adored the book so much, I couldn't put it down, and when I discovered it was Anderson's debut, I was immensely impressed in her writing style.
The main characters, Trixie and Ben, were fantastic, in their own ways. They were geeky, but still extremely approachable. They spend a lot of time at the local comic book store, and the book was full of fandom references, enough to appeal to just about everyone. Their relationship was difficult since they'd been in first grade, but since then, Ben had been trying to make up for it, but Trixie stood her ground. Over the course of the book, we see Ben time and time again attempt to become friends, and more, with Trixie, and she's completely oblivious. Everyone else knows what's happening, but she can't see anything past her hatred. I adored their relationship. We really see them get over their past, and their feelings develop, even as their dealing with the real problem of friends being expelled, and friendships breaking up.
If you haven't been able to tell I loved this book, well, I did! It's the perfect kind of contemporary retelling for me, and I just wish I'd had it in my life earlier. The writing style was so compelling that I was hooked from page 1, and my only problem was that it ended - I could have read so much more! I'd recommend you pick this up, even if you're not a fan of Shakespeare, because you don't need to be for this retelling. A perfect YA Debut!
Read
March 18, 2016Copy received courtesy of NetGalley
I loved this book. It has one of my favorite tropes ever, the couple who begin loathing each other and who banter their way toward love. Add in a Shakespearean substrate (and shout-outs galore) and I was glued to the pages.
Only-child Trixie has two best friends, and doesn’t need any more friends. She certainly doesn’t need a boyfriend. She wants no distractions from moving up the rankings at the school for very bright kids that she attends, but the thorn in her side is Ben West, who broke her arm in elementary school, and has been her arch-enemy ever since.
It doesn’t help that she and Ben constantly trade places in the highly competitive school’s monthly rankings, but their on-going snipefest senior year is beginning to fracture the easy social flow of their friends. What to do about it?
Two things kick Trixie’s calculations into a spin: she overhears a conversation, and someone in this high-powered future leader academy is accused of cheating.
Even I, tech-idiot that I am, could see that the mystery ought to have been solved by the school authorities within half an hour after the breach. After all, a school for brainiac teens has to have IT techs on tap who can handle baby hackers and script kiddies who regard firewall-breaching as morning drill.
But the story was so involving! The emotional and social reactions and exchanges rendered that quibble no more than a plot accelerant; this is a book about friends—boyfriends—social and academic hierarchies—personal, parental, and peer expectations—and not a cryptonomicon about cyber warfare.
I loved the way everything played out, right to the very last page. The melt-downs, the examinations of friendship, love, geekdom, the many references, the text exchanges, the wit!
I think most of all, I loved the way Trixie faced up to her own issues, and when she couldn’t get past her own teenage emotions, could catch herself enough to listen to someone else making sense.
November 11, 2018
Here are some of my thoughts:
• This is a solidly cute, light read. The only way I can describe the tone of this book is casual. I appreciate that this not another angst-ridden contemporary YA romance book. It’s a breath of fresh air to just see teenagers (albeit incredibly smart ones - but even that wasn’t overwhelming) just being normal and living. The pacing simply flows as you follow the protagonist, Trixie, hanging with and texting her friends, making tons of geeky references, complaining about school, going to school events with friends, and developing feelings for a boy, etc. There are a few key moments, but there is never a my life is over feeling or drama overload, which a lot of YA nowadays tend to have. Even the plotline with the hacking is not blown out of proportions. It creates conflicts for Trixie, but it is not particularly stressful to read as a reader.
• There’s a good balance of focus on friendship and romance, and then school and family as secondary. I appreciate seeing these different aspects in Trixie’s life. Very often in YA contemporary novels, romance overwhelms everything. Here, even though the romance is perhaps the biggest focus of those 4 areas, it never seems to be the protagonist’s only thought in her head. (Of course, I appreciate reading hardcore romance sometimes too, but again, this is a breath of fresh air).
• Trixie was a douchebag towards Ben at the beginning of the book. I mean, he was mean to her too, but I felt like she was thornier. Anyway, I like that the moment she realizes that their relationship doesn’t have to be so hateful, she makes efforts to be less mean and talk to him like a normal person. They get along more than they ever thought they would.
• The romance is cute. Sweet, sweet, sweet. I have no complaint. They kill me with their bantering (lots and lots of banter). Their texts and geeky references are adorable.
• The title is incredibly apt.
It’s a light-hearted read with normal teenagers (despite going to a genius school), minimal drama, sweet romance, and fun friends interactions. Seriously, I appreciate the normalcy of everything from beginning to end (minus the hacking thing, but even that, it’s kinda low-key). I’m giving this 3.5 stars (maybe 4 stars). I’m tempted to give it 4 stars because of the novelty of the normalcy without the angst. However, I do tend to give 4 stars to books that make me feel some kind of way, like either inspiration or true adoration for the characters. Still, I do enjoy this and I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.
Things that you might want to know (WARNING: Spoilers below)
Happy/satisfying ending?
Love triangle? Cheating? Angst level? Other things to note?
Tears-worthy?
Humor?
Favorite scenes?
--------
Ready for contemporary cuteness☺️☺️
Thanks Rose for the book✨✨✨
• This is a solidly cute, light read. The only way I can describe the tone of this book is casual. I appreciate that this not another angst-ridden contemporary YA romance book. It’s a breath of fresh air to just see teenagers (albeit incredibly smart ones - but even that wasn’t overwhelming) just being normal and living. The pacing simply flows as you follow the protagonist, Trixie, hanging with and texting her friends, making tons of geeky references, complaining about school, going to school events with friends, and developing feelings for a boy, etc. There are a few key moments, but there is never a my life is over feeling or drama overload, which a lot of YA nowadays tend to have. Even the plotline with the hacking is not blown out of proportions. It creates conflicts for Trixie, but it is not particularly stressful to read as a reader.
• There’s a good balance of focus on friendship and romance, and then school and family as secondary. I appreciate seeing these different aspects in Trixie’s life. Very often in YA contemporary novels, romance overwhelms everything. Here, even though the romance is perhaps the biggest focus of those 4 areas, it never seems to be the protagonist’s only thought in her head. (Of course, I appreciate reading hardcore romance sometimes too, but again, this is a breath of fresh air).
• Trixie was a douchebag towards Ben at the beginning of the book. I mean, he was mean to her too, but I felt like she was thornier. Anyway, I like that the moment she realizes that their relationship doesn’t have to be so hateful, she makes efforts to be less mean and talk to him like a normal person. They get along more than they ever thought they would.
• The romance is cute. Sweet, sweet, sweet. I have no complaint. They kill me with their bantering (lots and lots of banter). Their texts and geeky references are adorable.
• The title is incredibly apt.
It’s a light-hearted read with normal teenagers (despite going to a genius school), minimal drama, sweet romance, and fun friends interactions. Seriously, I appreciate the normalcy of everything from beginning to end (minus the hacking thing, but even that, it’s kinda low-key). I’m giving this 3.5 stars (maybe 4 stars). I’m tempted to give it 4 stars because of the novelty of the normalcy without the angst. However, I do tend to give 4 stars to books that make me feel some kind of way, like either inspiration or true adoration for the characters. Still, I do enjoy this and I’m looking forward to reading more by this author.
Things that you might want to know (WARNING: Spoilers below)
Happy/satisfying ending?
Love triangle? Cheating? Angst level? Other things to note?
Tears-worthy?
Humor?
Favorite scenes?
--------
Ready for contemporary cuteness☺️☺️
Thanks Rose for the book✨✨✨
June 1, 2016
One of the best Shakespeare retellings to hit the YA world. If Ten Things I Hate About You were to have a baby with fandoms like Dr. Who + Sherlock & Watson + the great comic debate of Marvel vs. DC + Star Wars, you'd still need to add in guffaw out loud wit before you got close to THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU. I could not turn the pages fast enough and stayed up laughing well into the night. A whip-smart new voice in YA, I will be buying anything Lily Anderson writes forever.
If you're into smart humor mixed with the backdrop of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, then this is your book. The force is definitely strong with Anderson.
If you're into smart humor mixed with the backdrop of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, then this is your book. The force is definitely strong with Anderson.
October 15, 2018
This YA book is an absolute delight.
It has a great cover, fantastic title, and is loaded with nerdy pop culture references and smart banter.
It's the story of Trixie and her nemesis, Ben, super smart teens battling for the number 3 spot in an elite high school for teens of high intelligence.
I giggled my way through this book. The humour was fabulous. The characters were flawed in endearing ways and highly likeable. My only small complaint is that Trixie stepped out of character a little at key moments. For someone who is not only fiercely intelligent, but also feisty, it's hard to believe that she didn't see through an obvious ruse and she's also a bit passive towards the end.
I was enjoying this story so much, I didn't want it to finish.
It has a great cover, fantastic title, and is loaded with nerdy pop culture references and smart banter.
It's the story of Trixie and her nemesis, Ben, super smart teens battling for the number 3 spot in an elite high school for teens of high intelligence.
I giggled my way through this book. The humour was fabulous. The characters were flawed in endearing ways and highly likeable. My only small complaint is that Trixie stepped out of character a little at key moments. For someone who is not only fiercely intelligent, but also feisty, it's hard to believe that she didn't see through an obvious ruse and she's also a bit passive towards the end.
I was enjoying this story so much, I didn't want it to finish.
March 25, 2016
I raced through the arc of this fast paced, smart, funny high school mystery inspired by Much Ado About Nothing! Trixie Watson's senior year at her high school for the gifted and talented goes wildly awry. First, her lifelong nemesis has a surprising change of heart about her and second, a cheating scandal involves one of her closest friends. Trixie's evolving romance was pitch perfect and the mystery of the cheating kept me hooked until the last page. This is a sweet, intelligent and clever story. The dialogue is phenomenal! Highly, highly recommend!
July 6, 2016
THIS BOOK IS PURE PERFECTION!!! *-*
Okay, vielleicht würde ich sonst für das Ende einen minikleinen Abzug geben, aber das kann ich einfach nicht, dafür hat dieses Buch viel zu viel Spaß gemacht. Trixie ist zum Beispiel ein Whovian, unter anderem, und ich kenne kein Buch, in dem Doctor Who so oft erwähnt wird wie hier. =D Oder jede Menge andere nerdige Anspielungen. Lily Anderson hat auf ihrer Seite eine Liste der Anspielungen.
Dann die Hassliebe. Es gibt eine Hassliebe! Ich bin eh immer ein großer Fan von denen und ganz ehrlich, die in The Only Thing... gehört mit zu meinen liebsten. Und das sage ich nicht, weil ich das Buch gerade erst beendet habe und vielleicht demnächst mal schlafen gehen sollte.
Die Charaktere sind super. Trixie ist die super schlaue UND schlagfertige Protagonistin, wie man sie liebt. Ben steht ihr da in nichts nach. Die sind beide so tolle Charaktere. ♥
Aber nicht nur die Protagonisten, auch die ganzen Nebencharaktere sind toll und liebevoll ausgearbeitet. Da wäre zum Beispiel die süße Liebesgeschichte zwischen den besten Freunden von Ben und Trixie, Harper und Cornell, die am Anfang immer nur um einander rum schleichen. Oder Brandon, der Freshman, der Ben zugeteilt ist und der für die Freunde spioniert.
Freunde. Die Feundschaften in diesem Buch mochte ich richtig gerne. Besonders die zwischen Trixie und Harper. Gegen Ende hin wird diese nämlich auf die Probe gestellt und ich habe es so gerne gelesen, wie Trixie trotzdem zu ihrer Freundin gehalten hat. So eine "Probe" gab es auch bei den Jungs, mit dem selben Ergebnis. *-*
Am Ende kommen noch einige Krimielemente dazu. Bei denen hatte ich wirklich Angst, dass das mit der Auflösung total in die Hose gehen könnte. Ich bin mit der auch nicht 100%ig zufrieden (deshab sonst der kleine Abzug), aber auch da hatte ich zu viel Spaß damit, mitzurätseln.
Also, falls das aus der ganzen Schwärmerei noch nicht rausgekommen sein sollte: Ich kann dieses Buch nur empfehlen! Es gehört auf jeden Fall mit zu den besten Büchern, die ich in diesem Jahr gelesen habe und ich werde es bestimmt nicht zum letzten Mal gelesen haben.
Okay, vielleicht würde ich sonst für das Ende einen minikleinen Abzug geben, aber das kann ich einfach nicht, dafür hat dieses Buch viel zu viel Spaß gemacht. Trixie ist zum Beispiel ein Whovian, unter anderem, und ich kenne kein Buch, in dem Doctor Who so oft erwähnt wird wie hier. =D Oder jede Menge andere nerdige Anspielungen. Lily Anderson hat auf ihrer Seite eine Liste der Anspielungen.
Dann die Hassliebe. Es gibt eine Hassliebe! Ich bin eh immer ein großer Fan von denen und ganz ehrlich, die in The Only Thing... gehört mit zu meinen liebsten. Und das sage ich nicht, weil ich das Buch gerade erst beendet habe und vielleicht demnächst mal schlafen gehen sollte.
Die Charaktere sind super. Trixie ist die super schlaue UND schlagfertige Protagonistin, wie man sie liebt. Ben steht ihr da in nichts nach. Die sind beide so tolle Charaktere. ♥
Aber nicht nur die Protagonisten, auch die ganzen Nebencharaktere sind toll und liebevoll ausgearbeitet. Da wäre zum Beispiel die süße Liebesgeschichte zwischen den besten Freunden von Ben und Trixie, Harper und Cornell, die am Anfang immer nur um einander rum schleichen. Oder Brandon, der Freshman, der Ben zugeteilt ist und der für die Freunde spioniert.
Freunde. Die Feundschaften in diesem Buch mochte ich richtig gerne. Besonders die zwischen Trixie und Harper. Gegen Ende hin wird diese nämlich auf die Probe gestellt und ich habe es so gerne gelesen, wie Trixie trotzdem zu ihrer Freundin gehalten hat. So eine "Probe" gab es auch bei den Jungs, mit dem selben Ergebnis. *-*
Am Ende kommen noch einige Krimielemente dazu. Bei denen hatte ich wirklich Angst, dass das mit der Auflösung total in die Hose gehen könnte. Ich bin mit der auch nicht 100%ig zufrieden (deshab sonst der kleine Abzug), aber auch da hatte ich zu viel Spaß damit, mitzurätseln.
Also, falls das aus der ganzen Schwärmerei noch nicht rausgekommen sein sollte: Ich kann dieses Buch nur empfehlen! Es gehört auf jeden Fall mit zu den besten Büchern, die ich in diesem Jahr gelesen habe und ich werde es bestimmt nicht zum letzten Mal gelesen haben.
March 20, 2017
This review was originally posted on Andi's ABCs
I was told by a lot of people to read The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You. Gail actually told me to read it so much that I bought the book one day when I was with her. But then the book just sat and sat. Finally I just decided to pick it up and I'm so happy I did. It was cute and adorable and nerdy and fun.
The Only Thing... is about a group of students that go to the super smart kid school. They are all nerdy geniuses that could test out of high school but instead go to a super competitive school for nerds together. Trixie is the main character and she has a goal Senior year and it is to beat her nemesis, Ben West, in class ranking. That's all Trix wants and she is going to get it. That is until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and weird things start happening at school. Soon Trixie has no idea what she wants. All she knows is she needs to stop what's happening and she may just need Ben to do it.
I truly loved this book. It was predictable, but one of those predictable books you don't mind. Ben and Trixie had amazing banter and were super quick witted. I loved watching their idea of the other change slowly and not over night. And I loved the friends they had that aided this change. They both needed a shove in the right direction and they got it. Truly the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because it was slow in the beginning. But once it got started it really kept me sucked in.
The Only Thing... is definitely a book I would recommended. It had a great mystery, a great friendship aspect, and a great romance. There were a ton of nerdy references (I admit I only understood about half) and 'geek duels'. It was just a fun book that I would recommend. But man I needed more kissing.
I was told by a lot of people to read The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You. Gail actually told me to read it so much that I bought the book one day when I was with her. But then the book just sat and sat. Finally I just decided to pick it up and I'm so happy I did. It was cute and adorable and nerdy and fun.
The Only Thing... is about a group of students that go to the super smart kid school. They are all nerdy geniuses that could test out of high school but instead go to a super competitive school for nerds together. Trixie is the main character and she has a goal Senior year and it is to beat her nemesis, Ben West, in class ranking. That's all Trix wants and she is going to get it. That is until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and weird things start happening at school. Soon Trixie has no idea what she wants. All she knows is she needs to stop what's happening and she may just need Ben to do it.
I truly loved this book. It was predictable, but one of those predictable books you don't mind. Ben and Trixie had amazing banter and were super quick witted. I loved watching their idea of the other change slowly and not over night. And I loved the friends they had that aided this change. They both needed a shove in the right direction and they got it. Truly the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because it was slow in the beginning. But once it got started it really kept me sucked in.
The Only Thing... is definitely a book I would recommended. It had a great mystery, a great friendship aspect, and a great romance. There were a ton of nerdy references (I admit I only understood about half) and 'geek duels'. It was just a fun book that I would recommend. But man I needed more kissing.
May 28, 2017
This was a super fun retelling of Much Ado! I absolutely loved the voice in this book and the banter was A+++++. Trixie goes to a school for geniuses and Anderson really nails the quirky and genuine facets of all her characters. The hate-to-love storyline was well done and fresh. For me, this book is a great example of a lovable unlikeable heroine. Trixie, in the beginning is a little harsh, a little brash, a little set in her ways. But as she starts to soften toward Ben and her loyalty for her best friends is called into action, the readers see the function of her spunk and the walls she's placed around herself. It's wonderful to see them come down! This story is fun, sexy, and full of everything I love about contemporary YA.
February 9, 2017
“School for geniuses, all crammed together. Hormones and broken relationships and everybody’s limbic system growing too quickly to keep up with their prefrontal cortexes.”
Esa frase resume todo el libro y sí, es tan genial como parece.
LO BUENO:
⚫Los personajes y la forma en que son nerds y geeks en partes iguales. Sí, van a una escuela para genios y tienen conversaciones acerca de su coeficiente intelectual y escriben ensayos de la economía africana pero también leen cómics y compran figuras de acción y se disfrazan y son absolutamente geniales.
⚫Las referencias al fandom. Verónica Mars, Buffy, Saga, Dr. Who, Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars, Marvel, DC. Es hermoso.
⚫El humor que trasmite la escritura: es sarcástica, es fresca, se siente honestamente joven y me hizo sonreír más de una vez. You are a goddess, Lily Anderson.
⚫El romance es un enemies-to-lovers, es tierno, no es apresurado y las discusiones entre los protagonistas son increíblemente divertidas de leer.
“This was so much bigger than the monkey bars. This was the Rebels versus the Empire. This was the Doctor versus the Daleks. This was Ripley versus the Xenomorphs. This was a real, true, full-scale war.”
⚫Los personajes secundarios. Hay montones de ellos, forman un grupo de amigos fantásticos, de verdad importan para la trama y quiero secuestrarlos y obligarlos a ser mis amigos porque son incomodamente adorables.
⚫El hecho de que se lea como una fusión entre Orgullo y Prejuicio y The Big Bang Theory. #TrueStory
LO MALO:
⚫Que Trixie sea una bully egocéntrica al comienzo del libro y diga cosas crueles como:
“I really don’t need your help, evil twin. What are you even doing here? We aren’t your friends.”
Aunque luego se da cuenta y cambia.
“I was a bully. I was a monster.”
⚫La portada. ¿Por qué los romances nerds siempre tienen las peores portadas? ¿POR QUÉ?
⚫Ehh... no se me ocurre nada más porque leí este libro hace semanas atrás y aún sonrió cada vez que pienso en él. Si te gustan los romances tiernos, léelo. En serio, léelo.
“A boyfriend, I concluded, should be like a new best friend.”
October 30, 2016
Ahhhhh I absolutely loved this! I feel like I forget how much I love contemporaries until I read an amazing one like this. The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You was everything I hope for in a good book. Hilarious and lovable characters, great writing style, fun and entertaining storyline. Our main character Beatrice, but don't call her that call her Trixie, is nothing short of a role model. She is not afraid to be who she really is. She wears her love for comics, studying/school and wardrobe proud. Also, like me, she's a vegetarian and I really can't remember the last time I read a book with a vegetarian main character so I really loved that! Anyways Trixie and her two best friends Meg and Harper all share similar interests together and I loved seeing their super strong friendship. The characters in this book are high school Seniors attending a school called Messina Academy for the gifted. Each of them are trying their hardest to be #1 or at least top 10 in the schools ranking and take their grades more serious than anything. Throughout the book we see about 8 main characters all in a group of friends including Trixie, Meg and Harper. They all share spunky, laugh out loud conservations along with arguments and love interests. I loved all the references in this book as well, like Star Wars, Comic books, TV shows all ones I've heard about and can relate too. This is definitely a "can't put down" book. You'll laugh, smile, and maybe even feel a butterfly or two. Definitely a new favorite YA contemporary on my list!
March 28, 2017
3-3.5 stars
I probably would have liked this more if hate-to-love romances were more my thing. There was just a little too much hate/meanness going on for me in the beginning to enjoy the romance fully. However, the ending was pretty perfect, I adored the whole group dynamic and most of the nerdiness, and shipping Trix and Ben got a whole lot easier when they weren't insulting each other so harshly. I'll definitely be reading more from this author!
September 29, 2016
Clearly I’m in the minority here, but I really didn’t like this book. My fourteen year old self would have probably gobbled it up because it has references to Doctor Who and a boring heterosexual romance (which I used to love for some reason) but my current self just isn’t into it. It’s not because of the writing, I actually think the writing was pretty good, and while it got bogged down in details at a couple of points the pacing overall was great.
My main issue is I hated Trixie, so much so that she’s one of my least favourite characters I’ve ever read. I’m not a fan of female characters who think they’re better than everyone else because they don’t wear make-up, don’t dress a certain way, and they like things that ‘other stereotypical girls’ don’t like such as comic books and ‘geeky’ stuff (side note: Game of Thrones is one of the most popular TV shows on at the moment, being ‘geeky’ isn’t as rare as Trixie is making it out to be). For a character that is a self professed feminist she isn’t really that feminist. At one point she says “we’re the only girls on campus not dressed up like trampy tramps” , and another point she says “it appeared my beloved best friends were on the fast track to becoming utterly antifeminist. Instead of comparing notes on our classes or comic books … they’d started this secret campaign to get boyfriends.” Trixie thinks she is so much smarter than everyone else in her life because of her high IQ, but she is one of the dumbest characters I’ve read. Feminism should be empowerment, Trixie should be saying that her fellow classmates and friends can dress however they like and be interested in whatever they want (yes even boys), but instead she puts herself on a pedestal because she thinks her interests are more worthy.
Another issue I had (I know) was the romance, it was so bland. There was little to no build-up , and honestly they didn’t seem that compatible in the end. I think Ben could have done better than Trixie by a long shot, and it’s a shame because I actually didn’t mind him in the beginning because he was the only one who could see how stupid she was. Also the constant references were really irritating, it’s like the author had to remind us every few seconds that Trixie wasn’t like other girls, she was geeky and therefore special, and so you’d get two Doctor Who references in a sentence which made no sense to the plot. That said the plot was a mess anyway so why not make it even more confusing with some out of place references? I'm not even going to go too much into the plot, I do think if there had been no romance and no Trixie but with the same storyline then I would have actually enjoyed this book, I was genuinely invested in what Harper was going through and how that situation was going to play out, but having to watch it through Trixie's eyes made it a lot less fun.
It wasn’t all bad, I actually liked a lot of the side characters like Harper and Ben, this sort of suffered from what Twilight did where the side characters had much more interesting stories than the main character and I only really cared about them. Also the cover is pretty cute.
If you’re really into Tumblr and ‘geeky’ references (see above for why the word geeky is stupid) and bland relationships then by all means read this, clearly my rating is miles away from everyone else’s on this book so perhaps I’m just blind.
My main issue is I hated Trixie, so much so that she’s one of my least favourite characters I’ve ever read. I’m not a fan of female characters who think they’re better than everyone else because they don’t wear make-up, don’t dress a certain way, and they like things that ‘other stereotypical girls’ don’t like such as comic books and ‘geeky’ stuff (side note: Game of Thrones is one of the most popular TV shows on at the moment, being ‘geeky’ isn’t as rare as Trixie is making it out to be). For a character that is a self professed feminist she isn’t really that feminist. At one point she says “we’re the only girls on campus not dressed up like trampy tramps” , and another point she says “it appeared my beloved best friends were on the fast track to becoming utterly antifeminist. Instead of comparing notes on our classes or comic books … they’d started this secret campaign to get boyfriends.” Trixie thinks she is so much smarter than everyone else in her life because of her high IQ, but she is one of the dumbest characters I’ve read. Feminism should be empowerment, Trixie should be saying that her fellow classmates and friends can dress however they like and be interested in whatever they want (yes even boys), but instead she puts herself on a pedestal because she thinks her interests are more worthy.
Another issue I had (I know) was the romance, it was so bland. There was little to no build-up , and honestly they didn’t seem that compatible in the end. I think Ben could have done better than Trixie by a long shot, and it’s a shame because I actually didn’t mind him in the beginning because he was the only one who could see how stupid she was. Also the constant references were really irritating, it’s like the author had to remind us every few seconds that Trixie wasn’t like other girls, she was geeky and therefore special, and so you’d get two Doctor Who references in a sentence which made no sense to the plot. That said the plot was a mess anyway so why not make it even more confusing with some out of place references? I'm not even going to go too much into the plot, I do think if there had been no romance and no Trixie but with the same storyline then I would have actually enjoyed this book, I was genuinely invested in what Harper was going through and how that situation was going to play out, but having to watch it through Trixie's eyes made it a lot less fun.
It wasn’t all bad, I actually liked a lot of the side characters like Harper and Ben, this sort of suffered from what Twilight did where the side characters had much more interesting stories than the main character and I only really cared about them. Also the cover is pretty cute.
If you’re really into Tumblr and ‘geeky’ references (see above for why the word geeky is stupid) and bland relationships then by all means read this, clearly my rating is miles away from everyone else’s on this book so perhaps I’m just blind.
April 5, 2016
My love of snark is well-documented. There are few things I adore more in a book than a main character with a whip-smart sense of humor who knows her way around sarcasm. I knew within the first page of THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU that I had found my spirit animal in Trixie Watson, the book’s protagonist and beating heart. She’s no stranger to lobbing quick-witted insults and always has a well-timed jab at the ready, especially for her nemesis, Ben West. But what I love most about Trixie is her huge heart. She’s fiercely loyal and devoted to her two best friends, Harper and Meg.
Trixie’s senior year at the Mess, a school for geniuses, is ever-so-slightly derailed when one of said best friends, Harper, starts dating Ben’s best friend. See, Trixie has hated Ben since he broke her arm on the monkey bars—and even though that was ten years ago, Trixie hasn’t forgotten. Trixie and Ben’s rivalry is pretty legendary, and her sole aim in as a senior is to beat out Ben for the third spot in the school ranking. But when she finds out Ben might harbor feelings for her that go beyond mutual loathing, something she never thought was possible begins to happen—she starts to realize she might actually like him, too. When Harper gets expelled for cheating—something Trixie knows she would never do—Trixie and Ben team up to find out the truth, and get to know each other in the process.
THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU is based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, and there’s no shortage of plot twists and humor and romance, sweet romance! I absolutely adore Lily Anderson’s writing style. It’s incredibly fresh, unique, and laugh-out-loud funny.
THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU is a book that more than lives up to its name—and that’s no small feat, because that’s one hell of an awesome title. I’ll be wildly raving about and recommending this book to everyone, and consider me an official Lily Anderson fangirl for life!
Trixie’s senior year at the Mess, a school for geniuses, is ever-so-slightly derailed when one of said best friends, Harper, starts dating Ben’s best friend. See, Trixie has hated Ben since he broke her arm on the monkey bars—and even though that was ten years ago, Trixie hasn’t forgotten. Trixie and Ben’s rivalry is pretty legendary, and her sole aim in as a senior is to beat out Ben for the third spot in the school ranking. But when she finds out Ben might harbor feelings for her that go beyond mutual loathing, something she never thought was possible begins to happen—she starts to realize she might actually like him, too. When Harper gets expelled for cheating—something Trixie knows she would never do—Trixie and Ben team up to find out the truth, and get to know each other in the process.
THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU is based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, and there’s no shortage of plot twists and humor and romance, sweet romance! I absolutely adore Lily Anderson’s writing style. It’s incredibly fresh, unique, and laugh-out-loud funny.
THE ONLY THING WORSE THAN ME IS YOU is a book that more than lives up to its name—and that’s no small feat, because that’s one hell of an awesome title. I’ll be wildly raving about and recommending this book to everyone, and consider me an official Lily Anderson fangirl for life!
May 27, 2016
when you want to die because a book is just so perfect??????
full review to come, but i adored this book. SO, SO CUTE. My stomach got *the butterflies*
full review to come, but i adored this book. SO, SO CUTE. My stomach got *the butterflies*
May 6, 2016
3.5 / 5 Fangs
I had a hard time getting into this book in the beginning. I couldn't really connect with the main character, Trixie. I understood that she was suppose to be snarky, but I felt like she just came off as mean. I didn't find her "snark" particularly funny. She insulted others in a cruel way and she thought she is better than everyone else because she was "nerdy".
I had a hard time connecting to her due to that because being a nerd doesn't mean you have the right to make fun on "non-nerds"! However, she thankfully changed through out the book. The change of character felt a bit sudden, but it definitely made the last half of the more enjoyable.
I also had a hard time connecting to Trixie's friends, because they did some really mean things! I didn't hate them, but they definitely rubbed me the wrong way. I really liked the one side character, Ben. I thought he was extremely lovable.
The romance in this book was cute, even though it was a bit predictable. The romance had some really cute moments that made my heart happy. Ben and Trixie made an "adorkable" couple!
There was a mystery woven into this book, which kept the book really interesting. I became extremely invested in the mystery. Anderson kept me on my toes the entire time with the romance. I also really enjoyed the pop culture and fandom references. I didn't get every reference, but I understood most of them and really liked them.
Overall, this was a quick and easy read. I had some problems with the characters, but I enjoyed this book as a whole. I would recommend this book to "nerds" who are looking for a cute romance story.
3.5 / 5 Fangs
*This ebook was given to me in exchange for a honest review. *
MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It
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I had a hard time getting into this book in the beginning. I couldn't really connect with the main character, Trixie. I understood that she was suppose to be snarky, but I felt like she just came off as mean. I didn't find her "snark" particularly funny. She insulted others in a cruel way and she thought she is better than everyone else because she was "nerdy".
I had a hard time connecting to her due to that because being a nerd doesn't mean you have the right to make fun on "non-nerds"! However, she thankfully changed through out the book. The change of character felt a bit sudden, but it definitely made the last half of the more enjoyable.
I also had a hard time connecting to Trixie's friends, because they did some really mean things! I didn't hate them, but they definitely rubbed me the wrong way. I really liked the one side character, Ben. I thought he was extremely lovable.
The romance in this book was cute, even though it was a bit predictable. The romance had some really cute moments that made my heart happy. Ben and Trixie made an "adorkable" couple!
There was a mystery woven into this book, which kept the book really interesting. I became extremely invested in the mystery. Anderson kept me on my toes the entire time with the romance. I also really enjoyed the pop culture and fandom references. I didn't get every reference, but I understood most of them and really liked them.
Overall, this was a quick and easy read. I had some problems with the characters, but I enjoyed this book as a whole. I would recommend this book to "nerds" who are looking for a cute romance story.
3.5 / 5 Fangs
*This ebook was given to me in exchange for a honest review. *
MrsLeif's Two Fangs About It
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May 6, 2016I'd describe the overall vibe of The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You as John Green (group of genius kids who spend most of their time engaging in witty nerdish banter) meets Rainbow Rowell (the whole fandom thing) with a touch of ... maybe Big Bang Theory.
The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You is also a loose retelling of Much Ado About Nothing, one that involves a heated school competition over class rank and a very mild mystery. I wasn't sure it was all going to work, but it did in the end.
I really liked the friendship between Trixie, Harper and Meg. And the mystery, which I was skeptical about at first, definitely grew on me. The romance -- which uses one of my favorite tropes (hate to love!) very effectively -- was quite sweet. And I adore the cover, which has a nice quirky, comic book-ish vibe.
I did struggle a bit with a few things. I'm a huge nerd (as are most avid readers, probably) but the fandoms in the book aren't really my fandoms. (I think Rainbow Rowell was clever in creating a completely fictional fandom.) The fandoms here are comic books (sorry, no), Dr. Who (very sorry, but not really), Joss Whedon (yes, I've seen every episode and defend it vigorously to those who think it was just a cheesy show with bad special effects. I can't quote dialogue and *whispers* I've only seen a couple episodes of Firefly).
So if these things aren't your things, you may feel a bit lost and left out of the joke at times. I did remember (sort of) the plot of Much Ado though I certainly wouldn't call myself a Shakespeare nerd.
For this reason, perhaps, I also though the book felt long. I was reading on a kindle and guessed it was 450-ish pages, when actually it was only 350-ish. To me, it seemed to take a while to really get going, with all banter and no plot for a long time.
Highly recommended for: fans of witty nerd banter, Dr. Who, comic books, Shakespeare retellings.
Read more of my reviews on YA Romantics or follow me on Bloglovin
Thanks to the publisher for providing a free advance copy of this book for me to review.
The Only Thing Worse Than Me is You is also a loose retelling of Much Ado About Nothing, one that involves a heated school competition over class rank and a very mild mystery. I wasn't sure it was all going to work, but it did in the end.
I really liked the friendship between Trixie, Harper and Meg. And the mystery, which I was skeptical about at first, definitely grew on me. The romance -- which uses one of my favorite tropes (hate to love!) very effectively -- was quite sweet. And I adore the cover, which has a nice quirky, comic book-ish vibe.
I did struggle a bit with a few things. I'm a huge nerd (as are most avid readers, probably) but the fandoms in the book aren't really my fandoms. (I think Rainbow Rowell was clever in creating a completely fictional fandom.) The fandoms here are comic books (sorry, no), Dr. Who (very sorry, but not really), Joss Whedon (yes, I've seen every episode and defend it vigorously to those who think it was just a cheesy show with bad special effects. I can't quote dialogue and *whispers* I've only seen a couple episodes of Firefly).
So if these things aren't your things, you may feel a bit lost and left out of the joke at times. I did remember (sort of) the plot of Much Ado though I certainly wouldn't call myself a Shakespeare nerd.
For this reason, perhaps, I also though the book felt long. I was reading on a kindle and guessed it was 450-ish pages, when actually it was only 350-ish. To me, it seemed to take a while to really get going, with all banter and no plot for a long time.
Highly recommended for: fans of witty nerd banter, Dr. Who, comic books, Shakespeare retellings.
Read more of my reviews on YA Romantics or follow me on Bloglovin
Thanks to the publisher for providing a free advance copy of this book for me to review.
July 14, 2016
I am apparently in the minority in not being blown away by the sly and snarky retelling of “Much Ado About Nothing” that is “The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You.” Before you throw the infamous rotting fruit of The Globe at me, please allow me to explain.
The characters of Trixie, Ben, and their friends were likable enough and well-developed. They all had a good backstory and fit well within the Shakespearean framework. The school was interesting and the mystery aspect of the plot was intriguing and well-done.
Here comes the issue. It was great to see a female comic book geek who was into all things awesome. The problem was, it was overdone. So much of it felt like there was a neon sign with an arrow on it pointing at her and saying “geek here.” What is really sad is that none of the pop culture references needed to be removed, just perhaps reworded or missing a sentence or two. It was like being hit with an anvil when all you needed was a foam finger. It really took me out of the story by about five chapters in.
As I said before, my opinion about “The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You” is not the popular one, so don’t let my review persuade you. In fact, when I reflected on my thoughts I decided to give it one higher star than my initial reaction called for. It is very clever, so give it a try if it appeals to you.
This review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The characters of Trixie, Ben, and their friends were likable enough and well-developed. They all had a good backstory and fit well within the Shakespearean framework. The school was interesting and the mystery aspect of the plot was intriguing and well-done.
Here comes the issue. It was great to see a female comic book geek who was into all things awesome. The problem was, it was overdone. So much of it felt like there was a neon sign with an arrow on it pointing at her and saying “geek here.” What is really sad is that none of the pop culture references needed to be removed, just perhaps reworded or missing a sentence or two. It was like being hit with an anvil when all you needed was a foam finger. It really took me out of the story by about five chapters in.
As I said before, my opinion about “The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You” is not the popular one, so don’t let my review persuade you. In fact, when I reflected on my thoughts I decided to give it one higher star than my initial reaction called for. It is very clever, so give it a try if it appeals to you.
This review is based upon a complimentary copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
October 17, 2016
4.5 stars
Well that was some adorable, geeky, shippy goodness. ♥ Seriously, there have been a lot of these YA contemporary romances recently with a geek angle - but this is by far the best one till now. Like, the characters are in a super elite prep school, they've all got crazy high IQs, their lives are homework and geek fandom.
This is it.
This book is like basically me in high school/college? I adored all the fandom references because I caught like all of them, and you could just tell that it's written by someone who truly GETS it. Totally geeky and unapologetic. Because fandom is cool and you can deal with it.
And then there's the ship.
It's a hate-to-love ship, because obviously this book was made for me. It started off a little scary because dude has an unfortunate facial hair situation, but then it's this slow build of shippy moments and little touches and glances and ugh. It's so adorable, I could just die.
Yeah. This book made me intensely happy. Banterfluff to the max. Voicey, geeky, nerdy, shippy, and cool. Maybe a little cliché here and there but whatevs. I was entertained.
Well that was some adorable, geeky, shippy goodness. ♥ Seriously, there have been a lot of these YA contemporary romances recently with a geek angle - but this is by far the best one till now. Like, the characters are in a super elite prep school, they've all got crazy high IQs, their lives are homework and geek fandom.
This is it.
This book is like basically me in high school/college? I adored all the fandom references because I caught like all of them, and you could just tell that it's written by someone who truly GETS it. Totally geeky and unapologetic. Because fandom is cool and you can deal with it.
And then there's the ship.
It's a hate-to-love ship, because obviously this book was made for me. It started off a little scary because dude has an unfortunate facial hair situation, but then it's this slow build of shippy moments and little touches and glances and ugh. It's so adorable, I could just die.
Yeah. This book made me intensely happy. Banterfluff to the max. Voicey, geeky, nerdy, shippy, and cool. Maybe a little cliché here and there but whatevs. I was entertained.
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July 25, 2016Yup, every bit as hilarious and delightful as you think it's gonna be <3
Want to read
June 9, 2017FIREFLY REFERENCES? I am in.
May 4, 2016
I don't know what I was expecting with this book but it was way better than I ever could have anticipated. I did have a few problems with the main character but I loved the concept of the book.
The writing was so great and flowed perfectly. I actually read this book in one day because I couldn't put it down.
I did find Trixie to be annoying a lot of the time. There was this one part towards the beginning of the book that hit me wrong and I couldn't shake it. She made a comment that because her friends wanted boyfriends that they were "on the fast track to becoming utterly antifeminist" and she also made a few comments that her friends couldn't be both nerdy/geeky and have/want boyfriends. That really bothered me a lot and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I went back and forth with myself over how I felt about it and if it was a big deal or not. But in the end, it really bugged me and because of that, I brought this book down from 4 star book to a 3. I know that might not be a big deal to some readers and that's okay but it really bugged me.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book for the most part. I think a lot of people can relate to the characters and even though I don't watch Doctor Who, I appreciated all the references as well as the all the other nerdy/geeky references (especially the Marvel ones).
The writing was so great and flowed perfectly. I actually read this book in one day because I couldn't put it down.
I did find Trixie to be annoying a lot of the time. There was this one part towards the beginning of the book that hit me wrong and I couldn't shake it. She made a comment that because her friends wanted boyfriends that they were "on the fast track to becoming utterly antifeminist" and she also made a few comments that her friends couldn't be both nerdy/geeky and have/want boyfriends. That really bothered me a lot and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I went back and forth with myself over how I felt about it and if it was a big deal or not. But in the end, it really bugged me and because of that, I brought this book down from 4 star book to a 3. I know that might not be a big deal to some readers and that's okay but it really bugged me.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book for the most part. I think a lot of people can relate to the characters and even though I don't watch Doctor Who, I appreciated all the references as well as the all the other nerdy/geeky references (especially the Marvel ones).
September 16, 2016
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.
I LOVED the geeky humour, the mystery, and the cute little bits in between!
The characters are realistic and hilarious and the group of genius geeky friends are perfect. I loved the friendship and the growth of young love and the silly banter (and the notoriously hideous yet hilarious handlebar mustache).
All in all, a fun, energizing read! Very refreshing change from all the terrible-love-triangles and overused plots that always end up being incorporated in contemporaries.
4 stars!!
I LOVED the geeky humour, the mystery, and the cute little bits in between!
The characters are realistic and hilarious and the group of genius geeky friends are perfect. I loved the friendship and the growth of young love and the silly banter (and the notoriously hideous yet hilarious handlebar mustache).
All in all, a fun, energizing read! Very refreshing change from all the terrible-love-triangles and overused plots that always end up being incorporated in contemporaries.
4 stars!!
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