Review: Never Kiss Your Roommate

Never Kiss Your Roommate by Philline Harms
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finished on May 26, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "A bisexual and a pansexual guy together. How will we ever decide anything?"

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. The title of this book was honestly what grabbed my attention first and the summary sounded interesting enough that I requested it and was lucky enough to get it. This book was better than I expected, for the most part.
    
This is a YA book that takes place at a boarding school and is told between two perspectives (about an 85/15 split or so, maybe). Most of the book is told from Evelyn’s point of view. She’s new to this school, joining after some issues arose at her previous school. She finds herself roommates with Noelle. Noelle is a basketball player and is very abrupt. She’s not considered one of the nicer people in the school, but eventually her and Evelyn grow closer to one another. Seth is your other narrator. He is also new to the school and is insta-friends with Evelyn after a chance meeting on the train. He has to deal with some personal issues while also developing a crush on Jasper, Noelle’s best friend and school flirt.

I was a bit wary of this book at first. I have a few preconceived ideas when I hear the word Wattpad and I do have some wariness to teenagers writing books. This book isn’t that bad. The writing is pretty good and does a good job at developing a scenery without over-focusing on it. The dialogue was pretty good as well.

I really liked the characters in this book, and I wasn’t initially sure if I was going to. Evelyn is a sweetheart who seems to want the best for others and tries to help those that she can. Noelle is rude and standoffish, but she reveals a sweet side to herself as time goes on. Jasper has doubts about certain things, but he’s fun and flirty. Seth is a bit of a cynic, but he also has nice sarcasm and wit, and it makes things fun. The four of them together develop an interesting dynamic that makes it fun to read.

I only had a couple of main issues with this book. One issue is that the last quarter or so of the book just didn’t feel right and well-developed for the story. It felt a bit out of left field. Not completely since there were hints that there was more going on with Noelle than we were being shown, but I just think it could have been left out or more integrated into the story in order to make it better.

My other issue is that I wish there were more time for development between the characters. There is a decent amount of time, but I wish there were more with Noelle warming up to Evelyn and them growing closer. In that same vein, I wish the time split between the protagonists was either more even or cut completely. I would have liked more about Seth and Jasper, whether it be more in the same book or a sequel book that would have had the two grow and develop together.

I enjoyed this book much more than I had expected to. It’s interesting enough if you like YA, but the ending does throw in some drama that didn’t feel necessary. I thought it was a solid read though. I don’t know if I’ll ever re-read the book, but I also won’t harshly criticize it.

This appears to be a debut novel by this author (if I’m wrong someone please correct me). With that in mind, and keeping in mind that the author is 19, this is a good book. If I see another book by this author, I’ll probably check it out.