Woke Up Like This
Woke Up Like This
By: Amy Lea
[Fulfilled ‘A book by an author from a different country than you’ (Canada) prompt as part of Shelf Reflection’s 2024 Reading Challenge]
Woke Up Like This is everything you would want in a rom-com!
It is 13 Going on 30 meets To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. If you don’t like either of those, you probably wouldn’t like this, but I thought it was cute, light-hearted, and humorous.
Would I want to read 50 books in a row like this? No. But a good rom-com in between intense thrillers is a nice reprieve. Bonus that this didn’t have any sex scenes and minimal swearing.
Our main character is Char (Charlotte) similar to Lara Jean in that she is responsible and goal-oriented, has a flighty best friend, is raised by a single parent, and falls in love with a popular boy (J.T. Renner).
She is different in that she is an only child and her parents are divorced and this is an enemies-to-lovers trope not a fake-dating trope.
“Renner raises his brow, pleased that he’s stolen my thunder. It’s one of his favorite pastimes, after worshipping his own reflection and leaving people high and dry on special occasions.”
(Also Char is half Chinese/ half white, not part Korean like Lara Jean)
This book has a unique twist and one that made this a bit different than ‘every other love story’ because it has time travel!
Char and J.T. (enemies) are decorating for senior prom when Char falls off a ladder onto J.T. and they BOTH wake up in a house together in their 30-year-old bodies, presumably engaged to be married in a few days.
Enemies to spouses?!
While they are trying to figure out how to get back they make discoveries about their relationships and each other that changes their perspective on things.
But when Char gets back (it’s not really a spoiler because rom-coms aren’t trying to be tricky, we all know they don’t stay stuck) she’s not sure what just happened- was it real? does J.T. even remember? And they, again, must navigate their relationships with their newfound knowledge of both the past and the future.
This is marketed as a YA novel and definitely reads like it’s for younger audiences because it’s a teenage love-story, however, if you’re a parent wondering if this would be a good book for your own daughter (I don’t think sons would like this…) then just be aware that it is written from the perspective that everyone in high school is or will have sex at some point in the near future.
Even Char’s mother keeps encouraging her to go party and ‘have fun.’
There are a couple make out scenes but at least there are no sex scenes. Oh and J.T. is naked when they wake up in the future but it’s more of an ‘Ahh!’ scene not an ‘Oooo’ scene.
To bring this up may seen inconsequential for some, but as a parent myself, I probably wouldn’t encourage my daughter to read this one so I just wanted to make sure other parents have this information if they’re seeking it.
Even though 13 going on 30 has been done before, and there’s About Time and When We First Met (rom-com-time-travel-movies), I am up for another one! I think this would make a great movie! I haven’t decided who should be cast for the roles yet, but I think it has its own unique take and opportunities for good comedy.
To All the Boys series has it’s own special cuteness and I appreciated the family aspect of that series, but I do like the reflective nature Char and J.T. have and that there is some character development there but without a lot of pressure on the future.
“Look, I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next thirteen years. I don’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow. But what I do know is, right now, all I want is to be with you. And that’s all I’ve wanted since I first saw you. So please stop planning ahead for five seconds and just be with me in this moment.”
Recommendation
Even though I don’t necessarily recommend this to teenage readers, as a full-fledged adult myself (ha!) I would definitely ‘overall’ recommend this book!
I’m not always a fan of YA romance, and I was surprised that I liked Han’s series, but this was a good, cute, rom-com that reads fast and is a nice break from some of the more intense reads I have.
Typically teen romance is hit or miss for me but this one was definitely a hit!
This book comes out of Mindy Kaling’s Studio and I would love if she got it optioned for film! But even if it’s not, I think readers will be able to picture this story as it unfolds on the pages.
[Content Advisory: 2 f-words, a handful of s-words; no sex scenes but there’s an overall acceptance of sex in high school and comments about losing one’s virginity; Char’s friend Nori is gay but her story is not a prominent feature of the book]
**Received a copy of this book via MB Communications in exchange for an honest review**
This book released September, 2023. You can order a copy of this book using my affiliate link below.
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