Thoughts on : Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah Mae Safi
Tell Me How You Really Feel by Aminah, Mae, Safi
Genre : YA, Romance
Stand alone
About the Book :
Sana Khan is a cheerleader and a straight A student. She’s the classic (somewhat obnoxious) overachiever determined to win.
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Rachel Recht is a wannabe director who’s obsesssed with movies and ready to make her own masterpiece. As she’s casting her senior film project, she knows she’s found the perfect lead – Sana.
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There’s only one problem. Rachel hates Sana. Rachel was the first girl Sana ever asked out, but Rachel thought it was a cruel prank and has detested Sana ever since.
My Thoughts :
I don’t read as much YA contemporaries as I once did, but I’ve read a few this summer that I really enjoyed, and Tell Me How You Really Feel was one of them.
This one is a cute romance between two very different girls, and I absolutely enjoyed reading the story from both of their perspectives. While there were a few moments when I was confused about which character a chapter was following, it was usually easy to differentiate them. The tone was a bit different, but they also had quite distinct lives, so I was never really lost and they felt as complex individuals.
The Gilmore Girls inspiration is obvious, yes, and something I was really looking forward to as a fan of the show, but what I loved even more was how the author succeeded in making the characters her own. It’s easy to pinpoint the similarities, but the two girls are very different from the ones on the show. They have different tempers, different passions, different goals too, and everything felt new and fresh to me.
And I really enjoyed the romance itself. It was cute, and it evolved surprisingly naturally. I felt like both girls had very realistic reactions to the events, sometimes defensive, others anxious or eager. Overall it was a good representation of these magical and troublesome feelings that come with first love!
If you’re looking for a feel-good YA romance, this is one I happily recommend!
Similar reading :
Tell Me How You Really Feel reminded me a lot of Everything Leads to You, one of my favourites YA contemporary novels.
Not only because the book is about two girls falling in love, but also because of how their passions came into play (here, Emi works as a set designer and it’s surprisingly fascinating!).
This one played with my emotions a bit more, but in the end it was equally heartwarming!
This definitely makes me think I need to read Everything Leads to You. I hadn’t heard of that one, but I’ve liked Nina Lacour in the past.
I’ve never seen Gilmore Girls, nor do I know anything about it, so I read this without any comparison in mind. I felt like the end was a bit over the top, but otherwise just loved this book!!
I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on Everything Leads to You! It’s been a few years since I read it, but after reading Tell Me How You Really Feel, I’ve been thinking about rereading it to see if my feelings have changed.
And I agree about the ending. I thought it was a bit over the top and out of character, but I suppose the author was going for something that would feel a bit like a romantic comedy’s ending.
I don’t read much YA but Tell Me How You Really Feel sounds like a nice one. I love the Gilmore Girls. Happy week ahead!
I really recommend it next time you feel like reading a YA novel. It was cute and the romance didn’t feel forced. And the Gilmore Girl inspiration is a lot of fun!
I didn’t even realize that’s two girls on the cover. This sounds like a good book to me.
Haha! Same thing for me first time I saw the cover. But in fact it’s quite an accurate representation of the characters!