I received this book for free from NetGalley to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Never Say Never by Justine Manzano on 06/15/2021
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 312
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley
Amazon
Goodreads
After she walks in on her mom doing the horizontal mambo with a man that's decidedly not her dad, Brynn Stark swears to NEVER fall in love. One of her friends--Val-- reveals her true identity--Aphrodite, goddess of love, and promises to show Brynn why she shouldn't lose faith.
But when Brynn realizes she's beginning to fall for Adam, Aphrodite's boyfriend, Brynn's forced to decide if she'll choose her goddess-given fate, or risk it all for the wrong-but-right guy.
One thing's for sure. Love sucks. And it's all about to blow up in their faces.
Again, I’m not really a huge romance fan. Yes, I like the genre, I just tend to read other genres before I read romance. I’m really not a big fan of “YA Romance” – for some reason I just don’t care much for it. But Never Say Never? Yeah, I’m definitely a fan of this one.
Let’s start off with the basics – Brynn Stark has stated she’ll never fall in love. She’s not a people person, she’s sarcastic, and she’s not the “ideal” type of pretty by society’s standards1At least not from what I could tell by reading the book. Enter her best friend Nina and Nina’s foster sister Val. Val is all about love and likes to meddle in others’ love lives. Of course, she IS Aphrodite, so that explains a lot.
I love Brynn. She and I share a lot of characteristics. We both like to wear black, band shirts, and jeans. We’re both sarcastic and neither one of us does people very well. I could relate to her on pretty much every level because she and I are just alike.
Then you have Val, who is Nina’s foster sister. Val is all about beauty, being girly, and love. She loves attention and she loves trying to set people up on dates to help them find their true love. She can be super obnoxious about it thought. How her boyfriend, Adam, puts up with her is beyond me.
Nina, Brynn’s best friend, is kind of like a mix of Val and Brynn. She seems to have a lot of the same characteristics of both Val and Brynn, but leans more toward Brynn than Val, if that makes sense. If not, I promise it will after you read the book.
Adam is just – he’s hard to explain. He’s withdrawn in some ways, and when you read about his history, you might just understand. I do, because I’ve been through it myself. He’s another character I just relate really well to.
Raphael is just obnoxious. He has a thing for Brynn, she can’t stand him, and he can’t take a freaking hint. Some of the things Brynn says to him are absolutely hilarious to be perfectly honest and you’ll spend a lot of time wondering why this guy keeps trying.
I love the premise of this book – Aphrodite in disguise trying to help her friend find true love, all the while trying to keep said friend away from the person she’s meant to be with. It’s complicated but not in a hard to understand way. Trust me, you’ll have no problem following this book and knowing what’s going on, even though things can get a bit complicated.
This book is hilarious. Some of Brynn’s zingers are absolute gold and when you pair that with the guy who can’t take it a hint, it’s even better. She’s also got some good ones for her mom, and in all honesty, I think you’ll understand why once you read the book.
If you like fun, hilarious YA romance books with a hint of fantasy, I’d definitely recommend this one. It’ll keep you reading from page one.
