A Little Something Different
Author: Sandy Hall
Series: None
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Release Date: August 26, 2014
Publisher: Swoon Reads
Summary:
Surely Gabe and Lea will figure out that they are meant to be together…
First Sentence: “I’m going to get us fake IDs,” I say to Lea as we walk to class on the first day of school.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
My Review:
What first attracted me to A Little Something Different was the cover. Admit it, the cover of A Little Something Different is absolutely gorgeous and gives off the “this book will definitely be a fun romance” vibe. When I then saw the premise of A Little Something Different, I was immediately hooked. How can you not be intrigued with a book with fourteen different viewpoints, all of them rooting for the same guy and girl, Gabe and Lea, to get together? That just screams fun, adorable, and 100% romantic.
I’m sure a lot of people will probably be turned off by the fourteen different viewpoints aspect of A Little Something Different and despite my interest in A Little Something Different, a part of me was turned off by the fourteen different viewpoints aspect too. However, Sandy Hall does make it easier on people who aren’t good with keeping track of whose who like I am by labeling the characters’ names and their role or position in the story at the beginning of each viewpoint switch snippet. It made things easier and by the end of the book, I can name eleven of the fourteen viewpoints.
“Hey there, little guy,” she says.
I scamper closer.
“Are you the same squirrel I always talk to?”
I don’t know what you’re saying but I’m sure I love you! (ARC 75)
What surprised me the most about A Little Something Different is that it has a lot of diversity in it, something I never expected to happen. Lea, the girl that everyone is rooting for to get together with the guy, Gabe, is Asian. There’s also a lesbian couple, the creative writing professor and her spouse, who are two of the fourteen viewpoints. Another viewpoint is told from the point of view of a guy, who happens to be gay.
Unlike the fourteen other people and things (have I mentioned that there is a viewpoint from a bench’s point of view?), I wasn’t exactly rooting for Lea and Gabe to get together. They were really cute at the beginning, but then there were a couple of rocky moments with petty jealousy and very poor communication that I just got tired of it all. I also hate how there were also some girl hate that I was just so uncomfortable reading about – just because another girl likes Gabe too and tries to get together with him and you aren’t rooting for her does not mean you can call her a “skank queen of Cockblock-ville”. (The second part of the insult also doesn’t even make any sense.) I’ll understand if you simply don’t like the girl, but to go so far as calling her a “skank” just because she likes the guy your friend likes too and is aiming for him? No, just no. Even the girl’s creative writing professor joins in on the girl hate for the same reason as the friend, making things even more uncomfortable and worrisome. Not to mention it’s really unprofessional for a college professor to do, especially since the girl never did anything wrong.
“Lea,” I hiss into my phone.
“Maribel?”
“Gabe is at this very moment eating lunch in the student center with Hillary the skank queen of Cockblock-ville!”
“NO!”
“YES!” (ARC 189)
Overall, yeah, A Little Something Different is a fun and cute read, but there were just some parts I did not get along with. Some more problems in A Little Something Different include the characters did not act their age (the 36 year old creative writing professor acts like a teenager), the squirrel’s thoughts was inconsistent in its point of view, and sometimes there were so many long dialogue conversations on a page, but it did not mention who was talking except for the very first comment, making things very confusing. Well, that was a mouthful.
The cover is really cute. I love it. I love pink! It’s a shame it didn’t sit well with you though. I’m not a huge fan of too many different POV’s. A couple is enough for me. I think I’ll pass on this one, but man I do love that cover!
Carrie recently posted…The End of Feeling, Cindy C. Bennett
Sorry to hear you didn’t like this one! I’m pretty excited to read it but I aee what you mean about the 14 povs, it can end up making you pretty detached from the characters.
Safah @ Midnight Pageturners recently posted…4 Reasons Why Dorothy Must Die
This seems such a cute read but bad characters can really spoil a novel. Basically, that’s my one issue lately – always some crappy characters. Bad or weak romance is justa the cherry on top. It’s supposed to be a cute romancy novel, and if romance sucks, well then… :L I think I’ll bump this one way down on my TBR pile.
Ula @ Blog of Erised recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Really Want To Read But Don’t Own Yet
AWH!!!! It’s such a shame you didn’t like this one more!!! I’ve SOOOOO been looking forward to it!!! The fourteen POV aspect it what excited me MOST about this book! I was really excited to see if the author manage to make each POV unique and interesting, which is always difficult when writing multiple POV. I think i might just have to go against word word and check this one out myself. I don’t think i’ll be able to stay away from it! :)
I’ve been looking forward to this one for awhile, so it’s sad to hear that it didn’t completely meet expectations for you. Still, I’m hoping for the best when I get to reading it. I love the idea behind it so much.
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Good review. This book does sound cute. I like that the squirrel is in it. ;)
I really enjoyed Something A Little Different. I was rooting for Gabel and Lea to get together.
The cover of this book is so cute, and it does sound like a cute book.
The cover is cute. The story is interesting and i like that it has a lot of POV because when I read a book it juts gets to me like “what is he thinking????” haha
It’s sad that there were so many little things that detracted from this book for you! The girl hate sounds particularly annoying. Buuuuut I’m still so intrigued that I’ll just have to check it out.
Lina recently posted…Review: ‘Every Little Thing in the World” by Nina de Gramont
I’ve always wanted to read this! I mean, look at that cover… ♥ Haha. It’s just a shame that it didn’t work out well with you. Now I’m kind of nervous to read this one because of what you’ve said about the characters not acting their age; I admit, that’s irritating. However, I might still try and check this book out given the chance. Thanks for this review! At least I know what to expect in this read. :)
I’ve seen this one around lately, and I even checked out Swoon Reads. I love what they’re doing–taking independent writers–since I write YA as well. Anyway, I sort of expected this sort of review about this book. I mean, 14 different viewpoints–how can one not start making them sound like each other/younger than they really are? It would be extremely difficult not to. And I don’t tolerate slut shaming, so I don’t know if this book is for me. I don’t like POV changes either.
Oh, well. Maybe I’ll get it from my library… Either way, great review! :)
Tori @ Bookish Affairs
Tori recently posted…Discussion: Finishing a Series with a ‘Meh’ First Book
Sounds interesting! :) Maybe I’ll try this one since I’m really looking for a light read–after a lot of action and bloody books I’ve read over the weekend.
I was really looking forward to this book, especially since it was chosen to be published by swoon reads. The cover is beautiful and the fourteen different perspectives sounded like it would really add to the narrative. It’s unfortunate that you didn’t enjoy it more! I still might check it out though, but it’s suddenly not too much of a priority.
That cover is actually beautiful. O have a soft spot for lovely covers. I’ve read your review, and woah. I don’t think I could handle 14 different POVs, I mean, reading Rick Riordan’s House of Hades was a little off putting but it did turn out to be one of my favourites by him. The book does sound cute and I’m totally into the cover. Plus, there’s not much diversity in books and that’s something I always look for. It does sound good, I will look into it more.
Sorry to hear this unique style did not quite work out for you. I have heard some good things about this, and I think it is definitely a risk trying something so different with such diverse characters and viewpoints.
Liv_TheAbsentHistorian recently posted…The Blue Blazes
Sorry you didn’t like it! I am still going to be picking this up, it sound interesting, it has a beautiful cover and most of the reviews I have seen are really good.
I actually want to pick this up just to see if i could deal with the 14 view points, do some of them sound like the same people over again? The cover is really gorgeous, I really want to buy it, put it on my bookshelf and stare at it all day. :D But the girl-hate (though ‘Skank queen of Cockblock-ville’ is actually quite creative :D hehe), the unnecessary hate is putting me off reading this book. I’ll put it on my TBR and if i still feel like reading it when i get to it… :)
I’m so sorry to hear that Kelly :( Even when your review is negative, I’d still love to try this. The blurb really caught me and also I love the jacket design. I can’t resist not buying my own copy. Thank you for your honesty :) I hope your next read would be better.
Chyna @ Lite-Rate-Ture recently posted…Bookish thoughts: Incredibly uncouth comments
Sorry to hear that you don’t like it. I finished this book yesterday and loved it, I think it is very unique with so many POVs and the story is very fun and cute.
I read the synopsis for this book and wondered if it was trying too much. I guess the title suited what it was trying to do.
I also thought that the storlyline sounded really cute too, but I’m not fond of reading multiple POVs and I was turned off. It helps that I wish the cover had a bit more contrast haha. But I absolutely understand you. A great romance contemporary book is a hard thing to pull off, even without such an ambitious style as 14 different POVs.
Shannelle recently posted…Informality on the Blog
Hmm, a bench’s POV? How does that work? I am a little bummed to see a less than glowing review for this one but it’s not the first one I’ve seen. I’m glad to a heads up that there are some not-so-great moments between Lea and Gabe. Lack of communication always bugs me, as does petty jealousy. I’ve been toying with the idea of buying this one because my library doesn’t have a copy yet but I might wait. I still plan to read it though, I really like the concept and am curious about the execution! And I hope to find it adorable. Plus, that cover IS gorgeous!
Nicole @ The Quiet Concert
Nicole @ The Quiet Concert recently posted…Stacking the Shelves (87) – Aug 30th
Oh! Added to my wishlist.
It’s too bad that some parts of it didn’t work out for you and that you didn’t root for the couple. The different points of views sound really interesting though (especially the squirrel’s)! :)
I think this will be fun for a light reading. And I agree, the cover look adorable! I’m going to add this to my TBR <3
Oh, it’s too bad you didn’t love it, but I honestly wasn’t expecting you too. Another blogger recommended it to me, so I plan on reading it in the near future. I’m thinking that, just like you, I will hold a few grudges on it. But I don’t know, maybe the negative things you said about it won’t affect my reading experience as it affected yours! Hopefully :)
P.S. I freakin’ love the cover. That is 65% of the reason I bought it.
Note to self – Cute book covers doesn’t mean it’s a great book! … 2 1/2 ouch! Thanks for the honest review
Hello! since I haven’t read that book yet, I’m only hoping on your review and I would agree, the cover will catch your attention. I’m not a girly girl who likes pink but i love it in here. i love your review. you’re very honest about your opinion. i think the characters (esp. the one who likes Gabe) have different personalities. like some girls are really like that. they would call the girl the boy like different names (personal experience of a friend). but i think it would be fun reading it. thank you for the review! i’ll add it to my TBR list :)
Too bad it wasn’t that good. I do love the cover thought. Maybe I will read it anyway, inbetween or something.
I went to the book station at Target and they had this book! I wanted to buy it to see what I thought of it but I didn’t have enough money :( It was in paperback though, is it a paperback original? I got confused by that.
The cover of A Little Something Different is cute and seems to promise a lot of cute romance. I’ve actually never heard of this book (or much of it) until I read this review. And I liked how your review made me laugh a few times. You’re funny! :D What wasn’t really funny though was another part I agreed on with you. The fact that someone with the same name was called that was weird…I don’t know I just had to read it twice to see whether that was actually my name written in that sentence. I don’t think I’ll be reading this one, but I’m happy there’s diversity in the story.
The cover of this book is GORGEOUS, it’s what grabbed my attention too :) I can’t wait to read it! I love the idea of having so many different POVs :)
Laura recently posted…Review: The Before Now and After Then – Peter Monn
Great review! Sounds like a book that I would like to read.
I love the cover, it’s so cute! Though fourteen povs are overwhelming, I prefer reading books with just one narrator. I’ve read some novels with couples who lack communication, I find them annoying!!!
Wajiha @ Jiha’s file recently posted…Review: Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen
I’m sorry that you didn’t like this book all that much. I’m super excited to read it though, my best friend read it and loved it! I guess I’ll just have to read it to find out.