Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of Happy Messy Scary Love by Leah Konen in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes used in this review are from the ARC & may not match up with the final copy. 

Starting over is only for movies, after all.


Happy Messy Scary Love had me feelin' some type of way. Olivia reminds me so much of well.. me. Minus the lies, the scandal & all that jazz. Our main character wants to be a horror screenwriter -- she has the chance to do a screenwriting program at NYU, but waited until the last minute to write out an example of work & basically sabotaged herself ever getting in. Hello, it me????? 
It's not that I didn't want to write. It's more that I didn't want to write anything bad. So I spent a lot of time doing research -- er, watching horror movies.


Honestly though, I let fear rule me all of the time; to the point, that I never take that leap of faith & instead of just facing the possible rejection, I just.. don't.. do it. Happy Messy Scary Love is very inspirational with this factor & thanks to this book, I found myself searching for horror anthologies to enter! Wish me luck.

That's not the main premise of Happy Messy Scary Love; just the part that really stuck out to me, because hashtag relatable. 

There are a lot of parts that bothered me in Happy Messy Scary Love; primarily the lies & deceit. The entire time I found myself shouting, just tell him already! Which is basically how I felt watching the entire Gossip Girl series, but that's a different story. Did y'all know that if you didn't lie -- life is, like, better? You don't have to keep up with any fabricated tales & no one gets mad in the end? It's wild. However, I knew what I signed up for when I signed up for it, so really -- who's fault is this? 

What I really enjoyed was the ~horror~ aspects of Happy Messy Scary Love. This book is fun for those who enjoy their horror references & this is the exact reason as to why I requested a copy of this book. Olivia is obsessed with horror (which is probably obvious, seeing as she wants to be a horror screenwriter), so horror plays a lot into this story. There are references to so many films: Get Out, Psycho, It Follows, Carrie, Nightmare on Elm Street, the list goes on. Anytime a movie was mentioned, I'd get so giddy. My horror senses were tingling throughout. Even the chapter titles played onto horror film titles?!@!@! # This book had me seriously geeked. 

The characters, romance & all that jazz was fine. It was just your typical quick contemporary read & nothing really stuck out to me besides, as mentioned a few times, the horror references. Olivia faces the same type of conflict as any other protagonist in this genre, making me feel that this read may be forgettable in a couple of weeks.

I really liked that Happy Messy Scary Love is perfect for so many different people: those who want a nice, fun, fluffy read & those who are horror nerds & wants to squeal over the genre. It definitely wasn't a waste of time, I just don't think this is a book I would decide to read for a second time.

If you’re a teen and a movie fan, this book is for you. You’ll appreciate the context and enjoy a cute, fun read. 3.5 stars for me, it would have been 4-5 stars if I was a movie buff!

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

After self-sabotaging her application for a student film writing program at NYU, Olivia accepted that her summer would be spent in her family's mountain abode watching Netflix. But, in an effort to push her out of her comfort zone, her mother secured Olivia a position at a zip-line park, and who to her wondrous eyes should appear? Elm, her online crush, who she never expected to meet in a million years. From there, things got really complicated. 

I am not going to pretend that the plot was original. We have seen this before. Girl meets boy online, when it comes time to exchange photos, girl sends a fake one. This lie spawns more and more lies, to cover up the prior lies, until the messy referenced in the book's title, becomes a reality. 

Watching Olivia dig herself deeper and deeper into this mess was pretty much like watching one a those horror films she and Jake enjoyed so much. I audibly admonished her and energetically shook my head in an effort to discourage her from making more and more bad decisions, but Olivia had to make the mistakes in order to have her moment of reckoning. She had to hit rock bottom in order to come to terms with her fear of failure and rejection, and her negative thoughts about herself. I found that part very relatable, and feel that a lot people have felt some sort of self doubt at one time or another. 

Other things I enjoyed:

• Jake! - He was a precious, sweet cinnamon roll of a boy. He was adorable and also a little nerdy, but he owned it. 

• The setting - I grew up in Brooklyn and was familiar with all the places referenced int he book. So, it was fun to be back in the neighborhood. I have also spent time in the Catskills, and Konen did a great job re-selling the beauty of the mountain town to me. 

• Horror movies - Both Jake and Olivia were HUGE fans of horror, and I liked all the discussions and movie mentions. I also found it amusing that Olivia was writing a screenplay for a film called "The Bad Decisions Handbook", while she was making so many bad decisions. 

• The Zip-lining family - The whole incorporation of the zip-line park added an extra element of fun, but then Konen also stuffed the place with some quirky side characters, who I enjoyed meeting. 

• The romance - Jake and Olivia were adorable together. There was a lot of awkward, but in the cutest way possible. There was also this major, sort of, grand gesture towards the end, which put a huge smile on my face. 

Overall: Though the concept wasn't groundbreaking, I had fun watching Olivia trying to get herself out the super-tangled web she wove, and seeing her experience a lot of personal growth along the way.

I really like books that have an online meet-cute and this one didn't disappoint!  I feel like characters can show their true personalities without the awkwardness of talking face-to-face.  When pictures are asked to be exchanged, I was disappointed that Olivia sends him a picture of her friend.  She started their relationship with a lie and then made a concerted effort to continue that lie.  I also didn't like when Elm was playing both Olivia and her friend.  I am sucker for a happy ending though and thought it tied up everything nicely.

I loved this rom-com about horror movies and summer love. This book perfectly encapsulates what it feels like to find "your person" online instead of in real life. Happy Messy Scary Love is like a perfect summer flick. It keeps your heart rate up while still giving you everything you are looking for, a distraction with a big finish. Olivia and Elm's relationship is full of misunderstandings and lies, some more for good some not, and it reminds us of that high school crush feeling we can never recapture in adult life. This is perfect for fans of Morgan Matson or Jennifer E. Smith.

This was a fun summer romance that reminded me of the movie serendipity in the way that I was left with the knowledge that the characters were missing.

This was such a cute book! I really enjoyed getting to know Olivia and Elm. I can't wait to read more from this author!

If I did half star ratings, I'd give Happy Messy Scary Love a 3.5. Since I don't do half stars I rounded up to 4 stars.

This book is a quick read that centers around two teens who meet on Reddit over their shared love of horror movies.

Olivia isn't off doing any cool internships or really anything this upcoming summer, and she feels bad about herself because of it. All of her friends have cool summer gigs happening.Her parents (well really her mom) uses her contacts to get Olivia a summer job at a zip line company. Which is ironic because Olivia doesn't do outdoor stuff much and she's terrified of heights.

Olivia would rather spend her time watching horror movies, procrastinate on her screenplay, and chat with Elm on Reddit about said horror movies. Elm sends her a selfie and asks that she sends him one too. In a moment of panic, Olivia sends over a photo of her best friend. What started out as one bad decision turns into a mountain of bad decisions. Because Olivia realizes that Elm works at her new place of employment.

I really wanted to shake Olivia and yell, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" every time she kept making her situation worse. Because we all know that this messy situation is going to come to a head at some point and it's going to be bad.

I loved how involved Olivia's family is in this book. There's a lot of stories where parents are scarce and this certainly isn't a book like that. Her family is a big part of her life and her relationship with her Aunt was awesome. I kind of chuckled at her parents dropping her off at work and picking her up, and then I remembered that my parents did that when I had my first job too.

 Overall, I thought this was a a good read. While I'm not into horror movies myself, I loved reading about the tropes and discussions about the horror genre itself. And I thought the romance was sweet as well.

I thought the plot was interesting. If you're a horror movie buff, like mistaken/hidden identity romances, then I guess this would be a good book for you. But personally, I'm not into horror movies and a lot of the beginning is talking about those movies

A light hearted read. A proper love story.
Well written good story with good characters.
Easy read
Thank you to both NetGalley and Amulet Books for my eARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review

DNF @ 16%. I'm bored and the characters seem younger than 17 - it almost reads like middle grade. Also the main character, Olivia, is just SO annoying. Idgaf what your reasoning is, it's shady as hell to pretend to be your best friend just because you have a pimple and feel too ugly to send a photo. No.

Olivia fancies Elm a budget horror movie creator but sends him a picture of her friend Katie thinking they'll never meet...



However as her plans to go to NYU over summer fail after she doesn't submit her screenplay on time, her mum forces her to work at a zip line adventure course where she meets Jake and a whole twist of a tale starts...



With awkward dinners, parties, learning new skills, making new friends and memories, to almost losing your friends this book is a rollercoaster of events as the pair truly get to know each other despite their first encounter which was via technology not face to face. It was a fun read and a good will they won't they about whether they would get together or not!



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Leah Konen's Happy Messy Scary Love was an exciting story from start to finish. The premise itself is so intriguing and had me dying to get my hands on it. Ultimately, I really enjoyed the writing, setting, and --- of course --- the awesome horror film references! The characters were a bit frustrating at times, however, I felt that they were very real and a part of me resonated with them. Overall, Konen's writing was gripping and one that I cannot wait to read more from in the future!

A fairly fun, light-hearted read. I admit, I never really invested that much in Olivia as a character. Her scheme, while it came from an understandable place, was hard to buy as a valid course of action the longer it went on. I also wish we saw more of the side-characters, the other workers at the zipwire centre. Still, the writing was enjoyable and I loved all the horror movie discussions. From someone who really doesn't like that particular genre, it made me see why people really do like them.

Happy Messy Scary Love by Leah Konen is your typical young adult romance story. In the beginning I liked the concept but half way through I was bored with the story.

Super sweet, story with good characters and story different enough to make it interesting. I liked this book from beginning to end. The characters were realistic and the writing style was a breeze to read. Dialogue felt real and so did characters. Good book that will appeal to its teen audience.

Somewhat middle of the road YA title, with a bit of an excessively coincidental premise.  Good for film fans, both horror lovers and romcom aficionados. Would have been well-served not to have multiple Big Cathartic Conversations to wrap everything up all in back-to-back chapters.

Mini review:

Trigger warning: None till the point I read. 

DNF

I received this E-ARC via Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

I have read the authors previous book and was excited to dive into this! Unfortunately I didn’t like it. 

I liked the writing but soon found out that’s all I liked. I didn’t care for the main character or her friends. As I read on I lost interest. 

Still recommend.

Happy Messy Scary Love is a cute YA romance with a fun plot. For the most part, I really enjoyed reading it. One of the things that actually made me really like it is the fact that the author made the characters feel real for their age bracket. Insecurities are the main layers of the story and readers can see this in Olivia throughout the story. Many teens feel insecurities of course, and this just makes the characters more realistic. 

The lies and drama sorta put me off the story (I was rolling my eyes quite a bit) but I think that is mostly due to my age rather than anything else. 

Overall, I think this is a nice story, one that will really be a great fit for the YA crowd and I do look forward to reading more novels but the author.