Emergency Contact was okay as a contemporary novel. I enjoyed it enough but wouldnt read it again. I found certain elements of the narrative to be confused and messy but others were very sweet. in the end it felt very flat and i don't recall too many details from it.

Loved the sound of this book. Penny and Sam meet through Penny's roommate. Sam's going through a rough time and after an incident which Penny helps him through they exchange numbers. They become emergency contacts and get closers. I liked Sam's part of the story he was really down on his luck and I really felt for him. I couldn't warm to Penny from the start and I think this really put me off the story. Unfortunately not one for me

I just re read this book recently and I must say my opinions have changed. Perhaps my reading tastes have changed or i may have been in a bit of a reading slump at the time of the first reading

I did find that the book has its flaws as do the characters but this time round instead of being critical I actually understand where they are coming from and the reasons for why they are doing what they do.

In conclusion I found this to be a good solid read that has kept me interested throughout.

Great story. Relatable main characters. Original plot about friendship, love and family. Such an amazing style of writing that really captures the characters emotions and allows the reader to see into their minds.

I've tried to read this a few times and I can't get much further than the first few chapters. Is it just me? Something is not settling with me....

Enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would - I had read some reviews which had made me worry about how I would feel about the characters/storyline/problematic elements of their personalities.

I really liked both the main characters, and found their parental relationships believable. They both have some questionable traits but the excuse I’ll take is that they’re young and traumatised. I really enjoy reading books from the perspective of two main characters too.

Here’s a description about the basic outline of the book: Penny is an Asian kid whose mom is, according to her, super dumb and she feels that it has become Penny’s responsibility to take care of her mom. Sam belongs to a poor family and her mother is a solid alcoholic. Now one day that meet in an awkward situation and decide to swap their numbers in case of an emergency. Slowly, they start to discuss the tensions and problems in their life which ranges from basics to deep, strange and dark secrets.

To be honest, though I liked the story a lot, it came with certain characteristics that didn’t suit me. To start with, I found both Penny’s and Sam’s character a little dubious. It seemed that they weren’t sure about what they really wanted in their life. Not were the clear about their intentions.

I liked the story. I really did. Especially the writing style and the basic outline of the story. The way the story describes the various relationships with all their ups and downs is a beautiful one. Also, there are a variety of characters with different personalities which makes the story all the more interesting.

But at the same time I liked the fact that various sides of the character was shown to us. Their vulnerable side, their strong side and even their work side was shown to us which made it all the more appealing. It didn’t stop at being romance, but a lot more than that.

A lovely read that focuses on the awkward moments of first/teenage love and all it's ups and downs, The characters are extremely well developed and full of depth, that makes them easy to connect to.

Warm, funny, contemporary YA romance which despite heavy themes never strays too far from being an essentially light, fizzy read.

“You know what I’m talking about,” she said. “You’ve known from the day we met. Even on text, where there are no inflections or nuance or tone for non sequiturs. You’ve always spoken fluent me.”

When Sam’s ex-girlfriend Lorraine – the great love of his life, the one who got away – tells him she’s pregnant, he has a panic attack. It’s the first time he’s ever experienced anything like it and he thinks he’s dying, so he’s lucky when his step-niece’s new college roommate appears out of nowhere and saves the day.

Penny is that roommate. The perpetual outsider, she struggled to fit in at high school and is already having the same issues at college. At least there are some pros: she’s managed to escape from her mother and is studying how to be a writer, her dream career. She exchanges numbers with Sam, vowing to be his emergency contact, but their blossoming text friendship makes her far too anxious to confront the possibility of seeing him IRL again.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t know anything about Emergency Contact when I saw it on the list of Free Reads that Riveted Lit were offering near Valentine’s day, but I fell in love with the cover instantly. Not only does it introduce you to Penny and Sam, it’s also not ashamed to reveal that their friendship primarily plays out through their phones – an aspect of teenage life that a lot of YA authors avoid exploring.

I’ve made plenty of friends online who I’m unlikely to ever meet face-to-face (one of the perils of being a blogger!), so I very much related to the story. Some of the deepest friendships I’ve had have developed and grown through texts – sharing secrets in the dead of the night, able to voice thoughts that you’ve hardly even looked at head-on before – and I think that’s likely to become even more common in future generations. Technology and social media are here to stay, and they’ve altered the way that friendship works for good.

It’s difficult to review Emergency Contact without giving too much away – something I’ve been trying to avoid, which is why it’s taken me a week to write this post – but I will say that it’s a story about falling in love, not about being in love. Penny and Sam are the definition of a slow burn romance, and you will find yourself screeching in desperate need of a sequel when you turn the final page.

Emergency Contact is the most enjoyable YA contemporary I’ve read in a very long time, and it’s uplifting despite the fact that it deals with serious issues such as alcoholism and anxiety. Aimed at the upper YA age group, this book is perfect for fans of Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl or anyone who is going through a big life change and feels alone.

I already said twice this year that a book just wasn't what I expected and well, I have to say it again: »Emergency Contact« wasn't what I expected - it was better. It's not that I had particularly low expectations for this book but I read so many mixed reviews that I kinda expected not to love this and even though I didn't love it, I liked »Emergency Contact«. A lot.

This book is exactly how I like New Adult and I wish there were more books like this. This had a lot of the typical NA topics like moving out for the first time and college and what the hell do I want to do with my life and yes, also finding a new love, but this still didn't felt like your typical love story. I think a lot of the NA books I read feel like adult romance just with younger protagonists while this book really felt like written for people who are the age the main characters are in. It felt like your typical YA contemporary but with older characters and while this also is a love story I don't think it was too much in focus. Which I probably loved about this book most.

In the beginning I was a little bit irritated with the writing style and had a bit difficulties to relate to Penny or Sam because the book is written in third person, which is a bit unusual for contemporary but I actually didn't minded as soon as I got to know Sam and Penny a little bit more.
Both narrators are quite troubled characters. They both have problems at home and are trying to cope with that and after an awkward encounter during their second meeting Penny and Sam swap numbers and start to become each others emergency contacts, which basically just means that they both finally have found someone they could talk to, even if its just over texts. I loved their random conversations and was totally shipping them, even though both are at times quite unlikeable characters - but that was actually what I liked so much about them. They felt real. They had flaws and didn't always do the right thing and that was really refreshing imo. I get why someone wouldn't like them, but I totally did.

So, yeah. For me this was a great book and will definitely not be my last book by Mary H. K. Choi. I liked how she wrote her characters and the topics this book dealt with - definitely look up some trigger warnings in other reviews if you are concerned about things like that, some stuff comes right out of nowhere - and I can't even explain it, this book just gave me this feeling. I just liked it a lot and that's it. Totally recommend if you are searching for NA without a big sexy romance plot and more real life stuff.

A really interesting ya book one that is cute highly entertaining but at the same time has a layer of darkness.Interesting to fans of ya or just a well written novel.# netgalley #littlebrownuk

Overall
This was cute. Though I felt a bit weird in the beginning it picked up quickly. The whole setting with Penny and Mark situation was too close to home #almostcringe.
I love the characters and them not being the standard romance character types. Sam is skinny poor and covered in mix and match tattoos. Penny is nerdy, an author and college student.

I also liked how it dabbles in everyday life like everyday racism, everyday sexism and economic status (low end - relatable end)

It is also fairly feministic which I liked. its a new thing for me in YA contemporary.

Characters
Penny - Korean main character who is sarky and slightly emo with no social life to speak of. Perfectly normal in my eyes. She might be a bit emo but she has a way of playing with the in-crowd. She knows how to talk the talk, but don't always use it. I loved how she makes lists in her head when she has reached a situation she is unsure how to handle. They usually go from a lot of effort to no effort. I do the same sometimes.

Sam - the baker of cakes and pastries. He is slightly depressed with a substance abuse past trying to make something of himself. He really wants to do documentary films but his liar ex comes back into the picture with bad news. Sam is the one with the minor emergency and Penny finds his by accident to help.

Writing
The writing is funny and short with good metaphors but not overcrowded with them.

In the beginning, I felt it jumped around a bit but I got my bearings after a few chapters and didn't have the problem again.

I also really like the weighing options lists which are written for Penny. I liked the insight into her thoughts.

I liked how the text was written in the e-ARC/e-book. sometimes the formatting goes off in the ebook, but not here. It's displayed easily and logically with timeframes where needed.

Summary
This was such a cute (no cringe) book! I loved the writing, the story and the character and I just wanted happiness for them all.

I will pick up other books by Mary H. K. Choi after this. I know she has another book out in the states and maybe I can get my hands on that here in the UK.

I had heard a lot of things about this book before jumping in. Good and bad. I guess in the end, that's kind of how I feel about it. Though my negative points might be stronger.
I liked that it was set in college, really liked the mental health representation. However, I found myself cringing a lot too often. At some lines, at some situations and not in a secondhand embarrassment way. All in all, I was left feeling meh and just wanted to hurry through the whole thing so i could move on. I didn't really connect with the characters despite having some common grounds with them... I don't know why anymore but I just didn't.

I recently read Permanent Record by Mary H K Choi and was blown away and i think if i had read this one first i might have liked it as much but i was unfortunately left a little disappointed.
I didn't connect much with the characters and found them a tiny bit irritating.
The concept however was really interesting and unique and i think overall the plot was pretty good, just not my favourite.

Some novels have horrendous characters to serve a purpose. Authors want us to feel conflicted about the complexity of their nasty characters, and readers want to feel conflicted. Penny Lee is just horrible. She isn't complex, interesting or suffering with a deep-seated issue that makes her a bit of an arse. No. Penny Lee just is one.

I hated this book. I hated it because Penny was a judgmental person, friend and daughter who commented on every single component of other peoples lives and yet cannot stand to be even remotely judged herself. I hated it because Penny had disgustingly ugly ideas about what feminism looks like, what society is and isn't allowed to do and was generally just horrifically blinkered and rude about anyone different to herself - she even slut-shames her mum! Penny is even disparaging of minor things, like lipstick or coffee cups. How a small coffee cup must mean a man is gay I just do not know. Why a woman should feel like she needs to sleep with someone to change the topic of conversation I also do not know. The list of unforgivably naive and insensitive garbage coming from her is utterly endless.

She isn't the kind of unlikable character who you later learn has a reason for it, or who grows out of it. Frankly she just gets worse and her instalove relationship doesn't help. Nor did her initial relationship that was just preventing her from "being lonely". I don't want to read about people using each other without a care in the world; God, she's just awful.

What I do like is that the author includes behaviours and ideas I haven't seen often. I really appreciated her account of panic attacks and how people can genuinely invest time into supporting people who suffer with them instead of, ironically, just being judgmental and telling them to brush it off. I also like how awkward Sam is, apologetically and perhaps unaware of his awkwardness actually; he was a interesting character I think people will relate to.

But nothing makes up for Penny.

ARC provided from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Now, this book was something. I had some mixed feelings, but after a few days of thinking about it and wrapping things up in my mind, I think this was a really, really good book.

Emergency contact follows to main characters, Sam and Penny. I liked both of them from the beginning. Penny is kind of a loner and most people think she’s weird. She has been through a lot, doesn’t like people too much and has a hard time talking about what’s going on inside her. Sam also had a hard life living with his alcoholic mother, a manipulative girlfriend and big dreams. His looks might scream bad boy, but he’s actually the softest boy. The two of them meet through Penny’s roommate, Jude, who is also Sam’s niece. They grow closer after Sam has an anxiety attack and Penny helps him. They don’t tell anyone, basically living inside each other’s phones. It was interesting to read those conversations that showed glimpses of their characters and feelings and their lives the reader doesn’t get to see otherwise. They’re deep, but also funny and informative. They give each other a lot to think about but made me think as well. Penny and Sam soon share a deep bond without ever really seeing each other. That would make things awkward, right?
I liked their development, both their personal ones and their relationship (up until the romance point?). They both find themselves, they grow and learn together. The problem was that I absolutely loved their friendship. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t have put in a romance because Penny and Sam work even better as friends.

The side characters were also pretty cool. They all had very different traits. They felt interesting and real, each having their own goals and motivations. Everyone in this book is very flawed and most characters are super unlikeable (but I liked them anyways).

It wasn’t always easy to read Emergency contact. Some of the topics it discusses are really heavy. The book shows what things can destroy a person or a whole family and how each individual deals with it. It mentions the effects things like rape, poverty or toxic love can have on people. The story also tackles sexism and racism. I more than once either wanted to slap the characters or slap sense into them.

I just… I am at that point again: how do I put feelings into words? Because overall I enjoyed this book, it made me feel so much. But on the other hand it made me feeling weird and a bit angry. Don’t let the pretty, kind of happy cover fool you. Emergency contact is not a happy story. It’s dark and heavy and harsh, but it’s also hopeful and gives you a lot to think about.

I wanted to read something different from what i usually do and i'd heard good things about this one from my friends. Unfortunately it was a major letdown. It began with slut shaming and never improved. That was just the first of many issues i had with this.

I got approved for this Netgalley read days after it was published and it was frustrating as it meant I had to pick it up pretty much immediately. This meant I was not in the mood to read it straight away but I knew I needed o give it a read and I’d wanted to read it as soon as the reviews rolled in when it was published in the US a while back.

Like I said, I was very much not in the mood to read it but nevertheless I persisted and after a bit of skim reading by 30% I was feeling invested and by 70% I was like I need to finish but sleep is important and I pushed through and had a terrible nights sleep by 100% worth it.

There are some things to know here. First off, not a whole lot happens in this book. Like, there are big emotional reveals and exploration of what family means and there's some examination of mental health, addiction, and a bunch of other stuff, but in terms of the actual story, not a lot happens. I struggled with that when I first began reading. I love big character exploration and development but I do struggle when there's not a whole lot of plot and don't realise it going in. Once I adjusted to the slower pace, though, I really grew to love it.

I struggled to connect to the two MCs. Penny was very rigid and I struggled with how quick she was to cut off her mom and people in general. She obviously had some anxiety and later some big things are revealed which help to explain her trust issues when it comes to people but I didn't get her for a while which explains why I was slow to get into this book. Sam was another one I struggled with too. I didn't get why he was so hung up on his ex. It was very obvious to me she was toxic and they shouldn't be together but I appreciated how the big showed him reaching some conclusion in the relationship and he took the steps to move forward. But that meant I struggled with his character too. Especially as he had some addiction and possible mental health problems I don't feel like were fully addressed. A lot of the time the way Sam spoke about himself and his mood I was frustrated as I knew there was more going on I was sad we didn’t get to see more of him getting help. It’s the same way Penny suffered from anxiety, it was mentioned but never addressed. You didn’t see her speaking to anyone about it and I would have liked more promotion for getting help from a therapist in this rather the characters coping alone.

But those are minor grumbles. They didn’t stop me enjoying the book, it just meant I was slower to fully start enjoying it.

Penny and Sam’s story was beautiful. Seeing their friendship slowly develop was brilliant and I loved how quickly they became close with their weird little jokes and the back and forth via text. Yet, you still got to see each of their stories. Penny is adapting to life away from home and her mother. She has spent so long building up to college as being the time she can change and begin to make friends and become herself and get some distance from her mom so it’s a big shock to the system. Penny pushes people away a lot so it was nice seeing her grow closer to Sam and let him in. And then it was nice to see her letting folks in. And Sam found himself connecting with people again who weren’t his toxic ex and finding his passion. He has such a bad time of it with his ex and his mom and that really held him back. I was thrilled seeing him pursuing his passions and getting out of his funk of working and sleeping at the coffee shop. He isolated himself and I loved seeing him let Penny in and much like Penny it looked like they were both ready to move forward and let others in too.

I did like seeing Penny and Sam have their person. There is nothing better than reading a book where you see a character being able to call another for them to show up straight away in an emergency and this was basically the whole concept of this book with both Sam and Penny finding their person they can call.

This probably is a bit of an all over the place review, but this book was so quiet and good and I just enjoyed every page (or at least, every page at the 30% mark).

I had heard wonderful things about Emergency Contact when it was released in the US and have been interested in reading it since, so it’s great to see it being picked up here! I was really drawn in by the concept of a relationship built over text messages, but there is so much more to this book once you get into it. Really interesting concept and format, but some difficult topics being dealt with which I was not expecting and which brought my rating down from a 4.