Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This was such a good book. I’ve only just started reading YA/Teen books and feel that this one was definitely better than any adult fiction I’ve read this year. The plot was great and I really fell in love with the main characters. Definitely worth a read

BOOK REVIEW: Emergency Contact by Mary @choitotheworld

4.5 stars

Trigger warnings: A description of rape, alcoholism, problematic parenting.

This blew me away! What an amazing book! This was and way better than I was expecting.
Emergency Contact is based around the lives of Sam, a 21 year old cook who wants to be a film maker and Penny, an 18 year old student that wants to be a writer.
It is possibly the most character driven book that I have ever read and I adored it! Penny is a little dark, very organised (loved that about her) and also pretty shy and introverted. Sam is complex, loyal, cute and wonderfully talented. They are both overthinkers and incredibly smart which makes the conversations a joy to read.
It is a romance but also SO much more than a romance. It is two people finding their own slice of happy despite all their problems and life altering changes. I loved watching to see how they would cope with it all. It is raw and emotional and almost poetic.
I loved it. If you like contemporary books, read this (it came out yesterday so go get it now!).

Thank you to @netgalley @atombooks @littlebrown for gifting this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

[ I received a copy on Netgalley in return for an honest review. ]

'Emergency Contact' is a young adult contemporary novel that centers around the lives of Penny and Sam as they each cope with different life changing events. For Penny it's moving away from home for college, and for Sam it's his relationship with his now ex girlfriend, Lorraine.

First and foremost, I would just like to say that I absolutely loved how the main characters interacted with each other. Whether it be through text, or in real life, their conversations were just so interesting and fun to read and I really liked how they could go from talking about smart/sophisticated things to random topics like "pie or cake". You honestly couldn't help but root for them to get together because they were so PERFECT for each other! 😍

I wasn't as keen with the other characters in the story at first, because they all felt rather cold and distant from the MCs, (especially Penny). But I soon realised that it was sort of just a reflection of how the MCs viewed these other characters because as soon as they began to warm up to them so did I. They became much more loveable and interesting, and by the end of the novel I pretty much adored every character. 💕

In general, I really liked the whole idea of having an "emergency contact" and I thought the book was extremely well written.
The ending did feel somewhat rushed to me though, but that might just be because I didn't want to part with these characters just yet. 🙈

Definitely recommend this if you're looking for a short, romance ya! 😊
I'm looking forward to reading Mary H. K. Choir's other books.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

I went into this expecting very little and I, surprisingly, really enjoyed it.
The two main characters were so relatable for me - Penny just reminded me of me when I was her age and I connected with Sam more than I have for any character in a long time. Despite there not being a huge amount going on with regards to the plot, I found the character development to be exceptional and really enjoyed the text formatting of their conversations.
There were parts that did make me cringe a little (who the hell calls their own mother a MILF??) but I kinda feel that it adds to the awkwardness of the characters and the overall vibe of the book. We all have to admit that the cover is absolutely stunning; I'm hoping to purchase a physical copy for myself soon!

If you're in the mood for a YA contemporary that is delightfully awkward but with some underlying dark tones, then I would recommend this book to you.
Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

Here is a book that is totally out of my comfort zone. I’m still slightly unsure how I feel about this book. It’s very modern in its use language. Maybe I’m a little old for this lol. But I do enjoy reading YA books.
Sadly not for me.

A cute and entertaining book, well written and with a cast of fleshed out characters.
I liked the style of writing, the cast of characters and the engrossing plot.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The publisher, Atom/Little, Brown Book Group UK, kindly offered me an advanced reader copy (ARC) of Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi via NetGalley. Yet, this is an honest review of the book expressing my humble opinion.

I was really excited about this book because the premise sounded so original and because we desperately need more YA ownvoices contemporary books. Sadly, this book wasn't for me.

I don't want to give any spoilers, but around 5% Sam described his boss using words like "enormous Greek with forearms the size of barrels" and "He reminded Sam a little of Donkey Kong". It made me feel very uncomfortable to read about a character being described as a gorilla character. This was the first instance I actually took a step back and reread the part. In another scene, they were discussing about non-Black writers writing about slave lynching, and the main character narrated the answer from her heart was yes, even though she didn't voice it to her Black teacher. A discussion followed with the teacher steering them toward the right direction, but the right answer didn't come through at the end, and as a reader, I didn't see if the main character changed her mind or what the students thought at the end. I found this troubling. But what I didn't like about this book was the amount of backstory. It felt like it was too much, which caused many and frequent diversions from the main plot, and I had a hard time distinguishing the backstory from the main scene when it was time to get back into it. Many transitions were hard to understand, and with so much backstory, it was hard to stay in tune with the main plot.

Apart from these three things, I mainly felt this wasn't for me. I liked how the main couple became good friends first and I liked how this was done in an unconventional way. It felt original and authentic. I also liked the dynamics between the main character and her mom as well as her friends. In fact, I liked the main character a lot. She's relatable, authentic, realistic, and I liked her as a person. I also loved that the author weaved in details about racism and micro-aggressions.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book, but it didn't really resonate with me, especially with those two troubling parts and the amount of backstory.

However, I'm actually looking forward to reading the author's second book, Permanent Record.

3 stars – ⭐⭐⭐

Author: Mary H. K. Choi
Publisher: Atom/Little, Brown Book Group UK