CW: homophobic language, light racism

I was disappointed by this book. R.V. was not a particularly likeable character. One of two children of Lithuanian immigrant parents living in the US with his brother Ray (age unknown? Acts older but implied to be younger.) R.V. complained a lot but did nothing to fix anything. Apparently he's some kind of genius and brags about doing well in school and enjoying homework and reading difficult books. He also complained a lot about all the "Lith stuff" that his parents were involved in but I thought it was great that his parents are so in touch with their culture.

Also considering that he's pondering his own sexuality R.V.'s attitudes were quite homophobic. He was very dismissive about his teacher for being swishy, limp-wristed, femme and having a high voice. Said teacher is not even confirmed to be gay at this point. That comes later after a homophobia based attack which is then brushed off. No mention of reporting it or anything.

Overall I just found this book flat and boring. The diary style doesn't work particularly well, why would you explain stuff about your language and culture that you already know in your own diary? Also the ending was very abrupt, I guess to get people to read the sequel. Sorry but book one did not draw me in enough to warrant reading the second.

I wanted to love this title. Wanted it to be as good as its premise promised.

However, even though it's message is important, the way it was delivered, didn't work for me, personally.

I found the language used to be quite hard to get into, it didn't flow from scene to scene and it felt a little disjointed.

I can see what the author was going for and I think it could be quite a powerful read. However, for me, it wasn't quite there.

It was a littel so and so. So damn much info-dump i can`t even.
It was interesting coming to age and finding yourself.
But very telling not showing and giving information when it was not needed.

Unfortunately, the writing style of this book ruined the experience for me. It was extremely hard to get through. Too much telling and not showing, and the diary-style led to back-and-forths in the narrative that were tiring to follow, let alone the fact that especially during the beginning a lot of the information was... really not needed. In addition, the gay stereotypes and homophobia made the beginning extremely hard to swallow, and no matter how it was handled later and the reasons for it, I don't think I would have continued with it if I didn't have to review it.

I don't read a lot of YA books, but was completely charmed by this book. We meet RV, a 15-year-old with a foot in two different worlds. As the child of Lithuanian immigrants, he lives with expectations that he will revere his heritage and immerse himself in Lith social activities. And as a typical American teenager, he's got a whole set of worries, including wondering if he might be gay.

"Not that I am gay for certain. I'm just saying it's crossed my mind because .... well, because I think about guys sometime. And I notice them. Notice how they look when they're coming down the street. Notice their eyes or their hair or the way they move. Just notice them."

Written in a diary format, we get an insight into RV's freshman year at the very competitive Boston Latin School. RV's first girlfriend is Carole and while he is thrilled that he is "making out with a girl and feeling her up like other guys do," he is much more interested in friendship with Bobby Marshall, who plays football and is one of the popular guys. As RV gets to know Bobby, he realizes that Bobby's life is not perfect - he's under tremendous pressure from his parents to succeed - and he is also realizing he is gay.

There is little more than a kiss or two (other than RV's make-up sessions with Carole where he marvels that she really had a lot of colorful bras ....) and the book ends at the end of the school year. I really enjoyed this first book in the series and will definitely read the next book "Why Can't Freshman Summer Be Like Pizza?" 4 stars.

Why Can't Life be Like Pizza was a DNF for me. I just didn't like the storyline or characters enough to finish it.

This is a solid, clean entry into LGBTQ fiction for teens. RV is the son of Lithuanian immigrants, stuck between his life in American and the old country traditions and beliefs his parents hold onto. He becomes friends with Bobby, a soft-spoken, introspective athlete who doesn't behave like the other jocks do. RV and Bobby both feel as through they know something is sparking but aren't willing to completely give into it. RV seems a little more aware and accepting of himself that Bobby is, at least for now.

This title doesn't anything anything new or earth-shattering to this rapidly growing sub-genre of teen angst, however, there is a place for this book on the shelves of large teen collections where stories with LGBTQ protagonists are in high demand. A sequel will follow.

This is a great story for teens who are dealing with defining (or not defining) their sexuality. The start of the book is slow, but it gets better. The way that RV combs through his life with trying to stick to the shadows and not be noticed made my heart ache for him. When he gets closer to Bobby, you can't help but want it to work out. But can RV navigate his feelings (and perhaps mutal feelings back?) from Bobby and his home life. I loved how RV came into his own and stopped trying to just not bring attention to himself.

A great read and I'm so glad it's a series so we will be able to read more of the Pizza Chronicles. Thank you to Ninestar Press for the opportunity to review.

I really enjoyed reading this - it was fresh and touchy.
Overall a wonderful story dealing with the age old issue of finding your place in the world.

I swear I didn’t know that this book was part of a series when I read it. I didn’t even know it was part of a series by the time I finished it. I honestly didn’t know it was part of a series until I started to put the pieces together to write this review. Which wouldn’t matter normally, but one of the first things I thought when I finished Why Can’t Life Be Like Pizza? was that it just kind of ended and there was so much more that I not only wanted to know, but things that I wanted resolved. Needless to say, I feel much better now. 😉

Being inside RV’s head throughout this story was an interesting place to be. Which brings me to another point, this story is pretty much ALL in RV’s head. In other words, this is a story that is “told” be RV. There is little to no “showing”, which will be a stickler for some readers. It didn’t bother me much, but I felt it was worth mentioning.

RV is one of those “real” characters. He is far from perfect and he knows it. He’s awkward, but sincere, most of the time. He’s embarrassed by his family, which every teenager is from time to time. He wants to be normal, but what exactly is normal? Which is something that RV discovers as he’s trying to come to terms with who he is.

I really liked spending time with RV as well as his friends and family. Pizza, and more importantly, the location of said pizza, played an important role in Why Can’t Life Be Like Pizza? and I loved the connection. Now that I know that there’s more to come, I can’t wait to continue The Pizza Chronicles. 😉

Did Not Finish

This book is... garbage? Bad? Sucky? I don't know the right words to use. The writing is bad, infodumps all over the place. The dialogue is completely unrealistic. I did not get far enough to read anything good about the identity crisis RV is having; this part would be the only somewhat relatable and likeable thing about this book. And I'm only writing a review now because I wanted to forget about this book for so long. This is a getting-it-out-of-the-way review.

I will not try to read this again, nor will I ever recommend it to anybody.

I feel like the narration could have used a bit more tweaking at times, because I personally prefer being shown details/information rather than told. But RV as a character was great, and I feel like a lot of people will benefit from reading this sweet story.

I had such high hopes for this, but I'm disappointed in its execution.

RV is 14, the son of Lithuanian immigrants, and a freshman at a very demanding Boston high school. To deal with all the pressures in his life, he keeps a journal on the refurbished computer his parents bought him. Between worrying about school and the state of his parents' marriage, RV's main source of trouble is himself: he has started to suspect that he might be gay. Seeing how the other students treat their gay Latin teacher isn't exactly helping RV come to terms with his suspicion. When he starts dating Carole, he thinks his problem is solved. But then he starts to develop feelings for Bobby, the star athlete at his school. And RV thinks that Bobby might be gay too.

I had a hard time connecting to the characters, mainly because of the writing style. The story is told in a diary format, with the main character relaying everything that happened to us after the fact. Unfortunately, the writing felt very forced and the dialogues were unrealistic. I did like the way the issue of identity was touched on in this book.

An enjoyable coming of age story touching on issues like identity -cultural & individual and sexuality. A lovely read with a relatable and likeable lead in RV, he’s cute , awkward and geeky. It’s just a great read.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This is a really nice coming of age story - in a kinda diary style. We follow RV while he experienced his first year of high school
RV is so cute and adorable. He just wants to fit into the crows of people. I really liked his voice and the Humor in it to tackle some serious problems.
It’s just so nice to be at his side while he is trying to figure out his identity and sexuality.
If you look for a sweet read with an adorable 14 years old boy, figuring out his way into life - this one is for you..

Let me begin by saying that I'm not the intended audience for this book. It's classified as a Young Adult novel - and much as I wish I was, I'm not one anymore.

Let's see! RV is a young teen when the novel begins. He's got a lot going on in his life and in his head all the time. His character was great, constantly bouncing back and forth between emotions and thoughts. It seemed quite authentic to me.! Being a teenager can be a bit overwhelming. RV takes to writing everything down in a journal so that he can try to understand himself.

He's Lithuanian and struggles to find his identity as a result of that. Is he just American? Does he have to do all the "Lith" traditions that his parents insist upon? At the same time as he struggles with his cultural identity, he begins to wonder about his sexual identity.

This was the part at which, for me, I thought the voice slipped a little. I felt as though I was reading a middle-school-aged character rather than a teenager. While RV is a terrific character, he reads as much younger in my mind. That's okay, it's just that I think it may make it more difficult for older teens to connect with this book.

Many of RV's struggles seem "typical" of teenagers and some are unique. He's been raised to be very religious and wonders what "the big guy," thinks of the "gay" feelings that he's been having. for his age, he is quite open with his thoughts and feelings.

It's a good story, biographical, and RV is a great character.

I love RV. He is an adorably awkard, cute, funny and nerdy kid. I loved Bobby too. I esoecially found how they came out to each other very cute.

We follow shy kid Arvydas as he attempts to come to terms with his sexuality via his journal entries. rv's family might not be very supportive, but I like how he found a support system outside home.

Despite this, there is unfortunately not much new this book brings to the table.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. Unfortunately, I did not start this book and I may come back to review it in the near future.