Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe

by Shelley Coriell

[Angie]

Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe was super cute! It's a light hearted and fun story, but it also cover some series issues without crossing into dark and deep waters. Chloe is shunned by her two BFFs out of the blue, and then her junior project is rejected and she only has a few hours to come up with a new one. Of course, Chloe puts her friendships first, so she's stuck with the project that her guidance counselor assigns her: working at the school's failing radio station.

I immediately adored Chloe (and her shoes). When we first meet her, she's in a burrito costume and vintage high heels! And she's not even complaining about the humiliating costume! She's in her element! This girl is all about the happy. She's not one of those overly perky people who are severely aggravating. She just thinks you should have fun when you can, and wants to make the people around her smile when times are tough. It's not a bad philosophy to have, except that Chloe does have the habit of talking a bit too much and not always hearing what others want or need. Her radio show and just being part of the team help her tackle this issue, and I enjoyed watching her become a better version of herself.

Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe also has a cute romance. Of course, Chloe starts to fall for the quiet guy, Duncan, who does repairs and the more techy stuff for the radio. She helps bring him out of his shell a bit, since he keeps to himself and works way too hard. What I liked best about it was that Chloe puts her feelings out there. She doesn't play games. She likes him, she tells him so, and asks if he likes her in return. She even asks him out instead of waiting for him to ask! It was very refreshing! There is a bit of drama, which I didn't totally get, since it's never fully explained, but compared to all of the aspects I did like it's a small thing.

My only real issue with Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe was Chloe's supposed best friends. While I do agree that it wasn't nice of Chloe to go out with other people when she knew Brie was upset, I do think Brie and Mercedes could have been more understanding. Chloe did apologize and has been trying to be there for them, but they keep pushing her away. And they don't even seem to care that she also has some family issues on hand, specifically her grandma's health (as her BFFs, I have to assume they know how close Chloe is to her grandma). In fact, at one point, Brie laughs at Chloe's grandmother even though it's obvious that something isn't quite right. Let's not even go into the awful rumor she spread about Chloe and a teacher, for no reason other than being malicious. None of this felt believable to me, and I also didn't get why Chloe wanted to remain friends with these girls in the first place. Thankfully, everything worked out in the end, for better or worse.

I really liked Welcome, Caller, This is Chloe. It touches on friendship, family, community, and a few other topics. I loved the radio aspect, since I hadn't read about it before, and it brought back fun memories of watching Radio Free Roscoe on Teen Nick!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.