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I'll be honest with you -- when I picked up The Art of Lainey, I wasn't really in the mood for a contemporary romance. The last 10+ books I'd read before this one were fantasy, or at least a little bit supernatural or sci-fi or whatever. I literally picked this book up because I didn't know what to read next, and it was sitting within arm's reach.
So, as I said, I wasn't specifically in the mood for a contemp when I picked this up. You know what I was in the mood for?
A really good book. And that's exactly what The Art of Lainey is.
The premise of The Art of Lainey is pretty simple - Lainey's boyfriend, Jason, breaks up with her, so she and her best friend study The Art of War to find ideas and tactics for how Lainey can win Jason back. One of these tactics is to exploit enemies' weaknesses, so Lainey decides to try and make Jason jealous - by dating someone else. Enter Micah Foster, the prep-cook at the little coffee shop Lainey's dad owns (and where Lainey also works)... and you've got a recipe for awesomeness.
The characters in this book are all fantastic - from Lainey and Micah, to the secondary characters (if you can even call them that), like Lainey's best friend Bianca, and all the parents (all of them)... Everywhere you look, the characters are just... so good.
Lainey herself surprised me more than I ever would've expected. Not that she did anything surprising, specifically - it was just that her character development and changing mentality throughout the book was just so perfect and huge, yet subtly done and believable. Lainey goes from realistic annoying popular-girl - not overly cliche, not over-the-top silly, just very aware of her image and needing other people to view her a certain way - to the kind of character I really admire: someone who is so much more self-aware, is willing to admit faults, and who wants to be themselves and stay true to their own values. Throughout the book, Lainey is battling how she views herself, and also how she views (and judges) other people. This is most obvious in her relationship with Micah, but also in the way she views her ex-boyfriend, her boyfriend's sister, and Micah's own sister. It's so interesting to see her views of all of these characters change so slowly yet drastically over the course of the book.
I think what surprised me the most about Lainey was that she didn't make me want to DNF the book in the beginning. I still do not like the person Lainey was at first, in all her popular-girl glory. But there was so much subtle development happening right under my nose and I didn't even realize it until it until I was hopelessly hooked.
"You look upset."
"Upset how?" [...]
"Upset like maybe you discovered that soccer guy you worship is actually a robot, designed and operated by the people who create boy bands."- ARC of The Art of Lainey, pg 285
The one constant in Lainey's life is Bianca, who has been BFFs with Lainey since they were in kindergarten or first or second grade or something. A long time. And Bianca is probably my favorite best-friend character ever. Oftentimes, the "best friends" aren't really all that great - they're either not as awesome as they appear to be, or they're there to cause tension, or they offer meaningless support. Bianca is an amazing character in her own right, though. She's supportive of Lainey, wants Lainey to be happy, helps her when she needs it, and best of all, she teaches Lainey what it means to be a true friend when she most needs the reminder (in stark contrast to Lainey's ex's sister, ugh).
"We've spent the last two and a half years together, Bianca. I don't even know who I would be without him."
"You would be my amazing friend, Lainey," Bee says vehemently. "The same person you've been since second grade. Seriously. You don't need Jason to define you."- ARC of The Art of Lainey, pg 51
As for Micah... I can't even talk about Micah. XD I just want to devolve into ALL CAPS AND KEYSMASHASLDKFJA FLAILS but I will try to contain myself. ;) In all honesty, in addition to being totally swoon-worthy, Micah showed a true depth that I think is sort of rare in contemporary-romance-guys, especially the sort of prickly (at first), sort of bad-boy guys that are so popular these days. I really wasn't sure about him myself, in the beginning. I actually had serious doubts that I would fall for him like I knew Lainey would. ...Ohhhh man was I wrong. Just like Lainey, as we learned more about Micah and saw the kind of guy he is underneath the tough and extremely snarky exterior, I fell for him, too. Plus, he was never unbelievably tough or cartoonishly self-assured, as quite a few guys are portrayed. He's not everything that he appears to be on the outside, and this came across really well. #ijustlovemicahokayomg
"You're like this punk-rock baker," I say, shaking my head.
"What's wrong with that?"
"A bit of a contradiction, don't you think?"
[...] Micah looks hard at me for a moment as we reach our cars. [...] "Most people are."- ARC of The Art of Lainey, pg 129
Finally, my absolute favorite thing about the entire book was Lainey and Micah's banter. XD From the first time they interacted (when, admittedly, they Did Not Get Along), up until the very last page, Lainey and Micah had me smiling through the entire book. In fact, I don't think I've smiled so constantly throughout a book since The Art of Wishing, over a year ago. There was just something so funny and cute and chemistry-filled and refreshing about Lainey and Micah's dialog and attitudes toward each other. They're not sappy-cute, there's not Tons Of Drama - they're just sort of... more themselves when they're with each other. They make each other happy. I mean, at first they just get on each others' nerves, but I was smiling all over those scenes too. They were funny, and they obviously had a great repartee. And it just gets better and better as the book goes on.
In conclusion...
GET THEE TO A BOOKSTORE AND BUY THIS BOOK. Seriously guys, I'm not sure if I made my point adequately above, but The Art of Lainey is one of my all-time favorite contemporaries now. Lainey's character development is SUPERB, Lainey and Micah are TO DIE FOR, the whole Art of War thing is SOOOO well-done throughout the book... just... yes. Love. Go. Buy.
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