All Our Worst Ideas

by Vicky Skinner

[Sam@WLABB]

Amy had been on the road to Stanford for years now. She just needed to lock up the valedictorian spot and win a generous scholarship. Oliver was taking a gap year, because he didn't feel college was in his future. Though they had very different goals and were on divergent paths, they are brought together by their love of music, and may find they are actually a perfect match.

I have enjoyed Skinner's other two novels, but this one, this was my FAVORITE! It's a full-blown love story, where two people find that "someone". The person who accepts them, supports them, and offers them unconditional love. I was expecting to be swept away by the romance, but didn't expect the beauty and the depth of this union to touch my heart the way it did.

I feel like I was supposed to see this as an opposite-attracts situation, but in reality, Amy and Oli had quite a few things in common. Both came from families that were complicated though loving. They were also surrounded by people, who expected them to be something or someone they couldn't be. Their situations just reinforced how wonderful it was that they were able to find their "person", the one who welcomed them as-is. They didn't want to change them or make them into something else, they simply wanted them. It's easy to lose sight of how important that is sometimes, and I was so happy with the way Skinner explored this side of a relationship.

Obviously, I was a super fan of Amy+Oliver, but I loved many other things about this story. I am going to be upfront with you -- I was all about those Empire Records vibes. Though the record store staff in the book was much smaller, it still had that quality of family and "my people" that made me want to get a job there.

It was the combination of music, friendship, drama, and romance which endeared this book to my heart. It was being able to accompany Amy and Oliver on their personal journeys, as well as getting the opportunity to see them slowly fall in love. And as if that wasn't enough, Skinner gave me everything I needed with that ending. Thank you! Thank you, Vicky Skinner! All Our Worst Ideas filled my head with music and my heart with joy.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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