Being Jamie Baker

by Kelly Oram

[ladygrey]

Very close to 3.5 stars. This book is absolutely adorable and fun. Jamie is the sort of character who would normally drive me crazy because she's all angry and obstinate, but hearing the really rational and understandable thoughts behind her behavior kept me from being aggravated at all.

And you can't not love Ryan Miller. Despite how many times [a:Kelly Oram|3203095|Kelly Oram|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1259810020p2/3203095.jpg] tells you that every girl loves Ryan Miller, you still love him. Not because he's handsome and charming and therefore, obviously, perfect. But because he's not perfect. He's cute when he's angry and frustrated. He's vulnerable and stupid and completely annoying and immature and really sweet about it. And terribly amusing when he's witty. Of all the perfect boyfriend characters in literature these days, he manages to be both perfect and all too human.

Plot-wise it's a lot like Twilight and [b:Starcrossed|9462795|Starcrossed (Starcrossed, #1)|Josephine Angelini|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1358266716s/9462795.jpg|10862992] (or maybe I just think that because of the electricity angle). I liked the pace and how it moved (mostly). At first I thought it didn't end when it was supposed to, but that final sequence really did finish out the story nicely. And I loved how it came back around again. I don't know if it's picking on an indie book to say that it could have used a little more polish, in the presentation and in the editing. There was a glibness to the whole super powers thing that didn't quite settle for me. If felt... too easy, slightly contrived. Which is a difficult criticism to make because I liked the story - I wouldn't change what it is. And I didn't need more explanation or scientific details on how it all happened. That wasn't the issue. But there was a flippancy, maybe, to it. A convenience that kept me from really embracing this world as a world and not just a story about super powers as a superficial plot device. I didn't need it to be anything different than what it was; I would have liked it to be integrated a bit more seamlessly.

But other than that, I had a lot of fun reading this book. I really liked all the characters. I liked the depth they had when things weren't what they seemed and when it was funny. I liked the way things changed and how very sweet and cute it was.