(ARC) REVIEW • Much Ado About Nothing with Geek Cuteness! (The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson)

[note note_color=”#9E8DA5″ text_color=”#000000″]The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson • May 17, 2016 • St. Martin’s Griffin
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Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West–and his horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing–down to number four.

Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben’s, including give up sleep and comic books–well, maybe not comic books–but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it’s time to declare a champion once and for all.

The war is Trixie’s for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben’s best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben’s cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie’s best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they’re on–and they might not pick the same side.[/note]

[note note_color=”#BFD1D1″ text_color=”#ffffff”]I received this book for free from St. Martin’s Griffin for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.[/note]

First sentence: “Ben West spent summer vacation growning a handlebar mustache. “

Who wants a modernized retelling of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing? ME. (And you, hopefully.)

THIS BOOK IS SO FRICKIN’ CUTE!

Set in a private school for the extremely gifted called Messina Academy, Trixie Watson and Ben West have been at war—academically and personally—since they were kids, taking any chance they get the best of the other and trade insults. But once their best friends get together, they try to make nice and cool their rivalry, and when they do, they find themselves having things in common: the geek fandoms they’re into. Can Trixie and Ben really be friends despite their issues and the cheating scandal?

What you get in The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You are cute geekery fun, a pair of characters who share a very fierce rivalry, clever insults and banter, fabulous friendships, a cheating scandal that threatens to break friendships, and so much more goodness you’ll find delightful!

You Should Read The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You Because…

• It’s so cute!

Everything about The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You is so darn cute! The characters, the friendships, the geek references, the insults, it’s so brilliant. It’s the light and fluffy that will pull you out of any funk you’re in.

• It’s inspired by Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing!

You want a modern retelling of this classic Shakespeare play? Here’s The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You!

It’s an absolutely delightful retelling of Much About Nothing! Readers get to see so many things that will remind them of the play like the similar names (Beatrice and Benedict), the bantering, and various scenes like the betrayal scene of their friends’ romance that have been modernized to fit the contemporary setting. It’s brilliant. I didn’t realize until I finished the book that it was inspired by it, and it was not surprising I enjoyed this book so much (because I loved that play).

• You enjoy great banter and the enemies-to-lovers trope.

These are two of my favorite things to read! Do you know how fast I fall in love with these? Very quickly. (If it’s written well.)

The enemies-to-lovers trope is even more satisfying when you read that Trixie and Ben have known each other since they were kids. It took one push from the monkey bars to put them at war with each other. Any chance these characters get, they will try to hit each other where it hurts—moustaches, parents, school ranking, geek cred, whatever it takes.

The banter is top notch. Every time Trixie and Ben trade insults or just banter about fandom, I’m just like DAMN HOW DO YOU COME UP WITH THEM. They don’t ping pong back and forth continuously in an unrealistic manner. They’d trade insults that are sometimes really clever and sharp, and other times, their insults are weak and ineffective. It shows so much chemistry between the two.

• These characters constantly make references to awesome geek things like comics and shows.

Holy geekery cuteness! The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You has characters who make a lot of references to comics like Buffy, X-Men, Saga, and tv shows/movies like Doctor Who and Star Wars. It’s a beautiful geek fest. The references aren’t thrown out constantly in an overwhelming amount. It’s talked about in a manner that you can see how passionate these characters are about their fandom. You will definitely appreciate all the discussions and clever lines about their geekery.

• So many great friendships are in this.

Two groups of friends—Trixie’s crew (Trixie, Harper, Meg) and Ben’s crew (Ben, Cornell, Peter)—are brought together when Harper and Cornell start going out. And that’s one of the best things their romance brings. The two groups are adorable when they are together! From their lunch room discussions to their text messages, they’ve created a cute geek family. However, when trouble arises, you see how fiercely loyal to their group, and it’s really touching to see that.

• The mystery of the cheating scandal adds a bit of suspense that goes perfectly with the book.

A cheating scandal arises, knocking many seniors from their positions in the Mess’s school ranking and causing lots of rumors and suspicion to float around. When Harper is accused of masterminding the cheating hacks, it is up to Trixie to prove Harper’s innocence. This is an excellent plot line that modernizes the “betrayal” (which we see in Shakespeare’s play as Harper’s counterpart, Hero, being accused of being unfaithful), so that it fits a contemporary young adult audience. I love that it forces everybody to take a side, and shows where the loyalty lies. And when all is revealed, it speaks a lot about friendships, which I love.

Should you read The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You? YES YOU SHOULD. You should read this because you love Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing and how Lily Anderson retells it; appreciate fabulously banter0y characters who can trade clever lines about comics and movies; love geek things like X-Men comics, Doctor Who show, or Star Wars movies; enjoy reading the enemies-to-lovers trope; and want something really cute and light to read to lift your spirits.

If any of these reasons fit what you love to read about, The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You should be your next read immediately. Let this delightful book be a pick-me-up when you’re down.