Review: P.S. I Like You by Kasie West

 

P.S. I Like You

by Kasie West

July 26, 2016

304 pages
 

Goodreads  Indigo
 

Goodreads Summary:

What if the person you were falling for was a total mystery?

While Lily is spacing out in Chemistry one day, she picks up her pencil and scribbles a line from one of her favorite songs on the desk. The next day, someone else has written back to her on the desk! Soon enough Lily and the mystery student are exchanging notes, and lyrics, and even sharing secrets. When Lily finds out that her anonymous pen pal is a guy, she's flustered -- and kind of feels like she's falling for him. She and her best friend set out to unravel the identity of the letter writer -- but when the truth is revealed, the guy is the LAST person Lily could have ever imagined it to be. Now that Lily knows the truth, can she untangle her feelings and gather the courage to listen to her heart?

From beloved author Kasie West (The Distance Between Us) comes an utterly charming story about mixed messages, missed connections, and the magic of good old-fashioned secret admirer notes.

 

Review

P.S. I Like You was such an irresistible read! Kasie West books never fail to put me in a good mood. I was very happily turning each of those pages. Sometimes I was nervous for the characters but mostly I laughed and smiled a lot~

I really enjoyed the pacing in P.S. I Like You. The timing of events was near perfection. Each happened naturally and brought Lily a step closer to the identity of her mystery letter writer. Thank you Ms. West for not making us wait till the very end to know. About half way through the book Lily figures out who she's been writing to. We get to see the aftereffects. How Lily reacts to the guy in reality and what it took for her to reveal herself and for him to realize she's the one. The story progression was excellent.

Despite her busy home life (having to help take care of her younger brothers) Lily still manages to find time for her to be herself. She's set on her song-writing future and the letters helped her move forward and learn a few things (about herself and those around her). I loved seeing her go through an array of emotions. Starting with her excitement and anticipation of her secret letter writer. Then the conflict and hesitation after figuring out his identity. The impulse and desire at wanting to be with him. Finally the trepidation and elation for them as something more. Lily was real and relatable.

The identity of Lily's mystery guy was predictable. The thing is, I don't think it's suppose to be a big mystery. There are only so many candidates to make the story plausible. I didn't mind when I figured it out within a few pages of the story. On the contrary, I very much looked forward to seeing the build up to their relationship. Their letters were sincere but it was also obvious they had quite a few things to work out outside of those letters. I loved seeing it happen. The lyrics Lily end up writing, inspired by their letter conversations, were heartfelt. I especially enjoyed the hateful one. It was actually pretty adorable ;)

The book brings out a very human aspect of things. Sometimes actions with the best of intentions in mind may be taken the wrong way. Every person interprets a situation differently and that leads to misunderstandings. In P.S. I Like You, those misunderstandings were fundamental to the conflict the characters felt. I like that they were logical and not angst-y or overdone. The fact that the characters didn't let the feelings go over their heads made me love this book even more.

By now you should all know Kasie West is a must-read author for me. She writes the darn cutest and most addictive contemporary novels. Her paranormal duology is hella awesome too ;) So run and get yourselves some Kasie West now!

*I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinion are my own and not affected in any way.