Novel Review: A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: YA/NA Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Swoon Reads (Feiwel and Friends)

Release Date: August 26, 2014

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Wishlist Thursday. Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

 The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together. Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out.  But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. Their creative writing teacher pushes them together. The baristas at Starbucks watch their relationship like a TV show. Their bus driver tells his wife about them. The waitress at the diner automatically seats them together. Even the squirrel who lives on the college green believes in their relationship.

Surely Gabe and Lea will figure out that they are meant to be together....

The Cover:

I really like this cover. I think it's cute, the colors work really well and the image represents the book perfectly. It gives the right feel. And the physical book even has a nice texture.

Quote:

• "'Though I don’t know, I feel like something gets lost in translation by not waiting until you’re twenty-one.’” (Paperback, pg. 120) [Commented on using a fake ID to drink before legal age.]

Review:

I enjoyed this book, don’t get me wrong, but I kind of expected to love it a lot more.

This is a love story about Gabe and Lea, two college students who seem to have a lot in common. Only it’s told from fourteen points of view, not including theirs, but starring Lea’s roommate, Gabe’s brother, Gabe's best friend, a squirrel, their creative writing teacher, among several others.

I do think their story was told rather well. You got to see some of their thoughts, as well as see how everyone else was reacting to them, including everyone believing they belong together. I enjoyed meeting all the other characters, seeing their sides of the story, although I think I was hoping to see more of their own lives intermingled with their thoughts on Lea and Gabe’s. And while I do think that Lea and Gabe’s story was portrayed pretty well, I do think that not including Lea and Gabe’s own thoughts on what was happening was a missed opportunity. It could have given the story a more rounded view, I think.

Still, I thought this was a cute story. I enjoyed Lea’s roommate, Gabe’s brother and best friend, the Chinese delivery guy, and the squirrel was cute. I thought that the way Gabe’s past was hinted at before being revealed was pretty well done.

I wanted to like this more, but I still think it was pretty good, and it was a neat way of telling the story. I look forward to reading the other Swoon Reads books set to be released. Some of them sound very interesting, and I’m intrigued by this new label, to see what kind of stories come from it.