A Little Something Different

September 8, 2014
Hall debuts with an ambitious but contrived romance, overstuffed with the perspectives of 14 characters, who all hope that college freshman Lea and junior Gabe will become a couple. The novelâthe first title from this crowdsourced YA romance imprintâflits so quickly between characters that it's hard to be persuaded by Lea and Gabe's chemistry. Lea's daring roommate, Maribel, witnesses her "meet cute" with Gabe. Inga is Gabe and Lea's creative writing professor, who "plays Cupid" each semester. Victor is an angry classmate who thinks Lea and Gabe would be less annoying if they would just start dating. A Starbucks barista, a campus bench, and even a squirrel all have their reasons for rooting for these two, but Lea and Gabe's awkward, shy encounters consist mainly of small talk, misunderstandings, and covert glances; other obstacles include another girl's attempts at snagging Gabe and Lea's friend's belief that Gabe is gay. Readers may be more interested to discover why Gabe missed school last semester and lost his scholarship than in the inevitable happy ending. Ages 12âup.