If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka

If I’m Being Honest
by EmilyWibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5
Check it Out: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N

High school senior Cameron Bright’s reputation can be summed up in one word: bitch. It’s no surprise she’s queen bee at her private L.A. high school—she’s beautiful, talented, and notorious for her cutting and brutal honesty. So when she puts her foot in her mouth in front of her crush, Andrew, she fears she may have lost him for good.

In an attempt to win him over, Cameron resolves to “tame” herself, much like Katherine in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. First, she’ll have to make amends with those she’s wronged, which leads her to Brendan, the guy she labelled with an unfortunate nickname back in the sixth grade. At first, Brendan isn’t all that receptive to Cameron’s ploy. But slowly, he warms up to her when they connect over the computer game he’s developing. Now if only Andrew would notice…

But the closer Cameron gets to Brendan, the more she sees he appreciates her personality—honesty and all—and wonders if she’s compromising who she is for the guy she doesn’t even want.

This book was cute and would make a great summer read. With that being said, I just didn’t love this as much as I was expecting to. I think that so many people are going to love and enjoy this book though. I just had some issues with the characters and that’s why my rating couldn’t be higher than what it is.

Cameron, oh Cameron. While I really wanted to love her and cheer for her, but I couldn’t find myself caring enough about her. I get that she had things going on in her life, some pretty crappy things. However, just because you have crappy things going on in your life, that doesn’t allow you to be cruel. Some of the things she said and did were completely uncalled for.

I did enjoy how Taming the Shrew was a big part of this and how they were actually reading in their English class. It went really well Cameron’s story arc. I’ve had a lot of life realization moments while reading a story of fiction. I don’t see anything wrong with being honest and outspoken. It’s just all in the way you deliver your words. That’s all Cameron needed to change. Some of the things she said were harsh when it wasn’t called for. Since this book is all about being honest, let me say this. I don’t think she really redeemed herself at the end. Okay, too honest?

Andrew really made me want to thump him in the forehead. I didn’t really see how Cameron thought that they had anything in common except for running. He acted like he was such a good person but looked down on Cameron for how she was. He claimed that he always like her but he couldn’t have. He just liked the idea of her, of dating her. I basically didn’t like that he thought his ass was the sun.

The best part and person of this entire book was Brendan. From the moment he told her “not interested” I knew I wanted to protect him. His heart was pure and I honestly think that Cameron didn’t deserve him. THERE, I said it! 

If I overlooked the characters, I would say everything else here was really good! I did like the friendships and the humor here. We also get a group that is obsessed with Rocky Horror! Can I get a “YAS QUEEN” for that?! 

Overall, you can see that I had a few issues with it. However, I still hope that you try it out if you are interested in reading it. It’s still a good story and has a good message.

✨This is a BR with the lovely Melanie over at Meltotheany.

✨I read an advanced copy of this title.✨

---