Review: Texting Tyler

Texting Tyler by Rebecca Rembish
Date Published: August 29, 2012
Genre: YA Contemporary Romance
Review Copy: I received a copy from Reading Addiction Blog Tours. I was not compensated for this review. My opinions are my own.
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Synopsis:

Christopher Clarke is the nicest guy Amy Fallon has ever met. He is handsome, smart, funny, an all-around great guy. Tyler Clarke is hot. So why is Amy, one of the smartest girls in school, so clueless when it comes to realizing who she is truly falling in love with? Or better yet, who’s falling in love with her.

Amy is forced to spend the week at her grandmother’s house in Arizona. She returns home to New York with a closer bond to her grandmother, with a best friend who she adores and with a boyfriend who she believes is everything she has ever dreamed of. After months of communication with the two new men in her life, things finally seem to be falling in to place for Amy. That is, until she starts to realize whom her heart is truly longing for. When she returns to Arizona almost a year later, things don’t go quite as planned when she is blindsided not only by the death of her grandmother, but learns the truth behind the text messages from Tyler. With time, and a little help from her grandmother’s memory we are able to see if her broken heart can heal and get Amy back on the course she was destined for.

♥ ♥ ♥

Tyler is a moron.

Okay, that’s rude, in his defense by the end of the book I no longer hate him, but still. Rebecca Rembish did an amazing job with the characters in this story. Texting Tyler is one of the most original concepts for a young adult contemporary romance I’ve seen in a while. Amy Fallon is an insecure, inexperienced teenager and she’s very much naïve when it comes to how things work in the world of teenage friendship and romance.

Rembish did a really amazing job of capturing what it’s like to be a teenager with insecurities and how that affects the way they see things and how they go about doing things. Then on the other side of things you have characters like Chris Clarke. He’s also very down to earth and thinks he isn’t the best looking guy around, but unlike Amy I feel he has a lot more confidence in the person he is.


Chris doesn’t dwell on the fact that he might not be the most attractive person out there and even though his brother Tyler treats him terrible he doesn’t ever retaliate. He’s a good person and he has amazing friends. Something Amy is pretty short on. She looks down on herself and thinks she’s fat even though there’s nothing in the book that implies she is.

When Chris and Amy first meet the connection between them was palpable and I like how everything isn’t perfect right off the bat because that would have been unrealistic. Instead of skipping the normal getting to know you stuff like most authors’ Rembish dives right into the awkward moments a reveals in them. I loved how close they got and didn’t even realize it.

Now as I said before I really loved Amy, I did but when she kissed Tyler after how awful we’ve seen him be throughout the story I was so frustrated with her because she’s not a stupid girl. She had every intention of kissing Chris I know she did, but her insecurities once again got the best of her and made her think he didn’t want her, which if she looked at things rationally she would know he did. Then again when are teenagers who claim to be in love ever rational?

Exactly, trust me I’ve been there. The rest of the book is a whirlwind of lies, misinformation, and tears. There are so many things I enjoyed about this book; Dana, she was awesome, Grams, the coolest old lady ever, Vito, and the total mockage of the Jersey Shore. Yes I live in Jersey, no we do not all act like those idiots from the TV show (who aren't even from Jersey to begin with).

This story totally hooked me and reeled me in making me take this journey with Amy and Chris while they tried to figure out who they were while trying to decide what they felt. There was also an incredibly sad part, which I will not give away, but oh my god I think I was a little crushed inside.



All in all this story was pretty amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who’s ever felt out of place or like they were the ugly duckling out of everyone they knew. This was a great coming of age story about what happens when we make mistakes and let our insecurities take over. Definitely give this one a read!