Joya Goffney: Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry (2021, HarperCollins Publishers)
English language
Published Dec. 28, 2021 by HarperCollins Publishers.
Such a good YA contemporary (not my fav genre), loved the characters, the romance, the high school drama, the messages and conversations, and this is a debut, Joya Goffney you queen
This was an adorable romance with a side helping of serious topics. I guess it’s been compared to To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before but I liked this one a lot more. Quinn’s to do list gets leaked, which in itself includes the fact that she lied about getting into Columbia, something she doesn’t want to admit to her parents. The boy who lost her journal offers to help her with her tasks, even though they are hostile to each other at the start.
Quinn attends a school where the majority of students are white, and racism plays a part in several events. Her father has his own issues with race to face, when he first spots Carter in his house he reacts as if he’s a criminal. Quinn never has black friends over, and despite being black himself, he still has underlying prejudices.
She also has to come …
This was an adorable romance with a side helping of serious topics. I guess it’s been compared to To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before but I liked this one a lot more. Quinn’s to do list gets leaked, which in itself includes the fact that she lied about getting into Columbia, something she doesn’t want to admit to her parents. The boy who lost her journal offers to help her with her tasks, even though they are hostile to each other at the start.
Quinn attends a school where the majority of students are white, and racism plays a part in several events. Her father has his own issues with race to face, when he first spots Carter in his house he reacts as if he’s a criminal. Quinn never has black friends over, and despite being black himself, he still has underlying prejudices.
She also has to come to terms with disappointing her parents and facing her grandmother’s dementia. She is scared of not being recognised, but is that fear worth missing out the remaining time they have together?
By ticking off her to-do list, Quinn makes new friends, has some fun and learns some life lessons.
