Kelly (and the Book Boar)'s Reviews > Kate in Waiting

I used to read a metric crapton of YA every year, but I’ve kind of fallen into a holding pattern of adult romances and stabby stabs that have taken me out of that genre. When I saw Becky Albertalli had a new release, however, I was all over it, because . . . . .



I mean for real.

The story here is about Kate, who thought she was giving the performance of a lifetime back at the 8th grade variety show . . . .



Only to have it become a defining moment of sorts when it went viral throughout the school and showed she was really not on key like she had believed. That’s when Kate started shying away from the spotlight – taking only ensemble roles in the school plays and musicals. It’s also when the theater kids became her squad and the jocks and cheerleaders became “f boys” (and girls). It’s when she gave up on actual attempts at maybe having a boyfriend and settled for sort of co-dependent/co-crushes with her best friend Anderson. But when their latest crush ends up transferring to their high school things get a little awkward.

Okay so this should 100% become a Netflix movie. I would watch it fifty and eleven times and Noah would obviously be played by . . . .



I mean I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to cast anyone else as a romantic male lead in a teenager rom com at this point.

As for the book? It struggled a little bit. Albertalli received a lot of backlash last year for being “too straight” to write her books. I’m all for representation and own voices, but I am also completely opposed to muting or muffling people’s ideas because they aren’t whatever enough. While this book was supposed to be about Kate, it felt like maybe it didn’t start that way and Anderson became a bit of a cardboard cutout in fear of more fallout. It also didn’t help that there was soooooo much musical talk and they just happened to pick one that isn’t really a fave of mine . . . . .



I’ll still read anything she writes, though. I just hope she gets back to the magic that was the Simonverse and What If It’s Us.