Definitely didn't expect to like this book as much as I did, so that was a pleasant surprise! It was really obvious that Avery and Hutch were going to be endgame, but their relationship/perception thereof changed gradually enough that it felt natural when it finally happened — in other words, one of the best, healthiest teenage romances I've ever had the joy of witnessing.

While on the surface I'm nothing like Avery — perpetually single through high school, known more for being smart than popular/pretty, definitely not athletic or even outgoing — I found it really easy to relate to her as a teenage girl who cares about finding a meaningful relationship but also is quite accomplished in her own right. (To that end, I really appreciated the explicit, "No, my (then unrealized) feelings for Hutch are not the reason my past relationships failed." Real life is complex, and this story reflects that.)

The self-awareness might have been a bit much in another format, but since this is her oral history (which in and of itself could be a paragraph, but I'll just say it was quite refreshing as a narrative medium) it's fitting. The ending was definitely cheesy, but again for an end-of-year personal project it's more than appropriate.

What I would've liked is some more diversity in the cast. Including different cliques — Bizzy and Tamsin, the "Wizarding Guild" geeks, jocks, etc — was a good start, as was at least having two significant secondary characters (Coco and her cousin Daniel) being Asian. But it's not quite as much as it could be, especially considering how easy it would've been to add a bisexual or even gay character to the extensive list of characters.