3.5 stars

CW: death of parents, suicide, grief, substance abuse

If I’m being honest, I probably wouldn’t have picked up You’d Be Mine if the publisher didn’t send me a copy. I’d heard little about it and wasn’t very interested. However, upon finishing, I’m glad I read it. It’s a quick but fun read that I think will bring a little something new to YA contemporary.

To start, I loved the country music aspect. I don’t know much about country music beyond a few songs by Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line, and a longtime obsession with Taylor Swift before her transition to pop. But I loved Under the Willows, and if they were a real band I would absolutely listen to their music on Spotify. The concert scenes and epilogue at the CMAs were my favorite in the entire novel.

Annie was a brilliant, sweet, resilient, and fierce protagonist. I loved reading from her perspective and following on her journey. She makes the best of every situation, writes killer songs, and deserves a hug. She also deserves better, but I’ll come back to that.

I liked the focus on friendship in this novel. Under the Willows consists of Annie, her cousin Kacey, and their friend Jason, who’s Puerto Rican. Their relationship never wavers, despite the drama and strain of touring across the country and dealing with their increasing fame. Admittedly, I felt Jason was a bit of a static, stereotypical character, but I didn’t dislike him.

Remember how I said Annie deserves better? I’m talking about the love interest and the other protagonist, Clay. I get that he’s had a rough couple of years, he’s grieving, he doesn’t know if who he is is who he actually wants to be. I felt bad for him, but every time he started to grow on me, he turned around and did something that made me dislike him again. He was your typical bad boy with a tragic past, falling for a girl he thinks is too good for him and refusing to actually talk about his feelings. Now, I get that miscommunication is fairly common among teens, and I’m not trying to take away from that. I don’t expect every teen to be articulate and mature all the time; that’s not realistic. Clay just got on my nerves.

Every time Clay and Annie kissed, I rolled my eyes. That’s not to say that the scenes were badly written or anything, only that I didn’t like Clay and therefore was against my girl Annie having anything to do with him. Or maybe as I get older and closer to no longer fitting the YA age range, I become less of a hopeless romantic and more of a cynic.

I want to take a moment and pause my cynicism to appreciate the two male characters in this novel I actually liked: Annie’s grandpa, referred to as Pops, and Clay’s dog, Brinks. Pops was the sweet but protective, “cut your crap” grandfather I wish I had, and Brinks reminded me of my own dog, Tucker. Besides, how can there be a dog in a novel that I don’t like? It’s impossible.

This is more of a minor detail, but early in the novel, Kacey and Clay’s friend Fitz end up in a relationship that lasts the remainder of the story. Obviously, they aren’t the main focus of the novel and therefore I don’t have many details on them. However, I couldn’t help but feel as if their relationship had no purpose other than a few sex jokes. I can excuse insta-love between protagonists if it’s done well, but in this case it’s between two side characters and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at them.

Perhaps my biggest issue, aside from Clay’s character, was the unresolved thread involving Annie’s parents. Throughout the novel they’re called country music legends. Annie has memories of being young and on tour with them. They’re also called the tragedy of country music, as it’s revealed early on that they committed a double suicide. Annie is determined to make a name for herself without becoming like them; that’s a main part of the story and of her character. But we never find out what actually led to their suicide, if it was fame or stress or mental health or something else. Maybe it was eluded to and I missed it. Whatever the case may be, it’s something that stuck in my head whenever they were mentioned on page.

I didn’t much care for Trina, Clay’s agent, and wouldn’t mention her if not for one small detail that made me possibly too happy: she’s queer. It’s only brought up twice, I believe, but she has a fiancée named Melody. In the grand scheme of things, it’s a minor detail, but hey, it’s the little things that count.

Although You’d Be Mine is by no means a perfect novel, it was fun and full of music. I believe that those who enjoyed The Brightsiders will also enjoy this, as both stories are about music, friendship, romance, and overcoming obstacles. In general, I think contemporary fans will devour this novel, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what Hahn does next.

[ARC provided by the publisher. This doesn’t affect my opinion or the content of my review.]