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typedtruths 's review for:
Signs Point to Yes
by Sandy Hall
2.5 stars
Like Hall’s [b:Been Here All Along|23854755|Been Here All Along|Sandy Hall|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1455175014s/23854755.jpg|43464483], I found Signs Point to Yes to be a sweet, endearing and entertaining read - in a mindless sort of way - but one which didn’t really make much more of an impression than that. The characters and the romance lacked depth and the plotline was a little bit all over the place. What made this a truly meh read, however, was its sheer awkwardness. I concede that in contemporary romances, especially ones that attempt to be as modern as Sandy Hall, there’s a fine line between realistic romantic blunders and plain old awkwardness... This book crossed that line in too many ways.
One the things which stopped me from truly adoring this story was the the characters:
Jane: In many ways she was little more than the stereotypical plain Jane character. She didn’t have a very distinctive personality and it made it very difficult to connect to her as a protagonist. The main two features which were meant to define her personality - her attachment to her Magic 8 ball, and her struggle with not being as smart as the rest of her family - would have been such amazing focal points in the story if they had expanded on. Her struggle with her intelligence was also handled rather oddly. She would spend one moment moaning how stupid she supposedly was and the next telling Teo that she was logical and a genius… I wasn’t sure how to take this? It would have much more interesting to see a legitimate struggle to find her place in a family of academics when she wasn’t one herself. I did, however, like that was struggling from a lack of direction regarding college and post-graduation life. As someone with only a few weeks of high school left myself, I know what it’s like to be in the “oh shit, I’m an adult… now what?” stage of life. Also, Jane’s obsession with writing odd/crossover fanfiction also felt like something that was thrown in at the last minute - to make Jane more relatable for readers. You know how some authors make characters purposefully bookish because readers want to read about other readers (my God, that’s a tongue twister) and it sells books? Yeah, it felt like that. We never even saw her watching an episode of Doctor Who!
Teo: He also had very little personality. For some reason, he had this odd hatred of his stepfather, Buck. Every time Buck tried to talk to him, he got angered. Every time Buck asked him to do a chore, like mow the lawn - which for some reason seemed to happen multiple times in this book - he got really pissy about it. The whole situation felt blown out of proportion. I understand that relationships between stepparents and stepchildren can be difficult at times (just look at the fairy tales if you don’t believe me) but Buck was so genuinely kind that I didn’t understand the problem.
Margo: She was a bit of an odd character. I didn’t think that she felt very consistent. One minute she was this ruthless academic who Jane could barely tolerate being around, and the next she was all buddy-buddy with her, sharing gossip and sitting around the pool like they were the closest sisters to ever live. I liked that we had some healthy familial relationships but the whole thing felt rushed and out of place. I did llike that we explored her bisexuality throughout this story though.
Ravi: With all that being said, Ravi was by far the most confusing character in this book. He ‘hated’ Jane for the majority of this book and had this odd vendetta against her but it was all over the most trivial and immature thing you could imagine. When it was revealed why, I couldn’t help but laugh at loud. It was honestly so all just so petty! It made little sense for the level of antagonism between them. I had no idea why Teo was friends with him after everything he said and did to Jane.
The main aspect of this story was its romance and the romance was… well, it was all just so awkward! Teo and Jane had no chemistry between them and didn’t even seem to realise they could be attracted to each other until Margo helpfully pointed it out. While I thought their awkward little ‘flirting’ session were pretty realistic and some of their ‘moments’ were rather cute, especially the roof scene, the secondhand cringe-factor from their encounters was way too much. I loved the fact that the author attempted to make them as realistic as possible but there’s a point where it is just not enjoyable to read about two character who are so awkward together, especially when they spend most of their time staring at each other, blushing, avoiding eye contact and mumbling awkward excuses before running away. This is not exactly what makes me swoon like the publishers promises... I just couldn’t get myself invested in their relationship.
The plot as a whole was also kind of weird. For the majority of the novel it tried to be a typical summer romance with tropes like going to swimming pools to spy on the hot lifeguards, babysitting adorable little kids and bonfire parties. All that is well and good but the second half, with its road trip and attempts to find Teo’s father, felt random and out of place. It was one of those stupid situations where if the teenagers had just (a) communicated better or (b) talked to a goddamn adult, the whole thing would have been fine.
Overall?
Despite the number of negatives that I can list about this book, I thought it was an easy and mostly fun read. I didn’t quite connect to the characters but the romance - despite being awkward and not nearly as swoony as I would have hoped - was mostly realistic and in its own way, adorable. I love Hall’s writing style and the way she is able to create modern romances with ease. I would recommend her newest release, [b:Been Here All Along|23854755|Been Here All Along|Sandy Hall|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1455175014s/23854755.jpg|43464483], over this one but I still did actually enjoy it.
Like Hall’s [b:Been Here All Along|23854755|Been Here All Along|Sandy Hall|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1455175014s/23854755.jpg|43464483], I found Signs Point to Yes to be a sweet, endearing and entertaining read - in a mindless sort of way - but one which didn’t really make much more of an impression than that. The characters and the romance lacked depth and the plotline was a little bit all over the place. What made this a truly meh read, however, was its sheer awkwardness. I concede that in contemporary romances, especially ones that attempt to be as modern as Sandy Hall, there’s a fine line between realistic romantic blunders and plain old awkwardness... This book crossed that line in too many ways.
One the things which stopped me from truly adoring this story was the the characters:
Jane: In many ways she was little more than the stereotypical plain Jane character. She didn’t have a very distinctive personality and it made it very difficult to connect to her as a protagonist. The main two features which were meant to define her personality - her attachment to her Magic 8 ball, and her struggle with not being as smart as the rest of her family - would have been such amazing focal points in the story if they had expanded on. Her struggle with her intelligence was also handled rather oddly. She would spend one moment moaning how stupid she supposedly was and the next telling Teo that she was logical and a genius… I wasn’t sure how to take this? It would have much more interesting to see a legitimate struggle to find her place in a family of academics when she wasn’t one herself. I did, however, like that was struggling from a lack of direction regarding college and post-graduation life. As someone with only a few weeks of high school left myself, I know what it’s like to be in the “oh shit, I’m an adult… now what?” stage of life. Also, Jane’s obsession with writing odd/crossover fanfiction also felt like something that was thrown in at the last minute - to make Jane more relatable for readers. You know how some authors make characters purposefully bookish because readers want to read about other readers (my God, that’s a tongue twister) and it sells books? Yeah, it felt like that. We never even saw her watching an episode of Doctor Who!
Teo: He also had very little personality. For some reason, he had this odd hatred of his stepfather, Buck. Every time Buck tried to talk to him, he got angered. Every time Buck asked him to do a chore, like mow the lawn - which for some reason seemed to happen multiple times in this book - he got really pissy about it. The whole situation felt blown out of proportion. I understand that relationships between stepparents and stepchildren can be difficult at times (just look at the fairy tales if you don’t believe me) but Buck was so genuinely kind that I didn’t understand the problem.
Margo: She was a bit of an odd character. I didn’t think that she felt very consistent. One minute she was this ruthless academic who Jane could barely tolerate being around, and the next she was all buddy-buddy with her, sharing gossip and sitting around the pool like they were the closest sisters to ever live. I liked that we had some healthy familial relationships but the whole thing felt rushed and out of place. I did llike that we explored her bisexuality throughout this story though.
Ravi: With all that being said, Ravi was by far the most confusing character in this book. He ‘hated’ Jane for the majority of this book and had this odd vendetta against her but it was all over the most trivial and immature thing you could imagine. When it was revealed why, I couldn’t help but laugh at loud. It was honestly so all just so petty! It made little sense for the level of antagonism between them. I had no idea why Teo was friends with him after everything he said and did to Jane.
The main aspect of this story was its romance and the romance was… well, it was all just so awkward! Teo and Jane had no chemistry between them and didn’t even seem to realise they could be attracted to each other until Margo helpfully pointed it out. While I thought their awkward little ‘flirting’ session were pretty realistic and some of their ‘moments’ were rather cute, especially the roof scene, the secondhand cringe-factor from their encounters was way too much. I loved the fact that the author attempted to make them as realistic as possible but there’s a point where it is just not enjoyable to read about two character who are so awkward together, especially when they spend most of their time staring at each other, blushing, avoiding eye contact and mumbling awkward excuses before running away. This is not exactly what makes me swoon like the publishers promises... I just couldn’t get myself invested in their relationship.
The plot as a whole was also kind of weird. For the majority of the novel it tried to be a typical summer romance with tropes like going to swimming pools to spy on the hot lifeguards, babysitting adorable little kids and bonfire parties. All that is well and good but the second half, with its road trip and attempts to find Teo’s father, felt random and out of place. It was one of those stupid situations where if the teenagers had just (a) communicated better or (b) talked to a goddamn adult, the whole thing would have been fine.
Overall?
Despite the number of negatives that I can list about this book, I thought it was an easy and mostly fun read. I didn’t quite connect to the characters but the romance - despite being awkward and not nearly as swoony as I would have hoped - was mostly realistic and in its own way, adorable. I love Hall’s writing style and the way she is able to create modern romances with ease. I would recommend her newest release, [b:Been Here All Along|23854755|Been Here All Along|Sandy Hall|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1455175014s/23854755.jpg|43464483], over this one but I still did actually enjoy it.