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eloise_bradbooks 's review for:

Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven
4.0

This is one of those rare contemporary straight YA romances that I actually enjoyed.
It felt refreshing to read about characters who are quite complex and have actual stories to tell by themselves. The romance comes in second.

Libby is a role model. She struggles at times but ultimately believes that she is perfect the way she is, even if she's considered the biggest girl in school. She stands up for herself and isn't scared to tell others off. And she loves to dance. And no bitch will ever stop her.

I felt for Jack. He's that guy in the group of assholes who rarely does anything mean but stands by while his friends do. That's bad. But I really appreciated the reason behind this. He's so scared of losing everything because he's found some kind of stability in a world where nothing could be stable for him. It took some guts to come to terms with his prosopagnosia and to tell people, to come out of his comfort zone. I also love his relationship with his brother.

Now, the romance was okay but I didn't feel their chemistry as much as I should have. Like I previously said, this is only a background plot to me, and the main story remains how these two teens get to accept themselves and show their real selves to the world.