Review: Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

Summary from Goodreads:

The one guy Bailey Rydell can’t stand is actually the boy of her dreams—she just doesn’t know it yet.

Classic movie fan Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online as Alex. Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new archnemesis. But life is a whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever it is she’s starting to feel for Porter.


And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately. 

My Review:


What I Liked:

Writing Style. I struggled with the plot and the main romance but loved the writing. I will be checking out more form Bennett in the future. 

Characters. The main aspect of the novel that kept me reading were the characters. I was a fan of the side characters, which is why it was a shame that the novel mainly focused on Porter and Bailey and not the families. 

What I Disliked:

Pacing. The first chapter started off well, introducing the whole online romance and showing how much of a film lover the main character was. However, once it started getting into the romance the pacing was off for me. The whole big reveal was dragged out. 

Plot. The main reason I wanted to read novel was the plot and the fact that the main character from a film lover. The plot was okay but I felt that it could have had more about films instead of focusing solely on the romance. And the whole online romance angle was underdeveloped. 

Romance. I really enjoyed the characters and their banter but was not a huge fan of the main romance. I have a feeling that if it was not so rushed into at the start I would have liked it more. The over focus on the romance ruined part of the novel for me. 

I recommend checking out this fun YA novel. It was a quick interesting read. 

My Rating:

3.5 Stars Out of 5 Stars