Love is for Losers (Phoebe Davis Thinks . . ., 1)

Product Information

And what a stupid expression that is in the first place: To fall in love. Like you fall into a ditch or something. Maybe people need to look where they’re going.

Love is for Losers is written as six months worth of diary entries from the main character as she lives with her godmother, gets through her GCSEs, and falls in love while her mother is away on a humanitarian mission. I don't see many heroines in LGBTQ+ focused YA being below 16 or 17, so it's really nice to finally come across a fifteen-year-old heroine who is just trying to figure everything out. Phoebe is not only falling in love for the first time, but she's also completing her GCSES. As a result, Love is for Losers not only looks at the experience of first love and teen friendships, but also at the effects of exam stress that many contend with each year when doing GCSEs.This was such an easy read and it was fun to get caught up in it. It's got a great blend of sarcasm and sunshine, and even though Phoebe hates love, you'll find yourself rooting for love anyway. Fifteen-year-old Londoner Phoebe is busy studying for important exams and volunteering when she finds herself developing a crush on a girl even though she thinks love is basically a disease. Tuhle knížku jsem se vůbec nechystala číst, kdyby mi od YOLI nepřišlo reading copy, tak o ní pořádně ani nevím. Nakonec jsem se rozhodla ji zkusit, protože ji anotace přirovnává k Sex Education a protože při prolistování mi bylo jasné, že půjde o hodně rychlé čtení, jelikož je kniha vedena jako deníkové zápisky. A já zrovna rychlé, oddechové čtení chtěla, tak jsem po ní sáhla. V momente ako som si prečítala prvú vetu anotácie - Phoebe zbožňuje čiernu farbu a neznáša ľudí - som tušila, že sa mi toto bude páčiť. A mala som pravdu. Bavila som sa od prvej stránky po poslednú.

This book follows the main character Phoebe who thinks love is for losers and vows never to fall in love. Phoebe starts this book feeling rather abandoned due to the fact that her mother, a Dr, is going to Syria for 6 months to aid in the humanitarian crisis (something she does often) and her best friend Polly has ditched her for a boy. But through a series of unfortunate events she ends up volunteering at her God Mothers charity shop where she finds friendship and love in an unexpected place. At first, Phoebe's acerbic wit comes across as simple teen angst, but there was a bit more behind it. She never met her father, her mother was always off saving the world, and her best friend abandon her. Phoebe explored all these pain points over the course of the book, and though she didn't always handle the situations in the best way, she did grow to see things in a different light. For a book about resisting love, it had me head-over-heels love-at-first-sight captivated from the very beginning. For one thing, the diary format is one I always adore. The confessional nature, unfiltered thoughts, and stream-of-consciousness ramblings never fail to grab hold of me. Couple that with a fantastic, sarcastic, and endearing character, such as Phoebe, and there was no doubt this would be a hit for me. As far as Phoebe Davis is concerned, love is to be avoided at all costs. Why would you spend your life worrying about something that turns you into a complete moron? If her best friend Polly is anything to go by, the first sniff of a relationship makes you forget about your friends (like, hello?), get completely obsessed with sex (yawn) and bang on constantly about a person who definitely isn't as great as you think they are. Saw the title and just thought 'yes' because . . . the entire cynical outlook on love is very me (actually I'm a hopeless romantic deep down it's funny), but also this book is sapphic and yes I will read anything with a F/F relationshipThere's a fair bit of focus on GCSEs, which I imagine many people will relate to, but I appreciated that it wasn't too full on. I felt really sad about the relationship between Phoebe and her mum so I was glad to read more about their interactions. I don’t have time to have crushes on people, I’m busy with exams. My brain is working on full capacity, I don’t have room for fluffy shit like this." Phoebe maintains an air of apathetic snark reminiscent of Jaye Tyler from 'Wonderfalls' — I found myself barking out loud at her biting commentary on a regular basis. The supporting cast in Love is for Losers is also wonderful. I utterly adored Emma, the love interest, very much. Furthermore, I loved the dynamic between Phoebe and Kate (the woman who often cares for Phoebe whilst Phoebe's mother is abroad doing humanitarian work), as well as Alex, a fellow volunteer at the charity shop with Down's syndrome. There are also a few cats.

Kate is amazing, and I love how much she loves Phoebe. Also super grateful that her 'Scottish-ness' wasn't written out phonetically because that would have been rough. The girls have good chemistry and they are amazing friends first. But it was so obvious they liked each other! It was still adorable to watch how they danced around it. All is well and good (which is another way to say I don't have any friends and I'll say I'm perfectly fine with that when I'm anything but) until one day one of Kate's designer cats go missing and Phoebe decides to work at Kate's shop to repay her. Among the thrift store clan was Emma. It was pretty cute watching Phoebe trying to fight her attraction and ardor for Emma, but it was inevitable. I won't say the romance blossomed into something solid from the start, because not only did Phoebe find love a bad bet, she also was coming to terms with her sexuality.Side characters. This book was made so much better by the well developed, 3 dimensional side characters. Phoebe lives with her God mother Kate who is an eccentric Scottish lady with designer cats. The volunteers at the charity shop, who ranged from the old couple she loves, the middle aged woman who hates her, and her 2 best friends Alex and Emma were all fantastic characters. Emma was also the love interest in the book and it had a well developed foundation for the relationship and it was a great slow-burn romance. The writing. This story was written in a diary format which suited it perfectly. Phoebe is an authentic, sarcastic and insecure teenager and this is really emphasised by it being written as a diary. I enjoyed the fact that Phoebe showed similar characteristics to my own peers at age 15 which meant the story was really relatable.