The Exact Opposite of Okay by Laura Steven | Book Review

Title: The Exact Opposite of Okay

Author: Laura Steven

Series: N/A

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance, Feminism

Publisher: Electric Monkey

Publication date: March 8th, 2018

Pages: 335

My rating:

Izzy O’Neill is an aspiring comic, an impoverished orphan, and a Slut Extraordinaire. Or at least, that’s what the malicious website flying round the school says. Izzy can try all she wants to laugh it off – after all, her sex life, her terms – but when pictures emerge of her doing the dirty with a politician’s son, her life suddenly becomes the centre of a national scandal. Izzy’s never been ashamed of herself before, and she’s not going to start now. But keeping her head up will take everything she has…

“I get why he’s lashing out. As a privileged white dude, he’s used to being able to bue whatever he wants. He lives in a country where even the presidency can be bought.

But he can’t buy my love. And that frustrates the hell out of him.”

Holy guacamole, I cannot tell you how much I freaking adored this book! I mean, since this is a review I guess I’ll try to summon all my thoughts regarding this novel, but everything I tell you must be multiplied by ten, because it was that amazing! Not only the cover is stunning, but the actual story was incredible as well, and I’m so happy I ended up reading it.

I admit at first it took me a bit to get used to the writing style, because the main character had a particular sense of humor and way of telling us things, but as I kept reading the book I got used to it super fast and started to really love it. And I freaking adore our protagonist. She was hilarious and sarcastic and witty, and a very unique main character from what I’ve read so far in YA, and it was like a breath of fresh air. She had such an interesting and great development throughout the book, and it was super easy to empathize with her and what she was going through.

It had also such a precious female friendship. Even though there was a time in the story where they weren’t as close as the beginning, they were such an amazing pair and supported the other so much and it was just so beautiful to read. I really enjoyed that aspect of the book, because even though it wasn’t the main focus of the whole story, it added a little extra something to it and the characters.

“It’s the most disconcerting sensation, being looked at but not engaged with. Hot and prickly, like you’re an ant being roasted under a magnifying glass.”

Also this book addressed a lot of important topics that aren’t often talked about in YA stories, and I think that was just so great. It talked about consent and feminism and “the friend zone” in a way that was super informative if you want to learn more about that. I just think just because of the way the author addressed all those topics it’s an important read that everyone should read.

The book had also some romance going on, and let me tell you, even though it wasn’t the main focus of the story whatsoever, I was still living for it, because I adored that male character. He was so supportive towards her and a healthy figure, and their relationship and interactions were so cute and healthy that I couldn’t help but love that romance.

Overall, it was an amazing and important book that talked about important topics in a non heavy, funny way (if that could be possible, yes), and I highly recommend it because it was super fast paced and hilarious and the main character was so quirky and a gem.