tl;dr friends to lovers, forced proximity, social media fued, and e-sports loveliness by the absolute legend eric smith
Premise
Adam Stillwater is in over his head. At least, that’s what his best friend would say. And his mom. And the guy who runs the hardware store down the street. But this pinball arcade is the only piece of his dad that Adam has left, and he’s determined to protect it from Philadelphia’s newest tech mogul, who wants to turn it into another one of his cold, lifeless gaming cafés.
Whitney Mitchell doesn’t know how she got here. Her parents split up. She lost all her friends. Her boyfriend dumped her. And now she’s spending her senior year running social media for her dad’s chain of super successful gaming cafés—which mostly consists of trading insults with that decrepit old pinball arcade across town.
But when a huge snowstorm hits, Adam and Whitney suddenly find themselves trapped inside the arcade. Cut off from their families, their worlds, and their responsibilities, the tension between them seems to melt away, leaving something else in its place. But what happens when the storm stops?
Rating
4.5/5 stars
Review
You Can Go Your Own Way follows Adam, who runs his late father's pinball arcade, and Whitney, who runs the social media for her dad's e-sports cafes. The two of them are ex-friends and currently have a sort of social media feud going on, always trading insults online. But when a huge snowstorm hits, Adam and Whitney find themselves trapped inside the arcade. Cue forced proximity and some reconciliation? And maybe more?
This book features some of my all-time favorite tropes: friends to enemies to lovers, forced proximity, and a social media feud (Tweet Cute style). The story is a fresh take on these tropes by incorporating the e-sports community and Adam's family pinball arcade. One of the biggest focuses of the book is family, from Whitney trying to win the attention of her dad or Adam hanging onto the memory of his father through the arcade. I loved how everything came full circle at the end. I got kind of emotional, really, because Adam was going through this period of self-reflection and dealing with his grief.
My only critique is I wish that the middle section of the book where Adam and Whitney are actually stuck in the arcade together was extended (also the miscommunication moment near the end was not my fave but it's ok). This isn't just my love for forced proximity speaking: I wish there was some more relationship development and moments of just the two of them as steady friends before they actually got together. Their relationship is really sweet, though, and the ending made my heart really happy. They both grew a lot over the course of the novel and beyond just reconciling their relationship, they got a handle on the conflicts affecting them personally.
Quick list of everything else I loved in this book:
- the incorporation of music, Whitney's love for plants, and reading! a bunch of my favorite authors, like Leigh Bardugo, were mentioned in this book and they were like fun easer eggs
- the little electrical engineering moments that made my EE-loving heart very happy
- the way Aaron and Divya from Eric Smith's other book, Don't Read the Comments, made a cameo in this book AND THEY WERE SO CUTE
- a lot of comments that made me chuckle (the side characters are so funny??)
- the way this book is like a love letter to Philadelphia
Overall, this is more than just a romance novel: it's a story of grief, family, friendship, and community. Definitely recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Other Info
Standalone
Releases November 2, 2021
13+
CW: death of loved one (in the past, off-page), grief
Buy link: https://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Your-Own-Way/dp/1335405682
Would I Recommend?
Yes! I finished this book a few days before I actually met Eric Smith (I moderated a panel with him in it) and he's such a wonderful person - I'd definitely recommend checking out this book & his other ones as well!
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