Queen B’s Decree: I thought that The Climb would be a cute YA friends-to-lovers story, but that’s not quite what we got.
Noah and Zephyra have been best friends for years…but the whole time Noah has been pining for her. Zephyra has been *very* clear that she is not interested in him as anything other than a platonic friend, and yet, Noah seems to not listen to that? He frequently tries to kiss her and doesn’t seem to understand the concept of “consent.”
When Zephyra tells him no—again—Noah immediately makes out with another girl on their biking/camping trip. But it’s all to make Zephyra jealous? And he sort of slut shames his new make out buddy?
The entire story felt entirely juvenile (even for a YA novel) and their entire relationship was so toxic. I don’t like that the moral of the story is that “if you ignore boundaries and consent, you’ll get the girl.”
The only plus for me was the narrators and their amazing Australian accents.
Book: The Climb by Amra Pajalic
Series: standalone
Genre: YA
Hotness: mild salsa
Plot Devices/Tropes: friends-to-lovers