Mini Book Review: A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall // I like different

Title: A Little Something Different

Author: Sandy Hall

Published: August 26, 2014

Pages: 272

Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Young Adult

Amazon / Barnes and Nobles / Goodreads

Goodreads Description: The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together. Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out.  But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. Their creative writing teacher pushes them together. The baristas at Starbucks watch their relationship like a TV show. Their bus driver tells his wife about them. The waitress at the diner automatically seats them together. Even the squirrel who lives on the college green believes in their relationship.

Surely Gabe and Lea will figure out that they are meant to be together….

I was drawn to this book when it was mentioned in this video where it was described as a love story that’s never actually told in the perspective of the love interests.

I adore stories about two people who are obviously perfect for each other but are too shy to admit it, so I knew I would enjoy this book. This book turned out to be a pretty quick read — I was able to finish it in one day — so that’s why this review is on the shorter side 😁.

I wasn’t disappointed by the multiple perspectives. Some that stood out to me because of their sheer silliness were:

• Victor: A grumpy college student who found Gabe and Lea’s strange romance insufferable, but because he always found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, he was forced to witness many key developments in their relationship.
• Squirrel!: This squirrel actually went through some character development. At first, all it cared about were its nuts and where did it hide those nuts? But, as it watches Gabe and Lea’s romance unfold, it wishes good things upon them and hopes they’re doing well when they aren’t around.
• The bench: It just wants a nice butt to sit on him. Gabe has a nice butt. The bench actually has violent thoughts at one point.

I never found all the perspectives confusing because the characters had distinct voices. 

There wasn’t too much depth to the characters because of the multiple perspectives and the book’s short length. I actually feel like I got to understand Gabe well, but Lea, on the other hand, was pretty plain.

This isn’t something that bothered me in this book, but if you don’t like insta-love, this book isn’t for you.

This was a nice, lighthearted read perfect for the upcoming Valentines season (shh, I’m aware there’s still a month left). The multiple perspectives made for an interesting and humorous spin.

☆☆☆

i liked it

Have you read A Little Something Different? What did you think of it?