Tenias Que Ser Tu!

Love Stories For Young Adults #10

by Stephanie Doyon

"¡Estoy viviendo una amor on-line! Me enamoré de su mente, su alma y su corazón. Nunca lo he visto, pero me imagino que tendrá una sonrisa maravillosa"

Rebecca Lowe está enamorada. El único problema es que nunca ha visto al chico que ama. ¿O no es así?
Después de varias semanas de intercambiar mensajes por computadora, Rebecca tendrá por fín una cita cara a cara con su amor cibernético. Pero cuando vé a Jordan West, su compañero de colegio, esperando en el lugar secreto de encuentro, es tal su sorpresa que no sabe qué hacer.
No hay nadie que moleste tanto a Rebecca como Jordan, con su actitud de salvador del mundo. Sin embargo nadie parece entenderla como él cuando están on-line.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Teen, Contemporary, Fiction, Chick Lit, High School

110 pages

First published June 1, 1996

Reviews

[Mayu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Definitivamente esta novela no es para mí. La protagonista es una imbécil, y la historia mas que interesarme, solo me aburre. Así que, adiós novela, hasta aquí hemos llegado, te abandono ¬¬.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-review:


It Had to Be You follows our main character Rebecca Lowe, a jazz playing teen who's looking for a date at the school's homecoming dance. The school has just started to use email, allowing the students to interact with each other online and post messages on the school's noticeboard.
This gives Rebecca's BFF, Leslie, an idea. She posts a description of the two of them on the noticeboard in a plan to get them both a date.
After a few oddballs, Rebecca meets a guy who is pretty much perfect as perfect can be.
She's fallen for him through his poetic emails, his romantic persona, and a beautiful imaginary date online. This mysterious boy seems to understand her in every way and she just knows who it must be.
After all, she knows what those in her class are like, who could be more like her online lover than the new Spanish exchange student, Antonio?

But boy is she wrong- way wrong!
When she finds out that the guy she's fallen for is actually the guy she loathes in every way possible, she's disappointed and confused and angry.
She thinks he's playing a prank on her, having a little fun.
Until she finds out he's not- and he actually feels the same way.

This story is cheesy and sweet and frustrating at times but it's the first romance I ever read and it will stay as my all time favourite romantic book. The amount of times I've read it is crazy. I love it so much as simplistic and fluffy it is.

The characters all are great in their own way, however Leslie annoyed me with her naivety at dating online and her little crush. The fact that she was willing to give up everything for a guy she'd never met before was ridiculous but I can understand why she would do that. Back then the internet was new and exciting, no one knew about the dangers yet, they just enjoyed meeting people from other places. Rebecca also annoyed me at times when she would treat Jordan like absolute crap but Jordan did annoy me too with his smugness. Still, Rebecca shouldn't have jumped to conclusions so often, she should have controlled her temper as best as she could.
Also, Antonio was a pain in the butt. He was a creep and a narcissistic player. But he was meant to be like that.
I think the characters were meant to give you these kinds of reactions so I'm rating them;
4/5.
As for the reading time, I know it takes me no time at all to get through it so I rate it;
5/5.
My enjoyment in this book has stayed the same since the first time I read it, it's my go to feel good book so I give it;
5/5.
The writing style is simplistic and easy but it's meant to be that way, aiming for younger readers probably about 12-15 years old. I give it;
4/5.
And for the plot, which is simple but intriguing enough to keep you on your toes, there were no parts I found boring or repetitive. It was just like a romantic comedy. I give it;
5/5.

Totalling 23/25.

And 4.6 stars. Good enough for me to rate it five stars here.

[Bookabulary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Proper review coming soon!

This book is slated for a re-read as part of Shelf Love, my way of going back to my old shelf and re-reading books that I haven't done a proper review yet.

Thank you!

[Josie]

I would have read this one for the use of e-mailing alone, but the MC was unlikable and snobbish. This was a DNF for me.

[Eva Suarez · Rating 3 out of 5]

A ver no quiero ser injusta con la autora pero me dió la sensación que predecía todo.
Nada me sorprendió.
Puede ser, que cuando lo leí ya era una una ''adulta'' y no una adolescente.
Den una oportunidad al libro, por ahí se sorprenden.

[Abigael Cheryll Toftner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read this book lots of times. I kinda fell in love with Jordan myself, while reading the book. I was a teenager myself when I first read the book. I was a little like Rebecca.

[amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes kids, when I was a girl teenagers didn't know how to e-mail, and you had to wait for photos to develop.

[Clara Villadiego · Rating 2 out of 5]

La verdad es que es una historia ligera, interesante para pasar el rato, pero la verdad aunque me mantuvo entretenida no pude conectar con la protagonista.
Rebecca es una paranoica y trató súper mal al pobre Jordan, que solo quería ayudarla y tratar de agradarle, pero siempre estuvo pensando lo peor de el y se montó la historia de que el quería hacerle la vida imposible y quitarle su lugar en la banda.
En cuanto a las señales que la hicieron pensar que "Carlos" era Antonio me parecieron de lo más ridículas, no les vi ni pies ni cabeza, si hubiera prestado un poco más de atención hubiera visto la verdad, en su lugar solo vio lo que quiso, yo solo podía pensar:"enserio? Amiga date cuenta". Me desagradó bastante la reacción que tuvo al enterarse de la verdad, creo que fue demasiado ridícula, Jordan solo se portó divino con ella, en cambio ella volvió a pensar lo peor de el, aunque ella sentía algo por el.
También me pareció que Jordan la perdonó muy fácil, debió hacerla sufrir un poquito más por todo lo que lo hizo pasar y lo mal que lo hizo sentir cuando el le confesó sus sentimientos.

[Ibtesam Rahman · Rating 2 out of 5]

It had to be you by Stephanie Doyon.
🌸FiCTION-ROMANCE 🌸Bantam books
🌸181 pages " I'm in love with a guy I've never seen. I've fallen for his heart, his soul and his mind. Of course, it wouldn't hurt if he had a gorgeous smile." Blurb- Rebecca Lowe is in love. The only problem is she's never even met the guy. Or has she? After exchanging love letters by computer, Rebecca's finally going to have a face to face date with her cybercrush at the homecoming dance.
But when she spots Jordon West waiting in the secret meeting place, a dumbfounded Rebecca doesn't know what to do.
No one at school bugs Rebecca more than Jordon and his save the world attitude, yet no one seems to understand her the way he does online. Can this Mr wrong turn out to be oh so right?

[Monica Farris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read, and a huge throwback to an older time. Had a good laugh at the book talking about e-mail as if it were this strange, unknown thing. I finished it in a day, and it was honestly a treat, overall.

The problem I had is the main character. This book takes “enemies to lovers” and the “misunderstanding trope” a bit too far. The main character ruins absolutely every single opportunity to redeem herself, to the point where I was wondering what exactly it was the love interest saw in her by the end. I was almost cheering for him to turn her down.

Even so, however, I left the book feeling fairly satisfied. It was fun, and pretty much what I wanted- light hearted, and not too heavy.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mom's need not worry at all! Amazing for tweens & teens, no sex, no talk of sex. Not even sexual innuendos, just kissing! First kiss/first love, romantic, creative, clever, funny! I would highly recommend these "love stories" books written by different authors. They're what I started out on, as an adolescent in the 90s, daydreaming about my future first love, 😻 and I sometimes still pull them out and read them as an adult! And, most all of the main characters, a girl looking for love, have a best friend/gal pal like most of us do/did to rely on, and to chat with! My mom loved these for me, as did I!

[Mie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Two things: one, this is certainly a good guide of how to not act off and online. Two - this came out in 1996, You’ve Got Mail came out in 1998. I honestly thought it was the other way around. (Looks like it’s most likely based on The Shop Around The Corner anyway.)

I get that this is for teens (ages 12 and up it says), but certainly this wasn’t how they thought teens were like during the 90s… Right?

Still. A quick enough read. Maybe watch You’ve Got Mail or The Shop Around The Corner instead.

[Jes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this book when I was a teen, and I remember I had read and reread this book (because of lack of available literature in my disposal) among other junk books. Rereading it now as an adult, I didn't realize the female protagonist is a pain in the butt! Taking offense at every single thing haha. 4/5 still because it quenched my need for reading material back then and enjoying a book is always time well spent.

[Pop Korn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is interesting because is about love

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Paula Beltrán · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esto me hizo sentir nostalgia, mi primer amor fue un amor online y fue la historia más bonita que alguna vez vivó.

[Asfiya Moin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the book in my teens and loved it.

[Ina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can you believe in real love?

Rebecca is a leader of a school band. She dreams about playing at cool places with her band to promote them and get noticed. But how are they gonna do it? Even though her best friend, Leslie, isn't a member of the band they hang out almost all the time. They are both curious about the Internet and mail thing 'cause this book takes place when that stuff was kind of new. They only have access to Internet at school but they finally get to use the Internet for real when Leslie's mom gets a computer with Internet access. Now they can chat and stuff with people from all over the world.

But before using the computer that belongs to Leslie's mom. Rebecca and Leslie has been playing with the Internet at school. There they have posted anonymous stuff that only people at their school can see. For fun, they both have anonymously been posting each others "seeking for love" notes. Will anyone answer them back with mail and if they do, who would that be?

Rebecca receives a mail from Carlos sometime later. Who is he and is he only playing a game with her? Or is he interested in her for real and why?

After writing mail to each other they talk about meeting at the prom to reveal each other. Somehow Rebecca is pretty sure that it's the new student from Spain, Antonio, who hides behind the name, Carlos, but can she be really sure? She has to wait and find it out at the prom.

This book has been standing on my shelf in many years. I got it through a book club I was joining when I was younger but I never read it 'cause I didn't like these sorts of books when I was younger. I was more of a horror and crime novel fan (which I still am). But lately through the years I've been better with trying to read from different genres.

I'm not a fan of "feel-good" books but it's okay to read them sometimes. This was actually a fun and warm read. I loved almost all the characters and I loved Rebecca's sarcastic humour. Her best friend, Leslie is warm and a bit too naive. Jordan is charming. I like the dialog between him and Rebecca. Esp when they are disagree with each other when it comes to the band. More person's are worth to mention but then I will never get done so I chose not to mention them.

It had to be you had many highlights. I got to know the characters a lot and I liked the way they developed. The story is fun and exciting. And there were many lines that made me smile and giggle. It was an easy and nice read. A cozy book. And it was fun and interesting to read a book that took place when Internet,mail and chatting was very new. A lot has changed since then.

The only thing that makes me wonder is the Norwegian cover. It doesn't feel right for the story. First of all the main characters in the book doesn't look like that and that since it doesn't have anything to do with the book at all. The image is too corny and doesn't say anything about the book at all. I can spoil by saying that scene isn't even in the story.

Highlights: Sarcastic lines between Rebecca and Jordan

Downhill: The cover. It's embarrassing and like I said, it doesn't have anything to do with the book at all.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading this again, I've read it a few times over the years, it's always been one of my favourite love story books and it was the first one of the series I ever read, and each time I read it I still love it, I still am half in love with Jordan myself, he's such a lovely guy, which it can be frustrating how horrible Rebecca is to him at times, especially since he is sincere and kind and clearly has feelings for her and to see her constantly being paranoid and mean to him can be annoying but the book is so short it gets sorted out before you know it. I feel the lower rating is probably due to her behaviour in it which is fair enough but I try to understand that she genuinely thought he was being fake and insincere all the time, she was completely wrong and she hurt him, sometimes purposely but all we can do is understand that she was wrong in her belief of him, I wish she was made grovel more at the end, because she was quite horrid to him and the things she said.......such hurtful things he did not deserve, like girl get a grip.
Jordan makes the book, he is very likeable despite being an animal activist lol Rebecca I still like even though she is quite a bitch to Jordan for most the book but again her problem is her deep mistrust of Jordan due to her own insecurities (and paranoia? lol) Rebecca's wacky friend Leslie is likeable enough too. Overall I've just always loved this book, it's probably my third favourite in the series after At First Sight and Hot Summer Nights. It's just a light read, and if you like The Shop Around The Corner plot line and want it in high school, here you go, which actually I always thought Margaret Sullivans character in the movie was horribly mean to James Stewarts throughout (I think Judy Garland portrayed the character more likeable for reference lol).....so maybe this author did get the inspiration for it since it has the similar plot line of bickering and "hating" someone but falling in love with them over penpal/email, anyway just enjoy this book as all the love stories are meant to be enjoyed, as sweet reads making you wish you were falling in love.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es el típico " ni contigo ni sin ti" que trae a mal traer a dos adolescentes. Ella, Rebecca, se encarga de un grupo de jazz y conoce a Jordan porque ingresa en la banda como nuevo tecnico de sonido.

Una vez que se conocen todo lo que Rebecca ve en él es un rival para ganarse la confianza de su banda y dejarla a ella de lado. Pero las cosas no son tan enrevesadas como ella quiere verlas. A la vez, Rebecca comenzará a cartearse por email con un chico del instituto del que desconoce su identidad. Los emails se harán cada vez más frecuentes y llegará a enamorarse de su admirador secreto, vinculándole con el nuevo compañero de intercambio recién llegado, que también es muy agradable y guapo.

Al final Rebecca tendrá que abrir los ojos a la realidad y ver que Jordan no es tan malo como parece ni Antonio, el compañero de intercambio, tan ángelito como se da en demostrar. ¿Con quién de los dos se quedará?

La historia me ha gustado pero le he encontrado bastantes fallos. Encuentro que las protagonistas se toman demasiadas libertades tratándose de dos alumnas de secundaria como querer irse de viaje al extranjero. Si son menores, ¿no resultaría un tanto raro que viajaran solas? También aparecen algunas conversaciones en las que tratarse de dos chicas de 16 ó 17 años, estuvieramos oyendo hablar a dos mujeres adultas. Esto me ha confundido a lo largo del libro.

La historia es buena pero no se sale del típico argumento en los libros adolescentes. Podría haber dado más de sí.

[Makii · Rating 4 out of 5]

"¡Estoy viviendo una amor on-line! Me enamoré de su mente, su alma y su corazón. Nunca lo he visto, pero me imagino que tandrá una sonrisa maravillosa"
Rebecca Lowe está enamorada. El único problemaes que nunca ha visto al chico que ama. ¿O no es así? Después de varias semanas de intercambiar mensajes por computadora, Rebecca tendrápor fin una cita cara a cara con su amor cibernético. Pero cuando ve a Jordan West, sucompañero de colegio, esperando en el lugar secreto de encuentro, es tal su sorpresa que no sabe qué hacer.
No hay nadie que moleste tanto a Rebecca como Jordan, con su actitud de salvador del mundo. Sin embargo nadie parece entenderla como él cuando están on-line.

Yo realmente estaba obsesionada con estas novelas cuando era mas jóven!! Y encontrarlas ahora de nuevo, me trae recuerdos tan lindos!

[Cammie (Bibliolater.alligator) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rated this 2 out of 10 on Love Happens: The Podcast and that might have been generous. This was the 4th time I've read this (starting in my preteen years) and hopefully it's my last.

Both of the main characters are pretty awful but the FMC whose name I already forget it absolutely insane. Every time she's called a dictator, priss, control freak, etc she absolutely knows no other move than just to scream and stomp away. Then she'll do something that just proves these insults to be true. Apparently those are all terms of endearment as these are things the MMC calls her and somehow they... Fall in love??

The moments of them discovering email and chat rooms for the very first time were fun, otherwise I'd like to forget this book ever existed. See my podcast for more details/complaints.

[Karschtl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tatort: Highschool.
Rebecca hat keinen Freund, ist aber schwer verliebt in den spanischen Austauschschüler. Als an der Schule Internet eingeführt wird, versucht sie sich im E-Mail schreiben. Dabei tauscht sie romantische Mails mit einem gewissen "Carlos" aus. Sie ist sich sicher: das kann nur der Austauschschüler sein. Beim Schulball soll dann ihr erstes richtiges Date stattfinden...

Im Stil der alten "Bravo Herzklopfen"-Romane geschrieben, ganz nett für einen Teenie-Liebesroman.

[Katharina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a hilarious read in the 21st century, because the story is set in the 90's, when the internet hadn't made it into every household yet, and emailing was still exciting and new.

The story itself is kinda cute, but very very predictable. The Jordan character is pretty cool, but Rebecca, the narrator, is a priss and thus annoying. I've read worse but it's not really recommendable. Maybe it'll have a bigger appeal on younger audiences.

[V.M. Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encanta esta novela. Y no porque sea buena, la verdad... La leí en una tarde hace unos siete años y tengo que reconocer que me encantan las cosas de los 90's, 00's. En este libro, los personajes comienzan a tener internet por primera vez y se conectan en un chat antiquísimo a través del ordenador del instituto para hablar entre ellos. ¿Pero cómo no me voy a enamorar yo de esta historia?

[Paola · Rating 3 out of 5]

i'm not sure if i like it or if i don't. it's a love/hate thing... seriously, i don't know what to think, because it's not a bad book but is really slow, and to being honest sometimes you want to kill rebecca.

it's not a bad book, but i just don't loved it.

[Justeunemelodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

¿En una palabra?
Tierna.
Primero, porque es la vida de una adolescente promedio, se supone. Y si, cotidianidad y todo, resulta nanai.
Además, la protagonista toca jazz. JAZZ! no sé, es toda seca jajaj

[Soobie is expired · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tredici anni, Soobie scriveva:

Bel libro. Rebecca è una ragazza che usando l'E-mail e il falso nome di [...] conosce Carlos. Lei crede che questo Carlos sia in realtà Antonio, un suo compagno spagnolo. Invece è Jordan, un ragazzo che non le sta abbastanza simpatico.

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F LOV bk.10

[Hpitcher]

sounds just like the book perfect strangers by jahnna n. malcolm