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Liebesschüchtern
Schüchtern, Schule, Schabernack!
Penny träumt davon, eine berühmte Journalistin zu werden! Eines Tages entdeckt sie im College zufällig Loveshyforum.com - eine Website für schüchterne Jungs. Einer ihrer Mitschüler hat hier als "PEZZimist" einen Beitrag gepostet: Er ist bis über beide Ohren verliebt, traut sich aber nicht, es dem Mädchen zu sagen. Penny ist begeistert - endlich hat sie Stoff für einen richtig spannenden Artikel gefunden! Sie ist fest entschlossen, PEZZimist zu finden und ihm zu helfen. Während Penny alle potenziellen liebesschüchternen Jungs ihrer Schule interviewt, gerät sie in so manche peinliche Situation. Doch am Ende ist es ein ganz anderer Junge ...
Eine tiefgründige Story voller ungewöhnlicher, individueller Charaktere und überraschenden Wendungen!
Penny träumt davon, eine berühmte Journalistin zu werden! Eines Tages entdeckt sie im College zufällig Loveshyforum.com - eine Website für schüchterne Jungs. Einer ihrer Mitschüler hat hier als "PEZZimist" einen Beitrag gepostet: Er ist bis über beide Ohren verliebt, traut sich aber nicht, es dem Mädchen zu sagen. Penny ist begeistert - endlich hat sie Stoff für einen richtig spannenden Artikel gefunden! Sie ist fest entschlossen, PEZZimist zu finden und ihm zu helfen. Während Penny alle potenziellen liebesschüchternen Jungs ihrer Schule interviewt, gerät sie in so manche peinliche Situation. Doch am Ende ist es ein ganz anderer Junge ...
Eine tiefgründige Story voller ungewöhnlicher, individueller Charaktere und überraschenden Wendungen!
300 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2012
6 people are currently reading
757 people want to read
About the author
Lili Wilkinson
33 books369 followersLili Wilkinson is the award-winning author of eighteen books for young people, including The Erasure Initiative and After the Lights Go Out. Lili has a PhD from the University of Melbourne, and is a passionate advocate for YA and the young people who read it, establishing the Inky Awards at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria. Her latest book is A Hunger of Thorns.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
April 9, 2012
Reading an author, who all your friends have already read, for the first time is like going on a blind date. You already kind of go in with an impression because you've heard how funny or charming so-and-so is, and "I swear, you'll love him!" There's also some trepidation because what if you don't like this person all your friends love? Maybe it really is you.*
Lili Wilkinson is an author whose name I've heard from many people, mostly due to her book Pink. I always meant to read that book, but it ended up getting lost amongst all my other meant-to-reads. When I saw the premise (and cover) of Love-Shy, I was finally ready for my date with Ms. Wilkinson.
Love-Shy is about Penny Drummond, girl reporter. She's the school superstar and looking for her next challenge, which she will naturally crush of course. In particular, she wants to write a standout article that will set her on her future path to the Pulitzer. She finds her story on a library computer -- namely, on a forum that the previous user hadn't logged out of. The forum is love-shy.com and according to the actual website, it's about,
What initially struck me were the names of the students at East Glendale Secondary College. Rory Singh, Con Stingas, Perry Chau, Youssef Saad, Rin Tamaki. Of course, those names are interspersed with names like Amy Butler, Olivia Fischer, and Sarah Parsons, but that's how it should be! It shouldn't be Smith, Jones, Miller and then ASIAN STUDENT Perry Chau. I hate that. Why should the default assumption be white? Why should there only be one minority? If this were a real blind date, this is the point where I'd take things from just drinks to dinner.
Penny. When I first saw Mandee's status update comparing Penny to Bindy Mackenzie, I immediately started convulsing in my chair. Then I remembered Bindy and I made peace after our two week standoff. When I read Penny, instead of my new BFF Bindy, I pictured Paris Geller, namely Season 3 Paris. If your Gilmore Girls memory isn't up to date, a) FOR SHAME! and b) this is the Paris that begins the season rooming with Rory in DC and ends with her giving a very memorable speech about sex and Harvard. What I like about both Penny and Paris is that they are goal-oriented, driven students. They are smart and they know it, so they're pretty cocky, but so what! As Muhammad Ali once said, It ain't bragging if you can back it up! Of course, there's another adage about pride coming before the fall, and does it ever. However, it's about getting up and getting better. I love characters like this, who work hard and have to work harder for your affection because it doesn't come naturally. At this point in the date, I'm ordering dessert.
The boys. This is where Lili Wilkinson really shines. She takes the handsome, brooding, quiet guy, the guy every girl is in love with, and gives him not a genius IQ but SEVERE EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS. Take that, trope! This is such a needed reality check -- for me too! I always project hidden depths onto the brooding loners when more often than not, there are reasons for them being alone. I like how Wilkinson glides between serious and light when addressing these issues.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the quirky characters.
Verdict: 4/5 stars, and I'm so ready for my second date!
I'd like to give a special thanks to Mandee of VeganYANerds for sharing this book with me. She's not only introduced me to a ton of new Australian YA authors (check out her reviews for the Australian Women Writers Challenge), she's also taught me some slang. You can read her review of Love-Shy here.
This review appears on Young Adult Anonymous.
---
*I was once set up with a guy because "He's Asian! And he likes sports! You're Asian! And you like sports!" I later found out his nickname was "Man Boobs" and my woman boobs didn't hold a candle to his. It isn't you.
Lili Wilkinson is an author whose name I've heard from many people, mostly due to her book Pink. I always meant to read that book, but it ended up getting lost amongst all my other meant-to-reads. When I saw the premise (and cover) of Love-Shy, I was finally ready for my date with Ms. Wilkinson.
Love-Shy is about Penny Drummond, girl reporter. She's the school superstar and looking for her next challenge, which she will naturally crush of course. In particular, she wants to write a standout article that will set her on her future path to the Pulitzer. She finds her story on a library computer -- namely, on a forum that the previous user hadn't logged out of. The forum is love-shy.com and according to the actual website, it's about,
DATELESSNESS! Romantic inexperience! Extreme difficulty forming romantic relationships!Penny sets out to discover and conquer -- discover the hapless love-shy and conquer his love-shyness. Hijinks ensue. Vomit is, well, vomited. Pocky sticks are given. iPhones prove once and for all to be a stalker's best friend.
What initially struck me were the names of the students at East Glendale Secondary College. Rory Singh, Con Stingas, Perry Chau, Youssef Saad, Rin Tamaki. Of course, those names are interspersed with names like Amy Butler, Olivia Fischer, and Sarah Parsons, but that's how it should be! It shouldn't be Smith, Jones, Miller and then ASIAN STUDENT Perry Chau. I hate that. Why should the default assumption be white? Why should there only be one minority? If this were a real blind date, this is the point where I'd take things from just drinks to dinner.
Penny. When I first saw Mandee's status update comparing Penny to Bindy Mackenzie, I immediately started convulsing in my chair. Then I remembered Bindy and I made peace after our two week standoff. When I read Penny, instead of my new BFF Bindy, I pictured Paris Geller, namely Season 3 Paris. If your Gilmore Girls memory isn't up to date, a) FOR SHAME! and b) this is the Paris that begins the season rooming with Rory in DC and ends with her giving a very memorable speech about sex and Harvard. What I like about both Penny and Paris is that they are goal-oriented, driven students. They are smart and they know it, so they're pretty cocky, but so what! As Muhammad Ali once said, It ain't bragging if you can back it up! Of course, there's another adage about pride coming before the fall, and does it ever. However, it's about getting up and getting better. I love characters like this, who work hard and have to work harder for your affection because it doesn't come naturally. At this point in the date, I'm ordering dessert.
The boys. This is where Lili Wilkinson really shines. She takes the handsome, brooding, quiet guy, the guy every girl is in love with, and gives him not a genius IQ but SEVERE EMOTIONAL PROBLEMS. Take that, trope! This is such a needed reality check -- for me too! I always project hidden depths onto the brooding loners when more often than not, there are reasons for them being alone. I like how Wilkinson glides between serious and light when addressing these issues.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the quirky characters.
Verdict: 4/5 stars, and I'm so ready for my second date!
I'd like to give a special thanks to Mandee of VeganYANerds for sharing this book with me. She's not only introduced me to a ton of new Australian YA authors (check out her reviews for the Australian Women Writers Challenge), she's also taught me some slang. You can read her review of Love-Shy here.
This review appears on Young Adult Anonymous.
---
*I was once set up with a guy because "He's Asian! And he likes sports! You're Asian! And you like sports!" I later found out his nickname was "Man Boobs" and my woman boobs didn't hold a candle to his. It isn't you.
June 22, 2012
Expectations (aka Judging a Book By Its Cover)
Looking at Love-shy now, all cute and snuggled up on the shelf next to A Pocketful of Eyes, I don’t think it’s that difficult to see how my misconceptions of this book might have been birthed.
Like its predecessor, Love-shy is a burst of colour, unapologetically eye-catching. There’s a girl on the cover that looks like she just stepped off a tram on Swanston Street. A terrarium. A silhouetted figure, the sole muted spot in a sea of brightness. It’s called “Love-shy”, for crying out loud. A glance over the blurb and I thought I had it all worked out: Brash, assertive girl + shy, retiring guy = quirky romantic comedy.
Reality (or, Rey gets schooled by Lili Wilkinson )
Not that there’s anything wrong with quirky romantic comedies. I quite enjoy them. But Love-shy defied almost all of my expectations and I love that about it. It kept me on my reading-toes. It surprised me almost immediately and continued to do so. I read it over the course of a few hours, waiting around in an airport and during that time I both laughed out loud and cried. I don’t know who was more taken aback by that: me, or the people giving me the side-eye across the terminal.
In Penny, the precocious if somewhat tact-challenged main character of Love-shy, Wilkinson delivers one of the strongest YA voices I’ve encountered this year. Part Bindy Mackenzie, part Paris Geller, part something else entirely, Penny is force of a character**. Her personality punches through the pages: intelligent, direct, driven, logical. And although her character grows throughout the story, the plot compelling her through a marked internal arc, her authenticity never falters. Wilkinson shows a great deal of integrity in her development of Penny. Despite the fact that she’s an undeniably thorny character at times, Wilkinson embraces her in such a way that makes it almost impossible not to do the same as a reader. She pulls off a character that’s simultaneously difficult and endearing, repellent and relatable.
For some reason, I thought that the plot of the Love-shy would largely revolve around Penny’s quest to identify the love-shy guy at her high school, interspersed with lots of comedic shenanigans and some sort of frolic off into a sunset of opposites-attracting. No surprise that I’m mostly wrong. Instead, by unveiling the object of Penny’s investigations fairly early in the course of events, Wilkinson allows the story to delve much deeper into their respective characterisation by means of their ongoing interactions. And Love-shy becomes a weightier book for it. One that is more serious, more articulate, and ultimately more moving than I anticipated.
Love-shy is a story about the way people can spend their lives building complicated defences around themselves. About fortifying the walls that protect their fragile inner worlds. Regardless of whether this is based upon lack of confidence, past trauma, deeply entrench patterns of belief, anxiety disorders or the like – Love-shy examines the complex lengths those affected may go to in order to feel safe and in control, and the way such feelings impact their lives and relationships.
By exploring these themes through two seemingly polar opposite characters, Wilkinson demonstrates that isolation, loneliness and fear do not discriminate. While each individual experience is different, the emotions are universal. And that the process of gaining insight, or developing empathy for another can often leave us vulnerable, exposed to our own buried fears.
By the end of the novel, each of the characters and the journey they had made together had genuinely touched my heart. That wasn’t something I had prepared for when I read the hilarious opening chapter, but its what changed Love-shy from a good novel to a great one, for me.
Add to this the sharpness of Lili Wilkinson’s writing, her ability to write about teenagers with honesty and humour, the refreshing diversity of her cast – and Love-shy is one of my favourite Australian YAs this year.
**Somewhat disturbingly, Penny is pretty much a literary doppelganger of my high school nemesis. Yes, I had a high school nemesis. Stop looking at me like that. Occasionally I’d just stop reading this book and wonder: “How do you know, LIli Wilkinson!? HOW DO YOU KNOW?”
Looking at Love-shy now, all cute and snuggled up on the shelf next to A Pocketful of Eyes, I don’t think it’s that difficult to see how my misconceptions of this book might have been birthed.
Like its predecessor, Love-shy is a burst of colour, unapologetically eye-catching. There’s a girl on the cover that looks like she just stepped off a tram on Swanston Street. A terrarium. A silhouetted figure, the sole muted spot in a sea of brightness. It’s called “Love-shy”, for crying out loud. A glance over the blurb and I thought I had it all worked out: Brash, assertive girl + shy, retiring guy = quirky romantic comedy.
Reality (or, Rey gets schooled by Lili Wilkinson )
Not that there’s anything wrong with quirky romantic comedies. I quite enjoy them. But Love-shy defied almost all of my expectations and I love that about it. It kept me on my reading-toes. It surprised me almost immediately and continued to do so. I read it over the course of a few hours, waiting around in an airport and during that time I both laughed out loud and cried. I don’t know who was more taken aback by that: me, or the people giving me the side-eye across the terminal.
In Penny, the precocious if somewhat tact-challenged main character of Love-shy, Wilkinson delivers one of the strongest YA voices I’ve encountered this year. Part Bindy Mackenzie, part Paris Geller, part something else entirely, Penny is force of a character**. Her personality punches through the pages: intelligent, direct, driven, logical. And although her character grows throughout the story, the plot compelling her through a marked internal arc, her authenticity never falters. Wilkinson shows a great deal of integrity in her development of Penny. Despite the fact that she’s an undeniably thorny character at times, Wilkinson embraces her in such a way that makes it almost impossible not to do the same as a reader. She pulls off a character that’s simultaneously difficult and endearing, repellent and relatable.
For some reason, I thought that the plot of the Love-shy would largely revolve around Penny’s quest to identify the love-shy guy at her high school, interspersed with lots of comedic shenanigans and some sort of frolic off into a sunset of opposites-attracting. No surprise that I’m mostly wrong. Instead, by unveiling the object of Penny’s investigations fairly early in the course of events, Wilkinson allows the story to delve much deeper into their respective characterisation by means of their ongoing interactions. And Love-shy becomes a weightier book for it. One that is more serious, more articulate, and ultimately more moving than I anticipated.
Love-shy is a story about the way people can spend their lives building complicated defences around themselves. About fortifying the walls that protect their fragile inner worlds. Regardless of whether this is based upon lack of confidence, past trauma, deeply entrench patterns of belief, anxiety disorders or the like – Love-shy examines the complex lengths those affected may go to in order to feel safe and in control, and the way such feelings impact their lives and relationships.
By exploring these themes through two seemingly polar opposite characters, Wilkinson demonstrates that isolation, loneliness and fear do not discriminate. While each individual experience is different, the emotions are universal. And that the process of gaining insight, or developing empathy for another can often leave us vulnerable, exposed to our own buried fears.
By the end of the novel, each of the characters and the journey they had made together had genuinely touched my heart. That wasn’t something I had prepared for when I read the hilarious opening chapter, but its what changed Love-shy from a good novel to a great one, for me.
Add to this the sharpness of Lili Wilkinson’s writing, her ability to write about teenagers with honesty and humour, the refreshing diversity of her cast – and Love-shy is one of my favourite Australian YAs this year.
**Somewhat disturbingly, Penny is pretty much a literary doppelganger of my high school nemesis. Yes, I had a high school nemesis. Stop looking at me like that. Occasionally I’d just stop reading this book and wonder: “How do you know, LIli Wilkinson!? HOW DO YOU KNOW?”
December 31, 2012
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Once again, Lili Wilkinson has managed to take me by surprise. When I first read a Wilkinson novel, A Pocketful of Eyes, I didn't expect the depth I would receive with a book that had such a cutsie-type cover and yet again, I am utterly floored by Wilkinson. With her latest novel, Love-Shy, Wilkinson delivers not a romance, but a blooming friendship. Love-Shy, in my opinion at least, isn't as strong a novel as A Pocketful of Eyes. I found myself wishing this novel would just be over so many times, until I finally began to love it by the end. Nevertheless, although Love-Shy is nowhere close to one of my personal faves in Aussie Contemporary, it is a remarkable novel of its own that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to fans of Aussie YA.
One of the very first striking qualities about Wilkinson's novels are her protagonists. Penny is unlikable from the surface as she's bossy, a topper in just about everything, and one of those people who just knows she's better than everyone else. Yet, at the same time, she is achingly relate-able precisely because of all her flaws. As an ambitious teen yearning to become a journalist, she sets out to find a boy in her school who is love-shy, or so incredibly shy that he simply cannot talk to girls. Nick, the love-shy boy in question, first comes across as rather lame. Seriously, we read his blog posts and can't help but call him sissy, roll our eyes, and want him to just pull up his socks and at least try to talk to a girl already. Yet, as life so often tells us, first appearances can be deceiving.
As Penny delves deeper and deeper into Nick's story, witnessing his bizarre home arrangement, the string of childhood memories that have made him the way he is today, and his own quirks, she can't help but (a) fall for him and (b) learn a little bit about herself along the journey. With Love-Shy, Wilkinson hasn't created a piece about love-shy people, aiming to expose their condition to the majority of the world who has no idea how serious their shyness is. Instead, she has taken a rare dilemma and delved into it in such a manner that she somehow makes this condition that applies only to a rare few males accessible, understandable, and relate-able to all who read her novel. Seeing both Penny and Nick grow to be better people, challenge themselves, and really come to terms with their lives is a heart-warming journey.
Contrary to what you may first think, there is very little, if no, romance at all in this novel. It is alluded to and there are plenty of discussions about love to be sure, but at the core of everything is just a simple friendship. More than just Nick and Penny though, the secondary characters in this story, from Penny's gay father, to his boyfriend, to her Asian neighbor Rin, to her mother who she barely speaks to, all played an outstanding role in this novel. I was surprised by the depth they all provided and while I would have liked for a little more insight into some of their backstories, especially Penny's mom, I was overall rather pleased. If this novel has any faults, it is simply that it lacks the signature charm of Wilkinson. It is witty, funny, and keeps you flipping the pages for sure, but after a point, both Nick and Penny begin to grate on the reader. It takes a long time for them to grow even a little, which is frustrating to say the least. Furthermore, there were times when I found myself questioning the realisticness of certain situations. Were some parents really so germ-a-phobic that they covered everything in the house in plastic sheets? Were there really that many shy people in the world who wanted to kiss/touch girls so badly?
Either way, Love-Shy achieved its purpose and is a novel I can look back upon fondly. It's a sweet, coming-of-age story of a girl discovering her place in her world all while helping another boy find his. Although I yearned for a romance similar to the absolutely ADORABLE love story in A Pocketful of Eyes, ultimately the friendship focus in this was refreshing. I always come away from a Wilkinson novel taking a deep look into my own life, re-evaluating, and feeling a lot wiser overall and Love-Shy was no different in that respect. Its ultimate impact on the reader is one that is worthwhile to experience and I am already anticipating Wilkinson's next novel, not to mention the novels I still haven't read of hers. If this is your first foray into Wilkinson's writing, I'd recommend A Pocketful of Eyes instead. It is, somehow, a much more fulfilling novel than this one and remains to be my favorite work of Wilkinson's yet. If, however, you're already a fan of Wilkinson or Aussie Contemporary in general, Love-Shy certainly doesn't disappoint.
You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings.
Once again, Lili Wilkinson has managed to take me by surprise. When I first read a Wilkinson novel, A Pocketful of Eyes, I didn't expect the depth I would receive with a book that had such a cutsie-type cover and yet again, I am utterly floored by Wilkinson. With her latest novel, Love-Shy, Wilkinson delivers not a romance, but a blooming friendship. Love-Shy, in my opinion at least, isn't as strong a novel as A Pocketful of Eyes. I found myself wishing this novel would just be over so many times, until I finally began to love it by the end. Nevertheless, although Love-Shy is nowhere close to one of my personal faves in Aussie Contemporary, it is a remarkable novel of its own that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to fans of Aussie YA.
One of the very first striking qualities about Wilkinson's novels are her protagonists. Penny is unlikable from the surface as she's bossy, a topper in just about everything, and one of those people who just knows she's better than everyone else. Yet, at the same time, she is achingly relate-able precisely because of all her flaws. As an ambitious teen yearning to become a journalist, she sets out to find a boy in her school who is love-shy, or so incredibly shy that he simply cannot talk to girls. Nick, the love-shy boy in question, first comes across as rather lame. Seriously, we read his blog posts and can't help but call him sissy, roll our eyes, and want him to just pull up his socks and at least try to talk to a girl already. Yet, as life so often tells us, first appearances can be deceiving.
As Penny delves deeper and deeper into Nick's story, witnessing his bizarre home arrangement, the string of childhood memories that have made him the way he is today, and his own quirks, she can't help but (a) fall for him and (b) learn a little bit about herself along the journey. With Love-Shy, Wilkinson hasn't created a piece about love-shy people, aiming to expose their condition to the majority of the world who has no idea how serious their shyness is. Instead, she has taken a rare dilemma and delved into it in such a manner that she somehow makes this condition that applies only to a rare few males accessible, understandable, and relate-able to all who read her novel. Seeing both Penny and Nick grow to be better people, challenge themselves, and really come to terms with their lives is a heart-warming journey.
Contrary to what you may first think, there is very little, if no, romance at all in this novel. It is alluded to and there are plenty of discussions about love to be sure, but at the core of everything is just a simple friendship. More than just Nick and Penny though, the secondary characters in this story, from Penny's gay father, to his boyfriend, to her Asian neighbor Rin, to her mother who she barely speaks to, all played an outstanding role in this novel. I was surprised by the depth they all provided and while I would have liked for a little more insight into some of their backstories, especially Penny's mom, I was overall rather pleased. If this novel has any faults, it is simply that it lacks the signature charm of Wilkinson. It is witty, funny, and keeps you flipping the pages for sure, but after a point, both Nick and Penny begin to grate on the reader. It takes a long time for them to grow even a little, which is frustrating to say the least. Furthermore, there were times when I found myself questioning the realisticness of certain situations. Were some parents really so germ-a-phobic that they covered everything in the house in plastic sheets? Were there really that many shy people in the world who wanted to kiss/touch girls so badly?
Either way, Love-Shy achieved its purpose and is a novel I can look back upon fondly. It's a sweet, coming-of-age story of a girl discovering her place in her world all while helping another boy find his. Although I yearned for a romance similar to the absolutely ADORABLE love story in A Pocketful of Eyes, ultimately the friendship focus in this was refreshing. I always come away from a Wilkinson novel taking a deep look into my own life, re-evaluating, and feeling a lot wiser overall and Love-Shy was no different in that respect. Its ultimate impact on the reader is one that is worthwhile to experience and I am already anticipating Wilkinson's next novel, not to mention the novels I still haven't read of hers. If this is your first foray into Wilkinson's writing, I'd recommend A Pocketful of Eyes instead. It is, somehow, a much more fulfilling novel than this one and remains to be my favorite work of Wilkinson's yet. If, however, you're already a fan of Wilkinson or Aussie Contemporary in general, Love-Shy certainly doesn't disappoint.
You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings.
February 1, 2016
2.5 stars
October 2, 2013
This book did NOT unfold as I expected it to. Although the cover is accurate (and I only realized how fitting it was after I finished it), it completely misled me into believing this was going to be a light, straightforward, cutesy little YA romance between a girl out to fix everyone and a shy but intelligent boy.
It wasn't. And I was pleasantly surprised by it.
In Love-shy, Penny Drummond is an overachiever, who dreams of becoming a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Her first step? To write the greatest feature article ever published in her high school paper. When she accidentally finds out about a student who is love-shy, she thinks this will be the scoop of the year, and to find and help this boy would be her biggest achievement that year. Her quest begins.
I liked how Penny was this go-getter. She can be quite mean sometimes, because she is too focused on her goal to care about other people whom she thinks as lagging behind. Truth be told, at first I didn't know whether to like her or hate her. She was certainly a different character.
Actually, almost every character here is either a love-em or hate-em kind of person. They're not two-dimensional cardboard cutout characters. They're flawed and endearingly human, which is great. Penny is bossy and sometimes inconsiderate, but she is focused and knows what and how she will go about achieving her dreams. Nick Rammage, who is the love-shy boy, is painfully neurotic and not really your typical hero of the story. This boy is really fucked up and honestly hard to like, though he gets somewhat redeemed as the story moves along. And if I really think about it, I could identify with his love-shyness too.
The characters are either obnoxious or charming. There are many different layers to a person, and these idiosyncratic characters are no exception. Though they had mostly unlikable attributes, Wilkinson managed to make me sympathize with them. And that's a testament to the author's skills.
As Lily Wilkinson says, Love-shyness is a real condition, as well as other anxiety disorders, and we should know how to help these people. Which includes not letting them get away with their bullshit. I was kind of shocked at the level of misogyny some of the love-shy guys in here said. If they think and feel that way about women, something really needs to be done. The themes on feminism and misogyny were handled really well here. As well as the actual condition, and the psychological aspect of it.
Finally, and most of all, this is a brilliant coming-of-age story. Penny starts off as this girl who is overconfident in her skills, but who is blind to her faults. The love-shyness article that she slowly became obsessed about helped her realize that people are important too, not just the scoop.
*4 stars These will be hard characters to like. Some love-shy boys do border on stalker behavior, but I understand how painfully hard it is to approach a person you like, especially when you have a preconceived notion of that person and you elevate him/her in your eyes. WHICH IS WHY YOU SHOULDN'T DEVELOP UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE. Things will never go the way you though it would.
But there will be funny moments too, and, yes, sweet moments that will leave you satisfied. Mainly because of that deceiving book cover, this might not unravel the way you'd think it would, but I think you'll still like it.
*P.S - Should all book covers be like this? So you go into a book with relatively low expectations, and then, BAM, you realized you've met your new favorite book.
*P.S.S - I find I've never been disappointed with Austaralian YA authors. They just write real, relatable and eventually satisfying stories.
It wasn't. And I was pleasantly surprised by it.
In Love-shy, Penny Drummond is an overachiever, who dreams of becoming a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Her first step? To write the greatest feature article ever published in her high school paper. When she accidentally finds out about a student who is love-shy, she thinks this will be the scoop of the year, and to find and help this boy would be her biggest achievement that year. Her quest begins.
I liked how Penny was this go-getter. She can be quite mean sometimes, because she is too focused on her goal to care about other people whom she thinks as lagging behind. Truth be told, at first I didn't know whether to like her or hate her. She was certainly a different character.
Actually, almost every character here is either a love-em or hate-em kind of person. They're not two-dimensional cardboard cutout characters. They're flawed and endearingly human, which is great. Penny is bossy and sometimes inconsiderate, but she is focused and knows what and how she will go about achieving her dreams. Nick Rammage, who is the love-shy boy, is painfully neurotic and not really your typical hero of the story. This boy is really fucked up and honestly hard to like, though he gets somewhat redeemed as the story moves along. And if I really think about it, I could identify with his love-shyness too.
The characters are either obnoxious or charming. There are many different layers to a person, and these idiosyncratic characters are no exception. Though they had mostly unlikable attributes, Wilkinson managed to make me sympathize with them. And that's a testament to the author's skills.
As Lily Wilkinson says, Love-shyness is a real condition, as well as other anxiety disorders, and we should know how to help these people. Which includes not letting them get away with their bullshit. I was kind of shocked at the level of misogyny some of the love-shy guys in here said. If they think and feel that way about women, something really needs to be done. The themes on feminism and misogyny were handled really well here. As well as the actual condition, and the psychological aspect of it.
Finally, and most of all, this is a brilliant coming-of-age story. Penny starts off as this girl who is overconfident in her skills, but who is blind to her faults. The love-shyness article that she slowly became obsessed about helped her realize that people are important too, not just the scoop.
*4 stars These will be hard characters to like. Some love-shy boys do border on stalker behavior, but I understand how painfully hard it is to approach a person you like, especially when you have a preconceived notion of that person and you elevate him/her in your eyes. WHICH IS WHY YOU SHOULDN'T DEVELOP UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS OF OTHER PEOPLE. Things will never go the way you though it would.
But there will be funny moments too, and, yes, sweet moments that will leave you satisfied. Mainly because of that deceiving book cover, this might not unravel the way you'd think it would, but I think you'll still like it.
*P.S - Should all book covers be like this? So you go into a book with relatively low expectations, and then, BAM, you realized you've met your new favorite book.
*P.S.S - I find I've never been disappointed with Austaralian YA authors. They just write real, relatable and eventually satisfying stories.
July 17, 2017
4/5
I am admittedly quite a shallow person and therefore tend to judge books based on their cover. I was given the impression that 'Love-shy' would be a tweeny, very light-hearted book about romance, and to me that just didn't sound all that appealing. So I put it off. The only reason why I have finally picked it up is because there is a book event coming up which the author, Lili Wilkinson, will be attending. I am honestly so glad that I did read this book because it was a fun and quick and really interesting read, and certainly not just for tweens at all.
'Love-shy' is part-mystery, part-romance, and a whole lot of other things in between. Penny Drummond, 16 years old, wants nothing more than to be a top-notch journalist in the future - the best of the best, re-shaping the very name and nature of journalism just like her role model and inspiration Nellie Bly. A model Year 10 student, her extra-curriculars include SRC, swim team (where she is the best swimmer), debate team (they always win because of her), writer at the school newspaper, The East Glendale Secondary College Gazette (her stories always make the front page) and First Oboist at the school orchestra. One day at the library, she discovers someone has visited a website for the Love-shy and just like that, she has her next big story.
Penny is highly ambitious, driven, confident, seemingly unafraid of anything. She was also extremely elitist and looked down on others, constantly comparing herself to others. It could have been grating, but I found myself able to at least enjoy following her story. By the halfway point I was already reading in Paris Geller's (from 'Gilmore Girls') voice - they are like the exact same person! While they are both no-nonsensical and quite serious, it was entertaining and almost comical, some of the situations they get themselves into. So while I didn't LIKE Penny, I was able to tolerate her and sympathise with her somewhat - when you're at the top there's pressure to maintain that perfection, but she's only human in the end.
I adored the mystery aspect, the method used by Penny was just hilarious! I loved reading the interviews, and it just seemed so ridiculous! When Penny finally meets the Love-shy boy, she starts to think of ways to FIX him. It was all just so much fun, I was grinning from ear to ear with every embarrassing moment, every awkward encounter. Let it be known that while Penny does NOT have any problems with speaking to the opposite sex, she has no tact when it comes to talking to others in general. Nor has she any real relationship experience, so when she gets a crush things just turn disastrous!
I loved Penny's dad! He was the absolute best book dad ever. After he came out as gay, Penny's mum moved away to Perth for work (or so she says), so it's just been the two of them. Her dad is just so supportive and really cute and a bit quirky, and when his boyfriend starts to enter the picture too they're just adorable together! Additionally, Penny has a decidedly strained relationship with her mum, and I liked their development.
The romance aspect was just crazy! I just went along for the ride. I liked following this top-student's slow descent as she realises that she has become too invested in her subject (aka. Love-shy boy) for the story: she wags school and daydreams during classes, gets disqualified from the swimming relay race, etc, etc.
One thing I didn't like was Rin. Not her in general, but the fact that she is Japanese. The scene in which she speaks Japanese to her mum was cringe-worthy to me, because it was WRONG. And also unnecessary. (Note: I thought 「こちらはペンニです。Kochira wa Penny desu.」 (NO HONORIFIC?!) and 「 がっこうのともだち Gakkou no tomodachi」 were a bit awkward to say, not sure how fluent Rin is with her Japanese, but I have to assume that she speaks Japanese to her mum normally if that's how she spoke to her mum to introduce her new friend...?) Her mum speaks English to Penny, so why couldn't Rin just have spoken in English instead? I felt like she was made to be Japanese just so there would be some diversity. Not many people would care about this, but it annoyed me hahah.
'Love-shy' ends on a positive and hopeful note. Penny learns to drop her guard down a little bit more, and stop pushing people away. She might even have found the perfect guy for her, who loves her driven, confident and bossy personality. The one thing that felt unrealistic was the resolution with the Love-shy boy, and how quickly it seemed that he had conquered his issues with anxiety. Otherwise, it was a satisfying and cute ending. I liked that Penny becomes a more approachable and open person by the end of the book and therefore much more likeable. I would recommend 'Love-shy' for readers who are in the mood for a fun and quick mystery that also addresses some deeper issues.
I am admittedly quite a shallow person and therefore tend to judge books based on their cover. I was given the impression that 'Love-shy' would be a tweeny, very light-hearted book about romance, and to me that just didn't sound all that appealing. So I put it off. The only reason why I have finally picked it up is because there is a book event coming up which the author, Lili Wilkinson, will be attending. I am honestly so glad that I did read this book because it was a fun and quick and really interesting read, and certainly not just for tweens at all.
'Love-shy' is part-mystery, part-romance, and a whole lot of other things in between. Penny Drummond, 16 years old, wants nothing more than to be a top-notch journalist in the future - the best of the best, re-shaping the very name and nature of journalism just like her role model and inspiration Nellie Bly. A model Year 10 student, her extra-curriculars include SRC, swim team (where she is the best swimmer), debate team (they always win because of her), writer at the school newspaper, The East Glendale Secondary College Gazette (her stories always make the front page) and First Oboist at the school orchestra. One day at the library, she discovers someone has visited a website for the Love-shy and just like that, she has her next big story.
Penny is highly ambitious, driven, confident, seemingly unafraid of anything. She was also extremely elitist and looked down on others, constantly comparing herself to others. It could have been grating, but I found myself able to at least enjoy following her story. By the halfway point I was already reading in Paris Geller's (from 'Gilmore Girls') voice - they are like the exact same person! While they are both no-nonsensical and quite serious, it was entertaining and almost comical, some of the situations they get themselves into. So while I didn't LIKE Penny, I was able to tolerate her and sympathise with her somewhat - when you're at the top there's pressure to maintain that perfection, but she's only human in the end.
I adored the mystery aspect, the method used by Penny was just hilarious! I loved reading the interviews, and it just seemed so ridiculous! When Penny finally meets the Love-shy boy, she starts to think of ways to FIX him. It was all just so much fun, I was grinning from ear to ear with every embarrassing moment, every awkward encounter. Let it be known that while Penny does NOT have any problems with speaking to the opposite sex, she has no tact when it comes to talking to others in general. Nor has she any real relationship experience, so when she gets a crush things just turn disastrous!
I loved Penny's dad! He was the absolute best book dad ever. After he came out as gay, Penny's mum moved away to Perth for work (or so she says), so it's just been the two of them. Her dad is just so supportive and really cute and a bit quirky, and when his boyfriend starts to enter the picture too they're just adorable together! Additionally, Penny has a decidedly strained relationship with her mum, and I liked their development.
The romance aspect was just crazy! I just went along for the ride. I liked following this top-student's slow descent as she realises that she has become too invested in her subject (aka. Love-shy boy) for the story: she wags school and daydreams during classes, gets disqualified from the swimming relay race, etc, etc.
One thing I didn't like was Rin. Not her in general, but the fact that she is Japanese. The scene in which she speaks Japanese to her mum was cringe-worthy to me, because it was WRONG. And also unnecessary. (Note: I thought 「こちらはペンニです。Kochira wa Penny desu.」 (NO HONORIFIC?!) and 「 がっこうのともだち Gakkou no tomodachi」 were a bit awkward to say, not sure how fluent Rin is with her Japanese, but I have to assume that she speaks Japanese to her mum normally if that's how she spoke to her mum to introduce her new friend...?) Her mum speaks English to Penny, so why couldn't Rin just have spoken in English instead? I felt like she was made to be Japanese just so there would be some diversity. Not many people would care about this, but it annoyed me hahah.
'Love-shy' ends on a positive and hopeful note. Penny learns to drop her guard down a little bit more, and stop pushing people away. She might even have found the perfect guy for her, who loves her driven, confident and bossy personality. The one thing that felt unrealistic was the resolution with the Love-shy boy, and how quickly it seemed that he had conquered his issues with anxiety. Otherwise, it was a satisfying and cute ending. I liked that Penny becomes a more approachable and open person by the end of the book and therefore much more likeable. I would recommend 'Love-shy' for readers who are in the mood for a fun and quick mystery that also addresses some deeper issues.
April 11, 2012
Review originally posted in: http://forget8me8not.blogspot.com.au/...
Cover:
The girl kind of looks like how I imagined Penny. I don't really understand what that bowl looking glass with the stones inside of it is but it's a creative and fun-looking cover!
Story:
I am Pezzimist and I am a love-shy.
Penny is trying to figure out who Pezzimist is. She is a journalist student and wants to write an article about this guy (of course it's going to be Anonymous). Pezzimist is a love-shy. It means that he feels uncomfortable around girls. He wants to interact with girls, but he's just too shy. Penny wants to help him. And who knows, in the process of helping him she can get a Pulitzer Prize!
This book was fun. I like the story and it's really unique! Love Shy is written from Penny's POV. The idea of love-shy itself is really interesting. I never noticed that sometimes boys can feel too shy around girls. Usually boys are really confident and brave but in fact, some of them are just not. It's really fun reading about how Penny tries to find out who Pezzimist is and when she does, I love reading how she tries to help him. Wilkinson's writing style is fun and engaging, and the school setting is absolutely great. Although, this book didn't quite hooked me into the story and sometimes the pacing felt quite slow to me. There were parts that I found quite boring and it didn't make me want to keep on reading. It actually took me a while to finish the book. Nevertheless, the ending pleased me and it was overall an enjoyable read!
Characters:
Penny is a strong-willed girl who will not give up when she decides to do something. The moment she is set on writing a story about Pezzimist, she keeps on trying to find him and even interviewed the boys in the school with random questions which are hilarious. Imagine you being approached by some random person who starts asking you random questions about your love life! That must be really embarrassing sometimes. Pezzimist is quite a sad character. Being love-shy is not easy. I can feel his pain, sadness and the need to change and stop being a love-shy. I enjoyed reading about Penny and Pezzimist's relationship and also Penny's friends such as Hamish and Rin!
Overall:
Do you know what love-shy means? Do you want to know how to identify a love-shy person and how to help them? Read this book! Love Shy is a fun, hilarious and great book which will answer these questions. The determined Penny is about to write her best article yet about love-shy!
Thank you Allen & Unwin for the review copy!
Cover:
The girl kind of looks like how I imagined Penny. I don't really understand what that bowl looking glass with the stones inside of it is but it's a creative and fun-looking cover!
Story:
I am Pezzimist and I am a love-shy.
Penny is trying to figure out who Pezzimist is. She is a journalist student and wants to write an article about this guy (of course it's going to be Anonymous). Pezzimist is a love-shy. It means that he feels uncomfortable around girls. He wants to interact with girls, but he's just too shy. Penny wants to help him. And who knows, in the process of helping him she can get a Pulitzer Prize!
This book was fun. I like the story and it's really unique! Love Shy is written from Penny's POV. The idea of love-shy itself is really interesting. I never noticed that sometimes boys can feel too shy around girls. Usually boys are really confident and brave but in fact, some of them are just not. It's really fun reading about how Penny tries to find out who Pezzimist is and when she does, I love reading how she tries to help him. Wilkinson's writing style is fun and engaging, and the school setting is absolutely great. Although, this book didn't quite hooked me into the story and sometimes the pacing felt quite slow to me. There were parts that I found quite boring and it didn't make me want to keep on reading. It actually took me a while to finish the book. Nevertheless, the ending pleased me and it was overall an enjoyable read!
Characters:
Penny is a strong-willed girl who will not give up when she decides to do something. The moment she is set on writing a story about Pezzimist, she keeps on trying to find him and even interviewed the boys in the school with random questions which are hilarious. Imagine you being approached by some random person who starts asking you random questions about your love life! That must be really embarrassing sometimes. Pezzimist is quite a sad character. Being love-shy is not easy. I can feel his pain, sadness and the need to change and stop being a love-shy. I enjoyed reading about Penny and Pezzimist's relationship and also Penny's friends such as Hamish and Rin!
Overall:
Do you know what love-shy means? Do you want to know how to identify a love-shy person and how to help them? Read this book! Love Shy is a fun, hilarious and great book which will answer these questions. The determined Penny is about to write her best article yet about love-shy!
Thank you Allen & Unwin for the review copy!
April 1, 2012
Review TBC...
I usually find myself ranting and raving about Aussie YA but while Love-Shy was an enjoyable read, it also left me slightly listless. It may have had something to do with my lack of compassion for our protag, Penny Drummond. This young girl came across as being overzealous with zero friends and all her time spent on extra-curricular activities. I often found myself picturing her as not unlike Paris Gellar from Gilmore Girls who also happens to sport the book smarts yet lacks majorly in any sort of peer social skill.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed learning more about anxiety disorder and how it can effect people in different ways. The boy who unfortunately suffers in this particular novel has parents you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. The type of parents who go to the nth degree to keep their boy safe in the process harming him psychologically.
I usually find myself ranting and raving about Aussie YA but while Love-Shy was an enjoyable read, it also left me slightly listless. It may have had something to do with my lack of compassion for our protag, Penny Drummond. This young girl came across as being overzealous with zero friends and all her time spent on extra-curricular activities. I often found myself picturing her as not unlike Paris Gellar from Gilmore Girls who also happens to sport the book smarts yet lacks majorly in any sort of peer social skill.
On the other hand, I really enjoyed learning more about anxiety disorder and how it can effect people in different ways. The boy who unfortunately suffers in this particular novel has parents you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. The type of parents who go to the nth degree to keep their boy safe in the process harming him psychologically.
February 4, 2022
I liked it!💟
March 1, 2013
Usually, I hate waking up because in general, I feel dirty because I just wasted so much of my time. But today, I took a seeping-to-the-bone cold shower and then went to bed immediately and now, I am extremely content. And when I'm content, I have a tendency to warble nonsensical-itites like, "Pochoo-meglu-pee" which I did soon as I woke up. I also did something along those lines when I finished reading Love-shy.
The book is about a girl and a PEZZImist and their blooming relationship and how not everything has to go Pretty-in-Pink-wise but not all Awkward-complicated-wise(I am ashamed to admit that I watched the whole two seasons) either. And love-shyness, of course. But you girlies don't be alarmed; it's a condition prevalent* in the male of the species, like color blindness or natural baldness. And it also kicks the regular rom-com's in their silly perfumed asses all the way to an Indian summer- which is the most smelly time and place I can imagine and since I'm an Indian, I believe I have the right to slander my country.
Penny is by far the most vocal, opinionated and still likable YA character I've met by far. She is funny, honest, logical, intelligent and ambitious. Dexterity is her middle name and she manages five extra-curricular activities, is at the top of her class and takes no shit from high school, and as you'd expect, she have no friends. Well, she does look down upon the people around her(and rightly so- those people were just dumb).
Love-shy is my first Wilkinson novel and I had no bloody clue what to expect. But whatever I did, this book wasn't that; it was much more lively and enjoyable and remember-able. Lili Wilkinson has a created a book that catches the essence and honesty and realism and humor of the teenage mind as well as the obstructions in a friendship developing in later years. It is the exploration of the complexes we cultivate from whatever reason and it is that we aren't exempted from real life and its pains whether we hide form it figuratively or literally behind a huge stack of books or a note-pad or I-phone.
To sum it all up and keep it short and sweet because there is a trig exercise singing my name, my reaction after finishing the book: awwwwwwww- i hate awww's but this one demands it. this is exactly what i needed and i love that not-quite-perfect ending.
Also, australia, don't hog them all.
_________________________________________________
This review can also be found on my blog.
The book is about a girl and a PEZZImist and their blooming relationship and how not everything has to go Pretty-in-Pink-wise but not all Awkward-complicated-wise(I am ashamed to admit that I watched the whole two seasons) either. And love-shyness, of course. But you girlies don't be alarmed; it's a condition prevalent* in the male of the species, like color blindness or natural baldness. And it also kicks the regular rom-com's in their silly perfumed asses all the way to an Indian summer- which is the most smelly time and place I can imagine and since I'm an Indian, I believe I have the right to slander my country.
Penny is by far the most vocal, opinionated and still likable YA character I've met by far. She is funny, honest, logical, intelligent and ambitious. Dexterity is her middle name and she manages five extra-curricular activities, is at the top of her class and takes no shit from high school, and as you'd expect, she have no friends. Well, she does look down upon the people around her(and rightly so- those people were just dumb).
Love-shy is my first Wilkinson novel and I had no bloody clue what to expect. But whatever I did, this book wasn't that; it was much more lively and enjoyable and remember-able. Lili Wilkinson has a created a book that catches the essence and honesty and realism and humor of the teenage mind as well as the obstructions in a friendship developing in later years. It is the exploration of the complexes we cultivate from whatever reason and it is that we aren't exempted from real life and its pains whether we hide form it figuratively or literally behind a huge stack of books or a note-pad or I-phone.
To sum it all up and keep it short and sweet because there is a trig exercise singing my name, my reaction after finishing the book: awwwwwwww- i hate awww's but this one demands it. this is exactly what i needed and i love that not-quite-perfect ending.
Also, australia, don't hog them all.
_________________________________________________
This review can also be found on my blog.
October 7, 2012
Fully realized characters whose stories go in a totally unexpected direction; it’s not the eighty movies odd one out meets girl/boy of his/her dreams, subjected to make over, then tada: love thing I thought it was going to be about (though it could have been.) And because of that, I enjoyed this all the more mainly. That as well as of my predisposition to liking a girl who knows her mind and stands apart from the rest...except my liking Penny was sorely tested by certain quirks.
And so, the highlights: Over achieving more than slightly neurotic girl, stalkily stalking another highly neurotic subject. You’d think it’d be a while before unveiling the who and the how come, but it wasn’t so that instead we get to see this odd building up of something between the two.
I love that she’s so sure of herself and out there; I also loved that he’s not. I love that for such a smart girl she could do so many dumb things. And for despite being so clueless, the guy could see so much as well. I enjoyed the two, that after awhile something true started surfacing. She’s not just the over achiever I initially pegged her as; he’s not the completely loveable shy type either. They’re both blind to their faults but it's both that let the other see more.
And where she'd say things that are true sounding and right like, “Men aren’t from Mars and women aren’t from Venus, when you get down to it, there are some people who are nice, some people who aren’t, and a whole lot of fuzzy grey in between.” He'd say things that are not quite that, “I am the very model of a majorly mental–case.” Either of which leaving me feeling, "You're both right!"
This was fun!
3.5/5
And so, the highlights: Over achieving more than slightly neurotic girl, stalkily stalking another highly neurotic subject. You’d think it’d be a while before unveiling the who and the how come, but it wasn’t so that instead we get to see this odd building up of something between the two.
I love that she’s so sure of herself and out there; I also loved that he’s not. I love that for such a smart girl she could do so many dumb things. And for despite being so clueless, the guy could see so much as well. I enjoyed the two, that after awhile something true started surfacing. She’s not just the over achiever I initially pegged her as; he’s not the completely loveable shy type either. They’re both blind to their faults but it's both that let the other see more.
And where she'd say things that are true sounding and right like, “Men aren’t from Mars and women aren’t from Venus, when you get down to it, there are some people who are nice, some people who aren’t, and a whole lot of fuzzy grey in between.” He'd say things that are not quite that, “I am the very model of a majorly mental–case.” Either of which leaving me feeling, "You're both right!"
This was fun!
3.5/5
March 26, 2012
Honestly, every Australian book I have read so far published this year has been excellent! Love-Shy's main character, Penny reminded me a lot of Bindy MacKenzie. She's just as judgemental, just as socially misfit-ish, and extremely funny.
But there is also depth here, and a touch of sadness. Penny is so lost, and to find herself, she has to confront some mighty scary inner demons.
I loved this to bits.
But there is also depth here, and a touch of sadness. Penny is so lost, and to find herself, she has to confront some mighty scary inner demons.
I loved this to bits.
August 3, 2012
It's hard to be a teenager, even for Penny who thinks she has life worked out. I found I smiled a lot whilst reading Love-shy; it was not laugh out loud funny but sometimes teenagers think and do dumb/funny/quirky things and Lili captured this. Of course I wanted to frown and shake my head at Penny quite a few times during the book, she is just so bossy and of course always right, but by the end I would have been patting her on the back.
May 2, 2018
3.5 Stars
This was incredibly sweet and adorable.
We don't often see characters like Penny in YA fiction or Middle-Grade fiction and so it's nice to have this breath of fresh air.
It was such a nice, simple read that took basically no time at all and makes you chuckle in parts to yourself. Would definitely recommend this to a younger YA reader, not necessarily an older one just because it is a bit simplistic.
This was incredibly sweet and adorable.
We don't often see characters like Penny in YA fiction or Middle-Grade fiction and so it's nice to have this breath of fresh air.
It was such a nice, simple read that took basically no time at all and makes you chuckle in parts to yourself. Would definitely recommend this to a younger YA reader, not necessarily an older one just because it is a bit simplistic.
October 29, 2012
3.5 stars
Aw... I really liked the voice in this one even though it was a bit younger than I usually like reading. I'm surprised this hasn't been published in the US, it is very universally relatable and not as specifically Australian as some of the other Aussie YA I've read.
Aw... I really liked the voice in this one even though it was a bit younger than I usually like reading. I'm surprised this hasn't been published in the US, it is very universally relatable and not as specifically Australian as some of the other Aussie YA I've read.
March 16, 2021
Started off a bit slowly, and I found the main character Penny quite annoying and difficult to like for about the first half of the book. But it grew on me and by the end she'd won me over. Didn't enjoy it as much as Pocketful of Eyes but still a good read.
March 11, 2012
Loved the quirky characters and the snappy humour. A great read.
June 18, 2012
Lili Wilkinson honestly writes some of the most fun, most genuine, most realistic teen fiction I have read in a bloody long time.
March 25, 2016
Love-Shy is a book about a girl helping a brooding, bad boy heal through her love, but not before being filtered through Lili Wilkinson’s cynical and mocking yet empathetic eyes and undergoing several savage subversions. For one thing, the brooding, “love-shy” bad boy is explicitly acknowledged to be pathetic, whiny, overly melodramatic, misogynistic and overall very unlikeable due to his trauma. In addition, the book portrays them as unequally, yet both flawed and in need of improvement, , and, in what is probably my favourite subversion, the heroine is a bossy, ambitious, insensitive snob who decides to help the broody, bad boy for purely self-centred, journalistic reasons.
These characters are people who are great to read about but would make you want to drop them in a vat of acid in real life. They’re extremely teenagery in the way that they have very inaccurate views of themselves and are quite emotionally immature, but I found their teenageriness extremely endearing instead of annoying. It helps that Penny Drummond:
- Is basically a bossier, more socially adept version of Bindy Mackenzie; naturally, I love her.
- Brings back evocative memories of myself during high school and, if I’m completely honest, mirrors some shortcomings that are relevant to me at the present.
There are several narratives surrounding each character that they expect to play out. Penny has it in her head that she is completely in control of her life and is destined for greatness as a journalist who reports HARD-HITTING STORIES that will FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE SOCIETY. Love-shy boy has it in his head that he is both a WORTHLESS CARCASS OF A HUMAN BEING, undeserving of the love of angelic, pristine-perfect crush, and a sensitive, loving person who is DOOMED TO BE FOREVER MISUNDERSTOOD by the world. (In case the all-caps isn’t obvious, I found their earnestness deeply amusing, but you grow to like these two to such a great extent that I can’t mock them too much).
Of course, none of these narratives turn out to be true at all, and each character opens up and learns things about themselves and others they didn’t know before, etc. etc. It hits the same beats as many other YA novels do, but the execution of them was well-done.
This book has, in retrospect, some flaws that ought to have bothered me more, but . . . I can’t help it! I was extremely charmed by this book! I zipped through it in one sitting, Penny was amazing and hilarious as a narrator, and the narrative regarding the love-shy boy was overall very well-handled. Although the story is about a girl “healing” a bad boy under all the subversions, I appreciated that Penny acknowledged how out of her depth she was when she and that the book refuses to make light of how that situation results in love-shy boy’s trauma.
On the negatives:
- I don’t think the book adequately acknowledged how problematic Penny’s actions were with regards to how much she invaded the privacy of the boy she hunted down. She doesn’t do anything incredibly bad or unforgivable, but the ease with which her behaviour is glossed over kept hovering ever-so-slightly over my head.
- There is a really, really noticeable lack of sisterhood going on in Penny’s life, and this complaint ties in with how extremely underused Rin was. Following Penny’s , my immediate thought was that she needed a girl friend to have a good cry with, which I assumed Rin would fill the role of, but this was not the case. It also threatens, dare I say, to weaken the feminist undertones of the novel a little bit.
- A small quibble, but the book could be a little didactic about its messages a few times, but given the fact that they were messages that needed to be said a thousand times over, I will heartily excuse them. On a related note, however, I thought love-shy boy’s change in his misogynistic attitudes was somewhat too easy and quick. People don’t change that radically following a few well-composed speeches!
VERDICT: Still a fun read with a fabulous main character and an understanding yet thorough evisceration of the Nice Guy trope. Three and three quarters stars?
These characters are people who are great to read about but would make you want to drop them in a vat of acid in real life. They’re extremely teenagery in the way that they have very inaccurate views of themselves and are quite emotionally immature, but I found their teenageriness extremely endearing instead of annoying. It helps that Penny Drummond:
- Is basically a bossier, more socially adept version of Bindy Mackenzie; naturally, I love her.
- Brings back evocative memories of myself during high school and, if I’m completely honest, mirrors some shortcomings that are relevant to me at the present.
There are several narratives surrounding each character that they expect to play out. Penny has it in her head that she is completely in control of her life and is destined for greatness as a journalist who reports HARD-HITTING STORIES that will FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE SOCIETY. Love-shy boy has it in his head that he is both a WORTHLESS CARCASS OF A HUMAN BEING, undeserving of the love of angelic, pristine-perfect crush, and a sensitive, loving person who is DOOMED TO BE FOREVER MISUNDERSTOOD by the world. (In case the all-caps isn’t obvious, I found their earnestness deeply amusing, but you grow to like these two to such a great extent that I can’t mock them too much).
Of course, none of these narratives turn out to be true at all, and each character opens up and learns things about themselves and others they didn’t know before, etc. etc. It hits the same beats as many other YA novels do, but the execution of them was well-done.
This book has, in retrospect, some flaws that ought to have bothered me more, but . . . I can’t help it! I was extremely charmed by this book! I zipped through it in one sitting, Penny was amazing and hilarious as a narrator, and the narrative regarding the love-shy boy was overall very well-handled. Although the story is about a girl “healing” a bad boy under all the subversions, I appreciated that Penny acknowledged how out of her depth she was when she and that the book refuses to make light of how that situation results in love-shy boy’s trauma.
On the negatives:
- I don’t think the book adequately acknowledged how problematic Penny’s actions were with regards to how much she invaded the privacy of the boy she hunted down. She doesn’t do anything incredibly bad or unforgivable, but the ease with which her behaviour is glossed over kept hovering ever-so-slightly over my head.
- There is a really, really noticeable lack of sisterhood going on in Penny’s life, and this complaint ties in with how extremely underused Rin was. Following Penny’s , my immediate thought was that she needed a girl friend to have a good cry with, which I assumed Rin would fill the role of, but this was not the case. It also threatens, dare I say, to weaken the feminist undertones of the novel a little bit.
- A small quibble, but the book could be a little didactic about its messages a few times, but given the fact that they were messages that needed to be said a thousand times over, I will heartily excuse them. On a related note, however, I thought love-shy boy’s change in his misogynistic attitudes was somewhat too easy and quick. People don’t change that radically following a few well-composed speeches!
VERDICT: Still a fun read with a fabulous main character and an understanding yet thorough evisceration of the Nice Guy trope. Three and three quarters stars?
May 22, 2014
Penny möchte eine berühmte Journalistin sein, eine, die mit spannenden Storys auftrumpfen kann. Leider waren bis jetzt nur lauwarme Artikel dabei, nichts was einem lange in Gedanken bleibt. Als sie zufällig in der Schulbibliothek auf eine Internetseite über Liebesschüchterne Jungs stößt, kommt ihr ein Gedankenblitz - sie findet heraus wer dieser Junge an ihrer Schule ist und bringt den Artikel groß raus. Tja, leichter gesagt als getan, denn sie muss nun erstmal alle Jungs an ihrer Schule interviewen. Aber irgendeiner wird sich schon verraten..
Penny möchte Journalistin werden, das merkt man ihr auch sofort an. Sie redet nicht um den heißen Brei herum sondern spricht offen und ehrlich, frei von der Leber weg alles aus. Sie wohnt bei ihrem schwulen Vater und dessen Lebensgefährten, seit der Trennung ihrer Eltern hat sie ihre Mutter kaum gesehen oder gesprochen. Sie geht sehr offen damit um und mag den neuen Freund ihres Vaters auch sehr gerne, zu dritt verbringen sie ihre Abende mit essen, Filme schauen und quatschen. Leider hat sie nicht viele Freunde und ist daher die meiste Zeit alleine aber sie entwickelt sich im Laufe des Buches von einer dauerquasselnden Einzelgängerin zu einer Selbstbewussten jungen Frau.
Als sie zufällig in der Schulbibliothek, angetrieben durch ihre Neugier, die zuletzt angeklickte Seite öffnet, sieht sie ihre Chance für den ersten großen Artikel. Eine Seite für Liebesschüchterne Jungs, Männer in jedem Alter berichten über ihre Ängste gegenüber Frauen, keiner traut sich hier jemanden ansprechen, sie bekommen meist schon vom bloßen Ansehen Schweißausbrüche. Da bemerkt sie einen Kommentar von einem Jungen in ihrem Alter, er schwärmt von einem Mädchen an ihrer Schule, das er aber nie ansprechen wird. Sie klickt sich durch seinen Blog, der unbekannte Junge nennt sich selbst Pezzimist und schreibt regelmäßig neue Einträge.
Ab da an ist Penny Feuer und Flamme für ihre Idee. Sie muss diesen Jungen finden, ihn interviewen, einen Artikel darüber schreiben und ihn vielleicht auch noch nebenbei verkuppeln. So fragt sich Penny in der Schule durch alle Jungs durch, sie führt während der Schulstunden Interviews und versucht durch peinliche Fragen den unbekannten Liebesschüchternen Jungen zu überführen.
"Liebesschüchtern" ist das erste Pink! Buch welches knapp 300 Seiten aufweist und sich dennoch weg lesen lässt wie nichts. Der Schreibstil ist wieder typisch jugendlich gehalten, mit der richtigen Portion an Frechheit und Witz. Vor allem die Interviews taten ihr übriges, humorvoll bestreitet Penny ihren Weg durch peinliche Fragen und lernt gleichzeitig ziemlich schräge Typen kennen. Es läuft nicht immer alles nach Plan und das muss Penny sehr früh einsehen, nichtsdestotrotz geht sie ihren Weg weiter und hilft dem schüchternen Jungen am Ende doch mehr als sie meint. Im Laufe der Geschichte merkt man, dass dieses Buch kein typischer 0815 Roman ist, man wird immer wieder positiv überrascht welche Wendungen "Liebesschüchtern" zu bieten hat.
Ich kann "Liebesschüchtern" allen jungen und junggebliebenen LeserInnen sehr empfehlen. Wer mal eine abwechslungsreiche Geschichte lesen will, wird mit diesem Buch sicher nichts falsch machen. Hier werden die Klischees durchgewirbelt und mit einigen Vorurteilen aufgeräumt - daher gibt es von mir verdiente 5/5 Rawr's.
Sarah Rawrpunx
rawrpunx.blogspot.co.at
Penny möchte Journalistin werden, das merkt man ihr auch sofort an. Sie redet nicht um den heißen Brei herum sondern spricht offen und ehrlich, frei von der Leber weg alles aus. Sie wohnt bei ihrem schwulen Vater und dessen Lebensgefährten, seit der Trennung ihrer Eltern hat sie ihre Mutter kaum gesehen oder gesprochen. Sie geht sehr offen damit um und mag den neuen Freund ihres Vaters auch sehr gerne, zu dritt verbringen sie ihre Abende mit essen, Filme schauen und quatschen. Leider hat sie nicht viele Freunde und ist daher die meiste Zeit alleine aber sie entwickelt sich im Laufe des Buches von einer dauerquasselnden Einzelgängerin zu einer Selbstbewussten jungen Frau.
Als sie zufällig in der Schulbibliothek, angetrieben durch ihre Neugier, die zuletzt angeklickte Seite öffnet, sieht sie ihre Chance für den ersten großen Artikel. Eine Seite für Liebesschüchterne Jungs, Männer in jedem Alter berichten über ihre Ängste gegenüber Frauen, keiner traut sich hier jemanden ansprechen, sie bekommen meist schon vom bloßen Ansehen Schweißausbrüche. Da bemerkt sie einen Kommentar von einem Jungen in ihrem Alter, er schwärmt von einem Mädchen an ihrer Schule, das er aber nie ansprechen wird. Sie klickt sich durch seinen Blog, der unbekannte Junge nennt sich selbst Pezzimist und schreibt regelmäßig neue Einträge.
Ab da an ist Penny Feuer und Flamme für ihre Idee. Sie muss diesen Jungen finden, ihn interviewen, einen Artikel darüber schreiben und ihn vielleicht auch noch nebenbei verkuppeln. So fragt sich Penny in der Schule durch alle Jungs durch, sie führt während der Schulstunden Interviews und versucht durch peinliche Fragen den unbekannten Liebesschüchternen Jungen zu überführen.
"Liebesschüchtern" ist das erste Pink! Buch welches knapp 300 Seiten aufweist und sich dennoch weg lesen lässt wie nichts. Der Schreibstil ist wieder typisch jugendlich gehalten, mit der richtigen Portion an Frechheit und Witz. Vor allem die Interviews taten ihr übriges, humorvoll bestreitet Penny ihren Weg durch peinliche Fragen und lernt gleichzeitig ziemlich schräge Typen kennen. Es läuft nicht immer alles nach Plan und das muss Penny sehr früh einsehen, nichtsdestotrotz geht sie ihren Weg weiter und hilft dem schüchternen Jungen am Ende doch mehr als sie meint. Im Laufe der Geschichte merkt man, dass dieses Buch kein typischer 0815 Roman ist, man wird immer wieder positiv überrascht welche Wendungen "Liebesschüchtern" zu bieten hat.
Ich kann "Liebesschüchtern" allen jungen und junggebliebenen LeserInnen sehr empfehlen. Wer mal eine abwechslungsreiche Geschichte lesen will, wird mit diesem Buch sicher nichts falsch machen. Hier werden die Klischees durchgewirbelt und mit einigen Vorurteilen aufgeräumt - daher gibt es von mir verdiente 5/5 Rawr's.
Sarah Rawrpunx
rawrpunx.blogspot.co.at
April 5, 2012
Originally posted at Read Me Bookmark Me Love Me
Penny Drummond has just stumbled onto a priceless gem in her very own school library, one that could make her dream of being a renowned journalist a reality. When a mystery boy flees the scene of the crime without checking out his book, Penny's curiosity draws her to his computer screen…only to find the page stuck on loveshyforum.com. According to Penny, a boy who's love shy likes classical music, citrus fruits, romantic (but not comedic) movies, has a weird relationship with his mother and is allergic to milk or wool. Could there really be one of these in her school? Okay, so maybe she's a little off base...but full points for determination and diligence! Penny will stop at nothing to figure out the nooks and crannies of this condition and may just get a few lovely shocks about herself along the way.
Throughout this humorous book, Penny chases after the confounding PEZZimist, who she discovers owns a blog in which he expresses his private thoughts. With his blog entries in mind and a yearbook in hand, she combs her entire year level in search of his true identity, conducting interviews with every single boy in a process of elimination. I enjoyed these hilarious interrogations immensely because we were immediately able to see how outgoing and straightforward she was, unafraid to ask the tough questions for the truth! *wink* The construction of her character was very well done - kudos to Lili for really exploring all angles!
I also really liked the secondary characters that were introduced. As a result of her investigations, Penny makes a whole handful of new friends, from the misogynistic Hamish to the somewhat flashy and nerdy Hugh. Although we only see them a few times, Penny's gay dad and his boyfriend are nothing short of adorable…in a strange and quirky way. (Their quest: Find the ugliest jigsaw puzzle in the world.) After Penny tracks down PEZZimist, she's tasked with the challenge of "fixing him". What she doesn't realise is that it's not so simple… Maybe it's her own life that needs a turnaround? Involved with an endless number of committees and other extra curricular activities, Penny has no time for friends and certainly not for love. Is her subconscious shielding her from what she's really afraid of? Is her busy schedule just an excuse for not being like kids her own age?
Love Shy is an entertaining comedy that's filled with unexpected friendships and deals with the growth and learning experiences of several characters. The only bone I have to pick is with the ending being too "easy" and disengaged from the nice prior build up, but I'm willing to just enjoy the development up until that point! This book touches on some sensitive issues and I loved exploring those and seeing how they were dealt with by the characters also. Funny and engaging to the very last page, this is a quick read that is thought-provoking but still manages to be light!
Penny Drummond has just stumbled onto a priceless gem in her very own school library, one that could make her dream of being a renowned journalist a reality. When a mystery boy flees the scene of the crime without checking out his book, Penny's curiosity draws her to his computer screen…only to find the page stuck on loveshyforum.com. According to Penny, a boy who's love shy likes classical music, citrus fruits, romantic (but not comedic) movies, has a weird relationship with his mother and is allergic to milk or wool. Could there really be one of these in her school? Okay, so maybe she's a little off base...but full points for determination and diligence! Penny will stop at nothing to figure out the nooks and crannies of this condition and may just get a few lovely shocks about herself along the way.
Throughout this humorous book, Penny chases after the confounding PEZZimist, who she discovers owns a blog in which he expresses his private thoughts. With his blog entries in mind and a yearbook in hand, she combs her entire year level in search of his true identity, conducting interviews with every single boy in a process of elimination. I enjoyed these hilarious interrogations immensely because we were immediately able to see how outgoing and straightforward she was, unafraid to ask the tough questions for the truth! *wink* The construction of her character was very well done - kudos to Lili for really exploring all angles!
I also really liked the secondary characters that were introduced. As a result of her investigations, Penny makes a whole handful of new friends, from the misogynistic Hamish to the somewhat flashy and nerdy Hugh. Although we only see them a few times, Penny's gay dad and his boyfriend are nothing short of adorable…in a strange and quirky way. (Their quest: Find the ugliest jigsaw puzzle in the world.) After Penny tracks down PEZZimist, she's tasked with the challenge of "fixing him". What she doesn't realise is that it's not so simple… Maybe it's her own life that needs a turnaround? Involved with an endless number of committees and other extra curricular activities, Penny has no time for friends and certainly not for love. Is her subconscious shielding her from what she's really afraid of? Is her busy schedule just an excuse for not being like kids her own age?
Love Shy is an entertaining comedy that's filled with unexpected friendships and deals with the growth and learning experiences of several characters. The only bone I have to pick is with the ending being too "easy" and disengaged from the nice prior build up, but I'm willing to just enjoy the development up until that point! This book touches on some sensitive issues and I loved exploring those and seeing how they were dealt with by the characters also. Funny and engaging to the very last page, this is a quick read that is thought-provoking but still manages to be light!
August 21, 2013
I will begin by saying that I loved, loved, loved Lili's book Pocketful of Eyes published last year, so I was so excited at the prospect of what I hoped it be another funny and clever read. I was not disappointed.
Penny is a great character; intelligent, dedicated, focused, forthright and real. As a watcher of many tragic TV series, she reminded of the character Paris Geller from the show Gilmore Girls. The sort of character that spends so much time being busy, they have forgotten to take a breath and live life.
Penny studies hard, she's a swimmer, is on the debate team, plays the oboe, is on the SRC and writes on the school paper. Penny is always on the look out for the next big story, and when she stumbles on a forum called Loveshyforum.com, she realises she has it. In her quest to find out about love-shyness she comes across a blog by PEZZimist, who is a real life boy from her school who suffers from love-shyness. After interviewing nearly every boy in her year, Penny finds the love-shy boy, Nick Rammage, and she beings her efforts to cure him.
There are a lot of funny moments in the book, but there is a serious side too. I did start to become concerned when Penny visits Nick at home, and we see what his life is really like. The way Nick has been treated by his parents is not abuse in the physical sense, but emotionally, they have been abusing him for years. This has damaged him to the point where he is now, but his friendship with Penny makes him see that his life has not been OK, and that he needs to get help. Working with Nick on his love-shyness, Penny becomes aware that she may not be the well rounded person she thinks she is.
This all sounds very deep and meaningful for a book that's supposed to be funny. Somehow Lili has managed to write a story that is funny, and has substance, not always an easy combination to achieve. There are a number of reference to corny 80's movies in the book (of which I admit to being a fan), there's a touch of Some Kind of Wonderful and a little Pretty In Pink, and I did wonder if that is how the book would end. Smart girl helps boy, boy gets beautiful dream girl, smart girl falls in love with boy, boy realises that it's smart girl he really wants, boy dumps gorgeous girl and smart girl and boy live happily ever after. Now, does the book end like that? I can't tell you that...you have to read the book to find that out!
Penny is a great character; intelligent, dedicated, focused, forthright and real. As a watcher of many tragic TV series, she reminded of the character Paris Geller from the show Gilmore Girls. The sort of character that spends so much time being busy, they have forgotten to take a breath and live life.
Penny studies hard, she's a swimmer, is on the debate team, plays the oboe, is on the SRC and writes on the school paper. Penny is always on the look out for the next big story, and when she stumbles on a forum called Loveshyforum.com, she realises she has it. In her quest to find out about love-shyness she comes across a blog by PEZZimist, who is a real life boy from her school who suffers from love-shyness. After interviewing nearly every boy in her year, Penny finds the love-shy boy, Nick Rammage, and she beings her efforts to cure him.
There are a lot of funny moments in the book, but there is a serious side too. I did start to become concerned when Penny visits Nick at home, and we see what his life is really like. The way Nick has been treated by his parents is not abuse in the physical sense, but emotionally, they have been abusing him for years. This has damaged him to the point where he is now, but his friendship with Penny makes him see that his life has not been OK, and that he needs to get help. Working with Nick on his love-shyness, Penny becomes aware that she may not be the well rounded person she thinks she is.
This all sounds very deep and meaningful for a book that's supposed to be funny. Somehow Lili has managed to write a story that is funny, and has substance, not always an easy combination to achieve. There are a number of reference to corny 80's movies in the book (of which I admit to being a fan), there's a touch of Some Kind of Wonderful and a little Pretty In Pink, and I did wonder if that is how the book would end. Smart girl helps boy, boy gets beautiful dream girl, smart girl falls in love with boy, boy realises that it's smart girl he really wants, boy dumps gorgeous girl and smart girl and boy live happily ever after. Now, does the book end like that? I can't tell you that...you have to read the book to find that out!
April 18, 2012
Being a love-shy lad myself once upon a time, although neither to same chronic degree nor with the exact symptoms as this novel’s Nick, I related to him. As Ms Wilkinson suggests in her acknowledgements, I just needed a little confidence and that I eventually received from some beautiful young ladies along the way. But for Nick, his love-shyness was potentially life-shyness, and it would take somebody pretty special to lift him out of it and get his love-life underway. That special mentor was Penny Drummond, and she is special with a capital S. She outwardly has confidence to burn, is one of her grade’s ‘movers and shakers’, possesses a full life and habours a determination to win the Pulitzer Prize for journalism with her starting point the school newspaper. Already she was ‘a woman of the world’, extremely knowledgeable, and bossy - riding rough-shod over mere mortals around her – that is, until she commences to ‘stalk’ Nick. Her world then starts to unravel and turn upside down. Wilkinson presents her beautifully, as she does her father, a gay, pink-loving plumbing executive, who nonetheless is the type of dad all fearless young ladies should have.
As with her last YA effort, ‘A Pocketful of Eyes’, the author is all about girl power, and her heroines are poised to shatter glass ceilings. Her books are popular and it’s not hard to see why – not too taxing, written in accessible style for her target audience and I thought this the superior tome of the two I’ve read. I am reliably informed, though, that ‘Pink’ is her best. The person giving me the advice, my daughter, who is also a serious reviewer of books of this ilk, also informs me that I am wrong and ‘Pocketful’ is the better work. It was fun to disagree, giving my opinion as a teacher of the target age-group, she as a writer for the same – almost as much fun as reading the book itself!
The only failing of the book was the cover – although designed to appeal, the young lady that graced it didn’t really seem to fit the main character as described within. It should, shouldn’t it???
August 23, 2016
I have known of Lili Wilkinson for some time, but this is the first of her books that I have read. So this review is my very initial impression of her work; the good thing is that I have enjoyed it enough to want to seek out more (Green Valentine is on my want-to-read list).
What I most enjoy about Love-shy is the characterisation of Penny, the protagonist. Penny seems so vivid and real - not just the tone of her voice and the way she behaves/thinks, but just the whole package of personality traits remind me of the teenage girls I knew (myself included). Penny also appeals because she is bold, sassy and fun. Penny very ably carried a pretty long book due to her charisma and the fast-paced story. Another clue that the story is well-written is that while it incorporates many popular YA tropes, it does not appear formulaic - the predictable bits make me smile knowingly (as might any adult when they know something would turn out in a certain way), but do not irritate.
My two criticisms about Love-shy are both matter-of-degree ones. First is Penny's supposed age - is it just me, or does she seem too sophisticated for a sixteen year old? Also her positions of responsibility at school make her sound more senior (more like Year 11/12?). It certainly doesn't help that the cover girl looks at least 25. The other is that a lot of Issues (with a capital "I") have been incorporated into the plot - including mental health, sexual orientation, peer pressure, broken families, emotional abuse etc. While these issues add depth to the story, and have been incorporated smoothly, not all of them are actually explored. To me it seems as if the story is name-checking from a list of Worthy Issues designed to boost credibility in a YA novel. Anyway, I am looking forward to reading her more recent works, to see how her writing has developed since.
What I most enjoy about Love-shy is the characterisation of Penny, the protagonist. Penny seems so vivid and real - not just the tone of her voice and the way she behaves/thinks, but just the whole package of personality traits remind me of the teenage girls I knew (myself included). Penny also appeals because she is bold, sassy and fun. Penny very ably carried a pretty long book due to her charisma and the fast-paced story. Another clue that the story is well-written is that while it incorporates many popular YA tropes, it does not appear formulaic - the predictable bits make me smile knowingly (as might any adult when they know something would turn out in a certain way), but do not irritate.
My two criticisms about Love-shy are both matter-of-degree ones. First is Penny's supposed age - is it just me, or does she seem too sophisticated for a sixteen year old? Also her positions of responsibility at school make her sound more senior (more like Year 11/12?). It certainly doesn't help that the cover girl looks at least 25. The other is that a lot of Issues (with a capital "I") have been incorporated into the plot - including mental health, sexual orientation, peer pressure, broken families, emotional abuse etc. While these issues add depth to the story, and have been incorporated smoothly, not all of them are actually explored. To me it seems as if the story is name-checking from a list of Worthy Issues designed to boost credibility in a YA novel. Anyway, I am looking forward to reading her more recent works, to see how her writing has developed since.
July 21, 2012
Before picking up this treasure from the local library, I had heard many good things about Lili Wilkinson, in particular about her book 'Pink'. As expected, once I knew that she was the Aussie author to look out for (even better, she was born in my hometown! We have so much in common), I stopped at nothing to get my hands on one of her novels. Luckily, on a library visit last month I spotted Love-shy on a shelf and pounced on it. I have never been so happy about borrowing something.
This book was everything I could have asked for, and more. Penny was an awesome protagonist with some serious ambition, and I loved being inside her head. I could also relate to some aspects of her life, in particular going to an Australian school and taking public transport more often than I would really like. Nick's 'condition' was pretty serious, and I found myself raising eyebrows or bursting out laughing on more than one occasion at some ridiculous thing he said. That boy has a lot to learn, that's for sure. I loved the open ending and felt that things finished perfectly.
Overall, I give this book an almost-perfect rating of 4.9/5 stars. I guess it just needed that extra thing to wow me. All I can say is that I can't wait to read another book by Lili Wilkinson!! :)
P.s. I also loved the fact that the copy I had the fortune to borrow was brand new. It was so perfect.
This book was everything I could have asked for, and more. Penny was an awesome protagonist with some serious ambition, and I loved being inside her head. I could also relate to some aspects of her life, in particular going to an Australian school and taking public transport more often than I would really like. Nick's 'condition' was pretty serious, and I found myself raising eyebrows or bursting out laughing on more than one occasion at some ridiculous thing he said. That boy has a lot to learn, that's for sure. I loved the open ending and felt that things finished perfectly.
Overall, I give this book an almost-perfect rating of 4.9/5 stars. I guess it just needed that extra thing to wow me. All I can say is that I can't wait to read another book by Lili Wilkinson!! :)
P.s. I also loved the fact that the copy I had the fortune to borrow was brand new. It was so perfect.
August 18, 2017
I love Lili Wilkinson's books, but this particular one just didn't do it for me and I think that that was mostly because the main character was annoying and self-centred. I just couldn't connect with her. At the end she got better but that was only in the last 20 pages or so and you didn't really have time to like the new Penny. I don't like the idea of 'love-shy', it feels like something else 'nice boys' come up with to excuse why they get put in the 'friend-zone' and all that bogus. This book was slightly redeeming in the whole battle with anxiety thing because I get that. I really do. And I think Wilkinson is a genuinely nice person who wanted to address this issue because it isn't widely recognised as a mental health issue as other equally important things like depression. She also explores how being gay is not a choice and that you just have to let people be who they are. It was also refreshing to see the two main characters not 'fix' each other and get together to be happily ever after but instead help each other to help themselves and not be so superficial as to think that that is what love is.
February 24, 2015
Penny is going to be a journalist-- the kind of journalist who reports on what matter-- like her idol, Nelly Bly. So when she stumbles upon a post on a forum for love-shy guys that was written by a boy from her class, she thinks she's found a story that could shed light on a relatively unknown issue and make a difference. But first, she has to figure out which boy is love-shy...
The cover and title are sure to capture the attention of romance-lover, but this is not a conventional romance, rather, it's a coming of age story of two people who are finally finding themselves. Penny is driven, smart, snarky, competitive, and sometimes obsessive. She is motivated by her journalistic goals which sometimes blind her to social situations happening around her.
"Love-Shy" is quick read that confronts several issues-- divorce, social acceptance, self-awareness, and anxiety-- in a light-hearted, true-to-life manner. It is sure to please.
To place a hold or view this title in our catalog please click here.
The cover and title are sure to capture the attention of romance-lover, but this is not a conventional romance, rather, it's a coming of age story of two people who are finally finding themselves. Penny is driven, smart, snarky, competitive, and sometimes obsessive. She is motivated by her journalistic goals which sometimes blind her to social situations happening around her.
"Love-Shy" is quick read that confronts several issues-- divorce, social acceptance, self-awareness, and anxiety-- in a light-hearted, true-to-life manner. It is sure to please.
To place a hold or view this title in our catalog please click here.
November 22, 2012
Had me laughing out loud. Loved the charmingly annoying Penny, and even though a lot of the characters at first seemed rooted in stereotypes, most of them ended up being realistic and well-rounded enough to keep me reading.
Perhaps I shouldn't use the term "rooted" in a review for this book, since it is full of Australian slang. I loved that about it and the way it was done was really natural--not alienating for those who aren't familiar with Aus slang, and not over-the-top for those who are.
My only criticism is that Rin, Penny's Japanese-Australian next-door-neighbour, comes across more like a foreigner instead of someone who was born here to parents who immigrated to Australia in the 1980's. The way she spoke and acted seemed at odds with her backstory.
Overall, it was a pleasure to read, and has been a helpful book on my road to recovering my love of reading!
Perhaps I shouldn't use the term "rooted" in a review for this book, since it is full of Australian slang. I loved that about it and the way it was done was really natural--not alienating for those who aren't familiar with Aus slang, and not over-the-top for those who are.
My only criticism is that Rin, Penny's Japanese-Australian next-door-neighbour, comes across more like a foreigner instead of someone who was born here to parents who immigrated to Australia in the 1980's. The way she spoke and acted seemed at odds with her backstory.
Overall, it was a pleasure to read, and has been a helpful book on my road to recovering my love of reading!
January 4, 2015
The character of Penny hits you immediately: she's a no-nonsense, high-achieving 16-year-old set on a career as a Pulitzer-winning journalist. She knows what she wants, knows how to get it, and knows she's right about everything. Her journo's intuition leads her to what she imagines will be the jump-start to her reporting career: a profile on a fellow love-shy student who posts on a blog as PEZZimist.
The storyline is somewhat predictable as Penny interviews the boys at her school, however the humour of the writing, Penny's obvious blindness to what's going on around her, and the well-formed characters made this an extremely easy book to read.
The romanticised view of journalist reminded me a lot of myself at her age, and after 20 years working in the field Penny's rosy view cracked me up repeatedly!
The storyline is somewhat predictable as Penny interviews the boys at her school, however the humour of the writing, Penny's obvious blindness to what's going on around her, and the well-formed characters made this an extremely easy book to read.
The romanticised view of journalist reminded me a lot of myself at her age, and after 20 years working in the field Penny's rosy view cracked me up repeatedly!
May 24, 2012
Love-Shy is a quirky and fun story.
The main character, Penny, is one of the best characters in YA. She knows exactly what she wants but lacks so many things. And even though she takes pride for her intelligence, she doesn’t notice how many other amazing qualities she has –like not judging homosexual people, since her father is one.
When you find out who’s “love-shy,” you will fall in love with that boy, even if he’s totally not your type –like me here. But there’s something appealing about a shy guy who can’t face the world, even though that’s exactly what his species is supposed to do.
I was a little shocked to find Love-Shy a real website. So check out the website!
Oh, and especially the book.
The main character, Penny, is one of the best characters in YA. She knows exactly what she wants but lacks so many things. And even though she takes pride for her intelligence, she doesn’t notice how many other amazing qualities she has –like not judging homosexual people, since her father is one.
When you find out who’s “love-shy,” you will fall in love with that boy, even if he’s totally not your type –like me here. But there’s something appealing about a shy guy who can’t face the world, even though that’s exactly what his species is supposed to do.
I was a little shocked to find Love-Shy a real website. So check out the website!
Oh, and especially the book.
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