Taylor: Everything is Fine

by Samara Jones

I’ve spent the last fifteen years with my head in a romance book, swooning over each couple and their guaranteed “happily ever after.”

Then, a few months ago, when I was at our Fourth of July barbecue with my head in one of those books, I missed out on the last time I could have spent with Nanna, who passed away just on the other side of the yard.
“That’s it,” I decided. “No more. I’m going to live in the now!”

High school seemed like the best place to be this new-and-improved Taylor.
However, I’m already part-way through the year, and I’m starting to realize how much I’ve missed.
While I was reading about fictional boys, girls around me have actually interacted with them.
I’ve never had more than a secret crush, but other girls have had boyfriends. Plural.
Some of them have been kissing … and … well.
I can’t even say it.

Now, I don’t dare admit to my friends and family that I’m not up to snuff.
I tell them everything is fine, although my anxiety and self-doubt are at an all-time high.

Check out the book to see how Taylor navigates high school while feeling like she isn’t good enough but making sure nobody knows it.

216 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 24, 2024

About the author

Samara Jones is an author who spent a sizeable chunk of her life dreaming of the perfect man, job, and surroundings. She lives in New York and loves the journey of creating a story from start to finish. She owns a sizable collection of plants and loves to watch every subtitled romance drama from all corners of the world.

When she is not creating, watching or reading fiction. Samara hides in the real world amongst the tiniest and most gentle humans.

Reviews

[Stephanie Fitzgerald · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn’t really an enjoyable book, as Y.A. novels go.
Narrated by Taylor, the female protagonist, it’s chock full of teenage angst, mainly over boyfriends/lack there of. She lives with a verbally abusive mother and two older siblings, has a father that is mainly out of the picture, and appears to have no interests or hobbies other than schoolwork. The mother struggles to makes ends meet, and the three teens work and give her their wages just to keep up with basic necessities (like electricity).
Until almost the very end, absolutely nothing positive occurred for Taylor, her friends, or family. The ending was ok, but not enough to pull the book’s rating up.

*I received a digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are strictly my own.*

[Oana · Rating 2 out of 5]

[This is a review based on an ARC obtained through NetGalley]

Show, don’t tell. The golden rule of storytelling, in any medium: books, movies, even music.
This book, unfortunately, didn’t follow that rule.
I don’t like giving bad reviews, but sometimes, they happen to be necessary.

This book feels like reading a grocery list. “I did that”, “She said this”, “We went there”; the book is constantly telling you everything. Descriptions are almost non-existent, I couldn’t picture any of the characters in my mind, or any of the places where the story happens. Even Taylor’s feelings, which are arguably the main focus of the story, are barely there.

I almost DNFed this book a couple of times, and I had to stop and read something else around the halfway mark, as a palate cleanser, which in my opinion is bad.
The characters fall flat, barely two dimensional. They’re all rude or annoying in some way or another, except the love interest.
Some of the dialogues are kind of nice, more so in the second half of the book, and that’s the only salvation for this story, but not enough to save any quotes for this review.

Also, I found out that the author herself gave five stars to her book on Goodreads, and it kind of gave me the ick, but I didn’t consider this fact when writing the review or giving my vote. But it’s something that I think should be known.

I picked up this book from NetGalley, not realising it had been out for almost a year now, and I kind of regret it, but I thought I should still review it nonetheless.
I’m sorry, but I can’t give it more than 2.5 stars. I did not enjoy it, and I probably won’t pick up another book from this author.

[Jeni Enjaian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some books are not bad; they just do not work for me. Some books, however, lack a lot of the elements that make it at least decent in terms of technical writing skill. I wish I had never requested this ARC (that I noticed afterwards belonged to a book published 11 months ago - I requested it only a few days prior to reading). I should have DNF'd. Instead, I tortured myself with this book that masqueraded as a YA coming of age/romance simply so I could write the review on Netgalley. None of the characters have any depth or act like actual high schoolers (aka not what an adult thinks high schoolers act like.) Almost all of the guys - save the ultimate love interest of course - act like horrible humans and potential abusers. The writing was incredibly simplistic. Obviously, I do not recommend this book - even though it somehow has a 5 star rating on both Storygraph and Goodreads. How?

[pink fairy armadillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for providing this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own!!


Taylor: Everything Is Fine is an easy-going read about trying to fit in with peers. The book is from Taylor's perspective and has a chatty tone which makes it an accessible read, but at times the dialogue and narration felt younger than expected for a book centred around a 16 year old in high school (but that does reflect Taylor as a character!!). The overall message and themes of the book are clear and very sweet, but for me the plot fell a little flat and I struggled to engage with Taylor's struggles as they sometimes felt shallow and repetitive.
That being said, I enjoyed this book for a light read
I'd recommend this to younger YA readers (13-15) or to people looking for a fun book about high school life.

[Erica G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Samara is one of my favorite new authors and after reading Taylor, her talents shine through in her ability to cross genres!
As a late thirty-something lady, I greatly enjoyed this trip back to high school! Within the first few pages I was able to put my self in Taylor's shoes and feel everything that comes with being a high school freshman. I would recommend this to teenagers as well as adults. The story flowed so well and represents all the changes that can happen during a single school year. I really enjoyed the highs and the lows while relating to a fellow bookworm like Taylor.

[Katerina Karavapori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay read, but I'm not sure how memorable it will be long-term. I struggled a bit with the writing and I the characters felt a bit flat in the end, I didn't massively connect or feel invested in the story. I wish there was a bit more worldbuilding as well, I had a hard time picturing things and people. But it could just be me, I wonder whether this book would resonate a bit more with the actual intended audience.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this review copy, all opinions are my own.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading ‘Taylor’. The story made me feel like I was teleported back to 9th grade. The characters are so relatable, and I'm sure everyone knows someone like Phoebe. If you're looking for a light-hearted YA coming-of-age story to snuggle up with, ‘Taylor’ is perfect!!!

Samara Jones is definitely an author I'll be following closely; her other books are— very nice! 😜

[Cassidy · Rating 3 out of 5]

NetGalley review

This book wasn’t horrible, but it also wasn’t great. It felt like a journal kind of. Just very “I’m telling you what is happening.” Great potential.

[Rileyreads11_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

so good

This gives To all the boys I’ve ever loved vibes and I couldn’t put it down!!

Highly recommend if you are looking for YA book!