Book Review: Emergency Contact by Mary H.K Choi

Release Date: March 24th, 2018
Read: April 6-7th, 2018
Publisher: Simon and Schuster for Young Readers
Series: Standalone
Format: Signed Hardcover, 400 pages
Source: Bought

Description from GoodReads:

   For Penny Lee, high school was a nonevent. She got decent grades, had a few friends, and even a boyfriend by senior year but basically she was invisible. Having just graduated from high school, she’s heading off to college in Austin, Texas, and she’s ready for it.

   Sam has had a rougher time over the last few years. He grew up in a trailer park and had to bail when he caught his addict mom taking out credit cards in his name to buy more crap from the Home Shopping Network. He gets a job at a café whose owner is kind enough to let him crash on a mattress in a spare room upstairs. He wants to go to film school and become a great director but at the moment he has $17 in his checking account and his laptop is dying.

   When Penny and Sam cross paths it’s not exactly a Hollywood meet cute: they’re both too socially awkward for that. But they exchange numbers and stay in touch—almost entirely by text message, a form that allows them to get to know each other while being witty and snarky and intimate without the uncomfortable weirdness of, you know, actually having to see each other in person.  

Review:

   To be a hero, you had to decide it was you.

   There is the odd occasion when I will in fact judge a book by its cover, that is only when I absolutely adore its cover. That was the case for Emergency Contact. Even though contemporary tends to be the last genre I’m attracted to, Emergency Contact managed to win my heart over with just the illustrations alone. That and of course its story. 

   Emergency Contact just felt so real and so pure. I could feel a connection to at least one of the characters almost at all times throughout the book. From the panic attack when life gets too intense, to just being so awkward and loud in the presence of your crush. The book is the feel good book that any college or university student needs in their life. 

   It was also one of the very few college/university set YA books that I’ve seen. And I didn’t realise how badly I wanted that setting until after having read Emergency Contact. I do hope authors see the desire for the trend and begin to publish more books like it. 

Cuteness and perfection is what Emergency Contact is, and I will forever have a warm feeling in my heart whenever I think of the book. 

Rating:

Favourite Quote:

“Loving someone was traumatizing. You never knew what would happen to them out there in the world. Everything precious was also vulnerable.”

Recommend to People Who Enjoy:

Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Fangirl, Fluffy books