ARC Review: A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall

Title: A Little Something Different
Author: Sandy Hall
Publication: August 26th 2014 by Swoon Reads
Genre: Upper-YA Contemporary
Source: Provided by the kind publisher...
Goodreads

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

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

-- My Rating --

4/5 Oscars: Really Liked It

-- My Thoughts --

     This book is exactly what the title says; a little something different. It's different from any YA novel I have ever read. And that is a really good thing.
     Everyone thinks Lea and Gabe should be together. Everyone but them. First, there are I think at least 14 POVs. There's their Creative Writings teacher, the barista at Starbucks, the Chinese delivery guy, Lea's friend, Gabe's brother, Gabe's friend, a bench, and a squirrel. The most unique are definitely the bench and the squirrel, it's just never been done in YA before. But my favorite were definitely the English teacher and the barista, Charlotte. I loved their POVs so much and they were really keen on bringing Gabe and Lea together.
     Then, this book is mostly about the romance between Gabe and Lea. And it takes so much time to develop. I have to admit that it was just a tiny bit boring at times. But I flew past this book in only one night. Maximum of three hours. I loved watching their relationship unfold and people trying to get them together. They were both such shy and introverted people. They were so easy to connect to and they felt real.
     Although Gabe and Lea are in college and they have problems and insecurities related to college, I never felt like this book was NA. There's nothing about it that makes it more upper-teens than just the fact that both the characters are in the new-adult-age-group. So I am not sure about the classification of this novel.
     Although you never really get to know Gabe and Lea very well because you never read anything from their point of view. This book is a really unique love story. I loved it much more than the books I have been reading recently and it's definitely one of my favorite contemporaries of 2014. I am looking forward to reading more from Sandy Hall, she's an author to watch out for!