3.5 stars. Fun, light UK teenage imperfect but sweet love story. Not sure about the forgiveness for the insufferable bff, but otherwise: awww.

honestly, i DNF’d this. i got about 100 pages in, but it reads SO young, i just couldn’t.

lowkey hated every character, and not in a fun way.

Interesting conceit for a story. Seems more like a screen script to impose the arbitrary conceit 'we need lose the v-cards' before we get to uni but then, the story wouldn't have any sense of jeopardy without it. The dialogue is imaginative, sparky and very droll. The drama of female friendship is conveyed well. Sam and Hannah are well rounded characters and their voices shine in the writing. If I had one criticism it would be Hannah's grandmother who talked more like she was Hannah's peer at some points in the novel. That's a very minor criticism though as overall I enjoyed the novel. The dual perspective didn't feel cumbersome or drag the pace down.

Misschien ligt het aan mij, maar eigenlijk vond ik dit een Mwah-verhaal. Wel leuk en grappig, maar niet echt speciaal. Door alle positieve reacties heb ik misschien de lat wat te hoog gelegd.

This one is definitely going into my favourite books list!

If you haven't read this book already, you really must. It's only been released just this month and I was lucky enough to find this book when browsing in my local bookshop. The cover enticed me to pick it up and I absolutely loved this book!

It's basically about a girl, Hannah, and a boy, Sam, who are on a mission to find "The One" or their Lobster (which I learnt from Friends what that was about). They don't want to go to university virgins and set out on a mission to find their other half with a few problems thrown in the way of their quest.

Everything about this book was brilliant. First off, this was set in the UK. Oh, how I've missed books that are set in my own country! So it's refreshing to read people use slang words from where I'm from and speak like me, a lot of the situations were similar to when I was around that age too. It's annoying when I'm reading a book set in the USA and I have to google what something means. The characters also went away on holiday and I love books where they're going around to different places, maybe it's the traveller in me that wants to see various places all the time in my stories. This is why I love road trip books.

The characters are very relatable, as a female, I felt I could relate to Hannah a lot with the issues she was having, especially the problems she had with some of her friends. None of them were unrealistic and they were all flawed in their own way. Sam and the boys' side of the story was funny, it's certainly what I expect from boys their age to talk about and the issues they'd facing, seeing as their most important thing was getting laid (and sometimes his odd worry over school)

I have to mention, if you love the Harry Potter series, you'll also love the references in this book. And there's a lot! I was pleasantly surprised to see it get mentioned pretty much every few chapters and you can tell a fan wrote this story.

I can't really write much more without spoiling anything.

It had me doubling over in laughter, it's a great summer read and I highly recommend everyone give this one a go. It's quick to read, a story that kept me hooked and it's a fantastic debut novel from Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison. Everyone can relate in some way and you'll be laughing, crying and cringing along with Hannah and Sam. It's a great coming-of-age story that you can't not love. A new favourite book for me!

*

REVIEW ALSO POSTED AT http://thehonestbookclub.blogspot.co.uk/

OH MY GOSH you guys! This book was a total sleeper and you do not want to miss it! Such a cute summer kickoff story. I buddy-read this with two other girlfriends who were also feeling burnt out and in need of a reset book. Two of us read primarily horror/paranormal and one reads primarily contemporary but all three of us agree that this book is a LOBSTER for everyone (hehe - inside book joke). I'll share some of their thoughts with you, as if I weren't convincing enough!

The hardest part about reading this book was the actual buddy read I did. None of us wanted to put it down.

That transition to adulthood is equally exciting and scary, right? Everyone is doing it at their own pace but it certainly doesn't feel that way so it's easy to understand why Hannah and Sam are at a race to grow up and find their lobsters - their mate for life. We cut the book into 5 parts and here are some of our thoughts along the way:

Day 1:

This book makes me want to be British. I would also settle for being able to pull off a convincing British accent. Because really, if you're going to hold cans of Tresseme to your vagina, you need to have a British accent. Not that I'm doing that. High-ten anyone?

SQUEE this book is exactly what I need right now. I love Hannah and Sam's conversation about greetings because I'm totally that person that fumbles the handshake that turns into a hug.

Day 2:

I want to simultaneously beat Hannah with a slipper, and give her a hug, and say, "Preach, sister. I would have said the same stupid thing." And can we just talk about how much loathing I'm developing for Stella? She should not be anyone's best friend. She needs to be locked in a room with a therapist and no mirrors for at least six months.

So dang cute. I'm totally going to be Nan when I grow up.

Day 3:

Hmmm... Twists!

Today was the hardest to put down because !!! 1. Stella really is the worst but then again, don't we all have that friend? I think I maybe even am that friend to some. 2. Robin's dating advice is both hilarious and awful. Which means it's double hilarious. 3. Sam's "encounter." I'm pretty sure most girls have had that type of experience with a guy. I wish it was more normalized and that girls knew how not to react. 4. Everyone needs a Casper. Someone where there's no ego, no competition and you can just let it all out. His speech to her about boys? <3 LOVE

Day 4:

Casper is my favorite, hands down.

Today's selection was a literal roller coaster that I did not want to get off of. Ending at page 240 was so hard and I'm SO GLAD tomorrow I get to finish this book because I need to know how everything ends! So many tabs in this section. I wanted to make so many notes that amounted to SQUEE or OMG or SWOON. Very deep thoughts here.

Day 5:

New life goal: Become Nan. Those sequin shirts just look better and better every year.

Lobsters is the first book that Tom and Lucy wrote together and the second that I've read of theirs. After reading their latest, Freshers, I wanted another book that had that same effect, the infectious smiling and laughing-out-loud moments, a book that totally brightens your day!

Hannah and Sam have both finished their exams, the exams that will decide their fate and whether they will go to their desired uni they want. Whilst their worries are on their exams or how much they thye might have messed up History or French, one more pressing matter at hand, the summer of love, the summer where they hope to lose their virginity. Hannah and Sam meet at the end of exams party at her best friend's, Stella house. Meeting in a bathroom couldn't be more romantic, they proclaiming their love for hot ribena, later becoming their own love for each other. Hot Ribena Girl (Hannah) and Toilet Boy (Sam) get pulled into different directions, each thinking about each other whilst also thinking about their summer to come.

I adored Hannah and Sam as a couple they are so cute, and I love a couple that enjoy a good cup of hot ribena! Hot Ribena is awesome, I'm in that club and it's what started their relationship, it couldn't get more cuter than that. What I love also is that I can imagine that Lucy wrote Hannah's side and Tom, Sam's narrative of the novel, giving it that totally honest and realistic approach to the book. Characters like Hannah's Nan with her crazy and bright outlook on life, almost refreshing to see and Sam's friend Robin who follows Harry Potter as his philosophy of life. Lobsters has so much to offer and characters that you can totally resonate with.

I loved this book! I love its realistic and an honest portrayal of teenage life and nothing is sugarcoated at all. Lobsters is teenage life at it's more awkward and most important too, our turning point from teenage to a young adult. What I also loved was that this book is sex positive, nowadays, sex is such a 'thing' in teenage life, all about who have you pulled, oh have you had sex etc. It's like teenagers have to grow up so quickly now, with the worrying of when or who to lose your virginity too. Sex doesn't just happen, it's certainly isn't like the movies or some books they we compare it too, there is so much more to it, to think about, to know about. I urge teenagers to read this book, working in a school of girls, this is an important as it is funny and romantic book to read. Tom and Lucy have nailed it on their first book.

Rating - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

It's cute enough, if your only goal in life as a teen is to lose your virginity--preferably with plenty of underage drinking and some marijuana use. All of that told to excess simply overwhelmed the plot of falling in love for the first time. Meh.

Ein netter schnell-gelesener Sommerroman, aber oft verhalten sich die Charaktere so doof, dass man sie am liebsten schlagen möchte.