{My Thoughts} – Never become a cliche. Always be there for your best friend no matter what. And sometimes it’s okay to break the rules.

Julia and Dave have been friends for many years and when they started High School they created a list called the Nevers. On that list is ten things that they aren’t allowed to do during their four years in High School. Which when you read it basically says that they aren’t allowed to have a normal High School experience. Although I suppose it could depend on how the reader perceives the list once they read it.

Julia is a sweet girl with a lot to learn. She was adopted and has two gay dads. Her mother is in the picture sort of. She always makes Julia promises that she never intends to keep. I am sure any child that is raised by someone other then their actual parent knows what that is like. I was raised by my grandparents and experienced it a lot when it came to my mom saying she was going to come visit and do things and well never showed up or had some creative lie as to why she couldn’t show up. The fact of the matter is, I had an easy time identifying with Julia through out the book because of my past with my own family. She’s also rather quirky, she doesn’t like to wear shoes and it is mentioned in many of the pages with her description which I find rather humorous, since I couldn’t not wear my shoes. She also likes to call Dave anything but his name. It seems to be some kind of inside joke between them, which is interesting to see what she comes up with when she barks out his fall name but it isn’t his name at all. It leaves one with the ability to giggle.

Dave is like any other guy. He wants to please his best friend. He supports Julia to the best of his ability and does everything he can to help her feel like she is important to him as a friend should be. He goes on missions with her, they have movie nights, they sleep over at each others houses, but they aren’t dating. They have never dated. One of the rules on the Nevers list is that you can’t date your best friend. Dave lives with his Brother and his dad. His mom passed away some years earlier and so he understands why Julia has a fascination with her living mother that keeps breaking her heart in some way or another. However, he always seems to be the one that is there to help pull it together once she is hurt because of it all. Which isn’t always fair to him.

In the beginning of the book they discuss the writing of the Nevers list and then they discuss doing everything on that list so that they can share in the real High School experience before it’s too late. At this point they only have a little bit of school left before they are going to graduate. The two of them put their heads together and they work out which Nevers to cross of first and how to go about completing them before it gets to late.

When they agreed to do the things on the Nevers list though, I don’t think they bargained for everything that would come with it. There was a massive emotional roller coaster that shot through this book. IT made me want to cry, laugh and scream at some of the characters. Especially Dave and Julia. I couldn’t believe some of the things those two had been capable of doing, but then again when your with your best friend and they know everything about you, why wouldn’t you be okay with doing nearly everything together, the good and the bad and well everything.

I really enjoyed reading the book, but for the most part I struggled to complete it because I had began it at a time where my schedule because rather disruptive and then when I thought about the book, I thought about other things that made me sad and I couldn’t separate the two for awhile. However, I did manage to finish it and I am glad that I did. It’s nicely written and the author blended all the characters stories together so brilliantly that its flawless to me. I highly recommend this book to anyone that wants read a soft High School adventure/ romance/ finding your identity kind of book. ( )

More like 3.5 But i really liked this book. It was a strong book that made me love both the main characters. i REALLY enjoyed the boy POV MORE but i liked how the book started out being framed by the list but became about so much more. It did some things i did not expect and like who the couple was in the end. Nice story and a very quick red. ( )

More like 3.5 But i really liked this book. It was a strong book that made me love both the main characters. i REALLY enjoyed the boy POV MORE but i liked how the book started out being framed by the list but became about so much more. It did some things i did not expect and like who the couple was in the end. Nice story and a very quick red. ( )

"Never date your best friend Always be original Sometimes rules are meant to be broken."

Dave and Julia are best friends entering high school and they decide to make a "Never" list so they don't become cliches, but as graduation gets closer, Julia decides that they should now do everything on the list instead. What she doesn't know is that Dave has already broken rule #8, never pine silently for someone for the entirety of high school. As they begin to cross the Nevers off the list, will Dave be able to keep his love for Julia a secret so it doesn't ruin their friendship, or will he let the cat out of the bag?

I really, really, really wanted to love this book, because the premise is a great one, but I felt like it lost something in the execution. Dave and Julia were almost caricatures and way over the top most of the time. I started out looking forward to seeing where the story would go, but by the end I was kind of tired of Julia (she was exhausting!). Dave was okay but he was too much of a pushover, at least until the end, but it was too late by then to get behind him.

I enjoyed this book okay, but it wasn't one that will stick with me.

3.5 out of 5 stars.

*** I would like to thank Harlequin TEEN and Adi Alsaid for the opportunity to read and review this book. ( )

diverse teen fiction - Latinx-American boy and his best (girl) friend (whose parents are incidentally gay) decide to leave their comfort zones in the final 3 months of 12th grade in San Louis Obispo, CA.
I read to page 83--It was okay, lots of clever dialogue and likeable teen misfit characters--but nothing I cared to continue reading. ( )