Reviews

Woke Up Like This was my September early access pick through Amazon Prime First Reads. I often pick a book and save it to read later, but this one caught my interest enough that I decided to read it right away.

The main character of this book is Charlotte, who is only weeks away from graduating high school. She is hoping for the perfect experience to end high school, especially a memorable prom. She’s a planner and takes charge. But she feels like her nemesis, J.T. Renner, is out to ruin everything for her. Honestly, at the beginning of the book it felt like Charlotte was a bit immature and was unfairly putting the blame on J.T. for everything that didn’t go right for her. I was afraid that this book might be a little too “high school drama” for me. But I kept going and it did improve. There were definitely some funny moments, especially when Charlotte wakes up and is suddenly 30 years old.

An interesting theme in this story was the “coming of age” look at teens vs adults – Charlotte thinks adulthood will be fun because there won’t be curfews and you can do what you want, plus you’ll have all the answers. But then once she experiences life as a 30-year-old, she sees that that’s not necessarily the case. Also, it’s important to appreciate the present, because you really can’t predict how things might change in the future.

Overall, this was a fun, quick read that kept me wanting to read more. While the book might be more directed towards a younger audience, there were some things that Charlotte learned along the way that spoke to me personally.

eri_cat93's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

What a fun read! Woke Up Like This is 13 going on 30 except the main characters hate each other as teens and BOTH have a brief stint in their 30 year old lives.

Well written & fast paced, Charlotte was VERY similar to 17 year old me, which made reading from her perspective at both 17 & 30 super engaging. As she learns lessons about young life, adulthood, and hard truths about outgrowing your friends, she’s busy planning the perfect prom despite dealing with her nemesis, JT. They learn and grow as teens & as adults & then as teens again in this charming coming of age story.

Honestly, .5 star off simply because it’s so laughably not possibly for them to PERFECTLY execute the Dirty Dancing lift with zero practice. I believe the full “I woke up 13 years older” thing way more than I believe they actually did that lift.

snipinfool's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Charlotte “Char” Wu was a planner. She had plans for what she wanted to accomplish for all four years of high school. Senior Prom was one of the last items on her list and she was going to make sure it was amazing. She was disappointed her theme suggestion wasn’t chosen by her fellow student council members. Char felt it was especially painful that they chose J. T. Renner’s idea. He was her nemesis and had been a thorn in her side since freshmen year. J.T. and Char met early one morning to start decorating the prom space. Others were supposed to show up also, but as usual, they were late. While stretching from a tall ladder to reach for something in J. T.’s hands, Char fell and landed on him. When she woke up, she was not the same Char who just fell from the ladder. She soon realized she was now thirty and engaged to marry J. T., who had also traveled through time with her.

This was a very cute version of 13 Going on 30. Understandably, it took Char a while to get her head around marrying her frenemy. J. T., while confused, seemed to have less trouble with that development. Unknown to Char, he had a crush on her since freshman year. The secondary characters played their parts well within the story. Their actions made sense for the times (either timeline) they were in the story. The book also had a side plot about friends who were important at one time but later fell out of one’s life. I enjoyed reading this book and loved that the main characters found each other in the end.

aswafford17's review against another edition

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3.0

cute book

This was a pretty cute story, however ,it was just a little predictable. I really enjoyed the easy, quick read.

geen_22's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

georginamay22's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Very enjoyable and fun read. Loved Charlotte and Renner.

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