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keri_swizzle123's review
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
brynsheh1113's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
maaria722's review
5.0
It was a really good book. Felt like a natural YA and really demonstrated teenagers really well. The only things that I have that would be negative is some of the dialogue was very cringey.
theeuphoriczat's review
4.0
Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for making this book available to me via #Netgalley.
Mari did not expect that rideshare will lead her to the most amazing love story. A love story that the whole world watches through social media. When Mari meets TJ during a taxi ride to a music festival, they have a dance and they are soon separated in the crowd without sharing contact information. They turn to social media hashtags and soon they are trending. Everyone is trying to bring them back together.
This book was honestly so cute and short. It was the perfect length. Their relationship was so open and honest. It became more than just a weekend romance. I really enjoyed it.
Mari did not expect that rideshare will lead her to the most amazing love story. A love story that the whole world watches through social media. When Mari meets TJ during a taxi ride to a music festival, they have a dance and they are soon separated in the crowd without sharing contact information. They turn to social media hashtags and soon they are trending. Everyone is trying to bring them back together.
This book was honestly so cute and short. It was the perfect length. Their relationship was so open and honest. It became more than just a weekend romance. I really enjoyed it.
jodeezle's review
3.0
Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Mari, the primary character, is in Chicago to attend Lollapalooza with her step-sister. This is her chance to see one of her favorite singers and hang out with her sister and dad. This concert comes at a great time since she is having a hard time at home with her mom and her bestfriend.
Now on the way to the concert, with no intention of falling in love, she meets TJ in the ride share. Mari and TJ have chemistry right from the start. They're both from out of town and she's again not looking for a boyfriend.
This was a cute, sweet, heartwarming story. It was a quick read and easy to follow. The plot is simple and not overly complicated with is exactly what I was looking for and needed.
Mari, the primary character, is in Chicago to attend Lollapalooza with her step-sister. This is her chance to see one of her favorite singers and hang out with her sister and dad. This concert comes at a great time since she is having a hard time at home with her mom and her bestfriend.
Now on the way to the concert, with no intention of falling in love, she meets TJ in the ride share. Mari and TJ have chemistry right from the start. They're both from out of town and she's again not looking for a boyfriend.
This was a cute, sweet, heartwarming story. It was a quick read and easy to follow. The plot is simple and not overly complicated with is exactly what I was looking for and needed.
lisawreading's review
4.0
Miranda Kenneally, author of the terrific Hundred Oaks series, is back with a fresh new stand-alone YA novel. The PIck-Up is a quick read with sweet romantic moments as well as more serious reflections on family and damaged relationships.
When TJ and Mari meet in a ride-share, their immediate attraction gives each a fresh burst of hope and excitement, and as they spend time together at the music festival, their connection seems instant and electric. At first, seeing them separated by the crowd and trying to find one another again, despite not exchanging contact info, I thought we were in for a story about missed connections and long searches. But thankfully, this wasn’t that!
Instead, TJ and Mari do manage to reconnect, thanks to the intervention of their friends, and commit to spending more time together over the weekend.
They each bring baggage, though. TJ is in Chicago for the weekend staying with his older brother, to whom he always compares himself and finds himself lacking. TJ’s family expects him to study business when he starts college in the fall, but he secretly yearns to pursue his passion for art.
Meanwhile, Mari is staying with her dad, stepmom, and stepsister for the weekend before returning to her home in Tennessee. Her parents divorced after her father’s affair with the woman he ended up marrying, and Mari’s mother is so consumed by anger and bitterness that she takes it out on Mari. Her verbal abuse has taken a frightening turn to the physical, and Mari both wants to stay with her father and is scared to mention it, for fear that it’ll just make things with her mother even worse.
As TJ and Mari spend time together, they each experience the highs of early attraction and emotional connection, but each also has to contend with their own fears and insecurities.
The story is told in chapters that alternate between TJ and Mari as narrators, and it’s a really effective way to show how their perspectives on the same events can be different and still make sense to the person experiencing it. While they’re both struggling with family issues, Mari’s are much more serious, and her scenes of confronting her father with her feelings and her fears are deeply affecting.
While there are plenty of serious matters portrayed throughout The Pick-Up, there’s also a lot of fun, from scenes at the festival to a Ferris wheel ride to goofy beach shenanigans. Mari and TJ have chemistry, and I really enjoyed Mari’s stepsister as a character as well.
Miranda Kenneally has a gift for creating well-drawn teen characters who feel real. They’re not idealized — they’re complicated and messy and emotional, and that’s what makes them so compelling to read about.
I really enjoyed The Pick-Up, just like I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve read by this author. Check it out!
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
When TJ and Mari meet in a ride-share, their immediate attraction gives each a fresh burst of hope and excitement, and as they spend time together at the music festival, their connection seems instant and electric. At first, seeing them separated by the crowd and trying to find one another again, despite not exchanging contact info, I thought we were in for a story about missed connections and long searches. But thankfully, this wasn’t that!
Instead, TJ and Mari do manage to reconnect, thanks to the intervention of their friends, and commit to spending more time together over the weekend.
They each bring baggage, though. TJ is in Chicago for the weekend staying with his older brother, to whom he always compares himself and finds himself lacking. TJ’s family expects him to study business when he starts college in the fall, but he secretly yearns to pursue his passion for art.
Meanwhile, Mari is staying with her dad, stepmom, and stepsister for the weekend before returning to her home in Tennessee. Her parents divorced after her father’s affair with the woman he ended up marrying, and Mari’s mother is so consumed by anger and bitterness that she takes it out on Mari. Her verbal abuse has taken a frightening turn to the physical, and Mari both wants to stay with her father and is scared to mention it, for fear that it’ll just make things with her mother even worse.
As TJ and Mari spend time together, they each experience the highs of early attraction and emotional connection, but each also has to contend with their own fears and insecurities.
The story is told in chapters that alternate between TJ and Mari as narrators, and it’s a really effective way to show how their perspectives on the same events can be different and still make sense to the person experiencing it. While they’re both struggling with family issues, Mari’s are much more serious, and her scenes of confronting her father with her feelings and her fears are deeply affecting.
While there are plenty of serious matters portrayed throughout The Pick-Up, there’s also a lot of fun, from scenes at the festival to a Ferris wheel ride to goofy beach shenanigans. Mari and TJ have chemistry, and I really enjoyed Mari’s stepsister as a character as well.
Miranda Kenneally has a gift for creating well-drawn teen characters who feel real. They’re not idealized — they’re complicated and messy and emotional, and that’s what makes them so compelling to read about.
I really enjoyed The Pick-Up, just like I’ve enjoyed pretty much everything I’ve read by this author. Check it out!
Review copy courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley. Full review at Bookshelf Fantasies.
brenna_reads_books's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse
kcmmp13's review
4.0
This book was a bit of a roller coaster of emotions, but in a good way. I loved the setting of Chicago and Lollapalooza. It made wet want to go back to Chicago and explore more of the city.
Mari was a special character. While the book took place over a long weekend, we learned so much about her and her complicated life. Her divorced parents, the new love in her dad's life, what caused the break, how her mom is dealing (or not) with everything, what's going on in her life back home in TN, just to name a few.
TJ was complex in his own way. The second son with his future planned, but not what he wanted. The boy with the older brother he idolized only to have the veil taken down.
Mari & TJ meeting was by chance, but then they lost each other at Lollapalooza only to have a hashtag help them find each other again that night (Friday). Then they spent a wild Saturday together wandering around Chicago. I loved going on the adventure with them and I think other readers will too. Most of all I enjoyed the moments where the characters really opened up and told their truths. At times it was sad, but it helped them grow and made the story progress nicely.
Mari was a special character. While the book took place over a long weekend, we learned so much about her and her complicated life. Her divorced parents, the new love in her dad's life, what caused the break, how her mom is dealing (or not) with everything, what's going on in her life back home in TN, just to name a few.
TJ was complex in his own way. The second son with his future planned, but not what he wanted. The boy with the older brother he idolized only to have the veil taken down.
Mari & TJ meeting was by chance, but then they lost each other at Lollapalooza only to have a hashtag help them find each other again that night (Friday). Then they spent a wild Saturday together wandering around Chicago. I loved going on the adventure with them and I think other readers will too. Most of all I enjoyed the moments where the characters really opened up and told their truths. At times it was sad, but it helped them grow and made the story progress nicely.