Review: Love, Comment, Subscribe by Cathy Yardley
Title: Love, Comment, Subscribe
Author: Cathy Yardley
Published: October 1st 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age: Adult
What’s it About?
Lily and Tobin were frenemies at high school together. Lily desperately wanted to be part of the popular clique, but both were part of the Nerd Herd, a bunch of oddballs, outcasts, and academics that suited Tobin just fine.
Now, ten years after graduation, both have found mid-level fame as YouTube influencers. Lily is pushing herself to reach 5 millions subscribers on her beauty channel with a gruelling posting schedule and relentless attendance at every social event going. Meanwhile, Tobin's laid back gaming and comedy skits channel has just gone viral, but he's struggling to think up new content to satisfy his viewers.
The two are initially dubious about collabing - what could they possibly bring to one another's channels? But with Lily in need of an audience boost and Tobin in a creativity drought, they agree to give it a try to each win cross-audience appeal. Soon, the whole Internet is speculating about their relationship and the two realise there might be more to this collaboration than just a ratings boost.
He didn’t believe that life was just getting a job you hated and working really hard at it so you could earn enough money to have periodic fun. That was bullshit.
Opinions:
I didn't honestly expect all that much from this cute little romance, so I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Sometimes I find that having a very modern pop culture element to a story can end up feeling like a conceit, and I wondered if that would be the case here with a story focused on two YouTube influencers, however, that ended up not being true at all. Instead, it ended up being a unique and surprisingly relatable backdrop to the story. The friction between the couple: Lily is fastidious to the point of annoying even herself at times with her rigidity whereas Tobin is laid back to the same degree, is something all of us have most likely experienced at times thanks to a friend or partner who operates differently to us, and I don't know a single person who couldn't relate to the kind of work challenges both of them face.
I also appreciated the dual perspectives, allowing us to see through both Lily and Tobin's eyes. Tobin is a truly wholesome male character who stands up for his female friends in a sphere that can often be riddled with toxic speech and behaviour and while Lily can come across as annoying because of her need for control, allowing us to see through her eyes makes her actions much more understandable. I also appreciated the link back to Lily's time in high school and getting to see her finally move past the events and people she faced there.
She didn’t know why Tobin got under her skin so much. They’d known each other since elementary school and had hung out since junior high, or at least had the same group of friends that hung out. They were in the same honours classes. She’d even thought he was cute there, for a little bit.
Love, Comment, Subscribe was a really sweet and fun romance book that will appeal to anyone, but will be especially relatable to anyone who has ever tried to have any kind of social media presence. It is the first book in the Ponto Beach Reunion series which includes two other stories featuring background characters from this book and I have added both to my future TBR.
Rating: 4/5
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