You’re The One For Me

God, it's like this book was made for me. For starters, I am utterly drawn to the concept of a character being too introverted and hung up on their own issues so they don't realize the friends they do have and the people that like them, especially when said character ends up catching the heart of a big ball of sunshine, and they don't even realize it! And it's over 500 pages of this! It's like everything I ever wanted

I loved Zak, I ADORED Eric (he really is such a puppy omg), I loved Arthur and Camille, and hell I even grew to love Alberto and his... Alberto-ness. Honestly I don't even know what to say other than I just loved this book. Everything from the characters to the plot to everything else... I just adored it. It's over 500 pages but it never felt like a slog or chore to read.

I'm frustrated because I loved this book SO much but I'm blanking on more to say, it's just fucking good. With just these two books, Zelda French has already hooked me good. I can't believe she just has only two books published, they're both so fun and heartwarming and witty, yet so criminally under the radar. I wish more people knew about them because they're SO good. AND I can't wait for the next for the next book in the series. (PLEASE tell me it's about Alberto, I gotta know what's going on with that weirdo)

Absolutely loved this book the story was written so well and I just couldn’t stop reading you learn to adore the characters and the storyline was absolutely amazing again another great book I can’t wait to read more of Zelda’s work.

I was curious when this came up as a book available for review. I’d really enjoyed Anna and the French Kiss and thought a M/M variation on that theme might be a lot of fun.

I also sometimes enjoy young adult romances that are presented from a single character POV. It’s a bit like listening to a complaining young friend, and helps one maintain the perspective of a world where pretty much everything revolves around you. It’s sometimes fun to see the foibles that the narrator misses in himself, and in some way it makes them more endearing.

It’s also relatively low angst… sure the youngster will be “inconsolably crushed” if the “crush de jour” doesn’t work out but it’s no surprise to us “sadder but wiser” folks, that young hearts heal quickly.

That said, the single character POV can be hard to maintain. If that single character is as myopic as 16 year old clueless Zak here is… double that. It actually made the book a bit frustrating toward the middle. Even the most amenable reader eventually runs out of patience.

Several other early reviewers have criticized this book as being a bit long. While I never found it to be boring, it was a bit frustrating at spots. This is the second book in a series and I wondered (more than once) if the parts that dragged weren’t at least in part due to my not having read the first part. I also speculated as to whether it might have improved the book to have known what the other characters were thinking (and in some cases doing.) Seeing parts of this story unfold from Eric’s POV might have made this more interesting but would have made the whole “it’s finally dawning on the dope” epiphany part less satisfying. Even seeing parts from Alberto’s or even Arthur’s POV might have been fun. As it is, Zac was a bit of an odd choice for the narrator as he’s not the most interesting and certainly the least insightful.

Still the book features a number of characters that you’ll enjoy spending time with. Though there are also a few you’d just like grab by the shoulders and shake a bit.

Over the years I’ve seen a good number of French films. This book had the pacing and feel of some of my favorites of those. This title evokes a bit of the magic found in the book Call Me By Your Name with a bit of the whimsy of the film Côte d’Azur (2005) Adding to this “continental feel” is that the author’s native language is not English. While her British English sometimes confused this mid-western raised “Yank”, it also added to the atmosphere.

This might be the perfect book to read on a trip or a beach weekend. It has that relaxed pace, and the characters are certainly worth spending a “weekend in the country” with. However, given that the protagonist is barely legal don’t expect anything too steamy.

After reading You're The One For Me all I can say is, it's just so beautiful.

It may be long, it may be a slowwww burn, but it's perfect this way. I loved how the story evolved, how Zak found the best of friends and fell in love, and the fact that it wasn't easy or immediate for him to realize it and act on it was just more realistic.

And it was so much fun, I found myself laughing out loud on more than one occasion. I love how crazy they all are. And I love Eric and his bees with furry pajamas, he's so happy and carefree, he's just too adorable. And how could I not adore Zak too, an overdramatic introvert who reads BL and hides them under his bed? And Camille and Arthur are wonderful (I love friend squads).
This is the second book of Colette International but you can read it as a standalone since these I just mentioned are all brand new characters, but if you've read I Want To Kiss You In Public already then you'll be happy like me to meet again Michael and Louis! And I'm glad I also got to see Yasmine as an amazing big sister.

This was also a story full of little mysteries, which drove me crazy but thankfully they all got solved in the end, except for Alberto! He's so mysterious! He's a very interesting character. I really really would like to see him lose his cool.

But amidst all the craziness and humor there were some pretty emotional parts too. I was so invested in Zak's feelings that while reading some parts I had tears in my eyes.

In the end this book portrays perfectly the difference between a love that's idealized and has no substance and the real deal, which is spontaneous and joyful and true.

Some out of context thoughts (so I don't spoiler):
The obstacle race part at the end is pure gold.
My summer of love and woe, I would really like to see that movie.

I also really enjoyed the internationality element, which is unusual and refreshing (and most importantly not stereotyped)

I can't think of anything else to say right now except for, if you like sweet and angsty teenage drama, love stories with some bees and apples, many brownies, and only one lake/pond, all of which narrated with a snarky and engaging writing, then this book is for you!

(I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)

The first book was really good, this one was even better. I prefer reading long books and I love slow burn. So it was right up my alley. Zelda French knows how to write perfect love interests. Michael was so sweet in the other book, Eric in this one is like a dream. He is so likeable, you can't help but fall for him (with his flaws and all). Sigh. It's a perfect opposites-attract story.

I was glad to see Louis as well, I love his quirkiness.

After this, I recommend reading the bonus story: Eric's Secret Diary. It's from Eric's POV and very enlightening.

I am looking forward to the next book (and the ones after that?). I'm guessing it's gonna be about Eric's mysterious new friend mentioned in Eric's Secret Diary.

And lastly, what was Alberto's deal? He was so strange.

Whew! What a book! Didn't expect this to be so good and heartwarming! I initially became wary because of the high page count but as I went along the ride I realized that I was glad this book was long because I saw the relationship between our protagonists blossom into a truly worthy romance!

This is such a delightful well-written read, I literally couldn't put it down. It's a slow burn romance, both leads Zak and Eric are so complete opposites but they do complement each other so well.

The first book surprised me by how cute it was, so I thought I knew what to expect from this one. Nope! This was somehow even cuter, I got bored exactly zero times, and I loved how the author incorporated the characters from the first book into this one. I loved the new main characters, Eric was a breath of fresh air and Zak was the good kind of a teenage drama queen who is not afraid to take action. I cannot wait for more books from this author, and I hope the next one will be even longer 🙂