Clara Shin is skimming through life having fun and playing practical jokes until one day at school one of those jokes goes a little too far. In order to get out of being suspended she is forced to work with her arch enemy Rose on her father’s food truck, the KoBra, for the summer, skipping her trip to Tulum with her mom. What starts off as torture turns into a summer of making new friends, discovering a lot about herself, and falling in love. She learns there is more to life than living on the surface. Life’s rewards come from caring deeply about the people around you even if you may run the risk of getting hurt.

At first Clara’s life with her single father dad, Adrian, didn’t seem to have any consequence. He was the cool parent, finding himself a father to a teenager while only 34 years old. Clara wasn’t the only person to grow in this book. Her father also saw that he wasn’t doing his daughter any favors by laughing at her antics. A little discipline, while hard for both of them, ended up proving to be the best thing for both of them, forcing them to deal with feelings that neither of them were comfortable sharing.

Clara’s friendship with Rose grows slowly and is really very sweet. Clara’s prior friends were two boys who egged her on in her unruly behavior. Rose was a very structured person and they ended up being the Yin to the others Yang. Perfect complements to each other. Hamlet, the boy Clara meets while working the food truck is totally different then the other boys she’s used to being around. While movie star handsome, he has an old school charm that makes his personality different than any one else. He is polite and her dad likes him for goodness sake! He pursues Clara and her shy uncertainty with this alien creature was very sweet. I enjoyed their growing relationship and was pleased that this author stayed true to the sweetness of their feelings by not advancing them into adulthood too quickly.

This was my first novel by Maurene Goo and I really liked it. It was so easy to read and I liked the growth all of the characters showed from beginning to end. She delivered her message in a way that didn’t preach, instead showed how Clara’s life improved by allowing herself to feel things. That’s a message that a person at any age can appreciate and understand. This was an Uppercase Box subscription book and was totally worth the money spent. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Click this link to purchase! The Way You Make Me Feel

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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