Author: Leah DeCesare
Genre: Contemporary romance
Published: April 18th, 2017
Source: ARC from author for honest review
My rating: 4 stars
Synopsis:
There are three kinds of guys: forks, knives, and spoons. That is the final lesson that Amy York s father sends her off to college with, never suspecting just how far his daughter will take it. Clinging to the Utensil Classification System as her guide, Amy tries to convince her skeptical roommate, Veronica Warren, of its usefulness as they navigate the heartbreaks and soul mates of college and beyond. Beginning in 1988, their freshman year at Syracuse University, Amy and Veronica meet an assortment of guys from slotted spoons and shrimp forks to butter knives and sporks all while trying to learn if the UCS holds true. On the quest to find their perfect steak knives, they learn to believe in themselves and not to settle in love or life.
My Review:
When the author emailed me asking if I'd be interested in reading and reviewing her book, I was definitely intrigued by the synopsis above. While the majority of this story takes place during their time in college, there is a part of their lives after college that is included in the story. I really did enjoy the UCS - otherwise known as the Utensil Classification System. It turned out differently than I thought just from what I'd try to determine each utensil fit as before I read it. Basically, a knife is the guy you want. All the other types of utensils have their own definitions. I liked that it was an open enough classification system that it showed a guy that was a spoon for one girl, could totally be a knife for another. I know, that's pretty confusing without having read the book, so you need to go ahead and do that.
I really liked the characters, even if they kind of fell into a bit predictable stereotypes, or sometimes maybe a situation was a bit expected, nothing new. There were definitely times I was yelling at Amy to figure it out, it was so obvious to the reader what was going on, but then I do that with a lot of romance stories, I know that it is part of the drama. I also really liked the time period it was set in, the very late 80s and early 90s. Since I started college in 1990, it was totally a walk down memory lane for so many things in the book. Only having a landline phone, there were no cell phones, at least not for anyone other than very rich businessmen. The book pulled in so many things that were experiences that are common in college life. Things that I'm sure are still going on today. The computer lab bits were funny though, when you consider how each college student usually has their own computer or laptop these days.
I was rooting for Matt and Amy almost all of the book, but totally understood why she was in love with Andrew. Then there was the friend who lived down the hall that was basically the very promiscuous girl, not just promiscuous, but also willing to mess with other girls' boyfriends. There was the girl who went away to college with her high school boyfriend, and it didn't work out, although I think the reason in this story was different than the reasons for the people I knew in college.
My only issues were really the predictability of the story. The reason why the promiscuous girl was the way she was, well it was pretty textbook because of her dad leaving, the way her mom was, etc. You kind of knew that Matt was a possible love interest for Amy no matter what she seemed to think. I have to say I liked how Veronica's years panned out, and I like the way they were a little different and sometimes I got some unique turns in her story. I hated the way she was at the end when she went back to a friend's wedding. I hated the way she said the things she did about her boyfriend. I also think how upset Amy got about remarks guys were making to their friend getting married was kind of silly, and kinda made her seem a little bit like a psycho girl. Just me though.
I still recommend this story as a sweet romantic read. Pick it up, and then look at the guys in your past and around you today, and can you figure out who are the forks, spoons, and knives?
