Emergency Contact

Mary H.K. Choi's Emergency Contact is a wondrous, messy story of love hiding in unexpected places,

trauma confrontation, and finding your way through the complicated web of yourself.

There are many intriguing aspects to this book that I genuinely enjoyed. Of course, there

are also some problematic aspects I've found that don't quite sit right with me. Let's get into the better parts first. ADORED: 1.) The slow-burn romance. 2.) Sam! 3.) The House. 4.) Sam’s respect towards Penny. 5.) The lush cover. 6.) The “emergency contact” ploy.

I am a die-hard fan of slow-burns. While this didn't build up or have as much tension as typical slow-burns, it felt natural and well-paced. Sam's interactions with the other characters, particularly Bastian and Penny, gave light to who he is as a person. And, well, he was quite a memorable character despite the cliché "bad boy" persona originally given to him (that he never really filled). The pacing, beyond the romance, was well and the dynamics between the characters shifted considerably throughout the plot. I also loved how Penny opened up about her story on her own time rather than because Sam, or anyone else, was pushing her to.

Now, there were still some problems. Some stem from personal taste, others from technical issues. Within the last hundred pages, it felt as if the characters were rebuilding bridges and making amends purely to do so - there seemed to be no actual resolution in hand. The character interactions stagnated poorly. The writing itself was also blatantly crafted to mimic what teens these days may say. However, the tone of it came off out of touch and too forced for the language it was trying to convey. It chopped the flow of the narrative. In regard to language, there were also "jokes" in poor taste casually placed throughout the book that were arguably offensive and should not have been written.

This also should be classified as a NA book rather than a YA one - given that the main characters are either in college or college-age.

All in all, it's a good contemporary read for those days you just want your slow-burn, rom-com fix.

Kaitlin S.