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ARC Review: Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi


36101070Rating: 4.5 stars. 

I received an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. (Thanks!)

 I love this new wave of YA books set in college, mostly because I'm currently in university. 

Emergency Contact is about these two college students who are each other's go-to person for random or deep conversation (i.e. Emergency Contact). Penny is just starting university and is distancing herself from her trying-to-be-cool mom. Sam just found out that his love-hate ex-girlfriend is pregnant. Penny and Sam meet when Sam has a panic attack and they both realize that they need a friend they can tell anything to. 

I think my favourite character in the book was Sam. He felt very genuine to me and his life was interesting: he likes to bake, he wants to make documentaries, and he is dealing with feeling like he loved his ex more than she loved him. Penny, while her life story was unique, I didn't really like her. Penny's studying writing in university and had to break up with her younger boyfriend so some of that was kind of interesting but Penny does come off sometimes a bit cold. You sort of find out why she's so closed off later in the book but as a person who is really close with her mom, it was hard to relate to and like Penny. 

Overall, I liked the concept of this book and felt like the characters really fit with the story. The story felt so current as well. There are discussions of rape, alcohol addiction, young adult pregnancy, cell phones, etc. 

I would highly recommend Emergency Contact if you're looking for a different YA book set in college.

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