After loving Like a Love Song, I knew I had to read Martin’s sophomore book. Bad at Love is a precious swoony contemporary about dreams and honesty. If you’re in the mood for the perfect summer read, you have to read Bad at Love! Keep reading this book review for my full thoughts.
Summary
Ever since Daniel moved to L.A. from Brazil to join the band Mischief & Mayhem, he’s become the tabloids’ bad boy. Paparazzi follow him and girls swoon over him . . . except for Sasha, who hates bad boys. When a chance encounter brings them together, Sasha sees an opportunity to get close to Daniel and write a story that will make a name for herself at the celebrity gossip magazine where she interns. But Daniel is surprisingly sweet and extremely cute—could she be falling for him?
The truth is: Daniel is hiding something. When Sasha discovers his secret, will she follow her heart or deliver the hottest story of the summer?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
Bad at Love is a dual POV story about the perceptions we have of ourselves. For Daniel, his persona as Rotten has taken over his life. And there are so many layers of himself he’s living whether it be the lack of letting his bandmates know who he is, and not correcting the world about him. Whereas for Sasha, she is committed to her dream, but what happens when she has the opportunity to make a big break? For her, she has to figure out just how much her dream is worth.
Not only did I love how queer Bad at Love is – hey hey for not only pansexual rep, but also demisexual rep!!! – I love how the characters jump off the pages. They’re truly the backbone of Bad at Love. I fell for Daniel’s softeness and the way he’s afraid of showing his softness. We can have these ideas of what it means to be a ‘rockstar’ and what happens when they aren’t met? Whereas I instantly loved Sasha’s drive and how she wants to succeed. At the same time, Bad at Love is about the difficulities of diasporic identity.
(Disclaimer: Some of the links below are affiliate links. For more information you can look at the Policy page. If you’re uncomfortable with that, know you can look up the book on any of the sites below to avoid the link)
Of feeling like we don’t belong and not being able to reconcile how our lives and identities have changed in a new place. Bad at Love is the perfect summer contemporary to round out your summer. I loved watching Sasha and Daniel discover hidden pieces of themselves and how we can open up to someone. We can be so focused on ourselves, that having someone not only to check that, but to also help us, is a gift. Find Bad at Love at Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.