Sometimes a book comes along just at the right time. Tweet Cute definitely warmed my cold soul this winter break and made me feel all toasty (pun intended). This debut novel from New Yorker Emma Lord mixes well developed characters with an intriguing but fun plot.
Jack’s parents run a little deli in New York and would like him to take over the family business, however, his passion lies with technology as he wants to work with apps. He’s managed to create an anonymous messaging site for students at his school where people are only known by their animal-themed usernames. The Weazel app allows group messaging in the main chat room, but if two users choose to chat privately then they can, but the app will reveal their real identities to each other at a random point in their conversations (could be an hour, could be a week).
Pepper now lives in New York having moved from Nashville. She’s a bit of a perfectionist who works hard at school and gets good grades, despite not knowing what she wants to do at college or if she even wants to go. She is competitive, and head of the swim team, as well as being expected to assist with the social media of her parent’s growing fast-food chain, Big League Burger. This is because Pepper has a knack and the wit for Twitter. If you’re up to date on your memes then you’ll appreciate her humour!
So of course with any good story, our two protagonists paths cross, but as this is 2020, the meet-cute and the drama originally begins on the internet, over a grilled cheese of all things. Big League Burger’s latest menu offering is grilled cheese just like Grandma used to make. The Grandma in question being Jack’s Grandma – cue the drama! The pair begin to defend their families’ business over the battle ground of Twitter.
The story is told from the point of view of both Pepper and Jack, depending on the chapter. The reader gets an insight into both of their families, such as Jack’s more popular twin, Ethan, and the up and down relationship between Pepper and her mother. The versions of Pepper and Jack that their schoolmates see are not always the same Pepper and Jack the reader sees when the characters are at home. It deals with teens who are thinking about their directions and their future, and I believe the book handles these issues quite well, so this is a good read for those in their final year of school.
I’m not a big reader of YA Romance but I have a feeling Tweet Cute will be a hit for fans of the genre and casual readers. This is because it’s uplifting and cheesy, but it is relevant and current. I found it to be quite a funny novel and it makes lots of references to popular internet culture, twitter, memes, and GIFs. My only criticism is perhaps a very cynical person could pick apart the plot and find holes, but I got the impression this story is about the bigger picture and it’s meant to be enjoyable and light-hearted, so I was swayed. I think if Emma Lord was to write any other books, I’d definitely be interested in reading them because she has made my return to YA Romance a great one.
To wrap up, a mention has to go to the food. Food is such a big theme in Tweet Cute. It will make you hungry, mostly for baked goods and grilled cheese sandwiches. As well as the restaurant rivalry, Pepper and her sister both run a bakery blog, so there are plenty of references to delicious cakes and snacks, and many, many puns. I did say it was cheesy!
Tweet Cute is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
Will you be picking up Tweet Cute? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
A fresh, irresistible rom-com from debut author Emma Lord about the chances we take, the paths life can lead us on, and how love can be found in the opposite place you expected.
Meet Pepper, swim team captain, chronic overachiever, and all-around perfectionist. Her family may be falling apart, but their massive fast-food chain is booming ― mainly thanks to Pepper, who is barely managing to juggle real life while secretly running Big League Burger’s massive Twitter account.
Enter Jack, class clown and constant thorn in Pepper’s side. When he isn’t trying to duck out of his obscenely popular twin’s shadow, he’s busy working in his family’s deli. His relationship with the business that holds his future might be love/hate, but when Big League Burger steals his grandma’s iconic grilled cheese recipe, he’ll do whatever it takes to take them down, one tweet at a time.
All’s fair in love and cheese ― that is, until Pepper and Jack’s spat turns into a viral Twitter war. Little do they know, while they’re publicly duking it out with snarky memes and retweet battles, they’re also falling for each other in real life ― on an anonymous chat app Jack built.
As their relationship deepens and their online shenanigans escalate ― people on the internet are shipping them?? ― their battle gets more and more personal, until even these two rivals can’t ignore they were destined for the most unexpected, awkward, all-the-feels romance that neither of them expected
