Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed
Release Date - February 4, 2020

Publisher Website - Harper Collins Canada

Publisher Social Media - Twitter/Facebook/SavvyReader/Frenzy
Pages -  400 pages
My Rating - 3/5
**received from publisher for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

New York Times bestselling authors Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed have crafted a resonant, funny, and memorable story about the power of love and resistance.

YES
Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate—as long as he’s behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers (or, let’s face it, speaking at all to almost anyone), Jamie’s a choke artist. There’s no way he’d ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes…until he meets Maya.

NO
Maya Rehman’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is canceled, and now her parents are separating. Why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing—with some awkward dude she hardly knows—is beyond her.

MAYBE SO
Going door to door isn’t exactly glamorous, but maybe it’s not the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer—and so are Maya and Jamie. Mastering local activism is one thing. Navigating the cross-cultural romance of the century is another thing entirely. 

Everyone who has read my reviews knows that I love Becky Albertalli's books. They are some of my favourites. I have no experience with any of Aisha Saeed's writing, but have heard nothing by great things about her books. I was, therefore, excited when it was announced that they would be writing a book together. While I liked parts of Yes No Maybe So, I did not love it as much as I expected to.

The writing styles of the two authors mesh rather well. I believe that since this is dual narration that each author wrote one point of view. It means that the styles could be different as each of the character's voices are different.

Teens wanting to volunteer and get more involved in local politics will probably enjoy this one. I am not an American so while I didn't connect with every part of this aspect, I do feel like our systems are similar enough that I wasn't lost with anything going on and following the news helped fill in the rest. The enthusiasm and heart that these characters put into getting involved is inspiring and I predict it could even inspire readers to get involved themselves. It advocates for getting involved at the local level, and being the force for the change you want in ways that are tangible and practical.

The romance, well very sweet, did not work as well for me as other elements may have. I felt like Jamie and Maya were just really good friends. I don't know if it is because I felt the characters themselves were not as developed and therefore didn't connect with them on their own. I felt at times that the message of the story took over to the determent of the character development. This made it harder for me to be invested in relationship being built between them.

The parts of the characters that I feel readers will relate to the most are the elements that that felt the most authentic to me. Jamie struggling with public speaking and working through how that might impact his future career aspirations. Maya dealing with both the separating of her parents and a changing friendship. It is very much a story of these two teens finding their voices in a way and discovering who they are and these 'background' plots are where any character develop that does happen shines.

I do think that there will be plenty of people who enjoy this book way more than I did. I had a harder time connecting to the story and feeling the chemistry of the characters. I did find the political elements well done and interesting however. It is one that I would definitely recommend checking out for yourself as I think it was probably just a case of it just not working for me specifically.