The Replacement Crush by Lisa Brown Roberts Book Review

“Logically? Who falls in love logically?” 

About

Author: Lisa Brown Roberts

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Romance

Click here to buy book

Click here to read other book reviews

Synopsis

True love can’t be strategized.

After book blogger Vivian Galdi’s longtime crush pretends their secret summer kissing sessions never happened, Vivian creates a list of safe crushes, determined to protect her heart. 

But nerd-hot Dallas, the sweet new guy in town, sends the mission and Vivian’s zing meter into chaos. While designing software for the bookstore where Vivian works, Dallas wages a counter-mission.

Operation Replacement Crush is in full effect. And Dallas is determined to take her heart off the shelf.

Review

Spoilers contained below

Dear McNerd lovers,

We’ve all been there. We had a crush on someone who we believed was super cute and was the “it” boy We’ve all been there. We had a crush on someone who we believed was super cute and was the “it” boy or girl, and then they ended up hurting us and being someone we didn’t expect. Then we feel so pained that we are receptive to love because we don’t want to get hurt again.

If anyone understands that kind of pain, it’s Vivian. Vivian is such a down-to-earth, humbling, funny, and creative person. But she also has her faults just like anyone else. Mainly it’s her idea of being logical about love in choosing to find a Replacement Crush. First and foremost, you can NEVER be logical about love. You can’t choose who you fall in love with or how fast you fall for someone. So the fact that Vivian created this list to pick out someone she was going to fall in love with but someone who wouldn’t give her much “zing” was kind of ridiculous; in itself it was never a logical idea. All her friends kept telling her how dumb of an idea it was and how she would end up hurting people in the end, but Vivian never listened to reason because she wanted to keep her hormones in check.

I feel like there is nothing wrong with liking a boy or a girl after you just fell out of love. And I understand how Vivian was just trying to protect herself from getting hurt again, but she really did end up hurting those around her, and mostly she ended up hurting herself.

But let’s talk about Vespa dude, or should I say Dallas Lang. Oh, sweet Dallas Lang who’s secretly a ninja McNerd in disguise. Like Dallas took all the teasing and negative treatment from Vivian like a champ even though he liked her so much. He even stuck around trying to get her to realize that who she was looking for was right in front of her. He was willing to fight for Vivian in all kinds of ways and if she never recognized that at some point, Vivian really would have lost someone so special. I also feel like part of the reason Vivian was so mean to Dallas at some parts was because she wanted to push him away and push down her feelings that were telling him that he was the one. By being mean to him she secretly hoped that he would never like her and that would make it easier for her to not like him. But we all knew that they both really liked each other and that all they needed to do was act on those feelings rather than hide it.

Dallas was also so in tune with Vivian. He bought her peanut butter and chocolate milkshakes and always made conversation about books. Like how cute it was that they fell in love at a bookstore. If Dallas’s name was Joseph, I would be worried 😉 .

I also liked how in an attempt to get Vivian to realize that he was what she was looking for, he created his own replacement crush list with his criteria solely being this that described her; Likes to argue, is a certain kind of smart, is pretty, and feisty—–like Vivian how can you not know he’s talking about you? But that scene where they eat popcorn and watch the Star Trek episode was really cute and got steamy when they kissed. And Dallas straight up told Vivian he liked her and Vivian responded to the kiss, obviously into Dallas. But she just would not let go of her replacement crush list because of this nagging part of herself that just didn’t want to get hurt again. Girl, Dallas is not going to hurt you!

We all know who would hurt Vivian: Jake the Snake.

Honestly, Toff should have thrown him under a bridge and Dallas should have beaten him more to a pulp. I didn’t expect this book to address sexual violence and rumors, but it’s not a topic most books have, so I thought it was interesting. And boy did I DISLIKE Jake. Any guy who starts false rumors about a girl, teases her, punches or touches a girl in the wrong way, honestly loses any ounce of respect I have for that person. Same goes for girls who treat guys in the same way too. Because no one, and I mean no one deserves to be harassed in any kind of way. And Jake was crossing a line with all his bullying and his graffiti and the way he would approach Vivian and grasp her wrist like a vice. Or his threats. OOOOh, his threats!

When Vivian buys a cake in the beginning of the book and Jake calls her Chunky Monkey, my gosh, I wanted to take that cake and slap it on his face and say he’s a pig because in no way should you ever make a condescending comment to a girl about what she eats. Everyone comes in different shapes and sizes and are beautiful regardless of how much they weigh, so if Vivian wants to eat a cake because she like cake, or if she wants to drink a milkshake, and stuff her face with M&Ms, she should feel no remorse in doing so just because some rude people will tease her about her size. If she’s happy as who she is and loves her body, then that’s all that should matter.

Or when Jake gratified her locker with the S word. I couldn’t stand that. But Dallas, good old Dallas, turned that slur into Star Trek Luv. He really is a ninja in hiding.

Especially when he beats the living daylights out of Jake. I was like YESSS! You get him good! Like he came out of the bushes like a creep and started to threaten and mishandle Vivian. Like boy, get back in your bush like the grumpy old troll! We don’t need you! But Dallas and Toff come with a can of whoop butt and kicks his behind and it’s the best moment of the book in terms of action. Love a good karma moment.

But I also enjoyed how Claire and Vivian became friends. Claire was the girl Jake decided to date in public and then dumped her when she wouldn’t give Jake what he wanted. So Claire went to Vivian for advice at the bookstore where they became close friends over their bond of books. I liked how Vivian invited Claire to be a part of her book club and then accepted Claire into her group of friends when she needed someone.

Vivian also just really has a good support group of friends. Jaz is loud and really outspoken—-can never keep a secret. And Amy is more soft spoken but still love struck as any girl can be. Amy liked Toff but was willing to back away from him because he was on Vivian’s list. Like what a true friend. But first of all Toff should have never been on her list in the first place. I literally cringed that he was. Like how could she not see Toff was more of her brother than a lover? You don’t kiss your brother!

Toff is one of my favorite characters in this book because he really is the good protective brother. I love how he jokes around with Vivian and calls her Wordworm and she calls him Flipper. I like how he would do anything to protect her. I also like that they are open and non-judgmental about what she’s been through. Their relationship is so close and special because their parents are dating, but they were friends first.

I also enjoyed the ending of the book when Vivian finally realizes what a mess she made of her heart and other people’s. She finally rips that gosh forsaken list up. It’s kind of sad she didn’t go to the Surfer Ball because she didn’t ask anyone and no one whom she wanted to go with asked her. Henry, one of her replacement crushes, asked her, but she turned him down, not wanting to lead him on. And after seeing the crushed look in his eyes, she truly saw the consequences of her list and how there would be casualties.

She felt so bad for putting Henry in the middle of everything and it’s nice she talked to him at the talent show to say sorry. Things might not be the best between them, but at least the thought is there. And Henry was already moving on because he went to the show with a girl.

Let’s talk about Drew for a minute. Because that replacement crush was a definite flop. Like he was the worst! He acted all business like during their date and I was like Vivian, big mistake! But back to the talent show. I thought it was kind of cheesy but cute that Vivian dressed up as an alien in a Star Trek suit to apologize to Dallas. She got famous movie star, Fisk, to sing Somebody to Love as a way to say sorry and lo and behold, none other than Dallas is on the stage playing the cello as a backup to Fisk.

Like he should have been in the audience. But no, Dallas had to show off his mad cellist skills. And and they were. But after the show, they finally made up in the cutest alien kind of way and it was just a right Like he should have been in the audience. But no, Dallas had to show off his mad cellist skills. Andthey were. But after the show, they finally made up in the cutest alien kind of way and it was just the right moment for both of them. I loved how Toff yelled at them to get a room because they were being all mushy on the stage. I was laughing! You have to love Toff. I also found it funny how Fisk knew Dallas and Vivian and wanted to set them up. Even he knew love when he saw it.

Something else I had to appreciate in this book was Vivian’s love of books and her blog. Seeing as this is my book blog, it just felt interesting and fun to see a book blog in a book. It really gave me some insight on how I could structure my blog if I wanted to. I also liked how she created different projects to get more books out there in the community. I liked the idea of bringing books to the elderly to read and bringing books to the homeless people she always bought donuts for. Vivian really does have a caring heart underneath all her Spock logic. You also gotta love the old woman in this book who read kinky romance books. I need to be like that when I’m that age 😉.

Overall, I liked the storyline of the book. At times there were moments I was thoroughly irritated with Vivian for playing with people’s hearts, but at least she realized she was wrong in the end and tried to make up for that. I think if she never made up for hurting others, then I wouldn’t have had respect for her because her list was kind of ill-intentioned if you were on the other end of it. At the same time I understood why she did it. But I’m happy she figured out that love just happens and it happened with Dallas.

So sometimes you’ll fall in love and you’ll get hurt in the worst way possible. Doesn’t mean you should never love again or make a replacement crush list that will only half satisfy your needs to love. You should take time for yourself to figure things out and heal. And when you’re ready to love fully again, then you should allow yourself to look for a love that will make you feel complete. Maybe that love will find you before you’re ready and that’s okay. Take things slow, but never push away what you feel because you’re scared to feel them. Trust me, feelings are scary. But you are strong and beautiful and brave. And fully capable of love.

If you read this book, what was your favorite part? Least favorite part?  How do you get over a crush or someone you used to date? I’m try to distract myself with reading about fictional boys who are MUCH better than some boys in real life 😂 Anyway, let me know below in the comments as I love hearing from you all 💕

I hope you have a beautiful day whenever and wherever you might be reading this and I hope love finds you or that you may seek it in the right ways

And as always, with love,

Rating

In honor of Vivvy, I decided to use her rating scale:

4.36 Vans and Crocs

Characters: Vivian was hard to like at times because of how she treated Dallas and treated others. But she’s not really a bad person. I enjoyed Toff the most.

Plot: Good story-line that included touches of topics that usually aren’t mentioned in books.

Writing: Easy to read writing.

Romance: Frustrating, but worthwhile in the end.

Vivian’s Rating Scale

• Birks – lots of emotion and navel-grazing
• Wing Tips – bossy but irresistible heroes
• Crocs – Funny heroes, imperfect heroines
• Vans – testy heroes full of sarcasm
• Go-go boots – Vivian’s highest rating: perfection