I Hate You, Fuller James by Kelly Anne Blount

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

Title: I Hate You, Fuller James
Author: Kelly Anne Blount
Published by: Entangled: Crush
Release Date: March 2, 2020
Format: eARC
Pages: 200
Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2020 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge, Lenoreo's 2020 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER With Friends
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

I hate you, Fuller James.

I hate your floppy hair and your lopsided grin and those laughing blue eyes that always seem to be laughing at me.

I hate that you’re the most popular guy in school and I’m still the girl who sneezed and spit out her retainer on someone at a middle school dance. It’s just such a cliché.

I hate that I’m being forced to tutor you in English and keep it a secret from everyone. Because otherwise it might put our basketball team’s chances at winning State in jeopardy, and even though I hate you, I love basketball.

I hate that it seems like you’re keeping a secret from me…and that the more time we spend together, the less I feel like I’m on solid ground. Because I’m starting to realize there’s so much more to you than meets the eye. Underneath it all, you’re real.

But what I hate most is that I really don’t hate you at all.

My Review:

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

4 stars — I love these Crush line of books, I always gravitate towards them when I’m looking for something fairly light and easy to read.  Which is not to say they never dip a toe into tough topics, just that it’s not usually the central theme.  And that’s exactly what I was looking for, and exactly what I got.

I will admit, I kind of forgot about the blurb to this story before diving in, but now it makes sense why I kept thinking of the movie 10 Things I Hate About You while reading it.  The story was very cliché and predictable in some ways, but that’s what I was in the mood for this time, so it worked out well for me.  Honestly, it might have been an even higher rating, but there were some bits that just felt too easy or something…I just wanted something more.

I was convinced at the beginning that Fuller James was irredeemable.  Honestly.  I’m not a forgiving person, and he was a total cocky dbag at the beginning of this book.  I don’t know how Ms. Blount did it, but I did come to feel for him as the book went on.  He made stupid decisions, sure, but I mostly believed in his turnaround and his feelings.  Even though some parts felt easy, for some reason I really felt like he was fed up with his life and finally at a point where he could see how much more he could get if he rearranged his priorities.  And you guys, he was fabulous with his brother Hudson.  I really felt the way he loved him, but they still had a teasing brother relationship as well…

Wren was easier for me to like, even if she was so entrenched in her hate at the beginning of this story that she came across a bit reverse stuck up (nerdy stuck up).  And sometimes I felt her softening towards Fuller to be a bit easy too…but I don’t know, I guess I wanted to buy in, so I just did, you know?  I loved her relationship with her Gramps, and that she had a good relationship with her parents too.  I LOVED her best friendships with Dae and Brandon, they really helped us see more of who she was.

And the two of them together were really adorable…I just fell in love with them as they opened up and connected about Hudson and Gramps.  It was the perfect catalyst to propel their relationship into something more real, and for me to give them both a chance.  And then they were just cute together for other reasons — the kind of crush romance that just has you feeling all of the butterflies.

I’ve already mentioned secondary characters, but they were truly solid in this one.  I’m still a bit reserved on Marc and TyShaun, but I’m trying to give them the benefit of the doubt.

I was only meh on the grand gesture at the end.  It felt…I don’t know.  I wanted something else, but I don’t know what.  I did appreciate how Fuller put himself out there and didn’t pull any punches though.

All in all, if you’re looking for a cute predictable YA romance, and you’re a fan of those 90s teen movies, you can’t really go wrong with this one.  It gave me everything I was looking for: smiles, tummy tingles, and some genuine emotion.