Review: What You Always Wanted

What You Always Wanted by Kristin Rae
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Closer to a 3.5.

I'm always surprised that YA books don't push the theater/performing arts nerd angles more. We've seen a few published over the last 18 months, but, having been a theater and chorus geek myself, it's fertile ground for a lot of the sorts of love triangles and situations in play with groups like those. What You Always Wanted mines that cavern a bit and mostly works as a fluffy teen romance that is reminiscent of those times, but lacks the weight it could have had.

In this tale, Maddie is obsessed with old movie stars and is now in a new school. She's carpooling with one of the stars of the baseball team, but that's not usually the guy she goes for. At least it isn't until she learns about his secret performing past, which changes the entire game and makes her wonder if she can change him.

That key plot point is where the story kind of falls apart for me. It's a fun airy romance and then takes the sort of turn where you feel like it's okay to try and mold someone into the type of person you want them to be as opposed to accepting good people for what they are. It's not a great message in a genre (teen romance) light on substance, and that concerned me.

With that said, looking past that one flaw, it's a fun and fast read. It's unlikely to change anyone's life, but that's not really the point, either. It's candy for the teen performer set, and that's extremely valid in and of itself. Recommended for kids looking for characters that represent their interests, for sure.

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