I Hate You, Fuller James by Kelly Anne Blount Published by Entangled: Crush in March 2020
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Buy on Amazon, Buy on Barnes and Noble
Goodreads
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.
Note: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions shared are my own.
I Hate You, Fuller James by Kelly Anne Blount on the surface seems to have your typical rom-com tropes. There’s the popular athlete, a nerdy girl that gets bullied, the ex-best friend turned popular, mean girl, and a bet involving getting a girl. Truly, I think most people can guess how I Hate You, Fuller James ends. However, despite the predictability, I absolutely adored I Hate You, Fuller James.
In the story, Wren is forced to tutor Fuller in order to get Fuller’s grades up to play basketball. However, Fuller’s coach wants to keep Fuller’s tutoring a secret to prevent it from ruining the team’s dynamics. From the start, Fuller and Wren don’t have a great relationship due to their past, and Fuller really messes up by creating a bet to coverup his tutoring sessions. As the story progresses and I learned about their individual struggles both personally at home, it became very heartwarming.
I think Fuller James shines in this story. He makes a lot of mistakes and starts off with a view of high school I think a lot of teens struggle with. It was wonderful watching him grow as a character and realize what’s truly important and what makes a good friend. Wren, on the other hand, has great friends despite her social status. I think in the story, she learned to be more open-minded and forgiving, which was nice.
My only major issue with the story was the fact that the coach wanted to keep Fuller’s tutoring a secret. I thought it was a lot of pressure to put onto a teenager, and instead the coach could have used the situation to bring the team together.
I thoroughly enjoyed I Hate You, Fuller James by Kelly Anne Blount. It’s the perfect quick, feel-good read. I highly recommend it for rom-com fans.
I Hate You, Fuller James by Kelly Anne Blount will be available on March 2, 2020!
