Review: "Friday I'm in Love" by Camryn Garrett

 

Friday I'm in Love by Camryn Garrett
Published January 2023 via Alfred A. Knopf
★★★

Mahalia knows what she wants: she wants Siobhan, the new girl, to reciprocate her interest; she wants a sweet sixteen party like the one her best friend just threw; she wants a little less struggle and a little more sublime. Mahalia also knows what she can't have: Siobhan might or might not be interested in girls, but she has a boyfriend; Mahalia and her mother are getting by, but they're living just above paycheck-to-paycheck, and that doesn't leave thousands of dollars to pour into a party; and, well, none of that seems likely to change anytime soon.

But Mahalia's nothing if not determined, and she sets herself a party budget and a theme—it's a little late for a sweet sixteen, but a coming-out party sounds even better—and gets to planning.

I read this on the strength of 1) the author's first book and 2) the cover. And it's a lot of fun—Mahalia's high-energy but also pretty...realistic? That is, she understands that her mother can't put a lot of money toward things that are want rather than need, but she sometimes also resents that fact. She knows there's a point to which she'll have to scale down her party dreams, but what that looks like in practice hasn't quite registered.

I could have used a bit more space to get to know Siobhan, as well as some of the supporting characters, but I'm intrigued by the budgeting that takes place throughout the book—we see Mahalia's bank balance fluctuate as she earns money, spends money, saves money, faces the unexpected. Nice (if, honestly, a bit stressful) to see her realistically attitude toward it: she knows what's in the bank, she knows what her financial limits are, but she doesn't have the experience or the full perspective to budget in detail.

One thing about the cover: gorgeous though it is, it doesn't reflect the fact that Mahalia is described as being plus-sized. It's the second book I've read in the past week where that's the case, and, like...remember when Bloomsbury tried to whitewash Liar? Can we stop with the thin-washing as well?