What To Expect 
 Expect a lot of waiting for the actual plot to come about. Some parts I can see have a point, but others do not. Also expect the characters to act like falling in love equals having sex. This book has a good number of tropes but, thankfully, not the shallow best friend trope and not the mean girl trope. It does seem at times, however, that the main character is a bit of a Mary-Sue. It doesn't really discuss religion much, but when it does, it uses the typical YA-contemporary generalizations in regards to a probably unnecessary subplot. The writing is like basically every contemporary novel I've read, which is only like three, not counting the Princess Diaries sequels. 
 Tropes 
 *instalove 
 *student-teacher relationships 
 *forced tokenism/everyone important appears to be white 
 *gary-stu boyfriend 
 *"male-theater-people-are-generally-gay" 
 *"Nothing will happen if you drink, smoke, or have sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend" 
 *love triangle 
 *student-teacher relationship 
 *"Forbidden" love (ish) 
 "Look," he said. "I recently learned that I'm not allowed to drive students home without notifying the office and obtaining permission from the student's parents... But I;m probably also not supposed to leave students in dark, icy parking lots after hours either. So do you want to break the rules now and confess in the morning? 
 *random awkward nerd who's supposed to be comic relief 
 "Well," said Tim brightly. "Last year in English, Ms. Kramer told me I had the best reading voice she has ever heard... She made me read aloud from the Odyssey for like, three days straight, then told me I probably have the stamina to record audiobooks if I want. Sounds awesome, right?" 
 *This kind of dialogue A grin stretched across Charlie's face. He ground the remainder of his cigarette against the diner's brick exterior. "No, Rivers, not just for my college applications.*super-awkward old-school parents who don't understand sh*t. 
 Mom inhaled sharply and sat on the edge of my bed, much too close. "Honey, you've always been so serious. And you know we are very proud of you.... But last year it's been such a pleasure to watch you blossom." 
 I listened to my father climb the stairs and shut himself inside the bathroom. He blew his nose in the most elephantine way poassible. Suddenly, I hate him for things that had never really bothered me. I hated him fro the hours spent in front of the evening news, and for the giant khaki pants he always wore. I hated him for wrinkling his nose at Tess's I Y gIn T-shirt, even though I also hated that shirt... 
 Other Thoughts 
 There are also a few other passages that I found a bit awkward 
 (view spoiler)["Maybe," proposed Tess, "he and Mr. Walker admitted their true, flamboyantly gay feelings for each other and are necking in the supply closet." 
 "Necking?' Liane looked skeptical. 
 "Necking can be nice sometimes." Tess sighed, like necking was a lost art we didn't appreciate. 
 My main other objection to this book was how it seemed it would all be about Rebecca and Charlie and their relationship until around page 200, when the actual plot was "revealed"-ish. Otherwise, I actually sort of like this. It sets a good mood and I read it pretty quickly. Take any ideas you pick up from this book with a grain of salt and if slow/odd pacing isn't your thing, I wouldn't recommend this one. (hide spoiler)]