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I finally picked up Roomies by Sara Zarr & Tara Altebrando - I got an ARC through NetGalley a few months ago, mostly because it was there and looked potentially, but then I somehow kept putting it off because, well, contemporary YA and I don't usually mix that well.
In the meantime, I'd seen some very positive reviews from some Goodreads friends who mostly share my tastes, so I decided to give it a go before it's too much past-release-date, and I'm seriously glad I did - I enjoyed it far, far more than I'd expected.
It's a relatively simple book, and it's not like a whole lot of exciting stuff happens, and there's teen drama and all that, but it felt ... genuine. Realistic. It handled a lot of real issues (family problems, interracial relationships, how to deal with highschool friendships and relationships when everyone's going away in different directions, etc), but not in a very heavy-handed, moralistic way.
I've never been an American teen nor have I actually met any in real life, so it's not something I'm very familiar with (neither is the whole "leave home to go across the country/continent for college" thing), which, I think, is part of why I enjoyed it.
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