Blog Tour: The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi

Hi all, today as part of The Night We Said Yes by Lauren Gibaldi Blog Tour hosted by The Fantastic Flying Book Club. But first here's a little about the book. 

Publisher: Harper Teen 
Publication Date: June 16th 2015
My rating: 3 stars 

A fun, romantic read, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Susane Colasanti! Before Matt, Ella had a plan. Get over a no-good ex-boyfriend. Graduate from high school without any more distractions. Move away from Orlando, Florida, where she’s lived her entire life. But Matt—the cute, shy, bespectacled bass player who just moved to town—was never part of that plan. And neither was attending a party that was crashed by the cops just minutes after they arrived. Or spending an entire night saying “yes” to every crazy, fun thing they could think of. Then Matt abruptly left town, and he broke not only Ella’s heart but those of their best friends, too. So when he shows up a year later with a plan of his own—to relive the night that brought them together—Ella isn’t sure whether Matt’s worth a second chance. Or if re-creating the past can help them create a different future. In alternating then and now chapters, debut author Lauren Gibaldi crafts a charming, romantic story of first loves, lifelong friendships, uncovered secrets, and, ultimately, finding out how to be brave.

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The Night We Said Yes was a book about missed chances and making the best out of the opportunities you’re given.  I liked the idea of having one night where you said yes to everything no matter what. Ella hadn’t been through the best few months, the guy that she thought was the love of her life just upped and left with no explanation and no one could get a response out of him either. So when Matt turns up out of the blue, the night we said yes is definitely what Ella needs.

I really felt for Ella, she had the magical perfect sort of relationship with Matt that all girls dream of, but then when he unexpectedly skips town, Ella is left heartbroken. So when she finally sees him after what seems like ages later, Ella of course demands to know what happened. I’m glad that Ella was one of those girls that stood her ground, she had been treated in the worst possible worse way and so of course deserved answers. Also the Gibaldi flipped between chapters; between the here and now it was obvious that their relationship was one that just couldn’t be forgotten. And also I needed to know what Matt’s reason was, why did he think it was okay to leave town and Ella behind? To be honest I didn’t really buy Matt’s reason for leaving town, yes a lot of things had gone downhill for his family and their reputation, but he could have left some sort of explanation for Ella instead of coded messages which didn’t even make sense. But after getting to know Matt’s character more as the book progressed, I could understand why Ella fell for him in the first place and why she couldn’t switch her feelings for him either after everything that she’d been put through.

I adored learning about Ella and Matt’s relationship through the alternative here and now chapters, to be honest I loved the after chapters more, but at the same time I was dying to find out how things were going to go down in the now. Ella’s friends Jake and Meg also brought a lot of fun to the story too; they were more outgoing characters than Ella, so you never knew what you were getting when they would be around. Overall The Night We Said Yes, made me want to go out and live life to the fullest and to make the most of whatever life throws at me. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Public librarian and author of THE NIGHT WE SAID YES (HarperCollins / HarperTeen, June 16, 2015) and MATT'S STORY (a The Night We Said Yes Novella, out August 2015). Fan of dinosaurs and cheesy jokes. And you.

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