Overall: 3.7/5 Stars
Characters: 3/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Plot and Themes: 4/5
Awesomeness Factor: 3/5
Review in a Nutshell: Listen to Your Heart is an adorable YA contemporary filled with humor, friendship, and of course, romance.

Listen To Your Heart follows Kate Bailey, who signed up for her school’s podcasting class because of her best friend, Alana, but wasn’t expected to be forced to host it. Not only must she step out of the shadows and into the spotlight, but things get even more complicated when they get an anonymous caller asking for help on how to win over his crush. The problem? Kate can tell this caller is Alana’s crush, Diego, and Kate is starting to grow feelings for him herself.

Kasie West’s books are always so fun, and Listen to Your Heartis no exception. I ran through this book, never wanting to put it down. West’s writing style balances the perfect amount of humor, awkwardness, and drama into her books to make the pages fly by. This book is a very light read, and could definitely be read in just one sitting (unfortunately I was reading it while in Disney World so I didn’t get the option to just spend a couple of hours reading). The pace is perfect, never dragging or rushing through things.

I really enjoyed the setting of this book. Kate absolutely adores the lake near her house and dreams of running the family marina. As someone who has lived near water her whole life, I just loved that aspect of the book. It also makes this such a great summer read!

The characters in this book were probably not the strongest. I just wish we had more time to develop them on their own. However, they didn’t feel really undeveloped when reading. The best way to describe them is a little deeper than surface level, which is something I’ve noticed in a lot of Kasie’s books. Kate and Diego were decently developed, and each had an interesting arch, but the side characters did leave something to be desired. That said, I still enjoyed reading about them and I was still able to connect with Kate as a character (not just because we share a name and a love for water).

Pros- Fun, lighthearted plot, quick pace
Cons- Not too deep or thought-provoking
Overall- 3.7/5 stars.
Listen to Your Heart is a cute summery read, perfect for trips to the beach. The quick pace and adorableness will keep you hooked until the end.