Just for Clicks by Kara McDowell | Rating: ★★★★★

As a note, an e-galley of this novel was sent to me via Edelweiss by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

When I first requested Just for Clicks, I knew I would enjoy it. I just didn't know how much I would. I have to say, firstly, that I am really impressed with all the contemporaries that I've read so far in 2019. We're less than a month of our way through the new year and already, every single YA contemporary that I've read has been good and quite distinct in their own ways. Just for Clicks is no different and it's a blast.

I'll admit that I struggled, initially, with what I wanted to rate the book as. I bounced around from 3 to 3.5, to 4, and found I'd wanted to rate it somewhere around 4.5-5 by the time I processed it all. I really enjoyed the way that this novel made me feel--all warm and fuzzy and not unlike a release by Sarah Dessen, Susane Colasanti or Jenny Han. It's the type of contemporary novel that you finish quickly because it's impossible to not devour it.

There's this fondness that comes with Just for Clicks because you genuinely care about the characters in it. I didn't dislike anyone, aside from the foes that Claire and Poppy have met along the way. I liked that this showed more than just the perks of being famous online (the girls are both Youtubers who have a substantial following and have, quite literally, grown up in the eyes of a specific audience online) and really zeroed in on how stressful it could become for someone so young.

What I loved most about Just for Clicks was the relationship at the center of the book: the two sisters. I liked that no matter their differences, and no matter the big twist (I am not spoiling you guys!) that threatens to come between them, they remain sisters for life. I thought that the way McDowell portrayed these two was beautiful and honest.

Further, I like the care that she took in tackling heavier topics such as the weirdly invasive fans of the two teenagers; the overly pushy mother who is very much so a Kris Jenner like figure (only a bit more sympathetic) who has secrets of her own, and the way an attempt to kidnap the girls changed them at a young age and shaped them into who they are now.

Going into Just for Clicks I expected something lighter and less heartfelt than the book was in the end, and I've never been more thrilled. I came into Just for Clicks thinking that it would be another L.A. Candy or Girl Online, but it ended up being something else entirely.

I can't really compare it to anything other than the way that Krista and Becca Ritchie approach certain topics in their Addicted, Calloway Sisters and Like Us series. It's the type of story that seems overly fluffy upon reading the synopsis, but has a lot of soul to it. It was just fun and I cannot recommend it enough.