The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You
A Novel
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4.3 • 7 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Named One of the 16 Best Young Adult Books of 2016 (So Far) by Paste Magazine!
Trixie Watson has two very important goals for senior year: to finally save enough to buy the set of Doctor Who figurines at the local comic books store, and to place third in her class and knock Ben West--and his horrendous new mustache that he spent all summer growing—down to number four.
Trixie will do anything to get her name ranked over Ben's, including give up sleep and comic books—well, maybe not comic books—but definitely sleep. After all, the war of Watson v. West is as vicious as the Doctor v. Daleks and Browncoats v. Alliance combined, and it goes all the way back to the infamous monkey bars incident in the first grade. Over a decade later, it's time to declare a champion once and for all.
The war is Trixie's for the winning, until her best friend starts dating Ben's best friend and the two are unceremoniously dumped together and told to play nice. Finding common ground is odious and tooth-pullingly-painful, but Trixie and Ben's cautious truce slowly transforms into a fandom-based tentative friendship. When Trixie's best friend gets expelled for cheating and Trixie cries foul play, however, they have to choose who to believe and which side they're on—and they might not pick the same side.
Stephanie Perkins meets 10 Things I hate About You in The Only Thing Worse than Me Is You, a fresh, romantic debut from author Lily Anderson inspired by Much Ado About Nothing.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
There's a lot to enjoy in debut novelist Anderson's geek-positive update of Much Ado About Nothing, including intense comic book fandom, a cheating scandal, student council drama, themed dances, and two central characters engaged in an epic love-hate relationship. Anderson sets 17-year-old narrator Trixie Watson among a group of smart and quirky friends at the Messina School for the Gifted, a "school for geniuses" affectionately called the Mess. For years, Trixie has raged against Ben West, the boy she considers her arch-nemesis he's nearly her equal in class rank, has the same IQ, and even loves the same comics, SF films, and more. Trixie's face-offs with Ben showcase Anderson's humor and geek culture bona fides ("This was the Doctor versus the Daleks. This was Ripley versus the Xenomorphs. This was a real, true, full-scale war"), and as the two shift from sparring to feeling sparks, Trixie's shield of sarcasm gives way to heartfelt interest and affection. Readers familiar with the Shakespeare will enjoy Anderson's riffs on the original's plot points as Trixie and Ben get their nerdily-ever-after ending. Ages 12 up.
