love comment subscribe cathy yardley book cover

Love, Comment, Subscribe by Cathy Yardley

Pub Date: Oct 01, 2021 by Montlake

Rating

Rating: 4 out of 5.

SYNOPSIS

Back in high school, Lily Wang wanted to be popular, but she considered herself lucky to be part of a tight group of oddballs and honors students called the Nerd Herd. Now, at twenty-eight, she feels like she’s finally on the cusp of succeeding as a beauty influencer—if she can hit five million subscribers, brands will take notice and she could get her own makeup line.

Fellow Nerd Herd alum Tobin Bui has had a lot of success as a YouTube gamer. But the road to online stardom has been rocky. First, he disappointed his parents by dropping out of college, and now, after years of pranks, skits, and playthroughs, he’s struggling to come up with new content to satisfy his ever-growing fan base. His agents say he needs cross-audience appeal, a new twist.

When Nerd Herd frenemy Lily approaches Tobin about teaming up to do a video to bolster her brand and reinvigorate his, he agrees. But when their first collab video goes viral, their relationship heats up too. With the whole internet watching, will these two former misfits finally realize they’re perfect together?

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DISCLOSURE

I received a review copy of this book from Netgalley and the author. All opinions are my own.

Initial Thoughts

Youtube or Vlogging has never been my thing, but I do enjoy watching Youtubers from time to time. Although growing up, there weren’t really a lot of Asian Youtubers around, and by the time more Asian influencers came in, I already outgrew my phase hahaha!

So Love, Comment, Subscribe was the perfect book to give me a glimpse of the vlogging community in Asian lens. Despite me being a blogger, I’m not really big on social media and you’d probably see that in my following and engagement.

Going back, I really enjoyed this book and the characters were adorable.

Slow-Burn Frenemies to Lovers

The difference in most aspects of their personalities makes up so much for the thick tension and chemistry they have towards each other. Their banter was so enjoyable!

I also love how Lily’s strong façade softens with Tobin, along with the growing attraction they have for each other. The romance was truly one of the strongest aspects of the book.

Behind The Scenes of Content Creation

I love how Love, Comment, Subscribe provides a peek at content creation and planning for both characters, and for that, I’m leaning towards Tobin’s process. He’s more spontaneous and easy-going compared to Lily’s uber-organized personality.

I really enjoyed how detailed the process of content creation was and how it was highlighted in the book. Content creation is a grueling process, even I’m having a hard time just repurposing content on other social media platforms because it takes a lot of time.

It’s also why I resonated more with Tobin’s character, and with his ADHD, and how he’s trying to maneuver through his burnout. It brought me back to when I was dealing with my own burnout a few years back. It’s also a reminder that fame and money shouldn’t get in the way of preserving your mental health.

Also Read: Sunny Song Will Never Be Famous by Suzanne Park

Overall Thoughts

Love, Comment, Subscribe is an adorable book that features high school frenemies turned unwilling collaborators with amazing banter and chemistry!

I really enjoyed reading the book, despite some slow scenes here and there. I love how the story really valued the efforts of content creators and how it’s relevant in this digital age.

Do I recommend Love, Comment, Subscribe? Definitely! If you’re a fan of rom-coms with characters that have electric chemistry, witty and sarcastic banter, and the good old “they’ve known each other for a long time”, this one’s for you!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

cathy yardley author photo

Cathy Yardley is an award-winning author of romance, chick lit, and urban fantasy, who has sold over 1.2 million copies of books for publishers like St. Martin’s, Avon, and Harlequin.

She writes fun, geeky, and diverse characters who believe that underdogs can make good and sometimes being a little wrong is just right. She likes writing about quirky, crazy adventures, because she’s had plenty of her own: she had her own army in the Society of Creative Anachronism; she’s spent a New Year’s on a 3-day solitary vision quest in the Mojave Desert; she had VIP access to the Viper Room in Los Angeles.

Now, she spends her time writing in the wilds of East Seattle, trying to prevent her son from learning the truth of any of said adventures, and riding herd on her two dogs (and one husband.) 

Author Links: Website | Twitter | Instagram


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One Comment

  1. I would be honored if you read my book, “Haemi.” It’s a love story of Korean sea woman, that takes action on Jeju Island. It will be free on Kindle until November 13th 🙂🙂