Review: That's Not What I Heard by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Title: That's Not What I Heard

Author: Stephanie Kate Strohm

Publisher: Scholastic Press

Publishing Date: February 26th, 2019

Pages: 369
Audio Length: 8 Hours and 18 Minutes

Genre: YA Contemporary
TW: N/A

Series: Standalone

Source: Audio

 

What did you hear?
Kimberly Landis-Lilley and Teddy Lin are over. Yes, the Kim and Teddy broke up.
At least that's what Phil Spooner thinks he overheard and then told Jess Howard, Kim's best friend. Something about Teddy not liking Kim's Instas? Or was it that Teddy is moving to Italy and didn't want to do long distance? Or that Kim slid into someone else's DMs?
Jess told her boyfriend, Elvis, that he needs to be on Kim's side. Especially if he wants to keep her as his girlfriend. But Elvis is also Teddy's best friend.
Now, Kim's run out of school for the day. Jess is furious. Elvis is confused. And half the lunch period won't talk to Teddy. Even the teachers have taken sides.
William Henry Harrison High will never be the same again!

What made me pick this book up: 

The cover and the title together. It looked like a funny gossipy/unbelievable rumor type of book.

I love the bright lipstick and the funny faces of the models. I think it matches the book well.

What made me read this book: 

Once the book caught my eye I read what it was about and it sounded like it would be a fun read. 

What did I like the most: 

Oh just about everything. Seriously from the beginning I knew I was going to love this book. 

First of all it's so accurate as to how rumors get started. One kid hears something and then turns it into something it isn't and passes it on and on and on. It's like when you play that telephone thing. You whisper something in someone's ear and they whisper it to the person next to them and so on and so forth. By the time it gets to the end of the line it's nothing at all close to what you said.

It's always fun.

I think the writing is done really well. It's funny and cute and completely unbelievable in the best possible way.

Even the teaches were getting in on the rumors!

The characters are fun and relatable. There are several point of views in this book, I can't remember how many exactly but 5 or more definitely. And even though they're written by the same author they all have their own voices and personality. They were all quirky and unique in their own way.

The things that happen in this book. There's two sides. Team Teddy and team Kim. Team Teddy is lead by a girl who breaks up with her boyfriend, when she finds out Teddy is single now. She makes teddy bear ears for everyone on team Teddy. 

Team Kim is lead by Kim's best friend, and everyone wears red. Seriously the teachers have teams! 

The prom ends up being divided up into 4 separate themes because half the prom planning committee is team Teddy and half is team Kim. AND THEN those two teams ended up being 4 teams. The boy who got broken up with by the girl who now suddenly loves Teddy, makes a team heart which wants Teddy and Kim to get back together.

And then Kim's sister makes a team no Teddy or Kim basically. That says they never want to hear anything about Kim or Teddy ever again.

It's a mess!

They end up breaking up by accident and then suddenly all this happens and neither Kim nor Teddy are in on any of these team things. They have no idea it even happened.

It was all a big awesome funny crazy unbelievable wonderful mess that fixes itself in the end.

What didn't I like: 

There wasn't anything specific I didn't like. I actually loved this whole book. It just wasn't a 5 star read. 4.5 probably. But not quite a 5. You know those books that are amazing and great and well written. But still just not 5. 

Would I read the rest of the series/more from this author?
Yeah absolutely! These are the ones I'm most excited about.

This book was exactly what I had hoped it would be. Funny and sweet.

“Unlike her older sister, Kim, Olivia did not believe you were forced by destiny to fall in love with someone just because they happened to come next to you in the alphabet.” 
― Stephanie Kate Strohm, That's Not What I Heard

Stephanie Kate Strohm is the author of The Taming of the Drew, Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink, Confederates Don't Wear Couture, and the upcoming It's Not Me, It's You and Prince in Disguise. She grew up in Connecticut and attended Middlebury College in Vermont, where she was voted Winter Carnival Queen. Currently she lives in Chicago with her fiance and a little white dog named Lorelei Lee.