I read Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert and here's what I thought...
I don’t want to be dramatic, but proper official, tagged, reviews come so few and far between on this blog that I’m genuinely quite shocked that I’m writing one. But still, here we are, and here is my review of Conventionally Yours by Annabeth Albert.
Also, for those who want the YouTube version of this review (CLICK HERE) and you will be taken to my video review :).
So, before I even started reading Conventionally Yours, I read the back of the book where it said, “Two famous rivals. One epic road trip. Some uncomfortably tight quarters. And a journey neither will ever forget.” And then in a little handwritten looking annotation in quotation marks, it said, “Why is there only one bed?!” and that was when I knew I was in for some fanfic level tropes – we’ve got the sharing a bed trope, “two famous rivals” meant enemies to lovers. Now, I want it to be known that I’m not saying that as a bad thing at all. Quite the opposite in fact. I think that fanfiction writers don’t get the credit that they deserve. I know there are plenty of published authors who have written fanfiction – I may have even written a couple myself at one point. And I’m certain that there are fics out there are better written than some published books. Actually, I can say that for sure with some of the books I’ve read.
Then I opened the very first page and it said: “The best enemies to lovers epic fandom road trip gay romance you’ll read all year”, so my whole tropes thought was immediately proven correct.
We open with focus on one of the two main characters, Conrad, in a match (of Odyssey, a fictional card game) against the other main character, Alden. At one point we see Alden calling out Conrad for having a card that was no longer tournament legal and we learn he missed the unveiling of the new rules of the game they were playing because he was working, and then he explicitly mentions how he can’t afford to just buy the cards he needs like Alden can – so obviously, from the get-go, he’s struggling financially. Then we quickly switch perspective to Alden, and we learn he’s struggling with social anxiety, and it’s also mentioned that he is neurodiverse as well. So, since these things were both set up so soon, it let me know that these things were likely going to be at the root of the character's struggles.
Okay, so the illustrations. The book had illustrations of the characters throughout, and while this itself isn’t a bad thing, I thought it was cute seeing scenes drawn out. But my issue was that the cover of the book also has illustrations of Conrad and Alden, but the styles don’t match. Like, on the cover, Alden’s character has glasses, but in the other illustrations, he doesn’t. Like this is such a minor thing, like it’s the only negative I could actually come up with, that the style of illustration didn’t match.
As for Conrad and Alden as characters, I was so happy with the fact that they were 23 and 21 – I might have gotten the numbers mixed up there – and I think the only YA book that I’ve read where the main character(s) aren’t in their teens was Red, White and Royal Blue. I feel older – older as in over 18 years old – protagonists in YA is something that is often so overlooked in favour of 16 year old. So, I was happy to find out that both the main characters of Conventionally Yours were in their twenties because I feel like your early twenties still count as falling under that “Young Adult” umbrella, and it’s just not something you see the most representation for.
For Conrad and Alden themselves, I found more relatability in Alden then I did Conrad. That’s not shade either way, that’s literally just me saying, my life experience in more akin to Alden than it was Conrad. And that was mainly down to Alden’s social awkwardness – which was something that I felt heavily. There was one point, one line, that was like the line where I thought to myself, “Yep, I relate to Alden”, on page 82. Alden mentions that he tries to not make too much noise when he rolls over in a motel bed. And I don’t know what it was about that specifically, but it just ran through my brain with second-hand anxiety because I know that exact feeling.
I thought that the book was paced well. About a third of the way through the book was when both Conrad and Alden begin to soften to each other, the “enemies” of the “enemies to lovers” begins to break away here and when they started to see each other. And then it was about two thirds of the way through when the “lovers” of “enemies to lovers” started. Also, I did consider putting a spoiler warning around here, but given the very first page of the book says it’s an enemies to lovers plot, you knew it was coming.
It definitely read a little like fanfic at points. Like something that had diverged from the canon to give the fandom what they wanted, because the original writer or writers didn’t give the fanbase what they wanted. And, again, I want to specify that I’m not saying this as a negative. I don’t think this story would have been as effective as it was if it didn’t read like fanfic.
As a side point, I didn’t know who Annabeth Albert was before this book, and I don’t know whether Albert has written fanfiction before – I know not every writer is so ready and willing to admit it, because let’s not lie, some of it is embarrassing. But my point is that I feel like some fanfic writers just understand certain tropes better than writers who haven’t written fanfic. And Conventionally Yours reads like someone who understands those tropes.
And to stay on the tropes line. I want to mention the ‘only one bed scene’. In the book, it didn’t last as long and wasn’t as dramatic as I expected it to be. But that’s not me saying it was disappointing by any means. It was seen through Alden’s perspective and ooh it was every bit as juicy and good as I had hoped it would be.
So, now I’ve just hit the rear end of this view, where I’m just wrapping up my other, smaller thoughts.
I haven’t really read a YA that leans so heavily into this geeky style. Like, I’ve read stuff that makes reference, and maybe there’s a game or two, but this was like properly geeky. Especially when there was a whole section at the Odyssey convention when Conrad – CONrad – and Alden are playing in this tournament at a convention. And the bitch is fully geeky, so it was nice to actually submerge into the waters instead of just dipping my toes in. The game in the book, Odyssey, gave me Yu-Gi-Oh! meets Magic the Gathering.
And finally, it was predictable in places, but when predictable is done well, it doesn’t really matter. Like in this book’s case. I knew what was going to inevitably happen in the story’s climax, but I didn’t care, because I was already having such a good time with the characters, and I was so deep into their world, I would have happy gone anywhere with them.
So… there’s my review of Conventionally Yours. I really enjoyed it, like more than I thought I would. I mean, there was nothing telling me that I wouldn’t enjoy it, it just took me by surprise. So, I’d say give this bitch a read for yourself.
Okay, bye!
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