"You Have a Match" by Emma Lord

You Have a Match was my first novel by this author. Emma Lord writes YA contemporaries and her debut novel Tweet Cute was immensely popular last year. You Have a Match is not strictly a romance, although there are a couple of romantic storylines in it. Our main character Abby takes a DNA test as part of her anthropology class project to learn about her ancestry. Unexpectedly, she gets a message through that website from someone who has been identified as her full-bloodied sister. The two girls meet and the story takes off from there.

First let me tell you what I liked about this book. I did like the plot line about the two sisters who never knew about each other and the surrounding mystery. The two girls do not immediately tell their parents that they are in touch, and try to dig through old documents and photographs to learn something on their own. The suspense of uncovering the past bit by bit kept me very interested and engaged. I liked the friendships in the book and I also liked the presence of parents on the page and how engaged they were in their children's lives. 

There were, however, a couple of things that I did not enjoy. First of all, a lot of the romantic plot is hinged on miscommunication or misunderstanding of the "I like him/her but he/she does not like me back" variety. Predictably, it takes the characters the entire length of the book to discover the misunderstanding and finally talk to each other. In addition, the ending of this novel is over-the-top happy. We are talking every single dream comes true, every relationship is mended, every past wrong is righted and forgiven. It was just too much. Finally, the way the teenagers speak/behave is sometimes unrealistic. I guess it is true of many YA novels. The characters are basically teenagers who sound and behave like someone in their twenties.

Overall, a very quick read, a great palate cleanser between heftier books. I would take this novel to the beach or on an airplane ride (I do hope travel is in our not-so-distant future). 3 out of 5 stars.

An e-ARC was provided by NetGalley.com