Book Reiew: Sugarcoated by Sarah Epstein

Title: Sugarcoated (Leftovers #1)
Author: Sarah Epstein
Genre: Romance; Young Adult
Publication Date: December 1st, 2021
Publisher: Fourteen Press
TW: Sexual Harassment of a minor; Cheating

Sophie’s sweet plan is about to get complicated.

Bad things come in threes, right? Apparently not for Sophie. It seems like everything in her life is turning sour. Her family’s crumbling, her creative spark has fizzled, and school’s unbearable now that her ex-boyfriend and best friend are sweet on each other.

So when Sophie lands a summer job at Seaside Candy Co, she doesn’t mind swapping beach days for lollipops and jellybeans. She has a plan: earn enough for a plane ticket to her dad in New Zealand and reboot her sixteenth year somewhere new.

But the Sweetest Store on the Coast soon becomes a mixed bag of complications. Like Simon, the buttoned-up work rival she can’t seem to get out of her head. Like trying to figure out if her boss’s extra attention is professional or inappropriate. And what exactly does a co-worker know about Sophie’s family that might just upend everything?

Rating

*A Thank you to BookSirens and the author for allowing me to read this. This is my honest and unbiased review*

Hello Fellow Readers,

I was in the mood for a little contemporary young adult and Sugarcoated immediately caught my eye. Honestly, I wanted a quick little book to lighten my mood and bring me back from a reading slump I had. Well this book, while a quick read, dealt with harder topics than I thought it had and that is not a bad thing. Epstein has a way of writing a story that, even with heavy hitting topics, it draws you in but doesn't emotionally drain you. 

I really liked Sophie, she's a typically teenager whose life isn't doing so well right now, so she takes the initiative (albeit in a somewhat drastic way) to change it for the best. I've mentioned before that I don't really like enemies to lovers, I didn't mind Simon and Sophie's interactions. Maybe because they are teenagers and act like it? There are times where I felt a bit frustrated, this mostly had to do with Sophie's family drama and her family basically keeping her in the dark. I did see where the plot was heading and I just knew things would go awful when Sophie found out. I do like the resolution, even though it is a bit open ended and it makes me curious for the second book in the series.

Overall, a pretty great YA novel.