I'm Pretty Sure I'm Gonna Hate You to Death Van St. Claire

I'm Pretty Sure About That, Book 3

By: M. J. Padgett

Narrated by: Michelle Araya

Erin has hated Van St. Claire since he killed her social life 10 years ago. But recent events have made it impossible for her to avoid her childhood best friend. When she scores the coveted part of Juliet in the senior year play, she's thrilled until she discovers Van will play Romeo. There is no way she will land a kiss on that jerk unless he can convince her he has changed. When Van embarks on a mission to prove Erin won't regret kissing him, they rediscover what it means to be friends.

A clean, sweet romance with notes of comedy and forgiveness.

©2022 Melissa Padgett (P)2022 Melissa Padgett

good listen

I liked this story and the characters. A truly sweet high-school romance story. I liked the characters and their reasonings.
The narrator did a good job with telling the story.
I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Mean Girls, Romance & Emotional Rollercoasters

Great High School Read!

Parents- PG13 - middle school and up
Language- None
Violence- PG - Fist fight but nothing terrible
Sexual Content- nothing to warn of, just snuggles and kissing variety

Holy rollercoaster, this really was a great read! Only a slight warning to those who have dealt with or lost loved ones to cancer, this story deals with loss of a parent so make sure you have tissues handy. The characters are so relatable, the story definitely draws you in, and is simply a lot of fun even among the tears. There's all kinds of high school drama and it deals well with the issues of bullying and relationship issues. Definitely recommend!

Narrator- 3.5⭐ okay differentiations, a bit slow but fixed at 1.3x speed.

—I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I MIGHT DISLIKE YOU

A WONDERFUL SWEET ROM COM, THE NARRATION WAS GREAT, AND FUN TO LISTEN TO! I CANNOT WAIT TO LISTEN TO MORE THIS AUTHOR!

GOOD STORY.VERY FUNNY& ENJOYED THE SNARK

STORY IS WELL WRITTEN AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

ACCEPTABLE FOR TEENS AND UP. CLEAN
HAS DEATH OF FAMILY MEMBERS , FAMILY HIGHSCHOOL DRAMA AND BULLYING.

NARRATOR WAS GREAT AND EASY TO FOLLOW.

High school drama.

This is a clean YA romance. Erin does not want to give her first kiss to her childhood best friend that has totally embarrassed and shunned her in high-school. But they have landed the top roles in the school play Romeo and Juliet! They will need to kiss. High school drama. Rejection. Wanting to be popular. Bullying. Coping with the loss of a parent. The narration was a little disappointing. I felt it was read too fast and too matter-of-factly. There are a lot of deep feelings and emotions in this story. If you read it yourself, you can pause a beat or two and grasp them better. Feel more of what the characters are feeling. Be more in the book. Her voice didn't fit Erin's character in my mind. I was good with her male voices tho. Van was very good. It was ok. I just think reading it could have been better.

Bittersweet story

If you're looking for a light and fluffy sweet romance, this isn't it. It's a story that's more realistic than romantic, hitting on some serious and uncomfortable issues. It is drenched in sadness and you'll be angry, but there is some redemption. Van St. Claire and his former best friend, Erin, spent their entire happy childhood together. Erin was a part of the popular group, something Van desired more than anything. He used Erin to make him popular and then dumped her from his life. Erin has never been so hurt and, years later, she still hates what he did to her. But now they're paired as Romeo and Juliet in their school play and she has to kiss him. That is not going to happen, as far as she's concerned. Van comes up with a plan that might make her feel better about kissing him, but it involves setting her up to kiss another boy so it won't feel so strange when she kisses Van. He really wants to be the one to kiss Erin, because he's never stopped caring for her, but he knows that he is the last person she wants to kiss. Besides, Erin has made it clear that she wants her first kiss to mean something.  Giving up on a plan, they might as well try to get along, become friends and kiss each other because they want to. They find that it feels so natural and they want to try to get their friendship back...plus more. But Van's ex-girlfriend, Bailey, sees a chance to get him back by making Erin's life so impossible that she'll leave him alone. Bailey and her minions are on a mission to ruin her popularity, but they step way over the line and send her to the emergency room. Something changes in Van and he makes a horrible choice. He hurts Erin so deeply that it made me sick, and I lost all respect for him. The rest of the book, right up to the end, is of Van treating her horribly and not showing any remorse. Even the night his father dies, he shoves her away after she comforted him. I really wanted to like it, but the angst was too drawn out. I never quite believed in Van and the ending didn't ring true. There is bullying throughout, death of parents from cancer and poor decisions that cast a shadow over their eventual happiness. It was a tough book to listen to, but the epilogue definitely saved the story and I could smile as I turned the last page. 
The narration was nicely done by Michelle Arraya, but her pace was a little slow and I listened at 1.75 setting. 

Emotionally sweet

I liked the premise of this one and the link to the others. I really love that they can all be done alone but do have a link between them, while not choosing the most obvious side characters. It's a pretty quick and sweet listen though it does deal with some heavy subjects it's done is a good way and the narration is done well. I would have liked to have Van's POV but overall it's a good listen.