Review: Flat-Out Celeste (Flat-Out Love #2) by Jessica Park

Flat-Out Celeste (Flat-Out Love #2) by Jessica Park
Blurb from Goodreads:

Whether you were charmed by Celeste in Flat-Out Love or are meeting her for the first time, this book is a joyous celebration of differences, about battling private wars that rage in our heads and in our hearts, and—very much so— this is a story about first love.

For high-school senior Celeste Watkins, every day is a brutal test of bravery. And Celeste is scared. Alienated because she’s too smart, her speech too affected, her social skills too far outside the norm, she seems to have no choice but to retreat into isolation.

But college could set her free, right? If she can make it through this grueling senior year, then maybe. If she can just find that one person to throw her a lifeline, then maybe, just maybe.

Justin Milano, a college sophomore with his own set of quirks, could be that person to pull her from a world of solitude. To rescue her—that is, if she’ll let him.

Together, they may work. Together, they may save each other. And together they may also save another couple—two people Celeste knows are absolutely, positively flat-out in love.

My Review:

Flat-Out Love was my favorite YA of 2012 and Flat-Out Matt was one of my favorite books last year even though it was a novella!  Obviously, I had high expectations for Flat-Out Celeste but I can wholeheartedly say that Jessica Park is not only brilliant but that Flat-Out Celeste was PERFECT!!  The characters were so well written and the story was exactly what I wanted -- no insta-love, Celeste still being the Celeste we all fell in love with in FOL and FOM but also Celeste finding exactly who she was supposed to find when she was supposed to find him (as well as finding herself and learning to love herself).  Such a wonderful first romance but also a wonderful story about self-discovery and self-love.  I love Celeste and Justin so, so much!!

I absolutely loved this book -- maybe even more than Flat-Out Love (my review) and Flat-Out Matt (my review), which I certainly never thought possible!  Please read this series!!!

"I want to destroy anyone who has hurt you for a dumb reason like just being yourself.  What?  Do we want the entire universe made up of people who are all clones of each other?  How damn boring would that be?  You know the expression love makes the world go 'round?  That might be true, but love come from the way differences interact.  How personalities interact.  How we bounce off each other, challenge each other, and how we push and pull.  It's through those tensions that we connect with others and with ourselves.  And it's how we fall in love.  Because there is magic in diversity.  Without the Celestes, the world wouldn't go 'round.  Do you see that?"