Author Anna Kemp introduces The Hollow Hills, the sequel to her dark magical tale, Into Goblyn Wood. Phoebe maintains an air of apathetic snark reminiscent of Jaye Tyler from 'Wonderfalls' — I found myself barking out loud at her biting commentary on a regular basis. Despite her dislike of others, Phoebe herself is lovable, vulnerable and feisty and most definitely not afraid to speak her mind. She thinks 'love is for losers' and is not afraid to berate her best friend Polly on how ridiculous her relationship with 'Training Wheels' Tristan is; she can't believe that anyone would want to even contemplate 'doing it' with him but although she doesn't truly understand, she does try to offer her own brand of advice. Of course, 'love is for losers' until she meets and falls for Emma. You can't help who you fall for, but Phoebe still spends all her time trying not to feel the way she does and the slow burn of this queer romance is played out perfectly.

There are a lot of fun, sharp jokes here, but there is a lot of depth in this story too. I liked how themes of grief and abandonment were explored. There is a slow burn queer romance. There is a thrift store. And there are cats. Designer cats. This is the type of YA I intentionally seek out, every year combing through every title promising humor and comedy. Judging by the fact that I usually find about 2 each year that perfectly fit my taste, my guess is, the pool of readers that are into this kind of writing isn't big. Phoebe's untraditional, first person, very teenage narrative is full of asides, bulleted lists, and conversations formatted almost like theater scripts (instead of "she said," it's "she was like:"). There are no formal chapters, just dated diary headers, each accompanied by a clever hashtag. The bite-sized chunks take some getting used to, but ultimately they contribute to the steady pace of Phoebe's tale and take us so intimately into Phoebe's psyche that we genuinely care how all the chaos turns out in the end. Initially, Phoebe is confused, awkward and outright rude, and disrespectful to lots of people. But slowly and gradually she starts opening up to people and becomes more welcoming towards others. Love is for Losers is written as six months worth of diary entries from the main character as she lives with her godmother, gets through her GCSEs, and falls in love while her mother is away on a humanitarian mission.Phoebe and Emma's relationship was well built up and felt genuine. They go from friends to more than that over a fair period of time, and there were soft moments between the two of them throughout the novel that I loved, and developed their romance well. There were also very funny moments of clear denial from Phoebe, before she sussed out and accepted that she was in love with Emma. I also appreciated that Phoebe took being a lesbian in her stride, because a lot of books make it a dilemma, but she and her friends all took it in without blinking or raising any homophobic comments. Love is for Losers by Wibke Brueggemann is a hilarious, life-affirming novel about all the big stuff: love, sex, death, family, heartbreak, kittens . . . and kisses that turn the whole world upside down. That’s what she’ll do. She won’t think about Emma. Or talk about Emma. Or spend time around Emma. And she definitely won’t kiss Emma. Right? So Phoebe makes fun of people and thinks she’s superior to them because she’s above emotions, etc., etc.

Overall, a simple and fun UKYA F/F romcom that I'd certainly recommend to younger readers who want to find an LGBTQ+ novel with a younger heroine who is still figuring things out. This book follows the main character Phoebe who thinks love is for losers and vows never to fall in love. Phoebe starts this book feeling rather abandoned due to the fact that her mother, a Dr, is going to Syria for 6 months to aid in the humanitarian crisis (something she does often) and her best friend Polly has ditched her for a boy. But through a series of unfortunate events she ends up volunteering at her God Mothers charity shop where she finds friendship and love in an unexpected place. Side characters. This book was made so much better by the well developed, 3 dimensional side characters. Phoebe lives with her God mother Kate who is an eccentric Scottish lady with designer cats. The volunteers at the charity shop, who ranged from the old couple she loves, the middle aged woman who hates her, and her 2 best friends Alex and Emma were all fantastic characters. Emma was also the love interest in the book and it had a well developed foundation for the relationship and it was a great slow-burn romance.And what a stupid expression that is in the first place: To fall in love. Like you fall into a ditch or something. Maybe people need to look where they’re going.

I has so much fun with Love Is for Losers! I’ve heard this book described as Bridget Jones’ Diary, but written by Bridget’s daughter. I could see that, especially if Bridget had an affair with Deadpool, because Phoebe has a lot of that biting, sharply intelligent snark to her. That is a character I can get behind. It’s something I haven’t read in a while and all the unconventional writing forms are always a big plus in my opinion. But also it was light and hilarious. All in all, Love Is For Losers is almost perfectly executed and while it will naturally divide Green Day fans, it has already been made clear in no uncertain terms that those that don’t get it or don’t want it are more than welcome to leave it. Those that do however will find a great collection of songs that see Billie Joe Armstrong and his new band clearly spreading their wings and embracing the pure delight that comes with unleashing a new project.The girls have good chemistry and they are amazing friends first. But it was so obvious they liked each other! It was still adorable to watch how they danced around it. The book opens with a journal entry for January 1st, detailing the worst New Year's Londoner Phoebe has ever had. Her best friend Polly has become completely engrossed in a worthless boy named Tristan, leaving Phoebe high and dry and with the opinion that falling in love is most definitely a feeling reserved for utter losers. I enjoyed getting to know the characters of the charity shop, and seeing them through Phoebe's eyes. They're actually a fun, diverse bunch and I loved how they all interacted. I also really appreciated how much Phoebe and Pat loathed each other. LOL. Those two were a lot of fun in the same room honestly. Because it's written in first person in the form of a diary, we're reading a lot between the lines which I really enjoyed. It was hilarious to see Phoebe protesting about things and insisting how much she doesn't care when her actions clearly suggest otherwise. She can be quite nasty, but at the same time she's very accepting and she's able to admit her faults. She can be rude, but I found her bluntness quite refreshing. I liked that she said what she thought and was all for honest communication. She's actually a pretty decent person under all the self-pity and sarcasm. Phoebe, the protagonist is the kind of character with a big chip on her shoulder, shes spikey, hard to like and I only just got to like by the end. Despite her character, there are many reasons to still enjoy the book because not every protagonist regurgitates hearts and rainbows. Phoebe is on a journey in this book, reconciliation with the state of her maternal relationship, finding first love and losing friends. I found it to be a compelling read.

Love is for Losers is six months in the life of Year 11 Phoebe, self-professed hater of people. Written in diary format, this utterly hilarious debut from Wibke Brueggemann is a sharply observed, pinpoint accurate diary of an authentic teen. There's a fair bit of focus on GCSEs, which I imagine many people will relate to, but I appreciated that it wasn't too full on. I felt really sad about the relationship between Phoebe and her mum so I was glad to read more about their interactions. Phoebe is 15 going on 16. She is a cynic and does not see the value of love. In fact, she thinks "love is for losers", hence the title. When her best friend Polly starts dating a boy, she feels like she has lost. her friend and a part of her life since they were BFFs. She's a bit unusual and maybe a little bit of an outcast, but her quirkiness is what endeared me to her. I liked her sense of dry humor and the way she just tells it like it is. Her father died before she was born and her mother is always away trying to save the world, so she often stays with her godmother, Kate. That's where this story primarily takes place. At Kate's, Kate's thrift store and school. It's told in diary form, but even there we get dialogue so it has that sense of character familiarity. My new album The Longshot is out now!! Let’s have some fun. Raise some hell and do bad things!! Hit the link! (Spotify and Apple Music and stuff like that.) It's an engaging, liberating, brilliant and absolutely hilarious stunning debut - with added kittens! I loved being a part of Phoebe's life and I'm keeping everything crossed for a sequel!

But it also gives us Phoebe slowly giving in and forming a little chosen family and falling in love. I did have struggles however with Phoebe, some early attitude towards disability was annoying, even though it was corrected. She was pretty judgey with all of those around her and she didn’t really endear herself to the reader. She came across as immature, judgmental and in need of some familial love. I felt annoyed at her mum and found her to be selfish, so I got where some of that element came from.