2023 read. Read after hearing about the book from a local source. Gave me a huge Fleetwood Mac ear worm from my college days. Liked learning some new places in Philly, but overall, I think I was not the target reader for this. Will pass it on via Hilltop books hopefully to a more receptive (age wise) reader. I will say it was nice to see parents make stupid mistakes, and know I am not alone in this.

PS I did go to the area where the book takes place, 3rd and Market in Old City, and visit some of the other shops that actually exist and are mentioned in the story (ie Omoi (Japanese Stationary) and Menagerie Coffee. Nice finds! ( )

The concept of "You Can Go Your Own Way" had potential but I found it very slow. I did like the two main characters and enjoyed their dual narrative although I preferred Adam to Whitney. His grief, since the death of his father, was deep and moving.

However, what REALLY annoyed me was the overuse of the words 'snort' and 'smirk' (36 of each although it felt way more). Whitney was the main culprit with the snorts and snort-laugh although her mother and Adam had their fair share, too, while most of the main characters shared in the smirks. How were these repetitions not picked up during editing??? They grated on my nerves by the end of chapter 2 and I still had twenty-one chapters ahead of me (chapter 10 was a doozy!). By the end of the novel, I was ready to scream in frustration, hence, my three-star rating. ( )

The plot concept has been done before, but this is an extremely satisfying mix of the elements. Adam's stuck in the aftermath of his father's death, trying to keep the pinball arcade Dad ran, running despite aging machines and a declining interest in playing them. Whitney has lost her father, despite him being alive and flourishing in growing his e-gaming cafes. No matter how hard she tries in her role as social media person for them, her father never seems to notice her unless he wants more publicity. Adam and Whitney were best friends, edging toward more, when his dad died. Their perceptions of what followed that summer and into the school year, are different, but real for each until circumstances conspire to force the two teens to look more honestly at those events, what happened since, and how their relationship suddenly evolves thanks to a broken pinball machine, an online social media war, some dead plants, and a blizzard. Those elements are mixed deftly, bringing the story to a very upbeat conclusion. ( )

#NetGalley #YouCanGoYourOwnWay #Love #Snowstorm

Although I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it, it has two problems which bothered me throughout the story:1/ How did Adam's father die? 2/ Why did Whitley and her siblings live with their father instead of their mother? Their mother seemed loving and caring and their father was in my opinion a jerk!

Otherwise it was a fun read, especially in a time when I've read quite a few dystopian books and historical fictions with such grim subjects as the holocaust.

Adam Stillwater is in over his head. At least, that’s what his best friend would say. And his mom. And the guy who runs the hardware store down the street. But this pinball arcade is the only piece of his dad that Adam has left, and he’s determined to protect it from Philadelphia’s newest tech mogul, who wants to turn it into another one of his cold, lifeless gaming cafés.

Whitney Mitchell doesn’t know how she got here. Her parents split up. Her boyfriend dumped her. Her friends seem to have changed overnight. And now she’s spending her senior year running social media for her dad’s chain of super successful gaming cafés—which mostly consists of trading insults with that decrepit old pinball arcade across town.

But when a huge snowstorm hits, Adam and Whitney suddenly find themselves trapped inside the arcade. Cut off from their families, their worlds, and their responsibilities, the tension between them seems to melt away, leaving something else in its place. But what happens when the storm stops? ( )