One of the books I’ve been meaning to read for a long time is David Yoon’s Super Fake Love Song. My cousin had recommended it years ago and after a friend on Bookstagram gifted it to me, I just finally had to read it. And guys - this book is so fun!
Sunny Dae is a nerd in comparison to his older brother, Gray, who was a popular musician in high school now trying to make it in Hollywood. When Sunny meets Cirrus, he’s smitten by how confident and worldly she is. What could she ever see in him? After she mistakes Gray’s old room, with its posters of rock bands and electric guitars, as Sunny’s, he decides to go along with it and pretend that he’s in a super cool rock band. He soon gets his friends involved and starts wearing Gray’s old clothes, but once Cirrus starts asking to hear Sunny play, well, he’s going to have to actually perform as if he’s done it before.
Remember that Boy Meets World episode when Cory and Shawn pretended to be in a band after they’re seen holding guitars? This book is just as funny, but also grounded and relatable for anyone who was ever a teenager or is still trying to figure themselves out.
I really liked seeing Sunny get out of his shell as he goes from an introvert afraid of the world to just letting go, even if he had to pretend to be someone else to get there. Yet, don’t we all pretend sometimes between who we are and who we want to be? It may have begun as a lie, but along the way he starts to rediscover himself that ends up changing his life and his outlook on it.
Despite the title, it didn’t cross my mind that this is also going to be a love story. Sunny and Cirrus’ relationship is wholesome, especially as they grow close and Cirrus shares some of her insecurities. It’s something Sunny is familiar with, making his guilt and what’s at stake all the more real. I was nervous waiting for the other shoe to drop, but don’t worry, it works out in the end.
This has easily become one of my new favorite YA books. There’s friendship, love, family, the trials of growing up and how it’s not all that different as you get older, and of course, the power of music.