The Best Laid Plans by Cameron Lund-Review

The Best Laid Plans, by Cameron Lund
Goodreads ¦ Amazon
Series?: No
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: April 7, 2020
Length: 368 pages
Source: ARC
Format: Paperback
Times Read: Once
Rating: 800,000/5

Eighteen-year-old Keely Collins is determined to change her status as the last virgin standing in this sweet, hilarious rom-com for fans of Meg Cabot and Jenny Han.

It seemed like a good plan at first.

When the only other virgin in her group of friends loses it at Keely’s own eighteenth birthday party, she knows it’s time for drastic measures. If she’s going to avoid heading to college without any experience of her own, she needs to find the guy, and fast.

Problem is, she’s known all the boys in her small high school forever, and it’s kinda hard to be into a guy when you watched him eat crayons in kindergarten. So she can’t believe her luck when she meets a ridiculously hot new guy named Dean. Not only does he look like he’s fallen out of a classic movie poster, but he drives a motorcycle, flirts with ease, and might actually be into her.

But Dean’s already in college, and Keely is convinced he’ll drop her if he finds out how inexperienced she is. That’s when she talks herself into a new plan: her lifelong best friend, Andrew, would never hurt or betray her, and he’s clearly been with enough girls that he can show her the ropes before she goes all the way with Dean.

Of course, the plan only works if Andrew and Keely stay friends–just friends–so things are about to get complicated.

I read this all in one sitting and my notes consist entirely of !!!! and AJKSAJGJSG and then more !!!! because it is SO GOOD.

♥ This book opens with our main character, Keely, walking in on her friend having sex in a bedroom at Keely’s own birthday party, leaving her as the last virgin in her group of friends. She’s not waiting, necessarily, but she’s known all of the guys in her school (SIXTY KIDS IN THEIR CLASS! SIXTY!! THERE WERE PRACTICALLY SIXTY KIDS IN MY HOMEROOM) since they were kids, and it’s hard to see any of them as romantic interests now. But she’s ready to not be the last one standing anymore.

We never do see Keely drive, so, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

♥ When Keely meets Dean she’s instantly enamored, and to be honest, so am I. He’s in college, and his flirt game is strong. I was getting total butterfly flashbacks from the scene where he first texts her, and what that feels like! But because Dean is older, Keely doesn’t want him to know that she’s still a virgin, especially when her friends warn her against telling him.

“But if you tell him you’re a virgin, it could only go two ways: he’ll be weirded out and lose interest, or he’ll take your virginity and never speak to you again. Neither of those are good scenarios.”

It’s not very nice but it’s honestly probably true, which should be a red flag, but it’s almost impossible to see those when you’re being pursued by a hot older guy. Dean isn’t that much older–twenty to Keely’s eighteen, but they’re also in that place where he’s in college and she’s still in high school, and I always feel like that’s such a sticky spot. Only a few years separates them, but there’s really a world of difference. So when she doesn’t want to tell him that she hasn’t had sex before, I get it. But he’s SO CUTE, WHAT’S A GIRL TO DO??

♥ The answer? Ask your much more experienced best friend to help you! He’s been with girls before, you trust him, and you know that he would never hurt you. So who better to practice with until you’re comfortable? Certainly neither of you would be crazy enough to do anything like…

♥ There are so, so, SO many good things in this book. Like how much I love the name Keely! Who’s garbage and who isn’t? There are so few kids in their class that EVERYONE HAS LUNCH AT THE SAME TIME OMG I CAN’T EVEN IMAGINE! Ninja Turtles, and flowers on a bed, and pizza, and I know this doesn’t make sense right now but an incredibly sexy mostly-clothed bathtub makeout scene just trust me.

“The water is still coming out of the faucet behind me, the sound of it rushing like the blood in my ears. He reaches a hand up into my wet hair and pulls me even closer to him, biting my bottom lip, the feel of it sending a chill through me despite the heat of the bath.”

I mean. Come on.

Final Thoughts: This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020, and I am SO LUCKY to have gotten an early copy of it. It’s a super sex-positive, consent-heavy, with discussions of the differences between how guys and girls are treated regarding sex. We all know that boys are celebrated for it while girls are called a slut even if you’ve never had sex, but these girls are asking why, and the conversations these girlfriends have are both inspiring and heartbreaking.

Favorite Quotes:

“When Andrew lost his virginity, the last thing he was probably thinking about was whether or not the girl would respect him in the morning.”

“In that way, she’s just like Cecilia, just like most girls: flirting because it’s easier to flirt and forgive than to get mad, because as girls we’ve been trained our whole lives to give boys what they want, to say “sorry” when what we really want to say is “fuck you.”

“‘You can’t just leave,’ he says. ‘You promised.’

‘Well, I changed my mind,’ I say.
‘You can’t do that,’ he says.
‘Actually,’ I say, heading for the door, ‘I can do whatever the hell I want.'”

All quotes are taken from an uncorrected proof of the book