This is difficult for me to rate. I'm going with 2.5 stars for now. This book wasn't bad but it was very hard for me to get through. It was slow with characters that were just okay. In fact, I think the biggest problem with this book was that everything was just ok. I had no real strong pull towards the characters, the story, the romance, the family, or the outcome. It took me almost a month to read. But it wasn't bad. And that's really all I've got right now. I will say that it posed an interesting question. Vinnie, the 15 year old main character, liked a girl but didn't know how to talk to her. So he called her on the phone late at night. It turned into a prank call. When he wanted to apologize, he didn't know how. So when he called again, it was the same awkward conversation. He kept wanting to apologize, but couldn't. So he created a character he could play when he talked to her. And the calls continued. They got more personal. He became Vinnie by day, boy who attends the same school as the girl he likes but doesn't talk to, and Vincenzo by night, the mystery guy on the phone who the girl talks to about personal stuff and who she wants to meet in real life. The question, how to combine the two images she has of these guys into one guy that she'll still like? That part was a little bit interesting to think about. But otherwise, I wasn't invested. I wish I had liked Vinnie more. He was just dull and seemed to be playing the part of a high school boy rather than actually feeling like one. I wish I had more to say, but it's probably better that I don't. I just wasn't a fan. I had hoped for more and it just didn't deliver. I give Not Exactly a Love Story 2.5 stars.
