Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett
Classic movie fan Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty film geek she only knows online as Alex. Two coasts separate the teens until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California surfing town as her online crush.
Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?), Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter Roth—a.k.a. her new archnemesis. But life is a whole lot messier than the movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between hate, love, and whatever it is she’s starting to feel for Porter.
And as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is Alex…Approximately.
This book is a retelling of the movie You've Got Mail, which is also based on the films The Shop Around the Corner and In the Good Old Summertime. Both of those movies are based on the play Parfumerie. It's the first Jenn Bennett book I've read (although I received one of her books in a book subscription), and I bought it at a bookstore because the cover is cute.
Overall, I thought it was cute and light. I have rated it four stars, although some aspects annoyed me (the same things that annoyed Emma, actually).
I would almost say this book is a tiny bit more New Adult than Young Adult, because it contains some violence, drug addiction, sex (not explicit), and severe situations, but it could go either way. The protagonists are in high school, if that's relevant.
The two main characters are Bailey Rydell, who has moved in with her father, and Porter Roth, a surfer. Bailey and Porter live in the California city of Coronado Cove, which is loosely based on Santa Cruz.
Bailey has been talking to a guy online named Alex. She and Alex share a love of movies. Alex also lives in Coronado Cove, but Bailey hasn't told him she's moved there because she's a bit of an avoider. Instead, she's determined to find him herself and check him out from a distance. This secrecy leads her to run-ins with Porter, Porter's friend Davy, and another boy from school.
She and Porter also work together at the local museum. This book is based on the movie, so in essence, it's relatively easy for a reader to deduce that Porter is Alex and that there will be some issue with the two of them. Porter and Bailey do rub each other the wrong way at first, but it fades into flirtation.
Since the "hate" is short-lived, Porter and Bailey instead attend a beach party, track down her stolen scooter, get trapped in the museum, deal with the death of a coworker, fight, date, and surf (or Porter surfs). While they get to know each other, they both open up. Porter talks about his surfing, shark encounter, and love of science while Bailey tells him about her issues with her mother, anxiety, and problems with one of her mother's cases (her mother is a lawyer in D.C.). Bailey tells Porter more about herself than she does online with Alex. She doesn't talk to Alex that much, as the story is focused on Porter and Bailey.
The tension arises when Porter discovers that Bailey is his online chatmate, and he eventually enlightens her (why her father doesn't is a mystery to me). While they're patching things up in a surf shop, there's another encounter with Davy, Porter's friend. Davy has drug problems due to addiction to opiates. Davy is a problematic character throughout the book. He does heinous things either because of drugs or in pursuit of drugs, but he is portrayed as the "bad" character in foil to Porter. Drug addiction is awful, and Davy's actions are not excusable, but it's a rough read to know that Davy is not going to get any help (from his parents, friends, or the police).
Overall, this is a charming beach read. While there are some annoyances, it was a breath of fresh air after the steaming pile I just read before (which will go unnamed)