More Than Maybe book review: YA rom-com + music

Growing up under his punk rocker dad’s spotlight, eighteen-year-old Luke Greenly knows fame and wants nothing to do with it. His real love isn’t in front of a crowd, it’s on the page. Hiding his gift and secretly hoarding songs in his bedroom at night, he prefers the anonymous comfort of the locally popular podcast he co-hosts with his outgoing and meddling, far-too-jealousy-inspiringly-happy-with-his-long-term-boyfriend twin brother, Cullen. But that’s not Luke’s only secret. He also has a major un-requited crush on music blogger, Vada Carsewell.

Vada’s got a five year plan: secure a job at the Loud Lizard to learn from local legend (and her mom’s boyfriend) Phil Josephs (check), take over Phil’s music blog (double check), get accepted into Berkeley’s prestigious music journalism program (check, check, check), manage Ann Arbor’s summer concert series and secure a Rolling Stone internship. Luke Greenly is most definitely NOT on the list. So what if his self-deprecating charm and out-of-this-world music knowledge makes her dizzy? Or his brother just released a bootleg recording of Luke singing about some mystery girl on their podcast and she really, really wishes it was her? 

Cover and book summary from GoodReads. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this early copy in exchange for an honest review!

Have you ever been swept off your feet by a book? That’s the easiest way to describe my feelings about More Than Maybe, Erin Hahn’s second book.

It’s common knowledge among writers that an author’s “sophomore” book is in many ways the hardest to write for a variety of reasons. Erin Hahn smashed all those expectations by writing a book that has the same warmth and heart of her debut novel, You’d Be Mine, but displays her growth as a writer and storyteller.

In other words, I loved it.

I could probably write a review as long as the book itself, but let me try to boil down the key parts that stood out to me.

The characters

For me, the characters are what make or break a story. In both of Hahn’s books, it’s clear that creating realistic, relatable characters is her strong suit. This book is from two points of view: Luke and Vada, both seniors in high school with big dreams. They’ve each had a crush on the other from a distance for years, but are convinced that the other person doesn’t know they exist. Are you squealing yet? Because I’m a sucker for unrequited love! When a school project throws them together and allows them to connect through their mutual love of music, they suddenly have the chance to confront their feelings. Luke and Vada are adorable, both separately and in their flirty friendship-turned-relationship. They each have their own struggles they’re dealing with, and are fully rounded characters. But the other people in the book hold up as well; from the family members to the coworkers to the best friends, they each have distinct personalities and struggles and could be the subject of their own novel, which is a mark of a good character, in my opinion. Their relationships with each other and with Luke and Vada feel very real and natural.

The way music is woven in

The signature of Hahn’s books is her love for music and how she incorporates original song lyrics as well as the perfect already-existing song into her work to convey the mood of the scene. Her first book is focused on country music, but More Than Maybe is more about indie bands, the punk rock scene, and alt music. Did I make a playlist of the songs mentioned? Of course. This style is my JAM, y’all. The cutest part is that Luke and Vada text each other links to songs as a way of communicating and revealing little pieces of themselves that they haven’t shown anyone else. This is the heart of it—Hahn may be a writer, but she knows that music is able to capture and convey feelings in a way that nothing else quite can. To mimic this on the page, Hahn uses a variety of techniques, from writing out song lyrics, giving you the title to look it up yourself, or (my favorite) describing with gut-punching accuracy how a song makes you feel. Hahn understands how songs can show us who we are and who we want to be, and uses that to allow Luke and Vada to get to know one another.

The authenticity

This book, overall, just feels very real. From the relatable characters to the understandable struggles to the variety of personalities and beliefs, it portrays life with all its nuances, grey areas, and unpredictability. One of the things I absolutely love about Erin Hahn’s books (and her Twitter!) is that she isn’t afraid to discuss her Christian faith, but these books aren’t Christian fiction or preachy or anything else that might come to mind when you hear that a book mentions faith. In More Than Maybe, there are a few side characters who are Christian, but even they are different “types” of Christians. Vada wrestles a little bit with the idea of faith—her mom and best friend attend church regularly, and she used to be more religious. It’s not a major plot line, but again, the book does a beautiful job of weaving in these real struggles and real faith people have, while also not whitewashing anything and not flinching from the harder and darker parts of life.

Some storylines got dropped

The only thing that I could say I didn’t like about the book was that it felt like some storylines or problems that were brought up didn’t really have a resolution. I won’t name them since they’re kind of spoilers, but a couple times toward the end I would think “Okay, I guess that problem that got mentioned earlier didn’t turn out to be a problem?” or “Oh, I guess this got figured out, though I’m not sure how?” The main storyline has a satisfying ending, but some of the smaller plotlines felt like they hadn’t been tied up.

More Than Maybe releases on July 21. Pre-order it here!

Have you read Erin Hahn’s first book? Are you planning to read More Than Maybe? Let me know in the comments!

Featured image by Jeromey Balderrama