The plot of this reminded me a little bit of the 80s movie Weird Science, where a couple of geeks create a ‘perfect woman’ through computer hackery and an accidental power surge. In You Were Made For Me, it’s two girls, Katie and Libby, who create a ‘perfect boy’ through a combination of Katie’s clay modelling skills and some accidental alchemy from Libby. Katie’s the driving force here, the primary storyteller (though Libby interjects occasionally) and the one who needs a ‘Hemsworth’, because Katie has never been kissed, and at sixteen, she thinks it’s about time.
This is just utterly, completely charming. Though it’s delicately infused with Australian flavour, many of the story’s themes would be relatable to teens the world over - cyber bullying, relationship drama, struggles with figuring out one’s sexuality (or lack thereof - lovely to see an asexual character represented), figuring out a teen’s evolving place within different kinds of family units. It has the feel of a teen movie - I was imagining the young Heath Ledger from 10 Things I Hate About You in the role of Guy - and I genuinely hope it does actually get made into a movie, hopefully in Australia because the local flavour of it definitely adds to its charm. Everything about it was an absolute delight.
Five stars for a wonderfully imaginative and funny Australian YA story with a relatable heroine and an awesome cast of diverse characters.
You Were Made For Me is out now - but NOT EVERYWHERE. I couldn’t find it on Amazon US. Check your local favourite book retailer.
Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this title via NetGalley.