The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee

I didn't really have any expectations going into The Epic Crush, so, those were met. I thought it was okay. Decently paced, uhm... the characters were pretty good. At least Genie and Quentin. Most of the other characters were pretty flat, to be honest. I felt zero level of threat around the Big Bad, even when said Big Bad was revealed... and I clocked said Big Bad well before that reveal, as well. Just had a feeling.

I am quite glad I had a bit of a primer on Journey to the West before reading The Epic Crush. I feel like that's a kind of a must, here. The stakes are a little jumped up if you're familiar with it, at least. I highly recommend Overly Sarcastic Productions over on YouTube for an ongoing summary of Journey to the West... or if you're interested at all in mythology, tropes, and history. They're awesome. Definitely allowed me to remember at least a couple of the demons Genie and Quentin fight.

I thought the college applications process was well documented here. Having never gone through that kind of rigorous nonsense myself, it did feel pretty realistic to what others of my peer group would have gone through. I'm honestly just happy this is a break from the usual teen stories revolving around dances and such. Genie talks about zero school dances, so that's nice.

But yeah... The Epic Crush was just alright. I'm calling this a one and done. Not really interested in continuing the series.