By Ambika Vohra

“In this heartfelt and hilarious debut from Ambika Vohra—that’s Netflix’s Never Have I Ever meets Jenny Han—one girl tackles a question that changes the trajectory of her senior year: “How have you gotten out of your comfort zone?” That’s the Stanford admissions prompt that valedictorian shoo-in Aisha Agarwal can’t answer. Comfort zone? Her life’s been homework and junk food for as long as she can remember. Not exactly the thing college essays are written about. So, when her crush, Brian, asks her to winter formal, Aisha thinks her fate is changing . . . until Brian stands her up. As if on cue, a banged-up Volkswagen arrives outside the dance; the driver—a guy her age—profusely apologizes for being late to pick her up. Does Aisha know him or what he’s talking about? No. Does the Stanford essay convince her to take him up on the ride? Absolutely. To Aisha’s relief, seventeen-year-old Quentin Santos isn’t a kidnapper, but he is failing math. So, they strike a deal. If Aisha helps Quentin pass math, he’ll help push her out of her comfort zone, using a series of sticky note to-do’s—dares—that will not only give Aisha content for her essay but will turn her into the confident person she’s always wanted to be. From New Year’s Eve kisses to high school parties, Aisha’s sticky note manifesto is taking off. But when she falls for the wrong guy, hurts her best friend, and still can’t finish her essay, victory feels far from reach. Is winning worth it if you end up losing yourself in the process?” (Goodreads).

So… the whole “review a book a week” goal ended up being kind of unrealistic – at least as soon as finals week rolled around. Even a more projects-based major is no joke when it comes to the end-of-semester workload. Despite having checked out four books right before Thanksgiving break, I was only able to finish this one. Happily, The Sticky Note Manifesto was just the lighthearted and PG good time I needed to get to Christmas break.

The plot premise was super creative and fun! I loved that Aisha had a goal throughout the whole book, to complete this “sticky note manifesto” and write the perfect essay. It gave the plot a really good structure, but also showed how she had to reevaluate her goals as her “comfort zone” grew and changed. You could really see her character arc blossom. The pacing moved along pretty well as the story got going, though the beginning was a bit slow – at least before Aisha met Quentin. I loved how realistic the events, characters, and emotions felt. Vohra did an amazing job of portraying the needs and desires of every person, and not just Aisha’s.

No distracting editing mishaps or anything, it was just a really smooth read overall. Pretty basic chapter and first person POV format, but done well.

Aisha was such a fun and relatable character! Having recently been through the college admissions process, I could easily put myself in her shoes as she overthought every word of her essay and put her identity in her future school. Her unwillingness to leave her comfort zone and love of routine are definitely something I’m guilty of, but the way she handled stepping outside of those routines were very realistic and just fun to read. She did have some selfish and whiny moments – and most of the good things she did were for the sake of her college acceptance – but overall she was just a great representation of a high school teacher and all the perils that come along with that stage.

Quentin was also a fun read. One of my favorite parts of this book was how both love interests had their own hopes and dreams, and the male character didn’t just exist as the perfect guy for Aisha in every way. Quentin was so three-dimensional and didn’t put up with Aisha’s whining. They were different in ways that didn’t always complement each other, which added to the realism. Their love story felt a lot more like a cute little high school crush romance than one of the crazy “I would die for you” realistic fictions I’ve been seeing all over the internet lately. I liked how Quentin’s background and motivations were slowly revealed over the course of the book as Aisha learned to be a little less self focused and really put effort into her friendships.

The side characters also brought a lot into the story. I wish we could’ve gotten more interaction with Aisha’s best friend – she seemed like a fun character but Quentin immediately replaced her. Little Owen, however (Quentin’s neighbor), was the cutest thing. Every sentence he brought to a conversation was always so out of pocket and such a good time. Aisha’s family relationships were also heavily explored – I loved how her understanding of her sister grew just like it did with Quentin, and how the author explored the importance and worthiness of motherhood through the lens of her mom. It’s disheartening to see so many people acting like choosing to become a mother over having a career is a bad thing when it is such a blessing for many women. I love it when authors can show that both paths are beautiful ways for women to use the talents God has given them. This connected back to the choices Aisha has to make about her future later on, and her gaining understanding that even though not everything will go as planned it can still be beautiful.

I give it four and a half stars! It doesn’t have that little bit of extra specialness that takes a book to five, but it was entertaining and a wholesome break from the looming threat of academic failure over my head. The Sticky Note Manifesto was one of the more realistic and relatable coming-of-age novels I’ve read recently. I’d recommend this one to anyone who’s struggling with the college admissions process and needs some peace about what truly matters – or just realistic fiction fans in general.