Teenage Angst and D&D: My Super Fake Love Song Review

After reading a few darker, heavier books in a row, I felt well overdue for something happier and fluffy. Luckily, I happened to have an ARC that fit the bill perfectly! That's how I came to read Super Fake Love Song by David Yoon, an upcoming YA rom-com that I hoped would bring some levity into a very stressful November.

So did it deliver? Read on to find out ...


Book Title: Super Fake Love Song
Author: David Yoon
Publisher/Year: Putnam, 2020
Genre: Romance
Number of Pages (According to Goodreads): 308
My Rating: 4 out of 5

Book description (from Goodreads):
From the bestselling author of Frankly in Love comes a contemporary YA rom-com where a case of mistaken identity kicks off a string of (fake) events that just may lead to (real) love.

When Sunny Dae—self-proclaimed total nerd—meets Cirrus Soh, he can’t believe how cool and confident she is. So when Cirrus mistakes Sunny’s older brother Gray’s bedroom—with its electric guitars and rock posters—for Sunny’s own, he sort of, kind of, accidentally winds up telling her he’s the front man of a rock band.

Before he knows it, Sunny is knee-deep in the lie: He ropes his best friends into his scheme, begging them to form a fake band with him, and starts wearing Gray’s rock-and-roll castoffs. But no way can he trick this amazing girl into thinking he’s cool, right? Just when Sunny is about to come clean, Cirrus asks to see them play sometime. Gulp.

Now there’s only one thing to do: Fake it till you make it.

Sunny goes all in on the lie, and pretty soon, the strangest things start happening. People are noticing him in the hallways, and he’s going to football games and parties for the first time. He’s feeling more confident in every aspect of his life, and especially with Cirrus, who’s started to become not just his dream girl but also the real deal. Sunny is falling in love. He’s having fun. He’s even becoming a rocker, for real.

But it’s only a matter of time before Sunny’s house of cards starts tumbling down. As his lies begin to catch up with him, Sunny Dae is forced to wonder whether it was all worth it—and if it’s possible to ever truly change.

 The mistaken identity trope is one of my favorites, largely because of the moral dilemma it involves, so I was SUPER excited for the juicy-sounding deception in this book. I won't give too much away, but it was juicy indeed. Besides, it involves Dungeons and Dragons, so I don't know what more a nerd could want, really 🤷‍♀️

But there's one area in particular where I think Super Fake Love Song really stands out ... for better or for worse.

Talk Nerdy to Me

By far the most unique thing about this book is the voice. The tone is quirky, offbeat, and a little surreal at times. I hesitate to quote directly from the book, because I only had an ARC, but the description from Goodreads that I pasted above should give you a pretty good idea of the narrative style. But imagine the actual book being, like, about 20% more extra.

To be honest, it took me a few chapters to get into the narrative, and there were a couple of spots early on where some odd metaphor or another made my brain do a Kombucha Girl routine. You know the one ...


I realize that makes it sound like I didn't like the voice, but that's far from it. After I read a few chapters and got into the groove a little, I ended up going with the flow and really enjoying the narrative. Some scenes had such beautiful writing that I got shivers!

And whether you end up liking the voice or not, there's no doubt that Yoon is a master of managing the tone to be funny when it needs to be, and serious and reflective when it needs to be.

Which brings me to ...

How Dare You Make Me Snort My Drink Out of My Nose

Okay, this rom-com definitely deserved the "com" part. Y'all, this book is funny! There was one scene in particular where the glorious ridiculousness of the situation hit me all at once and I legitimately spent five minutes laughing in the middle of my living room.

I think this is mainly because the narrative voice I mentioned earlier typically lands well in the more lighthearted, comedic parts of the story. Basically, Yoon does an amazing job of capturing the awkwardness of high school with a hilarious effect. It doesn't come at the expense of making the characters likable, though -- I rooted hard for Sunny and his friends despite the fact that all of them are complete messes :P

Final Thoughts

Without a doubt, this charming contemporary romance was exactly what I needed right now. Overall, if you're looking for a YA read with a unique style that's bound to make you giggle, definitely give this one a try!

Thanks to Penguin Teen for the e-ARC of this book! Super Fake Love Song comes out on November 17th, so if this sounds like something you'd like, go ahead and preorder your copy now :D

Barnes and Noble | Bookshop.org | Amazon | Goodreads

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