Review: We Can Work It Out (The Lonely Hearts Club #2) by Elizabeth Eulberg

Title: We Can Work It Out (The Lonely Hearts Club #2)
Author: Elizabeth Eulberg
Publisher: Scholastic
Release date: January 27th 2015
Pages: 320
Genre: Contemporary YA; romance
Source: Bought
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When Penny Lane started The Lonely Hearts Club, the goal was simple: to show that girls didn’t need to define themselves by how guys looked at them, and didn’t have to value boyfriends over everything else. Penny thought she’d be an outcast for life . . . but then the club became far more popular than she ever imagined it would be.
But what happens when the girl who never thought she’d date a good guy suddenly finds herself dating a great one? She doesn’t need a boyfriend . . . but she wants it to work out with this particular boyfriend. And he wants it to work it out with her.
Only, things keep getting in the way. Feelings keep getting hurt. Words keep getting misunderstood.
Penny Lane worked hard to declare her independence. Now she needs to figure out what to do with it -- and how to balance what she wants with what everyone else wants.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I really don't know how to write this review. I didn't love We Can Work It Out, but I don't think I can really blame the book for that. I really loved The Lonely Hearts Club when I first read it, but that was four years ago, and I think I've just grown up too much to enjoy the sequel as much. We Can Work It Out isn't any worse than The Lonely Hearts Club - they're really similar - but it just didn't work for me as well this time.

In The Lonely Hearts Club, I really liked Penny Lane and related to her a lot. But in the sequel, to be honest, I found all of her drama kind of exasperating. Not because she's more dramatic than she was in the first book; I just got more annoyed with it this time because I didn't relate to it as much anymore. The whole novel focuses on Penny Lane trying to balance her relationship with her dedication to the Club, but considering both are very understanding and she's really the only one putting all this pressure on her, I really just wanted her to calm down, and I didn't like her as much this time. The secondary characters are still pretty good, though; I really liked Ryan, who seems to be the voice of reason in all of this; the other members of the club; and Penny Lane's parents, even though their whole Beatles obsession is kind of exaggerated.

Considering Penny Lane's struggle to balance these things is basically the main plot and I was annoyed with this drama, the plot didn't really do much for me this time. I still love the idea of the club, but the whole thing is kind of exaggerated, which made it a little cheesy this time around. Some of the secondary storylines were interesting, though; I really liked everything relating to Bruce, the new exchange student, and to Ryan's problems aside from Penny Lane, with Todd and his family. And even if the way it was transmitted was too melodramatic for me, I do still really love the message of girl power, balanced with the new message that includes all people.

I don't really know what else to say about We Can Work It Out. It didn't really work for me because I was kind of annoyed by all the cheesiness and melodrama. But it's still a good sequel; it's exactly what I expected and has all the same qualities as the first book. So if you think you would enjoy The Lonely Hearts Club if you read it again today, you will definitely We Can Work It Out, even if it wasn't for me.